Beware the flying monkeys!

Remember those flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz? Where would the Wicked Witch of the West be without them? That's right, nowhere.

That's what you must remember when dealing with "big brother". Worried about airport security molesting you? Don't bitch to Janet Napolitano, the TSA won't give her the message and they aren't going to give you her personal cell phone number.

Publicly demonstrate how government goons (no matter what the agency, no matter the level) are the mechanism of government intrusion and abuse of everyone's life.

Here's the deal. A lot of people will tell you that they're "just doing their jobs". Yes, that's true. However, there is only one employment sector in America where a man is lawfully required to remain on his job...and even then, entry into the military of this country is entirely voluntary.

Even if you are unaware of what your job requires of you before getting such a job, and you choose to take a job with government because you think you're going to "make a difference", you still have the right to quit. Military employment may require that you serve out your contract, but other than that, you decide if you want out.

Now let's look at specific jobs within government. IRS agents know before being hired that they work for an agency that has the specific goal of taxing people. Cops know that they are going to enforce laws penalizing people who engage in victimless activities that are criminalized by the state. Clerks at the court house know that they will have to accept money from people being forced under threat of violence and kidnapping, to provide money that allows the government to continue to extort money from others.

Imagine that there were some sort of law passed, in the name of "public safety", that required every man to cut off his left testicle and every woman to cut off her left breast, because everything that isn't right is simply wrong. Every TSA agent at the airport would be randomly sending people through body scanners to make sure the ladies only had one tit, and the guys only had one nut. Every patrol cop that stops someone for a random code infraction knows that he would be responsible for arresting people they discovered to be in the possession of more than one boob or ball. Every court clerk knows he would be responsible for shuffling the paperwork and fines people would have to provide when they've been found guilty of not cutting off their legally-mandated left-side junk.

Of course, the legislature is highly unlikely to mandate that I cut off one of my nuts...or is it? They have criminalized damned near everything else under the sun, claiming that it's for our "safety".

Last year, 3/4 of a million arrests were made for simple possession of marijuana...and keep in mind, that's a simple plant. A plant that our own federal government holds a patent on, regarding its use as a medicine.

If you, as a doctor, prescribe medication to Michael Jackson and happen to negligently kill him, you'll get four years in prison. If you, as a private citizen and purchaser of his music, happen to share that music with random strangers, you'll get five years in prison.

In the state of Texas, it is illegal to tint your front door windows to the point where they have a visible light transmission of less than 25%, because it is somehow "unsafe", as it cuts down on your ability to see out of those windows...unless, of course, you are a policeman who spends the majority of his taxpayer-funded time inside a patrol car and must observe what happens outside his windows as a primary function of his job.

In England, home of firearm regulations that are so restrictive that the national olympic shooting team literally has to fly out of the country to train because they are forbidden to handle weapons in their home country, any person that can afford a firearm noise suppressor and can speak clearly enough to ask for one can legally buy one over-the-counter at sporting goods stores. In America, where guns are traditionally an inherent factor of the freedom of this nation, one must submit to intensive criminal background checks, submit fingerprints to the FBI, and get a permission slip signed by the County Sheriff...before he is allowed to pay a tax that is almost as much as the suppressor itself. Procuring a suppressor without doing this may land you a ten year prison sentence. While the use of silencers and other devices regulated by the National Firearms Act in the commission of crimes are almost unheard of in the USA (just like they were prior to the passage of the National Firearms Act), granting people the ability to shoot without needing to wear hearing protection is outlawed on the off chance that someone might feel the need to go "007" on someone...as if it can't be done using $29 worth of materials and a bit of construction knowledge.

On my 18th birthday, my father took me to the post office so I could show my state-issued papers and render my life accessible to the state via our government's "Selective Service System". Also on that day, I purchased a box of Hav-A-Tampa Jewel Sweets (with the "Exclusive Birchwood Tip"), along with a state-issued lottery ticket. On that same day, I consumed alcoholic beverages for the first time, and did so legally in the accompaniment of my father. On that day, I was legally considered "old enough" to enter into a legally-binding contract...including the one I signed two months later where I provided my life on a platter, via a contract signed with the US Dept. of Defense, for four years of active duty and four years of inactive reserves with the US Marine Corps.

The state, as evident by the fact that their written statutes expressly allowed for it, deemed me old enough to purchase tobacco products and personally assume the risk of contracting cancer as a result. The state assumed that I was old enough to purchase a lottery ticket (or, for that matter, EVERY LOTTERY TICKET IN THE STORE if I could afford those thousands of dollars), and run the risk of losing every single dollar I spent. The state said I could ditch school. I could get sign a contract for everything from car notes, marriage, military enlistments, or anything else I wanted. I was considered legally mature enough to commit my life to the department of defense, for use as a bullet-stopper in a foreign war, if they felt a need to send me to one.

Now I'm allowed to risk my life and my finances in all manner of different ways, because I turned 18 and the law said I was "old enough" to make my mind up regarding my own life.

Except, of course, when I wasn't "old enough" to think for myself.

Here's a list of all the random stuff big government decided that I wasn't allowed to do at the age of 18 years old.

Buy a handgun.
Buy ammunition for my .22LR rifle, because it might be used in a handgun.
Buy a cold beer.
Drive down a public street without wearing a seatbelt.
Bet more than $10 per pot, unless I'm placing such a bet in a state-sanctioned lottery or bingo game.

The law allows me to sign my life away, get trained to kill people with automatic weapons, and get sent to a warzone where my friends have been shot at in anger. The law allows me to piss away every dollar I own, on lottery tickets. The law allows me to smoke cigarettes until my lungs collapse.

But I'll be damned if I can drive down the street without wearing a seat belt, because that might be dangerous!

When you see someone getting pulled over for some chickenshit "moving violation" that harmed no one, remember that. These cops are writing tickets to benefit a government who wrote such regulations "for our safety", all the while knowing damned good and well that they are doing nothing but generating revenue for the state and making us look like criminals for their own benefit. I say it is "for their own benefit" because, of course, their budget is dependent upon getting enough people cited and/or arrested for these crimes to ensure the maintenance of their annual budget...and without that budget, their jobs might be in jeopardy.

Every facet of government is involved. Everyone from the man who walks around with that gun on his waist telling you "you're going to jail, you can't do that!", down to the lowly little city clerk that takes your bail money, is complicit in the process...because anyone with half a brain knows it's nothing more than bullshit state-sanctioned theft.

Unless your political candidate is one of those "Hey, we need to scrap this department entirely" types, your vote doesn't mean jack shit. Even if he is, it ain't gonna matter that much, because he's going to likely be the one guy who opposes a majority of people who are profiting from the graft and corruption.

The only way this will ever change is if the minions responsible for the day-to-day operation of the machine are made to fear the very essence of their jobs, be it fear of public embarrassment and ostracizing, or fear of simply getting their asses whipped because they're a part of the system and aren't working their asses off to get that system changed. If they aren't dedicating their time to changing the situation while participating in the situation, they ARE the situation.

There is no other way around it. They are the flying monkeys...and they still have the option to walk away from that job if they don't agree with it, they just haven't done so.

About that Venn Diagram I saw a while back

Before I go further, I'd like to extend a great big One-Fingered Salute to one Officer James Peters of the Scottsdale AZ police department. You shot my friend in the face, murdering him in cold blood, while he held his infant grandson in his arms. Politely eat shit, rot slowly, and go find a fire to die in...preferably downwind, so no one has to smell your pig stench.

Okay. So now that's out of the way, let's talk about that Venn Diagram I was referring to. If you're unfamiliar with them, they're the little pictographs of two or more overlapping circles which show the common factors of each circle. For instance, imagine a white circle representing a typical weekend at Charlie Sheen's house. Then imagine a red circle representing the wedding night of two highschool sweethearts. That pink portion where they overlap would be the wild hot freaky monkey sex you'd find to be common with both situations.

The diagram I was referring to was highlighting the majority of the bitching from the "Occupy" crowd, along with the majority of the bitching from the "Tea Party" crowd. I have a great deal of friends who are what some might refer to as being "politically aware", and most of us don't agree on more than maybe 65-70% of the issues facing us today.

The one thing that almost all of us agree on absolutely is that corporations being in bed with government is the dictionary definition of fascism and it should stop.

I noticed that this was also the focal point of the "overlap" I saw in the particular Venn Diagram I'm referring to. How could it possibly be so damned hard to rally people around a common cause? I mean, seriously, is there ANYONE who thinks corporate lobbyists, and the congressmen who so willingly and readily take their money, really have the best interests of the common man as their chief goal? Really?

Can someone explain to me how it is this damned hard to get people to come together? Seriously...you fundie fuckwit psycho mega-church/meth-addict-preacher/male-hooker supporters can't see the light long enough to get behind your fellow countrymen, just because they laughingly sport t-shirts praising the Flying Spaghetti Monster?

And you unwashed hippie patchouli-stench-ridden PETA douchetards can't stop burning your bras long enough to march with these fundie fuckwits, simply because they own guns and eat bacon cheeseburgers?

Please, for the love of sweet Jesus, Joseph, and doggie-style Mary, WAKE THE FUCK UP. Get over your petty bullshit already.

I'm gonna clue you in on something. No matter who you are supporting, 99.44% OF GOVERNMENT will sell their own mother for a pack of Kools, so long as they can find a way to spin it in a good light for that next re-election campaign. It's time to wake up, ain't it?

As Democracy burns...

I ask, does anyone have any bottles they're looking to get rid of?

But seriously, Athens is quite literally in flames as I type this. Police clad in fire-resistant riot gear are currently engaged in a legit no-shit street battle with protesters hurling their weapons of choice...which just so happen to be Molotov Cocktails.

Why? Greece is hopelessly in debt, and it has only two choices. Complete default, or a massive reduction of government services combined with a massive increase of government taxation. The Greek government acts as if the default option is off the table, making it appear as if the austerity option is the only way to go.

I liken it to when my right arm was severely burned as a child. To prevent massive infection that would have killed me, there were but two options. Skin grafts or amputation. The doctor in my local ER acted as if grafts weren't an option, because his hospital wasn't equipped for them at the time. That's essentially what the Greek people are going through right now. "We're not going to discuss default, so get ready for austerity." is what they're hearing from their government.

So what brought this on? While some may call it the "New World Order", it is undeniable that there are privately-owned international banks at play here. Banks whose owners possess more wealth than could ever be spent by the grandchildren of their grandchildren, if they all had seventeen grandchildren and they all spent money like a Prince of Dubai.

When you've got that kind of power and wealth, what's it to you if Greece doesn't pay their bills on time? It's essentially a credit card with a massive interest rate, but on a global scale. Greece is in so much debt that its economy no longer produces enough money to cover the interest on the debt, quite literally rendering its citizens as slaves to foreign bankers. The only way to escape such slavery is to either not work, or to illegally work an "off the record" job and not pay income taxes.

It is, of course, the great fallacy of that sacred golden calf known as "Democracy". For thousands of years it was heralded as the "proper", "civilized", or "free" way for people to live. Everyone gets a vote, majority rules, so let it be written, so let it be done.

That's great and all...but what about the poor fuck that works his ass off and votes against increased taxation for the benefit of others? What about the welfare kids with the lazy parents that did nothing and expected his neighbors to "handle it"? His parents voted for the commies. He grew up "eating the government cheese". Now he's grown. He wants a job. He gets a job, pays 65% of his wages into taxes to pay for the services of others, and daily he sees those "services" degrading every day.

There are two solutions. Either allow someone to buy the marker of debt being placed in your name by someone other than yourself, or tell the creditors to go fuck themselves...and have some Molotovs with their bread and circuses!

Think about it from this point of view. Suppose your grandpa signed on for a credit card in your family's name, 20 years before you were born. It had a relatively small limit, say about 10 grand, but he only made 12 grand a year. He kept spending here and there, doing his best to keep up with the debt, but soon found that the interest rates were kicking his ass and he was barely able to keep up with the minimum payments. While the actual charges for purchases totaled less than $4k, he used it when he couldn't afford the payments, and the interest rates piled up so fast that they soon ate the other $6k on his credit limit.

So now he has no more credit. Due to interest that keeps compounding, he now owes $33k. Then he dies. Your father struggles to keep up with the debt, because it was taken in your name, but can't. The interest keeps piling up. 20 years later, as you reach the legal age of employment, your family's debt has found its interest piling up. Your father was forced to retire due to health reasons two years ago, but that didn't stop the interest. In fact, because he was no longer able to work, the interest is piling on faster.

You were able to find a job, but it's a mediocre job that doesn't pay very well. You make $20k a year, but your wages are garnished at 65% to pay your family's debt that is now $400k. You cannot afford the 65% wage garnishment. It does not cover the interest payments. The 35% you have left over has made it to where you quite literally cannot afford to live.

At the start of the new year, you realize that your debt is now over $500k. The cost of food, clothing, shelter, and other basic living expenses is going up. Due to the poor economy, you're given a pay cut from your employer. To top it off, you're being told that your wage garnishments are going up another four percent.

You are, in fact, given a choice between virtual slavery or open revolt. Your government says that if you choose to earn your living, you must acquiesce to the repayment of a debt you never personally incurred, which paradoxically makes it impossible to earn a living.

The other choice?