The Rig is Dead!!!

Long live the RIG!!!!

Musings on a Friday Night...

Just got back to the ranch after pushing back a few Captain and Cokes with my Brother, and had some thoughts I figured I'd share. In these times where everything's not as shiny as it's painted to be, we still have to remember those that help us hold it all together. That said, I don't talk to my good friends and even some family near enough. Seriously, texting and all that bullshit doesn't even cut it anymore. You can text everyday, but after a year, if you see that person, you feel as if you've missed them forever. It just doesn't cut it.

I'm a sorry-assed communicator and I know it. To all of you that ever sat around a campfire, bar, show, couch, bike, or whatever with me and thought you were better for it, I not only miss you, but have a duty to let you know that I feel the same. I don't show it enough, and I let a lot of time go by where people wonder if I'm dead or whatever, but in the end, I truly do love you guys. Not in a prison sort of way, but you get the picture.

Months or years may go by, but I never forget the deeds done, or the gems passed down by my friends and fam. Every single one of you has had an impact in my life that helps me figure out more of who I am on a daily basis. I may be a loner at heart, and a wanderer in my soul, but I hope that you guys will realize that it's nothing against you. If anything, I wish I could bring all of you along for the ride. I'm truly hoping that in the coming months, I can spend the right kind of time with everyone, if even for only a few hours. Time to turn off the internet and get face to face.

You know who you are, because you'll sit there reading this saying to yourself that you "get it". You figured me out a long time ago. You're worth your weight in gold to the people around you and you should keep doing it all exactly the way you are. It means the world, absolutely. I only hope that I have been able to offer a fraction of what I've been handed back to you.

For the rest of you that don't get it, or think I'm full of shit... go die in a fire. You know who you are too.

There, I couldnl't let it all be nice and rosy could I?

See ya out there!

They're taking it all away from you while you sleep...

Proper FXR...

Rubber-mount, 81 c.i., five speed shovelhead? Yes, please.

How they looked in '83...

How this '83 looks today...

Goes under the knife shortly, but in all honesty, only a few cosmetic things are needed. Loose the signature "Colorado" bars and grips, all the "live to ride" B.S., and get a real carb on it. Even as it is, on the ride home it constantly told me to go faster.

Yes, I'm alive!

I just hate the internet right now. The mountains are too nice to let them stand around alone, so I'm outta here. Be back later.

HAHAHA!!! Priceless!

Just ran across this review for the Death Threat EP "Lost At Sea" that made me crack up -

"Dear Skinny Jeans,

This album is what the guy who just smacked you down and tongued your sister is listening to."

Priceless!

When Living in a Trailer...

Always have a stash of quarters for laundry...

Welcome to Sturgis, SD...

Just got the rig settled in Sturgis. Drove through a sea of chaps and do-rags to get here, but the campground is pretty cool. I'll keep ya posted on things as I figure out how to navigate around. If you're in the area and wanna pitch your tent alongside the rig, give me a shout. There's only about an acre of open space in my site!

Watch what you say... I mean, what you type!

Nabbed this off the 2012 patriot blog. Sometimes he gets a little over the top, but this one is spot on and should get you riled up more than a tiny bit.

Read it, then go learn about proxy servers and the magic of making yourself anonymous on the net.

You can see more at http://2012patriot.wordpress.com/2011/08/04/wh-pentagon-coming-for-you/

Government to Monitor Social Networks For “Extremist Propaganda”

New White House plan follows Pentagon advisory targeting protests against Federal Reserve

Paul Joseph Watson
Infowars.com

Thursday, August 4, 2011

A new strategy document released by the White House promises to “closely monitor…the Internet and social networking sites” in order to “counter online violent extremist propaganda” as the federal government attempts to embed itself further in local communities under the guise of preventing domestic extremism.

The document, Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism in the United States (PDF), focuses on identifying Americans who have supposedly been radicalized or groomed by Al-Qaeda to carry out attacks in the United States.

As the L.A. Times notes, the plan involves “federal departments not usually associated with national security,” and is heavily focused around increasing the federal government’s involvement with schools and the “emotional and behavioral development” of young people.

The document defines extremist propaganda as that which is used to “feed on grievances” and “assign blame.” The government vows to “aggressively” combat such ideology by “continuing to closely monitor the important role the internet and social networking sites play in advancing violent extremist narratives.”

In targeting the Internet and social networking websites for surveillance in the name of fighting domestic terrorism, the White House is continuing in the vein of the previous administration who in 2006 revealed that since 9/11 they had been pursuing a plan to diminish the role of “conspiracy theories” as a primary recruitment tool for terrorists.

The document arrives in the same week that the Pentagon also announced it would be hiring individuals to “detect and track popular ideas on social networks”.

Indeed, one such examples amidst many where the federal government monitored the Internet to counter “extremist propaganda” was before protests against the Federal Reserve in 2009 that took place across the United States. After the demonstrations were organized on social networks, the Pentagon released a “Force Protection Advisory” about “planned protests at all Federal Reserve Banks and office locations within the United States,” that was sent to Northcom and the FBI.

On November 22, 2008, Alex Jones led a rally at the Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas Texas. The Dallas protest is specifically mentioned in the official Army document.

Despite the White House document’s claim that, “opposition to government policy is neither illegal nor unpatriotic and does not make someone a violent extremist,” the Department of Homeland Security has gone out of its way to characterize adversaries of big government as potential domestic terrorists.

The MIAC Report, admist a deluge of other training documents released by state and federal authorities (or leaked by whistleblowers), equates Ron Paul supporters, libertarians, people who display bumper stickers, people who own gold, or even people who fly a U.S. flag with radical race hate groups and terrorists.

The MIAC report specifically describes supporters of presidential candidates Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin, and Bob Barr as “militia” influenced terrorists and instructs the Missouri police to be on the lookout for supporters displaying bumper stickers and other paraphernalia associated with the Constitutional, Campaign for Liberty, and Libertarian parties.

A recent DHS promotional video for its See Something, Say Something campaign also overwhelmingly portrayed white middle class Americans as the most likely terrorists. Bizarely, the vast majority of the people seen reporting them to authorities in the 10 minute clip were from ethnic minorities, a theme echoed in the introduction to the White House document which welcomes the “waves of immigrants” who have flocked to the United States.

There seems little doubt that the Obama administration is attempting to marginalize its most fervent critics by characterizing them as potentially violent extremists, to the point where Tea Party lawmakers are now being labeled as terrorists by New York Times writers as well as Vice-President Joe Biden.

Indeed, numerous Democratic strategists have subtly invited a domestic terror attack blamed on anti-government extremists that President Obama could exploit to rescue his sinking approval ratings.

Following Jared Lee Loughner’s shooting spree in Arizona back in January, Politico called on Obama to seize upon his “Oklahoma City moment,” adding that the attack presented a “critical opportunity” to “re-define the nation’s political debate,” a talking point endlessly repeated for weeks that merely became a euphemism for allowing Democrats to exploit the attack to silence critics of big government.

Oh the politics of it all!!

Here's a "dialogue" that just occurred on my buddy Darren's wonderful FB page. This is what I run into a lot these days. I think it's odd that so many people get angry when anything remotely political is brought up, immediately defaulting to "it doesn't matter" as an excuse to go on living vicariously through reality TV. Or, like this guy, stating their position and when they find resistance from people who like to think and debate, they just pull something like the race card and attempt to exit on their terms rather than continue the debate and actually defend their stance. Once something is said that they don't like, most people shut off and leave. Solves nothing.

This was in response to Darren posting an article about how some illegals are returning to Mexico due to an increase in the Mexican economy. Another person had posted "good riddance" as a response which brought about Bill's post -

Bill Mullinax - I am happy to see that Mexico's economy is improving, and that there are increasing opportunities for its citizens. However, I am not (and will never be) on the "good riddance" band-wagon. As this article points out, these are people who are here WORKING, whether it's in construction or the service industry or agriculture. To just say "good riddance" is not only cruel, but it doesn't take into mind that if they all leave, the next thing people will be complaining about is the high cost of produce, because "Joe American" will demand $25.00 per hour, retirement benefits, health care, and vision care to do the same job. Additionally, the only costs affiliated with undocumented immigrants is emergency medical care (which, as a humanitarian nation, I don't see what the issue is), and public education. These individuals DO NOT and CANNOT qualify for ANY OTHER public assistance programs, such as Welfare to Work benefits, or Nutritional Assistance programs (such as food stamps). I understand people's point (and I actually agree) that we need some type of comprehensive overhaul to our immigration policies, but I just try to keep in mind that these are HUMAN BEINGS. They are not all criminals, they are not "killing our economy". The hundreds of billions of dollars spent on bullshit wars, the billions of dollars in criminal mortgage lending practices, the billions of dollars in corporate bail-outs...THAT is what's killing our economy! We could feed, clothe, and educate every single undocumented immigrant with just the amount of money we are spending on these ridiculous wars and STILL have money left over. But that's just my two cents worth.

This brought about my post -

Jason Craze - Take off your blinders. They DO get entitlement payments like welfare due to the many loopholes in the system. As a matter of fact, in New York/New Jersey/PA, they can even reap the benefits of getting checks from ALL 3 states. I'm sure it's not limited to there. They DO get medical care which is not only "emergency", but every trip they take. And I love how you state that these are the "only" things they get, as if education and healthcare are cheap. Amazing how, when teaching jobs are in question, liberals argue about how much education should cost and how valuable it is. Oh, and what about uninsured motorist coverages that the rest of us pay? Last I checked, the bulk of illegals don't actually have licenses and drive with insurance. And how many are in the prison system right now? More than a few I think. I guess that's free too. We don't care if they are human beings or not. Last I checked, they either follow laws, or they don't. They broke the law. They are criminals. The laws may not be what they need to be, but last I checked, that does not give carte blanche to just break them until they are fixed. You seem to think that they will follow the laws of entitlement, yet they didn't have a problem breaking the immigration ones. I also love how you blatantly point out that you are really happy they are here, because it offers cheap produce. Perfect. I agree that it's superb that cheap workers allow us to make more and more disposable products so we can toss out over 2/3 of the food that is delivered to grocery stores just to make sure that it looks good to the buyers. How about value? Maybe if a tomato cost what it should, we wouldn't waste so much. And "Joe American" demands to be paid so he can actually pay for things like healthcare and retirement benefits rather than take them from the system without giving back like your friendly illegals. But I guess farm workers shouldn't be entitled to the same things as white collar workers right? They should be paid less to do the menial task of feeding the nation. Yes, the wars suck. Yes the bailouts suck. Yes, there are tons of other things that are wrong too, but to forget that this great nation was built on being a NATION of people who work together to achieve goals cannot be forgotten no matter which side of the political fence you sit on. If someone will not take time to become a citizen the correct way, no matter how hard that is, then they have no say and no rights. Why don't we focus on getting the home around us straightened up before tackling the world. 3rd world nations and their people should be of little concern to us until our own backyard is working as intended. Deport everyone that is here illegally and then fix the laws based on what AMERICANS want. If it is then decided to allow anyone and everyone to come here so we can provide for the universe, and that is achieved by popular vote, then so be it. I doubt you'd ever see that though. People will figure out how to pay to get cars washed, food bought, houses cleaned, and all the other wonderful things we've come to love as being so cheap due to low-cost labor. Do you support the Chinese system of child labor? It's exactly the same concept that illegals work under here, we just don't accept the blame for it. How about we create a system for them to become citizens and get paid fairly for the hard work they provide, rather than relying on it being low-cost forever? How about we get back to fair work for a fair wage and American products that hold value rather than deteriorate due to a "global economy" structure that only works toward universal mediocrity? One can only hope.

Was I angry? Not really, but I am SERIOUS about these things. Yes, I throw in some sarcasm to prove points, but I do take a hard look at what's told and respond / refute / rally around whatever I can. Bill simply responded with this -

Bill Mullinax - Can't/won't argue with hateful anger.

This is a shame. It shows that most people like Bill don't stand behind their convictions, which continues the problems we face. Nothing can be done when the arguments are broken down to things they aren't even about. Nothing was hateful about my response. I never said I "hate" anyone at all. In effect, I stated that I care quite a bit about Americans.

When I responded to Bill by stating that I wasn't hateful or angry, but just stating facts that he did not like, he simply had this to say -

Bill Mullinax -  Typical stereotyping and racial profiling, indeed. You expressed your opinion, Jason, and I have expressed mine. Cheers.

There's the famous race card and exit I spoke of. Race has nothing to do with any of this. I would not agree to letting an illegal European stay in this country just as I would not agree to let an illegal Mexican stay. People like Bill forget to pay attention and jump to their conclusions well before finding out the facts. There are facts in the world. We live in them every day. To put your blinders on and act like they aren't there or that they are sugar-coated and rosy, won't fix the things that are getting progressively worse around you.

I've said it before and I'll do so again right here - Planning for the worst, will leave you that much better off if only the best comes to pass.

Get off your collective asses and start thinking things through from start to finish. Don't puss out like Bill and figure that just by saying something, that everyone should believe you and go along for the ride. ARGUE! Work on it and don't be surprised if you're wrong. I'm constantly having to change my views, due to smarter people showing me lights that were previously left dark to me. Don't pick a side, because that side won't reflect the truth in all of its forms regardless of what it calls itself. Pick the truth. Hunt it down and wrangle it to the ground without mercy. Make it yours, and then go share it.

Hold your convictions close and be prepared to defend them even when you think the people you are defending against are filled with "hateful anger". If you are true to your beliefs, then you will benefit more by proving them wrong and lessening that anger than by walking away and allowing possible ignorance to spread like wildfire. Just saying that you have shared an opinion and throwing in the towel stands about as well as the old "agree to disagree" BS. It proves one thing - you are not worth paying attention to at all, because you don't stand behind your convictions unless everyone around agrees already. Where's the fun in that?