New Hampshire Primary

So I was able to watch a little bit of the New Hampshire primaries Saturday where a number of the Republican candidates were able to participate in a town hall set up.  Here is my reaction.

I will have to say that the Republican field is very decent with respect to personal and economic freedoms (though they do not go as far as I'd like).  However I heard good things like regulation reforms, tax reforms and more.  However, none have really impressed me (from the ones I got to listen too) overall.  Though I can say that Jeb Bush probably did the best in the town halls (from those I got to listen too) and showed why he is a really decent candidate for President.  If it weren't for the fact that his last name was Bush and people are sick of dynasty Presidencies, he would probably be a frontrunner right now.  I was also impressed with Carly Fiorina where she willing answered every tough question and seemed to want them so that she could show that she could take it and also to be honest about her views including the legalization of drugs.  I also heard from a speaker from Pennsylvania I believe, but as far as I know he is not running despite having a lot to say on trade reform and fixing the Bureaucracy.  My dad was able to see Rubio and Christie and he liked them both and what they had to say, but I cannot comment beyond that for I did not see them.

Trump and Cruz were both absent from the Primary instead doing their own thing.   In this case Cruz accepted an endorsement from Glenn Beck, the spiritual leader of the Tea Party and the Owner of the Blaze network.  I was able to watch that live and needless to say Glenn Beck's intro was strong.  Cruz followed up with his acceptance of the endorsement by discussing how he was going to be a true conservative even on the campaign trail if he gets the nomination.  His reasoning was that everyone is conservative during the nomination process, but goes moderate in the general election.  Cruz promised not to do that and be real all the way through to the end.

Sadly I was not able to hear a literal peep out of Trump.  He did not receive coverage or I potentially missed him from the point I turned on the TV.  

Now we wait to see if anything these Candidates said will impact the upcoming debate on Fox News this Thursday.

Hope you enjoyed the snow storm (well I sure did cause it kept me in the house long enough to watch the primaries, something I did so yall don't have to lol).  See you all tomorrow.

A quote by David Bowie

In honor of David Bowie (actor, singer and more) I present a quote by him.

The truth is of course is that there is no journey. We are arriving and departing all at the same time.

What does this mean?  Simply put, David Bowie did not see life as a bunch of small journeys or even a big one.  Instead he saw life from a day to day perspective (at least this is the case if I am interpreting this correctly).  Basically, we all come and go and change ourselves all at the same time.  There is no real end goal or any treasure at the end, but instead it is what we take from life and leave behind in each waking moment of every day.  It is our choices that influence what happens to us and our potential.

Final Thought:  This means that Bowie saw life as something that is constantly changing and altering.  It is essentially chaos, and we simply try to make sense of it.  I disagree on the part of there being no journey, but I do agree that life is about hellos and goodbyes, and what comes of those hellos and goodbyes.

The Republican Debate: Reaction

So last Thursday there was another Republican Debate (another will be held in the coming weeks).  Here is my reaction to it.

Ben Carson:  While a very nice man, and most certainly smart, he does not come off as tough enough to handle Washington or ISIS.  He struggled to get his words out, which demonstrates that he is no politician, but he looked too soft.

Governor Christie: As usual he comes off as a member of the Sopranos cast.  He got the voice and the guile to crush his opposition.  However, he is out shown by Trump and he also seems abrasive.  To make matters worse he believes in global warming and a few other democratic ideals which makes him less liked to the conservatives who actually will be choosing the Republican Presidential Candidate.

Governor Jeb Bush:  Another good candidate who like Christie has some liberal views.  He is also too soft spoken like Carson.  However, he did speak clearly and showed his smarts, but he needs to put some more passion into his speeches otherwise he is out.

Governor Kasich:  All I heard was Ohio this and Ohio that from him.   Yes, he did a good job as Ohio governor and is a capable leader, but people do not want to hear about Ohio, they want what Trump is dishing out.

Senator Marco Rubio:  Another great contender, and he knows his way around washington.  However as a main contender next to Cruz and Trump, all I heard was attacks and no substance.  He performed better in the other debates when he talked about what he wants to try and accomplish.

Senator Ted Cruz: Cruz being the current front man was attacked from all sides.  He successfully fended off Trump with his accusations of not being able to run due to issues of him being born in Canada to American Parents, but fumbled in his comment on New York values (socially liberal values).  Also, Rubio attacked Cruzes voting record, to which Cruz used his time wisely to address some of the criticisms leaving the rest for the post debate interviews.  He proved why he is a debate champion and a Constitutional litigator.  At the moment, Cruz, for being the smartest when it comes to law and his understanding of Constitution is my main guy.

Donald Trump:  Still the biggest mouth in the room, he surprised us in the debate.  He went into some details on taxes which showed off that he's smarter than his hairdo and even said openly that Cruz was on his short list to be his Vice President,  Cruz responded that if he wins the nomination Trump is on his short list, to which Trump agreed to be his VP, which is assuming Trump was being honest.  Overall Trump pulled a good performance despite my distaste for his anger harnessing voting machine.

Final Thought:  Fox went the way of the other networks and asked questions based on popularity, but they allowed each candidate to say their peace.  As such, the debate went an extra 20 minutes which I liked.  However, I am sad to say my ideal candidate (Rand Paul) is relegated with Carly Fiorina to the pre-debate debate with candidates who are least likely to get the nomination.  I think overall this debate was one of the better ones and that the front runners are Trump, Cruz and Rubio.  Who the republicans end up choosing remains to be seen however.

M.I.C.E.

M.I.C.E is an acronym used by the intelligence community for the terms Money, Ideology, Coercion, and Ego.  It is usually used to describe how spies are recruited, but it can also describe how terrorists, gang members, and even businesses recruit people.  I may have talked about this M.I.C.E. before, but I will talk about it again due to its importance and application.

It is important to know why people are joining things like ISIS/ISIL.  In this instance most people will hear from politicians that it is due to the M in M.I.C.E., Money.  Sure, it is an excellent recruiting tool as many in the Middle East, Africa, and central Asia are generally impoverished compared to us Americans and Europeans.  However, they are not primarily joining for that.  People do not just die for money, especially young men and women who are willing to blow themselves up (this includes educated doctors in England, Military psychologists in Texas and college Students in Boston).  Instead it is the I in M.I.C.E., the ideology.  This Islam fascism existing within Islam, especially ISIS/ISIL, wants to cause as much havoc as possible to usher in the end of days.  They want world war three because they believe that it will summon the great Imam, and Jesus, who will force all to convert to Islam or they will die.  ISIS/ISIL wants an Islamic State that obeys Islamic law, or at least their own version of it that enslaves women, and makes all none Muslims lives worth nothing.  Additionally, they will try to use the C in M.I.C.E. to convert Christians to Islam, and Muslims who do not believe in the cause.  The C stands for Coercion, and in the case of converting peaceful Muslims and Christians they take everything they own to pressure them and then threaten their lives to either convert or die.  E for ego is also used, but this is used to reinforce the ideology of the ISIS members to say how great they are and flatter them into thinking that they are divine soldiers.  In doing this, it prevents people questioning the ideology and the leadership as they are basically receiving positive reinforcement for murdering others.

Final Thought:  I keep wondering why we are not doing more to counter the ideology, by presenting the ideology of other Muslims who preach peace and cooperation.  It makes no sense to me save that the ISIS/ISIL being politically and militarily useful.  The United States does not like Assad, and the current government of Syria, they do not like Hezbollah in Lebanon, and they need a proxy war with Russia who is allied with Syria.  It makes too much sense and is a repeat of the cold war (assuming that it actually ended, and we haven't just changed enemies instead).  Any case it is important to know and understand what is going on and I hope this helped.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Today we remember America's 20th century martyr Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  He is the one that lead the successful movement that enshrined the idea that despite your skin color we are all equal with respect to our natural God given rights.   This man preached love and succeeded with a message of nonviolence.  Let us remember this American hero and what he died for.

God Bless Dr. King and Thank You.

Quote: Don't Cry because it's over. Smile because it happened

 Don't Cry because it's over. Smile because it happened, by Dr. Seuss.  This quote is fairly simple, but packed full of meaning.  Basically, we are sad when things come to an end.  We fret about it, from simple things like a day with family, to the end of a marriage.  However, we should smile instead of cry.  We smile because the memories formed, the lessons learned and the happiness brought are more important than not experiencing the moment, or the time of your life.  Every moment matters and that makes life worth smiling about.

Final Thought:  I reflect on life a lot.  I want to see if I made mistakes (which I know I have done on occasion).  However, I find that wherever there is a mistake I made, a sorrow I experienced, I cannot find that I regret any of it.  In fact I smile because I avoid making that mistake once again.  I smile for the lessons learned and how ultimately my life is happier by having made those mistakes and experienced those sorrows.  It is then I reflect on all the happy memories I have experienced and know that life no matter how hard, how much we may have terrible luck can and is worth living.  So remember to smile always, for deep inside you there's happiness.

Republican Response to President Obama

It has kind of become tradition where the opposing party puts up someone to do an opposing speech to follow a President's State of the Union address.  In this case it is Republican Governor Nikki Haley of South Carolina.  Here is a rundown of what she said.

Starting off, she says basically that President Obama did not do as well as President as he claimed he did.  She cited the 18 trillion dollars in debt, shortages of doctors and that ISIS/ISIL and similar are a major threat implying that Obama is simply playing such threats down.  I tend to agree on these issues because the debt is so high that it can actually cause an economic collapse, and the issues with doctor shortages and other problems in the health industry are due partially as a result of Obama Care (the affordable care act).  Of course if you are a regular reader, you know already what I think of ISIS/ISIL.  Haley also addressed success made in her State and the tragedy and people's reactions to the Charleston Church shootings

In the next part, Governor Haley says Republicans are partially to blame for all the problems the government has caused.  Also she stated that she and fellow republicans know that the people are frustrated with government, its broken promises and the country's direction.

Next she addressed the immigration issue and the refugee issue at the same time.  She said that the country must not shut its doors, but it cannot accept refugees from Syria (due to the security concerns).  She did say that illegal immigration must cease and that legal immigration must take place without discrimination on religion.  Basically, if you want a person from Syria, then they have to become an official U.S. citizen and go through the normal process (at least that is what I got out of it).

Finally she said that with the coming elections Republicans will address a number of issues.  Those issues are lowering taxes, deregulation and tackling the debt all to improve the economy.  There will be education reform that will eschew the government and its interference and instead be built around parents, students and teachers.  Our military will be strengthened, Obama Care will end and the separation of powers as outlined by the Constitution will be respected (i.e. the use of executive orders by the President, potentially overreach by government agencies and possibly the legislating from the bench by the Supreme Court).  Finally, both the second amendment (right to bear arms) and the 10th (State's rights) will also be honored.

Final thought:  That is the speech in a nutshell.  If you are a Republican, or Conservative, then you really liked the speech (especially as Haley is a contender for the Republican vice Presidential spot).  For me as a libertarian though, the good part was the State's rights, 2nd amendment stuff and the part on restoring the separation of powers in government.  Everything else I just thought to myself, ok, how are the Republicans going to do any of this with a guy like Donald Trump if he gets the nomination.  As a matter of fact how will they get any of this accomplished period?  But that is me as a libertarian speaking.  Anyway, it was an ok speech that is suitable for an election year, I just hope that if the Republicans win, they can keep the promises they made here.