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Don't cry about unanswered questions! Go ask in person! Taking time to contemplate! Sweat helps! Would Wal-Mart and Sam's steal from you? Is America finished? Are we sliding downhill fast? Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek was always a favorite! Especially Mr. Spock! A potpourri of pet peeves! Global Warming debunked by environmentalists? How can this be? Water Research Group Meeting Monday Uranium testing. Hmmm! The thing the public isn't told! October 07 November 07 December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 
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Wind power? Yup, I like it and we should have more of it in a big way! Solar? Like that too and with advances in solar cell technology we should be tapping the sun for everything we can get! Coal? Yup, as long as proper scrubbers are installed to curb pollution, I'm all for it! However, I support the proposed nuclear plant in Victoria County! As a construction worker most of my adult life in chemical, co-generation and power plants I trust the technological advances made since STNP was built. Having worked as a Quality Assurance/Quality Control Inspector in the Electrical Engineering Department at a local plant I am familiar with the efforts made to do things in a safe and environmentally friendly manner. NO! This plant will not be built on top of gas pipelines! Good grief, the main reactor structure will go five stories underground! They'll simply move the pipelines! This will be great for Victoria and great for our future. It'll be one more step towards thumbing our noses at the Arabs! According to researchers, teachers nationwide spend $500 per year on school supplies for their classrooms! Many teachers must buy the stamps they use to send notices to parents! If I had my way, and a lot of sports maniacs will hate me for this, all school sports activities would be cut across the board and academics placed at the top of the revenue list! You have got to be kidding me! As much as the taxpayer pays for school taxes and this goes on every day? And we're supposed to have intelligent people on the school boards! Blows my mind! And these are the same people who wanted us to trust them with another $159 million FOR THE CHILDREN! How about doing this for the children; educate them at the cost of the taxpayer instead of the already underpaid TEACHER! After many years of trying this diet and that I finally found a doctor who correctly diagnosed my thyroid disease and took the time to impress on me the need to take the correct medication and the right diet! Wow! I was in Wal-Mart the other day and a friend looked at me and asked if I was sick. I told him I'd lost the weight because Dr. Mabray said, "Lose weight or die!" I'm sleeping better and have more energy to give the idiots trying to either take our water or pollute it a really hard time! At the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin was asked, "What have you wrought?" He answered, "...a Republic, if you can keep it!" So the Constitution gave the several states the authority to come together and put on paper a Bill of Rights in order to guide the states in the making of law! The Bill or Rights was created, "...in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of it's[the Constitution's] powers..." and so we have a rule of law that we should all abide by!
One of those rules is the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution which clearly, I say again clearly states, "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishment inflicted!" Now how clear is that? Please keep that in mind as I continue.
A man was driving down a highway recently and exceeded the speed limit by 10 miles per hour and was cited for that minor violation. The fine was $180.00. Now considering that someone making minimum wage in Victoria probably won't take home but about that amount any person with a reasonable mind would call that fine excessive!
Question: was there a parenthetical comment, caveat or provision in the text of that amendment that allows the state, city, county or other entity responsible for writing those citations to increase them on a regular basis to provide for revenue enhancement of their coffers? I read it again and no, there was no provision for that! Nor was there an asterisk, footnote or post script!
I understand that we should all obey the traffic laws but shouldn't those enforcing the law be held to at least the same standards? Shouldn't they obey the law? The law of this land does not, CLEARLY DOES NOT, allow excessive fines and taking 1/4 of a man's monthly take-home pay is clearly excessive!
The Eighth Amendment to the Constitution was written to "...prevent misconstruction or abuse..." of the law! Until those in government begin to OBEY THE LAW THEY ENFORCE ON THE CITIZEN we simply have no Republic! Perhaps it's time that law enforcement officers, traffic judges and prosecutors take a refresher course in the precepts and intentions of the founding fathers and framers of our Constitution and the Bill of Rights!
Post Script: No! I didn't recently get a ticket!
Yes, a railroad bypass would be good for Victoria. It would probably boost Victoria's capacity to handle rail traffic while reducing the number of trains blocking Victoria streets! It would definately make the city a safer, quieter place to live! This is all good stuff but... Please remember that in the name of progress there will be a large amount of local, rural property condemned and taken by eminant domain laws that belongs to other people! Most will probably not mind selling but there will be those who don't and the bypass will be trampling on their rights to keep their property! I'm not blasting the idea of a bypass, I too think it's a good idea, I'm just reminding us all that some good ideas have consequences that effect the property rights of others! I believe we can all agree that in recent times there have been too many abuses of private property rights by government use of eminant domain! Just something to think about and consider! It's the compassionate thing to do! What is Ron Paul's strength? Could it be his insistance that government abide by the law? Government agencies enforce the law on common citizens but they seldom seem to abide by the law themselves! Dr. Paul has consistently said "No!" to government spending not authorized by the Constitution! There he goes again! Demanding government abide by the law! Is it any wonder this message is embraced by the taxpayer? Anyone recall, in the early 90s when huge public housing projects in Chicago were demolished because they had become run-down, crime-ridden hellholes? The very people who ran down those taxpayer-supplied buildings and brought crime into them were cheering when they were imploded by demolition crews! Is it any wonder the average taxpayer, both Democrat and Republican, like Ron Paul's message? While I don't agree with some of his foreign policy, the rest of his politics are laudable indeed and he has my vote! |
