The Gulf Of…

Happy Saturday!

Many years ago I read an article in The New York Times Sunday Magazine section about how the losers in American politics, particularly at the Presidential level, had a more profound and lasting influence upon the political landscape than the actual winners. I remembered it because it had colourful cartoons of Eugene Debs, William Jennings Bryant, and Barry Goldwater, among others. It mentioned how the policies envisioned by these losers, and some spectacularly so, would come to be governmental policy. Social Security, the Income Tax, and the Conservative Movement all came from the three losers above.

This recollection was recently brought up to the front of my memory by a short clip I saw on Representative Dr. Ron Paul of Texas and how his influence is growing in the minority halls of Congress. The article cited was from The Liberator, an online newsletter, and was originally carried by the Washington Independent, an online newspaper. Written by David Weigel, it discusses the growing influence of this supposed very rear back bencher.

In 2008 Paul ran for the Republican Presidential nomination. After a scrappy battle-using the internet to raise vast sums, for a libertarian-where he was looked down upon by the news media in general, and Fox News in particular (Brit Hume thinks he is a nut job), he withdrew but his ideas started a prairie fire. He and his followers held a counter-convention in Minnesota during the Republican Convention and ended up endorsing the Constitutional Party candidate for President.

Known as “Dr. No” in the House, he has battled unconstitutional government during his two periods in Congress, punctuated by a run in 1988 as the Libertarian Party candidate for President. His main aim has been monetary policy and the Federal Reserves role in creating and maintaining inflationary monetary policy and a shadowy government’s bank. His candidacy caught the imagination of many, especially the young in the Republican Party.

Now, back in Congress, “from time to time,” he is holding lunches for Republican Congressfolk, serving them cold cuts and libertarian speakers. This influence is growing with Representatives Walter Jones (R-NC) and Michele Bachmann (R-MN). She was the one who famously asked Secretary Geithner where he received the Constitutional power to distribute the people’s money to banks and brokers (he could not and would not and did not answer her question).

At these lunches healthy portions of Austrian Economics are served. Austrian Economics is a radical free-market economics school of thought founded in the late 1800’s and countered much in Marxism, by Carl Menger and Eugene von Bohm-Bawerk. Its most well known thinkers are Drs. Von Hayek, von Mises, and Rothbard. I learned economics in high school under an “Austrian’s” tutelage and was glad of it, even though many have thought me crazed. Now, actually having one’s beliefs and arguments making the mainstream is exhilarating. But being against both Bush and Obama has been even more refreshing and principled.

I’ve supported Dr. Paul since his ’88 run because of his Austrian economic roots. He is now proposing a simple bill in the House, H.R. 1207, The Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009. The bill would require an audit of the FED to see how, when, where, and why they move our money around without Constitutional, Congressional, or even, Presidential say so. Trillions of our dollars are created out of thin air and then moved about without our say-and an invitation to hyper-inflation. This is a bill that calls for true transparency in government; they must explain what they are doing with our treasure (tax money).

So far he has 175 Republican co-sponsors for the bill and 13 Democrats. This could create a major floor fight, as the Speaker’s Office appears (at present) against it.

I have a simple question for Congresswoman Dahlkemper. Do you support H.R. 1207? If not, why not? So far my phone and e-mail attempts have failed to gain an answer. Maybe she could break a little bread with the good doctor and find out?

Dr. Paul could go down in history as another loser at the Presidential level who presented ideas whose time has come. Dr. Paul is for the Liberty as shown in the original interputation of the Constitution. If we want to make sure we retain those Rights we love, may be it is time to take responsibility and support more than just the First Amendment. They are draining away our rights, liberties, and fortunes for naked political power. Dr. Paul’s “loser’s” stand could be the beginning of the end for statest, big government and the return of Constitutional governance.

Make it a Great Day!

Happy Friday!

President Obama did his one-on-one with former Vice President Cheney yesterday. This column is not about that death match, but about two statements of Obama’s that truly paint him in his true light of the supreme hypocrite.

He made two statements yesterday; one that the Federal government shouldn’t react to, and use fear as the catalyst for action and second that we should obey the precepts of the Constitution. When I heard this, I could not believe my ears!

First, the Federal government has been reacting to and using fear to drive public policy for a very long time. In some form or other many Presidents and Congresses have used fear to drive public policy since the Republic’s founding. The Bush Administration’s fear mongering was nothing new. But to have Obama complain about fear mongering is incredible.

The Obama boys and girls have used fear since moment one. Fear of Recession, fear of bank collapse, fear of housing failures, fear of health care policies, fear of environmental destruction, and fear of poor education are just a short list of the fears that the Obamaites are using to drive public policy off a cliff.

A 1,000 page stimulus bill, that no one read, was passed with great speed and has proved to be not only a boondoggle, but a Democrat Party recruiting tool, and will not stimulate the economy anytime soon. Fear drove this bill. Fear also drove the bills Hank Paulson, former Secretary of the Treasury under Bush, had Congress pass on the various bailouts. Tim Geithner, the new Tres. Sec., continued the fear and passed even worse bills. We are now poised to pass a quick bill on more socialized medical care. President Obama slow down. Passing bad bills, even if from your ideology is not a good idea. What is the rush?

Fear the American People will wake up and see what his Administration’s ill conceived actions are doing to America.

Second statement; that we, as a nation, need to stand by the high ideals of the Constitution. Please, sir, you make-a-me laugh! Your Administration, has donned adamantine forged claws and shedded the Constitution worse than any other politician, President, or Congressmen in American History. You have given monies unconstitutionally to the various banks and brokerage houses. This has been one of the greatest transfers of wealth from the poor and middling people in our nation to those who are rich and connected.

You have made a mess of the auto industry, giving away the peoples’ treasure, firing men you had no authority over, breaking dealership contracts, giving monies to unions outside of the bankruptcy system,  and putting debt holders way down on the list of payees in a bankruptcy, out of the established legal order. And you a “Constitutional Lawyer”?! There are checks and balances in our government and economy. You are riding roughshod over those with great a plumb.

In housing you are encouraging the destruction of contract and trust. A market economy cannot exist without the trust that contracts will be honored. The new credit card bill will drive credit from the market instead of relieving people’s credit issues. What disasters are you planning next?

You are a hypocrite sir. A bald faced liar and hypocrite. I hope that Congresswoman Dahlkemper will begin to show some independence and smarts and start defending the Constitution and rending fear from our governmental policies.

Your Chief-of-Staff once famously said, “That you never let a crisis go to waste.” Here is the Obama legacy; using fear to propel bad, unconstitutional governmental action into law. You are using and creating crises for a massive extra-constitutional budget grab. To pay for it, you are going to hit the throttle on inflation into hyper-drive. Stop it! You hypocrite! Or worse.

Make it a Great Day!

Happy Wednesday!

It has been about a week since the public hearing on the Flagship Niagara and her ability to sail this season. It is no news that she will, with a lot of help from her friends. Her friends are now the Flagship Niagara League (FNL), which has taken on the responsibility of managing her.

The Commonwealth has abrogated its responsibility to the U.S. Brig Niagara, a creature of its own creation. For years the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission has been given flat budgets by the Commonwealth. While the Commonwealth went on a spending spree, the department that manages their precious historic sites was given little of this money-and in an inflationary age, really cut its funding. Another in a long line of bad budgetary decisions made by our boys and girls in Harrisburg.

That’s blood under the bridge however. We who love the Flagship now have to focus on raising enough money for her to continue to sail not just this year, but in perpetuity. This is a large task, for it forces the FNL to burst out of itself and involve the community more and reach outside to a larger network of people and institutions to raise the funds needed. We need to become a cross between a Williamsburg, Mystic Seaport, and Sturbridge Village. There’s a lot of work to do indeed.

But before we go out into the world to gather funding, we need to make sure that the locals are behind the project. Over the past week, I’ve gotten some feedback that is disconcerting. Many Erieites feel left out and excluded from the Niagara. They feel she is an exclusive club, to which they are not invited.

Some feel that taking away the locals ability to, “crawl over her any time,” has separated her from the people. That now only experts can be with her. Why support her, when the Flagship is a club they cannot belong to? The fact that this is further from the TRUTH doesn’t seem to matter. (My family and I were outsiders from Erie, who were welcomed in by the FNL and the Museum.) Many feel left out however, and vociferously so. So the FNL needs to reach out to all, locally, as well as nationally and internationally.

I think, if the lady is to continue to sail over the long course that she is going to have to be privatized or some sort of public-private partnership, without the Commonwealth, is the only way this is going to sail. And as in Texas Hold’em, we are going to have to go, all in!

What is meant by that is, we are going to have to expand the museum and the sailing program. We are going to have to develop a first class sailing program for local high schools, colleges, and institutions outside of this area. Build a second smaller ship that stays in port and gives short voyages around the bay. Create an Erie Village, a historic setting of Erie, similar to Williamsburg or Sturbridge, but on a smaller scale. Shipside outdoor theater presentations in the summer, as several locals have on Lincoln or Tecumseh or the Lost Colony. Jamestown is a good example of a smaller site. A festival each summer based around the Flagship alone could add to thge city’s summertime luster. All of these are ideas that could grow and mature into something great for Niagara and Erie.

We need to help the Niagara. So please join the League. Participate and volunteer where and how you can. Bring your joy and energy to this continuing project for Erie. And would someone put up a sign on Interstates 79 and 90 that say, “BIG SHIP THIS WAY! LOTS OF FUN!!

Make it a Great Day!

Happy Thursday! (Sorry hit the wrong button;))

I’m sure this has been around for years, but I read it today, for the first time, and laughed out loud and long. My wife e-mailed it to me, so…if you are the author, thank you and sorry for not siting your work. If it came from the Times-News, I’m sorry for reprinting, but I felt it should be shared, again. Thanks to all who are passing it around, it is good to laugh at ourselves.

Some things that could be added are;

You see Edinboro and dinor and don’t see the problem. (It’s the spellings)

That in Erie the verb “to be” and its varied uses is optional.

That’s all, enjoy! (Tomorrow, hopefully, some thoughts on local hotels)

Ø       For all those from Erie Pa and know that everything on this list is true
>
> You know you’re from Erie when…
>
> - ‘Pop’ has everything to do with beverages and nothing to do with your Dad.
>
> - Ox roast is a delicacy, and it doesn’t conjure up images of wagon trains.
>
> - You have three choices — Browns, Bills, or Steelers — end of list.
>
> - It is completely normal to see people you’ve known since kindergarten
> every weekend at the bars.
>
> - Perch is on the menu.
>
> - The local paper doesn’t cover anything beyond Buffalo or Cleveland.
>
> - If it’s not a Smith’s hot dog, I don’t want it.
>
> - (Boss - in) is a store, Boston is in Massachusetts.
>
> - You can get a beer for a quarter.
>
> - Any item on the menu may be covered in Greek sauce for an additional
> dollar.
>
> - You forgot what sunlight looks like.
>
> - You prefer overcast light.
>
> - You wear snow boots to work and keep an ice scraper in the car 10 months
> of the year, because you never know.
>
> - You don’t care to go to the Peninsula, but 100,000 people from Pittsburgh
> do.
>
> -You consider walking around the Millcreek Mall a totally viable option for
> a date
>
> -We think that sand at the beach is supposed to consist of rocks and
> pebbles.
>
> - You think that they ruined Frontier by taking out all the saplings before
> sled riding season.
>
> - You are 25 and still try to make it into the stream at Frontier.
>
> - You find having drive through beer distributors in every neighborhood as
> normal.
>
> - There is nothing wrong with having a corner bar on every other block.
>
> - You’ve never purchased beer in a convenience or grocery store
>
> -There are just as many Bars as there are Churches, if not more.
>
> - It is expected for Colleges and Schools to give St. Patrick’s Day Off.
>
> - Kegs and Eggs on St. Patrick’s Day is a family tradition.
>
> - 2 Feet of Snow does not mean a snow day.
>
> - Keg parties out on the tracks are normal occurrences.
>
> - A typical high school party involves more kegs than a party at Gannon.
>
> - Half of Gannon’s parties are attended by High Schoolers, who are
> disappointed at the parties.
>
> - Vacation means going south past Pittsburgh for the weekend.
>
> - You measure distance in hours.
>
> - You know several people who have hit deer more than once.
>
> - You often switch from “heat” to “A/C” in the same day and back again.
>
> - You can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard
> without flinching.
>
> - You see people wearing hunting clothes at social events.
>
> - You think of the major food groups as beer, fish and venison.
>
> - You carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriend knows how to use
> them.
>
> - You design your kid’s Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.
>
> - Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.
>
> - You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road
> construction.
>
> - You were unaware that there is a legal drinking age.
>
> - You go out to a fish fry every Friday.
>
> - You know how to polka.
>
> - Your 4th of the July picnic was moved indoors due to frost.
>
> - You have more miles on your snow blower than your car.
>
> - You find 0 degrees “a little chilly.”
>
> - Otters are a hockey team and Sea wolves play baseball.
>
> - Go fish means an art show.
>
> - Downsizing means your job shut down and moved somewhere else.
>
> - More people are unemployed than working.
>
> - You know peach jam is really a traffic problem.
>
> - You’ve been to an Eat n’ Park and experienced the glorious sensation of
> receiving a free smiley-face cookie however you’ve never actually eaten one.
>
> - Pizza, wings and beer are your favorite meal at home or eating out.
>
> -You know what pepperoni balls are and you buy some to take back to school
> with you.
>
> -You’ve actually been to a stag n drag.
>
> -You know what a radilight is and you know what to do when it goes off.
>
> -You are no longer surprised by the phrase “Erie County teacher arrested for
> corruption of minors/assaulting a student/having sex with student”
>
> -You know all the lyrics to the “Braendel Painting” jingle.
>
> -A Register is something that heat comes out of.
>
> - You picture two matching men- an old white guy and a younger black guy
> when you hear someone say “bicycle built for two”
>
> -You’ve been to a “Save-An-Eye” game
>
> -You say “It’s a horse a piece” and nobody knows what it means.
>
> -You have a pool table in your basement and you are on a bowling league.
>
> -You know it is your lucky day when you get all of the green lights on West
> 12th St.
>
> -You’ve even tried to leave and Erie just keeps sucking you back in…

The last one, well, that’s us globalerie.comer’s. Just tell me what, “It’s a horse apiece,” mean?

Make it a great day!

Happy Wednesday!

I was overjoyed to see that the Flagship Niagara-Pennsylvania’s Flagship and single ship in our navy, in addition to being the symbol, masthead, logo, and icon of so much that is Erie and Northwest Pennsylvania-is finally getting local support. I know times are tough, but the Commonwealth should be taking care of its creation and not just us mice up here-Yes, Arlen you’ll have to campaign in Erie next year.

But since the Commonwealth isn’t going to pay for the Flagship-the morons on the museum and historic places commission having seen to that-We the People have to step up and do the right thing. A sailing ship is a living creature, just like you or I, and needs constant care and maintenance and needs to be sailed just like you or I need to walk to keep our bodies in shape. It needs to sail! The Commonwealth knew this when it built it and needs to help fund it. But that’s just split milk over the falls, so WE pick up the slack.

Congrats to the Erie Yacht Club and Cathedral Prep for stepping up to help. The $30,000.00 raised last evening will go a long way toward paying for this sailing season and creating goodwill and a charitable disposition toward the Flagship. Having the Cathedral Prep help brings it to an entirely new level-for it involves our children and the future.

Having children from Prep participate in sailing Niagara is not only a supper support to the sailing program, but a way forward toward making education in this region truly unique. Already the Northeast School System has a maritime program where the students study maritime history and come to the museum as 1813 sailors to learn about the Brig, the War, and our past. Wouldn’t it be great if all high schools in the county offered courses similar to the Northeast and Prep program?

Actions such as Prep’s and Northeast’s program could initiate a real education as to Erie’s unique past and teach the students team work, individual initiative, and a sense as to what work and/or responsibility really is. Also, it would help pay for the ship’s sailing program, which she needs to survive and not rot on some dock. We tried that before and it didn’t work.

Could I ask the Commonwealth one thing? Can we put a few signs up ON I-90 and I-79 that say, “BIG SHIP THIS WAY! COME AND SEE!” ? My friend and fellow guide Eric has suggested this for years, but the Commonwealth seems unable to do this. This would definitely generate new monies, from new sources for the Flagship and the Commonwealth. Should the areas, arguably, biggest attraction have some highway signage? The state has handled this property terribly. Maybe a local attraction could add this to their highway adverts? Hello, Scott Enterprises and Waldameer.

WE have a working early 19^th Century warship that can teach and preserve the traditions and abilities of two centuries past. The state has squandered its use in good times and now in bad times is looking to escape its responsibilities for it. When times get good and this valuable piece of Pennsylvania tradition, property and education is rotting away on some miserable dock, will the PHMC and/or the Commonwealth realize what it has wasted? No, they’ll blame us, the citizens of Erie.

So to sum up; Hazzah, for the Erie Yacht Club, Cathedral Prep, and the Crew and volunteers of the Flagship, Brig, Niagara! Boo to the PMHC and the Commonwealth. It’s trite, but I have to say it, “Don’t give up the ship,” and, “we have met the enemy and he is us.”

Make it a Great Day!

Happy Monday!

This is more of a musing than an opinion or column. Where I grew up most of the judges were appointed rather than elected. It is a strange sight to me to see judges falling all over themselves to get my vote. You know its Spring when the lawn signs sprout up.

I was at a minor local fundraiser this past week. Two candidates for the open slot for a judge showed up. Kinda amazed me to see this. There were other local politicians there too, so maybe where money is being requested, for any purpose, politicians flock. They weren’t obnoxious or anything rude or bad, but to my brain it just seems odd to see judges hustling for our vote.

Maybe that’s a great idea.

The people who decide and operate the law must face the people who have to meet and live with their decisions. A little reality check time for the high and mighty.

I cannot vote in either primary as I am a Libertarian, and the GOP and Dems, rightfully, can restrict who votes in their primaries. However, the ballot access laws in the Commonwealth keep people from changing parties easily without certain penalties.

An example of this is the last GOP Presidential Primary. I wished to vote for Dr. Ron Paul so I changing my registration to Republican. After the election I was asked to run as a Libertarian for a certain office. Because I had voted in the Primary as a Republican I could not change parties now and run for that seat. I understand the reasoning behind this, as to prevent losers in a primary from running as an Independent or Third Party Man, but extending this to non-primary participants seems overly restrictive to me.

In these primary’s I wish to vote for my friend and former barber’s son. I have no great passion for his candidacy, but one helps one’s friends in any ethical way one can. But I fear that by changing my registration to Democrat, and then voting, I shall be restricted from further potential electoral action. So I stay a Libertarian, don’t vote, and am on the outside of this process. But, I wear his button on my jacket and talk him up if asked.

Two things I have gained from thinking about this. One, the press and Commonwealth need to educate the populace better on why and how we vote for judges. I am considered a fairly well educated man and I do not understand all the permutations and reasoning behind what we do.

Second, we need a complete review of our ballot access laws. These are biased and supportive of the parties in power and their office holders and not freedom of electoral action.  I spoke with a local state rep and (s )he agreed with me that the system needs an overhaul. This would never happen, however, as the two parties have a hold on this system and gain from it. And (s)he’s not going to stick her/his neck out for this cause. It is a non-starter. There’s an old expression that the winners in any society or situation make the rules that only benefit them. Pennsylvania’s election laws are a prefect example of that. Only the Democrats and Republicans gain from these laws, not the voters or the people.

So vote, if you can, for your favorite judicial candidate. Read up on them and this system. And vote for the ones who will make Pennsylvania a more reasoned and lawful Commonwealth. It’s a musing.

Make it a Great Day!

Happy Wednesday!

(Truth in ranting-I am not a Republican nor Democrat, but a Libertarian. I was a Republican until ’91 when Bush, the Elder drove me out. It is this kind of stunt that makes me truly hate all politicians.)

Cowardice.

Cowardice is what Senator Specter’s transfer of allegiance from the Republicans to the Democrats is. Pure and simple cowardice. It was a base political calculation and nothing more to save his own political hide.

The man has been there for five terms, is almost 80, and thinks that the State and Country cannot run without him. PLEASE! Why is it that, pardon my French, old Congressional farts believe that the world can’t get along without them till they die? If this man isn’t the poster child for term limits I do not know who is. (Well, maybe Teddy Kennedy and Strum Thurman, Kathy Dahlkemper-just to see if you were watching.)

An honorable man would have resigned and then run against whoever was there in November of ’10. Honorable Senators and Congressmen have done that in the past, but not this Senator. He is too interested in personal political preservation and power than to do the right thing.

We are faced with a President and political party that are grabbing for political and governmental power that you see generally only once or twice in a century. Under President Obama the Federal government is expanding way beyond Constitutional and fiscal limits ever dreamed of by any politicians. We do not need a Senate that cannot be held back by minority objections. With this Benedictarnoldian betrayal the Democrats can steamroll everything thru and no voices of sanity or the minority can even slow them down.

We need a strong minority in the Senate to help cool down the House and an aggressive Senate. With his move to the left, Arlen, has just taken away any ability for sanity in Congress. Thank you Arlen, “…at least you won’t have to campaign in Erie anymore.”

Senator Specter is a coward and should resign, now! For years he’s been called a RINO (Republican In Name Only) and yesterday he proved his detractors correct.

Come November ’10, vote against Specter, just on principal.

Make it a Great Day!

Happy Monday!

(Like the old P.B.S. series, Connections, I am going to start at one place and end in another that seem, unrelated. It is a jumble, but there is good in between the land mines.)

After Thomas Jefferson became President he decided to drastically change American Foreign Policy. Washington and Adams policy toward the problem of piratical operations in the Atlantic and Mediterranean had been to pay off the brigands. Almost half of our Federal budget went to pay tribute to the four Barbary States of Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli. Jefferson changed it to armed resistance then war. For all you Trek fans, the first successful American action against the Tripolian pirates was won by the U.S.S. Enterprise.

Jefferson’s policy came to be, coined by a Congressman at the time, I believe, “Millions for defense, not one dime for tribute.” He built a fleet to protect American trans-Atlantic and Mediterranean trade. The U.S. basically fought a 15 plus year war to bring these piratical states to heel. What were the lessons learned during that war that can help us today.

One is training. The United States Navy really broke its teeth learning to fight pirates, launch amphibious assaults, and build the types of ships necessary to battle those foes. Perry, Elliott, and Lawrence, all names famous in the War of 1812 learned how to fight a ship and lead men during the Barbary Coast Wars. We now need to take all the training that our navel service has learned in its 230 plus years of service and tactics against this new African Pirate threat.

I’m a guide on the U.S. Brig Niagara and the guide crew often discuss, debate, and exchange ideas and knowledge about a plethora of subjects. One friend and guide told me recently about why it is so difficult to catch these pirates around the Horn of Africa and Western Indian Ocean. He related to me the story of three German ships during WWII that bedeviled the British and Allied Navies and the shipping lanes passing through these waters.

In English, the Seagull, the Cormorant, and the Pelican, were the German raiders, Hilfskreuzer, assigned by Berlin, to cripple Allied shipping. These raiders, operating in the same waters as the Somali Pirates today, were able to surprise Allied cargo and grow their fleet. In addition to arms and sailors, these ships had scrap metal, welders, and extra guns. Once an Allied cargo ship was captured it was refitted to become a new German raider and increase the German Fleet.

The Brits couldn’t catch these ships for many years. Disguised as merchant shipping they preyed upon the war effort. The size of the area also helped disguise and hide these raiders. I hope that the powers that be at the Pentagon and Annapolis are training our men and developing tactics to counter these pirates, based upon not only today’s situation, but the experience of these German raiders and countering them.

The Somali Pirates use differing tactics today, but can spend months at sea away from base, like the Germans, hide in plain site in the vastness of this ocean, and don’t necessarily appear to be raiders at first sight. The answer, one way or another, is to make these merchant ships and tankers too expensive to attack and capture. Arming these vessels, armed decoy ships, and attacking the Somali ports that are home to these brigands are some of the tactics that can be used to end this threat to international commerce. (And in the thinking the unthinkable department, in another general world war, these waters are going to become vital to oil supplies reaching the “west” from Arabia. I’m sure potential enemies of the U.S. are observing the pirates tactics and systems of attack and storing that knowledge away for later use. Also, our response to these attacks.)

Battling Barbary Pirates helped us win the navel war with Britain in 1812. Learning how to defeat the German Raiders in WWII could help us defeat the Somali Pirates now. And learning how to control and patrol these waters now could help us defeat or prevent defeat in the next general conflict between nations.

Erie has a unique situation. We have a maritime museum in town that explores the era of square-rigged sailing, the War of 1812 (whose officers had learned their craft fighting pirates), captains and crew that know not only a by-gone era, but the ramifications for today, and knowledgeable guides, who can take you into different times. If I can modestly boast, we are the second biggest treasure Erie has after the Isle.

So what I am saying in this jumble? Support the Flagship Niagara. Visit and start to learn of that by-gone time. Mine the intellectual treasures we have there. Then turn that knowledge to today’s maritime and international issues. Keep the Niagara sailing with your support. It is a living, breathing creature, whose friends want to bring our past to life for our own future understanding of international maritime issues.

Make it a Great Day!

Happy Thursday!

Yesterday’s Tax Day Tea Party was a great success for Americans and Erie. Patriotic Americans had the opportunity to speak their peace, network with like minded citizens, and exercise their natural right of free speech, listed in the First Amendment. The right to yell their objections to at omnipotent state that each day alienates them more and more and considers them reactionary extremists and lackeys of the ultra-conservative super-rich.. I saw none of them, there, yesterday.

I noticed the local outlets of the major media doing a mediocre job covering the event, but that seems to be par for the course in Erie, Pennsylvania. 500 people show up, cram themselves into BrewErie and it’s a yawner for the electronic media. Oh, well.

Most of the speakers were good and forthright. It was a good start to a movement that will hopefully either reconfigure or replace the two major parties. Personally I’d like to see a Libertarian/Constitutionalist Alliance vs. The Greens, a pipe dream, but at least we’d have honest debate on the major issues of today.

The two speakers that I thought weren’t much good were the politicians running for office. Gentlemen, you need to bring your “A” Game when addressing such a crowd and worry more about principles than politicking. Remember a politician comes from the Greek; Poli, meaning many, tic-a blood sucking parasite. They really sucked the air from the hall.

As good as the others were, and they were very good, we are all missing the two basic problems behind all our troubles; unconstitutional government and laws and inflation. Since at least 1913 our Federal office holders have felt themselves more and more superior to our Constitution, a document put together by some of the best human minds ever assembled for such a purpose.

It is our rule book. In any game you don’t in the middle of it have one player change the rules to suit himself and call it fair or the same game. A pair of two’s does not suddenly beat a Royal Flush. Well, Wilson, FDR, LBJ, Nixon, the Bushs’, Clinton, and now President Obama have all decided they could change various rules in the Constitution and call it America. Congress is to blame also. All have put political gain ahead of our Constitution and its protections to the individual citizen. We cannot live this way and call it a free republic.

Inflation is the slayer of nations and empires. It rots the state and nation from within; destroying morality, wealth, and the work ethic in its wake. Inflation is a creation of governments most times, with irredeemable paper money.

Nixon began this destruction in ’71 when the last vestiges of the gold standard were unceremoniously destroyed. The chaos of the 1970’s came primarily from that stupid act. The gold standard is a check and balance against the power of the state to print money wildly to reward its friends. Well, look at Obama and Bush rewarding their banker and broker friends with our money, reducing its purchasing power and allowing them to profit at our short and long term expense.

Our money is sick and it will take some time to cure it, but if we don’t stop inflation we are headed to hyperinflation a la Germany in 1922 and to a Hitler like individual in 1933. A dictator. As sure as God made little green apples, inflation leads to dictatorship and the modern version isn’t pretty.

So good start Tea Partyers, but unless we push Dahlkemper, Casey, Spencer, and Obama to stop inflation and obey the Constitution we are all sunk. But we have a start to returning our America to Constitutional (and honest money) order.

Make it a Great Day and America!