New Years Eve

Welcome to New Year's Eve.  The day we count down and celebrate the ushering in of a brand new year (yes I know I am pointing out the obvious).  No, I am not going to lecture you about New Year's resolutions or any of that stuff.  Reason being is that if you make a resolution to do something, then it is up to you to decide what to do with that commitment.  Not my place to judge your decision or is it anyone's but your own (I personally do not have a resolution at all for I just try to make myself a better person each and every day, so I do not really require a resolution).  Well enough about that, what I really wanted to say was that the New Year is something to look forward to.  We humbled ourselves on Thanksgiving, learned to give and express love on Christmas, and now New Years is us taking what we learned and running with it.  Progressing personally forward to make ourselves superior to who we were the year before.  It is us the individual celebrating our future selves and who we want to become.  Stay safe and enjoy the fun tonight as we celebrate our New Years.

A quote from Einstein.

"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will get you everywhere." By Albert Einstein.  This quote can have a multitude of meanings. But we are going to talk about it in respect to the future and the coming new year.  In this case, there are things we still want to do. Things we have yet to accomplish, but we have no idea how to get there.  We see the rules that logic provides for us to try and get from A to B, and yet we struggle.  Sometimes our path seems blocked.  That is where imagination comes in.  Imagination is our ability to see other methods to getting where we want to go.  It is the ability to imagine things that aids us to creating new ideas and inventions.  As such, without imagination, we would not have cars, skyscrapers or any advanced tech if someone had not stopped using logic and tried to figure out a new way to do something.  With imagination we gained books like "Harry Potter" and "The Hunger Games", and movies like "Up" or "Minions".  Entertainment for our selves, conveniences and more have all been thought up with someone's imagination and then they found a way to bring the imagined into reality.

Final Thought:  If you think your idea is dumb, think again.  It could potentially turn into something that can make life a little easier for people, or to entertain them.  Imagination is a part of our ability to dream, and it aids in making said dreams a reality.  So do not give up on your ideas.  Put the work in and you can potentially go anywhere and be anything you want.

News Cut off

Every once in awhile I have to shut myself away from the news.  For let us face it, it's really depressing.  So I generally choose the holidays to do so, for the holidays are meant to be fun and enjoyed by all.  And that is exactly what I did.  I deprived my brain of everything having to do with what was going on in the news.  Yes, I know I require the news to gather some info and ideas for issues and articles, but watching all that depressing stuff all the time is very unhealthy.  In fact your brain is very powerful and depression or anxiety can harm your body in a multitude of ways.  Needless to say it is a very bad thing.  As such, to remain healthy for you my readers (and in my own self interest) I abstained from the news and anything really relating to it.

Final Thought:  Anything that depresses you or causes you anxiety is potentially bad for your health.  Immune systems can weaken, you can become physically weak, or you can lash out in anger toward those you care about.  So try to take a break from life's stresses or take a vacation if you can.  Trust me, it will help you in the long run.

Countdown to New Years

So, did everyone have a good Christmas?  I know I sure did.  Got to see all my family and a few friends and spend quality time with everyone.  Now (as I am a nerd) I have a whole lot of books to read (ones that I got for Christmas, and others I bought throughout the year).  Do you know what that means?  I probably will have better articles, issues and even mini-posts once I get around to reading and analyzing all the information I'll be cramming into my tiny little brain. Good times right? (well for me atleast).  But this is how I constantly try to make myself better, to know more, to maintain power and authority over myself.  I will never forget the lessons I learn from others and especially those I have learned from my mistakes, but I have to ensure that I do not repeat mine or others mistakes in the process.  Needless to say, it is never easy to overcome your own anxieties, inhibitions, hangups, and whatever other descriptive word you want to use to describe what holds yourself back.  But it is us overcoming these things that makes us as humans great.  We are built to overcome our own failings and to cooperate to achieve greatness.  It is within our ability to make dreams possible.

Final Thought:  What dreams may come? a quote that I have heard but never really understood.  But I think what I wrote about above comes close to a part of what this quote means.  It is about personal and societal progress.  If we as individuals progress, society can progress and it kind of escalates into something great if you think about it.  What could we do if we all just focused on fixing ourselves first?  Making ourselves the model for others to follow?  Maybe we could achieve that city shining on a hill that President Ronald Reagan once spoke of.  Of course that means self improvement.  I know I can do it and so can you.  So good luck, make mistakes and most of all, know you have the power to overcome anything.

Merry Christmas

Christmas is about showing love to one another.  It is about the giving of oneself selflessly out of that love.  On this day Jesus Christ was born, and thus given to us by God.  So I am here wishing you all a happy and a healthy Christmas.  

Merry Christmas.

Sincerely,

Steven Gracey

Christmas Eve

Welcome to Christmas eve.  I doubt many will be able to read my blog today as they are probably doing last minute wrapping of gifts for those they love.  We all have our traditions and our ways of celebrating.  I for one get together with my parents and some other family and unwrap some gifts before Christmas morning (that and a nice home cooked meal).  Basically it is all about the fun and love of being with one another.  It is good to embrace traditions on this day and tomorrow's Christ's' Mass (Christmas) for it gives us memories to build upon year by year as we all grow old together.  It is a holiday to be celebrated and shared between all mankind whether you are a Christian or not, for love knows no boundaries and I believe that is what God intended (sorry if I am a bit preachy here).  This is just how I view the holiday based on how I was raised, my faith, and my own love of my fellow man.  It all comes down to the individual showing love for one another, and sacrificing of themselves honestly for one another to show that love.  So may God bless you all on this holy night of nights.

Decorating the Tree

This time of year is about the fun of family, so in addition to opening the gifts on Christmas surrounded by family and friends, there is other activities that can be done together for the family to enjoy.  In this case it is decorating the tree.  You can make a theme, or go crazy and shove all the ornaments and trinkets you can on it.  However, doing it together as a family can bring people closer together.  Each ornament brings a memory and when you all take turns placing the ornament it gives people the opportunity to remember the past and the love in them.  Each year you can add a new ornament to the tree to represent the year and the life you all lived together in that year.  Basically the tree can be and should be in my opinion a coming together moment.

Final Thought:  The tree represents something.  It can represent the path from earth to heaven with the star on the top.  Christmas trees may represent the memories and love shared and passed on from year to year.  A Christmas tree represents an aspect of Christmas that all families can share.  So feel free to get a tree (fake or real) and use it to come together.

Do unto others as they Do unto you.

Today's quote is do unto others as they do unto you.  This means treat people the way you want to be treated.  It is a character lesson that is told in the Bible, and even other faiths and philosophies around the world.  Basically just be a good person despite how people treat you.  Don't sink to the level of people who would do you wrong.  Yes, I know you want to smack the jerk that nearly got you into an accident on the highway, or the guy yelling at you about their insurance not covering their medication even if you have zero control over the situation (something I experience at least 2 to 10 times a week).  But I do not let that bring me down.  I try to rise above it and let it slip away.  It is not like you cannot get made, let alone annoyed at something like that, but in the end it is trivial.  For the longest time I would bottle up these emotions and it had a negative effect till I learned to let it go (though there are still things I hold onto for there perceived importance despite myself) and I am still learning to let go more and more each day.  I treat others with as much respect and kindness as I am capable of even though I can come off a bit weird at times (too honest, or too unfiltered).  However that honesty is needed as how can I overcome my flaws by not being honest with myself.  If I cannot be honest with myself, then how can I be with others?  Not treating myself as I want to be treated is the same as treating someone else in a way you do not want to be treated.  As such you become a phony.  A fake personality.  Obviously this is a bad thing.  Hence why I write this quote of the day.

Final Thought:  Treat yourself honestly and you can treat others in an honest way too.  Be critical of the self while you self reflect to find out who you are on the inside.  Once that's done and you can act generally toward others.  Honesty really is best (of course curb it when dealing with people who lack character and thus self restraint).  Once we all understand this character lesson, we may just progress as a society by not saying dumb things we would not want to hear if we were in the recipient's position, how we would not want to act especially if we were on the receiving end.  It is a deep lesson that takes time to understand.  Just give it time and question everything so that you may find the inner truth that makes you who you really are to improve yourself as a human being.

Hillary and rumors.

Let us start off the week with roomer and darkness, and then finish with the love of Christmas.  In this case, the darkness is the potential truth to the rumors surrounding Hillary Clinton.  Let us start.

Rumor 1) The first one comes from Roger Stone's and Robert Morrow's book "the Clinton's' war on women".  In this case the authors make the claim with sources that Bill Clinton as President had sex with minors and raped women as well (I did not read the book and thus basing this off the review) and that Hillary covered it up and intimidated and threatened his victims to remain silent.  That and more. As to if it has truth or not I do not know.  I am not going to read it myself, and I feel it is speculative and possibly a propaganda piece to be rid of Hillary in the upcoming election.  You decide.

Rumer 2) our second rumor is something put forth by Dinesh D’Souza.  He fully stated in the interview I saw on the Blaze that this is his opinion, that Hillary wants power for powers sake.  She is power hungry and wants control in the same fashion that a tyrant would if she could achieve it.  From his perspective, she became a senator to gain political clout to get into the inner workings of our political systems backroom deals by using the name of her former President husband to gain access and power.  Then she became secretary of State to understand and see the trouble spots around the world and thus knows when and where she can manipulate those places to gain power, money and authority.  Basically, it is about being able to move the levers of society and thus control every aspect of people's lives if she could.  In short, she is a potential despot.  I agree with Mr. D’Souza that she is power hungry, and I can see her seeking more, but I don't know about her being insatiable.  In this case it is up for you to decide if her and  Bill's foundation, and her political positions were all to set up to seek and hold the reins of power.  Basically, is she "big sister" to 1984's big brother?

Final Thought:  These are both speculative and I felt like providing you my readers with these so that you may decide for yourselves what to believe.  Remember, to question with boldness and choose wisely whom we choose for President, for the nation will get what it deserves.

A quote by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. 

By Robert Frost

This quote has a special meaning which has been shortened to saying "I took the road less traveled".  It means (to me) that we should not go down the path others chose.  We must not go down the path that is easy.  Instead we must forge our way under our own power and authority.  In short we have command over our own destiny and thus we must make our own decisions on how to move forward in life.  

As to the part of the quote where Frost says "that has made all the difference".  It is because Frost was able to mold and shape himself in a way he wanted.  He was not held down by other people's beliefs and ideas, but instead he made his own decisions and thus need not regret what he has done or where he has been as every success and failure was his and his alone, and thus all was an experience that made Frost a better person.

So my readers, make your own decisions believe what you want to believe in.  Let no one choose your destiny.  And finally, know that all successes and failures you experience are yours alone and that they shape you and make you into a better person.  Learn from those experiences and make yourself into the person you feel you were destined to be.

See Something Say Something

Ok this is the last post of the week (minus the quote post tomorrow), but it is important as an unnumbered.  After the shootings in California by another set of homegrown terrorists, we seem to have forgotten what "see something say something" is about.  There were reports of people seeing suspicious activity at terrorist couple's shooter's home, but people did not want to say anything because they did not want to be seen as racially profiling or as being perceived as being racist.  Issue is that no matter what, if you see anyone doing anything suspicious you will be racially profiling for a person with a white tee shirt and sweats can be literally anyone.  

We have created a society of fear by perpetuating the idea that if you say anything people will call you an islamophobe, or worse.  Now being called that can lead to total social isolation and even job loss.  This is because people call people racist too easily and people are overly sensitive on all sides.  So now, when a legitimate potential threat is sighted we cannot say a single thing out of fear.   As such I counter with the fact that maybe we need to use anonymous tip lines more.  You do not say your name or anything, just say what you saw.  It makes sense right?  Sure if it is a false alarm it can potentially make the person being looked into uncomfortable (assuming they know they are being looked into to).  But the potential to save a life like in the San Bernardino Shooting, or the Fort Hood shooting, or other terror attack makes that slight uncomfortableness reasonable and necessary.  Sure, we want to mind our own business, but that does not apply when it comes to people's safety.  

Final Word:  Say something, I beg you.  Do it anonymously if you are scared, but say something as you can potentially save a life. 

Why I will not vote for Hillery

Yep, another unnumbered.  This time to show that candidates on both sides suck (in my opinion).

Now, as to why I will not vote for Hillary Clinton.  While Trump taps into anger and fear, Hillary does similar with respect to tapping into emotions, but in her case it is about giving hope to people.  But her hope is a false one.  She intends (from my view) to claim that she will help the impoverished and middle class, but will ultimately tax the middle class and higher to "aid them".  But this aid will not actually help the poor, but instead keep them as a voting block to continue to be used by her political party.  Yes, she does intend to raise taxes as well (in the same manner as Trump), so that multi-thousand page tax code grows and thus further increases the divide between the rich and poor (I don't know if that is intentional or not).

She is power hungry as well.  Hillary has stated prior that she would not run for president, but then does so (she is not the first to do this though).  I find this lying to be distasteful on its own, but she set up her campaign while continuing to say this so she can personally try and lay claim to being the first woman President (plenty of more qualified women can replace her, and with integrity to share).  So this power hungry woman who wants her name left in the history books kind of freaks me out.

Final Word:  I cannot see myself voting for her or Trump.  If they are the two nominees, then I will not be voting for either of them as I see them as dangerous and will pervert and ignore the Constitution to suit their own ends. This is my personal view, so all I can say my readers is choose wisely.

Why I will not vote for Trump

Welcome to one of the unnumbered issues, designed to be issues that can sometimes replace regular issues, while meeting the need to talk about issues of immediate importance without the wait.  In this instance we have my opinion on why I will not vote for Donald Trump.

Let's see, the main reason I will not vote for him is how he is attracting people.  He feeds on their anger and fears to gather support.  Now if you know religion, or even Star Wars, then you know that tapping into such dark feelings leads to people allowing horrible things to happen.  Examples being are internment camps in World War I with the Germans, and World War II with both Germans on the east coast and Japanese on the west coast.  In both instances the government confiscated people's valuables and denied people of their rights.  Both were done under Democratic Presidents, President Wilson and President Roosevelt.  However, Trump is a Republican, but he is also a progressive like Wilson and Roosevelt and will say anything to win.  Remember he taps into anger and fear, hence his moratorium on Muslims coming into the country.  But how far will that go?  If he gives in more to people's fears (or simply tries to keep them as supporters by doing so) then there is no law, let alone president to prevent the internment camps from happening again.  He already is vengeful and lashes out at reporters who mock or disagree with him (or just plain challenge him), so he is an angry prideful man himself which makes him weak as a potential president.  Basically he is a ticking time bomb in my opinion.

Final word:  I will continue to review and present information on Trump in future issues, but I will do my utmost to ensure I write them from an objective standpoint.  Please understand, as a libertarian, anyone who seeks power is potentially a dictator waiting to happen, so I am cautious even if I agree with their policies or not (I agree with a select number of Trumps policy ideas).  Anyway, I write this to let you readers know I am concerned about this wannabe commander in chief.  Be cautious my readers, for we will always get the leader we deserve.

Issue 733 America Exceptional December 14, 2015

Why is America exceptional?  It is simple really even if people do not realize it.  Let us begin with the answer to the question.

Why America is Exceptional:  America is exceptional because we seek to correct our mistakes.  We do not want to make the same mistakes ever again.  Our rule under a monarchy was a mistake and we broke free and designed a Constitution to do so.  Slavery was another major mistake and the country was washed in blood during the civil war.  Now we are currently trying to make up for segregation.  As such, a dialogue is continuously trying to be brokered.  However it seems that America is losing that dialogue due to it losing what allows the country to be exceptional.  So what is that component?

The key ingredient:  To remain exceptional we have to keep learning our history.  But this must be done in an objective way without biases to understand the context of why things happened the way they did.  Basically, no opinion, just the facts presented in a clear, concise and understandable way.  We want to achieve what Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. espoused, that we must be judged by the content of our character, and that our progress and how we go forward with our lives is our character. 

Conclusion:  Our schools are no longer just giving objective facts.  We do not learn the whole Constitution or even how it is applied to our everyday lives.  All we know from schooling is that things are bad, that people caused everything and we do not even see their motivations or their motivations are presented in such a way as to blame a single group for the horror and oppression caused.  That is not objective history.  We do not judge people by their character because schools are not equipped to teach students to judge and think for themselves like they were in the past.  Unless this is corrected, we will face the same problems and the same bloodshed again.  Once that occurs, America falls as we will have completely lost whatever has made us as a country exceptional.

Some updates on what is going to happen to the Blog.

I can assure you all that I will continue to write more.  That is a given.  However, I will be making some changes.   The change that I will be doing is that I will cut down my posts to four days a week.  This allows more flexibility for me to potentially write more or do more in depth research into a particular topic, and also to have a little bit more free time between work and my writing here.  So pardon my selfishness.

 Also, even though I will be reducing my postings to four days a week, it does not mean that there will not potentially be a fifth post.  In this case it could be a current event that is happening right at the moment that is worth mentioning or something fun.  These will be unnumbered and could potentially replace a typical numbered "issue" if I feel it is important enough.

 As to my health, I am getting better, but the time away from writing has allowed me to read and think.  It has thus allowed me to try and better integrate private life with work and hobbies which ultimately resulted in this decision which is overall better for my mental health as well (it can be stressful making a deadline even self imposed ones).  I hope this pleases you my readers or at the very least understand why I made these changes.  Again as always thank you for reading, and I look forward to your continued readership.

Quote Sic Semper Tyrannus

Sic Semper Tyrannus means thus unto the tyrants.  The quote was made famous by the John Wilkes Booth when he assassinated President Abraham Lincoln in Ford's theater.  He said this to make a statement as he thought that President Lincoln was a tyrant and that ultimately all tyrants die.   But let us quickly dissect this.  The fact that a tyrant is a person who seeks to control and manipulate others as they have some sort of power over others.  Lincoln did to an extent have power over others, but he gave up his war time powers and then some as he wanted the North and South to reconcile as family rather than the north controlling the lives of the defeated former Confederate States.  So Lincoln was not a tyrant in really any respect as tyrants do not give up power as they continually seek more.  Real tyrants are obviously dictators with secret police like Hitler, Stalin and Mao.  Others such as rapists and abusive husbands can also fall in this category as well.  For you see, they want the power of control, control of others.  However, that control is only gained when we are intimidated and fear them to the point that we are paralyzed and can do nothing against them.  But you only have control over yourself.  That personal control is something that you must hold onto or else you become a slave.  So do not become a slave to others.  Do not submit to tyrants and thus make them powerless.  That is the true way of resisting and ultimately removing a tyrant from power.


Here is one of the unnumbered with more to come usually on fridays if a topic or something of importance does not come up.  Hope you enjoy.

Issue 732 Cost of food December 10, 2015

Getting away from government and raising some awareness today.  In this case, some info on why food costs can be so high.

Cost of food:  Did you know (this info all come from National Geographic FYI) that in 2010 21% of food at the consumer level went uneaten according to the USDA.  This un-eaten food includes all edible foods, post-harvest, that is available for human consumption, but for whatever reason is not consumed.  So this un-eaten food is the rejected food at harvest because it is deemed ugly, or defective in some way, half eaten pasta at restaurants and even spoiled food like sour milk.  It is kind of wasteful if you consider it.  In fact it is very wasteful according to the numbers.  About 25% of fresh water is used on agriculture, water that we could be drinking.  Over 300 million barrels of oil is lost due to this waste.  It is 2.5% of the energy production in the U.S. that could have been used elsewhere.  Total costs financially is $115 million.  That is a lot of waste and that hurts us and the nation's economy here in the U.S.  But what can we do about it?  Simple, take home and eat your leftovers.  Learn ways to use every part of a butchered animal, fruit or vegetable.  Be able to take leftovers say from turkey dinner and be able to turn them into something else edible so it does not go to waste.  Even learning to turn sour milk into yogurt may help.  Buying produce that looks like some twisted alien will help as well as much of those ugly foods are simply thrown out.  This means less waste as a whole.  

Conclusion:  Food waste could possibly become a bigger and bigger issue.  That fresh water could potentially become very expensive with the fear of a coming food crisis (hence why people advocate eating bugs and the introduction of other exotic foods into the world's diet).  Oil we already know has issues with price and scarcity and wasting money on anything (non-essentials and things that do not make a person's quality of life improve) is a loser's way to poverty if left unchecked.  So maybe it is time we start looking at what we eat and how we eat differently.  Maybe we can "change the world" (sorry could not help myself with that old cliché).

Issue 731 Fixing Democracy 8 December 9, 2015

In the final edition of the fixing Democracy series (took me long enough) we discuss the final components of fixing our democracy and getting the corruption out.  So let us begin.

Property and Money:  The two final things that form the core of corruption is property and money.  In this case the government being able to take a person's land from them and using it for themselves or (unconstitutionally) giving said property to someone else, and money changing hands to supply subsidies to businesses.  In the case of property as per Amendment five of the United States Constitution, the line "nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." has been perverted.  For one, everything as a whole in that amendment stipulates that if land is to be taken it must be agreed to by the owner.  However, not only has the government ignored the wills of the owners to take property away, they have even gone beyond public use of that land and given it to private businesses or entities because the government feels that they can make better use of the land over the original owners.  It is for this corrupt reasoning that Thomas Jefferson did not want this as part of the Fifth Amendment.  He knew this corruption and deals (with stadium owners, land developers, etc.) would happen that would take the rights of people away.  As such, the takings clause "only" should be removed from the Fifth Amendment to stop such acts.

As to money (although property had a little to do with money as well), let us take it out of politics.  We all agree on that right?   Well, this means we have to eliminate the patronage of businesses, charities and other organizations outside of foreign and domestic governments.  What does this mean?  It means that only foreign (and domestic) governments would be able to receive money from the federal government and by de facto organizations representing them.  This means no more subsidies to oil companies, or ethanol companies.  No money would go to Planned Parenthood or to charities.  Literally, every organization, businesses, advocacy groups, charities, support groups, you name it, will not be able to legally receive a single penny from the federal government.  As such, lobbyists will have no incentives to lobby as the politicians can no longer line their bosses pockets.  This also means less big money going into elections as well save when a business or group finds that the candidates’ views align with theirs as opposed to the status quo of I help you get in, you owe me attitude.  So we will be taking a whole additional chunk of corruption out of politics by doing this.   All it takes however is a constitutional amendment.

Conclusion:  So both these solutions solve problems.  The bigger problem is getting people's support to get them to be constitutional amendments.  Why do we need people to like these two ideas?  That is because our milk is subsidized, our poor are given money by the federal government, and powerful people with lots of money have a larger amount of influence and access to our politicians.  Sucks doesn't it.  But that has not stopped people before and if we are prepared to practice what we preach, then be prepared for prices to go up in some places and perhaps down in others.  We can get the corruption out, but it takes time, patience and a little sacrifice.

Issue 730 Fixing Democracy 7 December 8, 2015

Now that I am back (somewhat) I can finish off the last two in the series of fixing democracy.  So let us continue.

Appointing Judges and Term Limits:  At current Supreme Court Judges are appointed by the President and ratified by the Senate.  This was meant to be a check on the system as the Senate represented the State Governments and not the people directly.  So it prevented the President from stacking the court in their favor with respect to issues of State sovereignty and people’s rights.  But now it is all about party politics.  Presidents use "litmus tests" to determine the most appointable judge that best represents their ideological viewpoints.   Kind of degrading to the nation isn't it?  As our supreme court is degraded into a tool of the Party Politics system.  So what can be done about this?  Simple, change the rules.

To eliminate this corruption via the political machine, you first have to eliminate the traditional method of appointing judges.  So rather than a president appointing them, they will be chosen via the same method one would choose a member of a jury.  In this case, standards would be set demanding that any judge who may serve must be a practicing lawyer, or judge with at least one year of service.  This eliminates people who have law degrees but have never been inside a courtroom (Justice Kagan being a prime example of a person who never saw time in court, but was appointed anyway).  So with that limitation we make sure people who actually know law and understand how it is implemented are the ones serving.  At this point the currently serving judges would look at the potential candidates and give their top 20 list from which the Senate would pick and ratify a number equal to the number of open positions on the Supreme Court.  If none of the candidates in the list make the cut, then the Supreme Court would provide another list eliminating the bottom candidates and adding new ones.  This process (like the current one) would continue until both sides are satisfied.  

Now, we do not want justices serving perpetually, and thus they will be limited to a maximum of three six year terms with a max total of 18 Judges.  As such, 1/3 of the judges will be changed or reappointed every two years.  This insures that potentially bad judges do not stay in office for an extended period of time (current judges serve as long as they please as they have no limits on the number of years served).  Additionally the number of judges needed to sit on any given case will be a minimum of three and a maximum of nine but the number must always be an odd number. This allows the judges to see multiple cases at once, but if a case should return to the Supreme Court for any reason, the judges from the previous case will not be allowed to sit on that case.  This prevents conflicts of interest. As such with this in place we eliminate judges not wanting to retire due to political reasons like ideology.

Conclusion:  By limiting the Court to choosing its own replacements with select criteria, we eliminate some of the party politics (partly because the lawyers and judges have a mindset that things can only be done within the law).  If combined with Issue 729's set criteria on reviewing a case, then we may have a judiciary that would never allow for something like Obama Care, or Kilo Versus New London ever again.

Remembering Pearl Harbor December 7, 2015

Not many people save history buffs will remember Pearl Harbor day.  It happened December 7th 1941 when the Japanese launched a surprise attack and was the catalyst that finally brought the United States into the war, World War II.  It is not like we were not already involved in the fighting beforehand.  The United States was already sending arms to the British and other forces fighting the Germans and the Japanese.  We lost territory to the Japanese in the Philippines, and our allies did too. But still, we stayed out of direct involvement due to President Roosevelt trying to avoid fighting until America was ready (contrary to his promise to keep us out of war).   As to whether we allowed the attacks to go through to galvanize the public, that is still and probably will remain speculation for who could believe that the government would purposefully allow an attack on U.S. territory (though today's politicians potentially may allow something like that).  So on this day, despite it potentially being an avoidable occurrence we remember Pearl Harbor day and the lives lost that would spur the American Giant to war.