Nolan's Corner - Indiana

Steve Buyer Is Afraid To Debate

sneakin — Fri, 29 Sep 2006 11:07:02 -0700

In only a few weeks Hoosiers will be able to vote on who should be their representative in Washington, and the Hoosiers of the fourth district still haven't witnessed a debate between Steve Buyer, our current representative, and Dr. David Sanders, the Democratic challenger. Dr. Sanders has invited Mr. Buyer to hold a debate between the two so that the voters of the fourth district can make an informed decision this election. But Steve Buyer has not accepted Dr. Sanders' invitation for an open and honest debate.

A voter has to ask why would Mr. Buyer not be willing to debate? There could be one reason why he has refused to debate Dr. Sanders: he's afraid to face the facts and take responsibility for what he's done as chair of the Veterans' Affairs Committee.

As I've helped Dr. Sanders' campaign, I keep learning more and more about how Mr. Buyer, as chair of the Veterans' Affairs Committee, has done more harm than good to the Veterans of our great nation. Mr. Buyer has done such harm that nearly every veteran, minus Mr. Buyer himself, hates the job he's doing.

I learned quite a bit about the horrible job Mr. Buyer is doing this past Monday, September 25th, when former Senator Max Cleland spoke in support of Dr. Sanders. From what Senator Cleland stated: Mr. Buyer has continually refused to allow veterans' organizations created by Congress to testify before Congress, has failed to equip the VA with proper funding for the veterans that are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, and has continuously supported cuts to the benefits that we have promised our veterans.

Perhaps that's why Mr. Buyer has not accepted Dr. Sanders' invitation to a debate--he's afraid the truth will be known that he genuinely does not support our troops.

Letter to the Daily Journal About Smoking Bans

sneakin — Thu, 18 May 2006 02:00:02 -0700

Note: This was published a while back in the Daily Journal. John Auld, Jr. is the president of the Partnership for a Healthier Johnson County and had previously wrote a letter to the editor citing examples of how the definition of freedom has supposedly changed throughout time. His argument went through those examples, and then he took the leap that smoking bans are a new evolution of freedom. This is my reply:

John Auld, Jr. and the Partnership for a Healthier Johnson County have a single goal: to destroy Freedom. That should be apparent from the letter of his that was published on March 22nd. He employed one of the tools that all destroyers of Freedom have always used: redefining the word.

That's one of the observations of F.A. Hayek in his Road to Serfdom. He described the “new freedom” that the socialists of the early 20th century in Europe called for and achieved. Their “new freedom” was another name for the equal distribution of wealth, and not the definition known to the great apostles of political freedom: “...the word [freedom] meant freedom from coercion, freedom from the arbitrary power of other men, release from the ties which left the invidividual no choice but obedience to the orders of a superior to whom he was attached.”

I'll leave it to the historians to describe the affects of the “new freedom” that swept Europe in the early 20th century. I will state that it gave the National Socialists and Fascists of Europe the tools and intellectual climate to commit the atrocities for which they are remembered.

Mr. Auld isn't calling for the “new freedom” of the socialists, but the consequences of his “new freedom” would end with the same result. Mr. Auld wants to be free from the responsibility of his choices, of his consciousness, of his free will, of his liberty. He and his fellow crusaders want to forfeit their liberty to other men in the name of safety and security. They have cloaked their hatred for liberty under the guise of the right to clean air.

They argue that they have a right to clean air, and that it's a violation of their life if they're “forced” to eat or work at a smokey restaurant. Nevermind that they chose to stay when they were asked for smoking or non-smoking. Nevermind that Mr. Auld's Partnership's web site links to a directory of smoke free restaurants. Nevermind that the coercive force of government was not standing on call to ensure that they did not leave. Nevermind that I would also have the right to eat a meal in a smoke filled restaurant.

Yes! If people have a right to breath clean air out in public then I also have a right to breath smokey, carcinogen, tar filled air out in public as well. I was not forced to breath one or the other, until now.
The fundamental right that gives me that choice is liberty, and I had the liberty to determine what kind of air I wanted to breath. Apparently that responsibility was to great for Mr. Auld and his fellow crusaders.

They obviously do not possess the integrity to choose between clean air or a mouth watering steak at the local pub so they went running to our governments. The same governments that pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisble, with liberty and justice for all.

1 UP For Indiana

sneakin — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 21:44:33 -0800

Looks like Indiana is trying to restrict violent video games. I like how the proposed law would include good ole Super Mario Brothers, Donkey Kong, and practically every non-sport NES game:

...a violent video game is one wherein a character appears to "(A) kill; (B) dismember; (C) decapitate; (D) maim; (E) disfigure; (F) mutilate; (G) cause serious bodily harm to; or (H) rape" another character.

I guess that would include Mario killing Koopa, squashing (disfiguring/maiming) gumbas, loosing his mushroom power (serious bodily harm), and jumping up and down on the pricess (rape). I'd even include drug use with Mario ingesting flowers that are on fire and eating mushrooms that make you bigger and give you life.

Proper Foundation

sneakin — Sat, 28 May 2005 04:10:03 -0700

I just noticed a quote that's printed on the OpEd page of my local paper. The quote is from the original founder and says:

The Daily Journal is dedicated to community service, to defense of individual rights, and to providing those checks upon government which no constitution can ensure.

Scott Alexander, founding editor, 1963

That's something I was glad to know.

The Society

sneakin — Tue, 10 May 2005 12:17:22 -0700

In another effort to increase the ranks of pages I know and whoring out my blog, I also announce The Society. The Society is a band my two older brothers have formed with two of their friends. They currently have some songs they recorded the night this picture was taken:

The picture also contains their two vocalists. One is right above my upper arm, and the other is peeking up behind my bottle.

The Society also has a few shows lined up. They're listed at TheSociety.us along with some songs and some info.

Progressive Indiana

sneakin — Tue, 10 May 2005 12:12:09 -0700

I better make the announcement and the link for Google to find for Progressive Indiana. This is a site that I've been asked to setup and manage the tech. Its current mission is:

Progressive Indiana generates alternatives to the state-dominated media by publishing reports and opinions which inspire independent thinking; promote conscience action; and contribute to social, environmental and economic justice.

I still need to make a custom template for it, but it's already getting updated regularly with news Hoosiers need to know.

So go on over to ProgressiveIndiana.org.

Holding Out No Longer

sneakin — Sat, 30 Apr 2005 21:51:19 -0700

Indiana has finally passed a day-light savings bill. So we should be springing forward next year into the 21st...um...18th...um...ah hell! What time is it again?

Backwards Indiana

sneakin — Thu, 24 Feb 2005 23:25:53 -0800

This needs to be blogged to mark how backwards Indiana is. The two topics that law-makers are debating right now are (drum role please):

Day-light Savings Time
An amendment to outlaw gay marriage

I would vote Nay and who cares, lets get government out of marriage.

Winter Wonderland (I'm BLOGGING!)

sneakin — Thu, 23 Dec 2004 02:44:10 -0800

When I got up yesterday there was only a few inches of snow on the ground. It was actually pretty nice. I got a few laughs from watching my dog run around in it. He'd start putting is nose in it and would paw around for something. He'd look up with snow all over his face.

But it had to keep snowing. I went to the library and signed up with an ISP so I could be online at home. I got home and signed right on, and I've been online pretty much ever since.

I did go out after nine o'clock and shoveled some snow. I thought I would make a path to the garage, but that was in vain. I went out a couple of hours later to find that the sky and ground blended into one white mass colored a darkened orange, and my path was completely gone.

Since then it has snowed non-stop. There's now at least a foot of snow on the ground. I guess a weatherman some where predicted this. I sure didn't expect over a foot of snow to get dumped from the sky with two to three foot snow drifts.

I didn't realize the snow was that deep until I went to start my mom's car for her. The front door wouldn't open so I had to go out the back and walk through a two foot high snow drift in the drive way. I got her car started and went to get the snow shovel to clear off the porch so the door would open. Good thing the porch is covered, because that wasn't to hard. I then treked back through the snow drift to the garage to put the shovel back.

I let my dog out, and shoveled a little area by the back door. I decided to smoke a cigerate to celebrate my mild victory over nature in the hope of catching my breath. I decided to celebrate even more since I was feeling some pressure in my bladder. So I wrote my name in the snow as best I could.

I stubbed out the cigarrette when it was nearly at the filter in an ash tray in the garage that desperately needs to be emptied. I slammed the garage door shut, and headed towards the back door. My dog always dashes to the back door faster than I do and nearly slid into it. I came in and made myself a cup of coffee at six in the morning after being up all night. I hope that when I do go asleep and wake up that more snow has not fallen.

Finally Printed

sneakin — Mon, 12 Jul 2004 12:46:13 -0700

My letter to the editor finally got published. It can be seen in the July 12th, 2004 edition of the Daily Journal or here.

I guess I'm used to the instant gratification of the net with one or two day turnarounds.