another storm on the coast

As my sister and I spent an evening at the beach, this storm rolled in.

I Hate Big Government

A government big enough to supply everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have... The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases.
-Thomas Jefferson

The two enemies of the people are criminals and government, so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first.
-Thomas Jefferson

The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.

Now I'm off to a TEA party at the capitol! Happy Tax Day.

Thai Peanut Stir-Fry

Since my brother-in-law is part Thai, my sister makes an abundance of Asian food. When I visited them last, she made this mouth-watering dish- Thai peanut stir-fry. All it requires is stir-fry with peanut butter mixed in. Put the stir-fry on top of a bowl of rice and add chopped peanuts to garnish it off. We put them in white, square bowls and ate it with chopsticks!
Delicious!

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."
-Abraham Lincoln

A Campaign Begins Today

by Mitt Romney

America has just witnessed an unconscionable abuse of power. President Obama has betrayed his oath to the nation-- rather than bringing us together, ushering in a new kind of politics, and rising above raw partisanship, he had succumbed to the lowest denominator of incumbent power: justifying the means by extolling the ends. He promised better; we deserved better.

He calls his accomplishment "historic"-- in this he is correct, although not for the reason he intends. Rather, it is an historic usurpation of the legislative process-- he unleashed the nuclear option, enlisted not a single Republican vote in either chamber, bribed reluctant members of his own party, paid-off his union backers, scapegoated insurers, and justified his act with political landscape is not good for our country; in the words of an ancient maxim, "what starts twisted, ends twisted."

His health-care bill is unhealthy for America. It raises taxes, slashes the more private side of Medicare, installs price controls, and puts a new federal bureaucracy in charge of health care. It will create a new entitlement even as the ones we already have are bankrupt. For these reasons and more, the act should be repealed. That campaign begins today.

America Under Snow

See the snow covered river with the ice floating on it? I had never seen anything like that before!

Much the Same as It Was

This is my comparison-and-contrast essay I turned in for English class.

Although Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama's presidencies are separated by almost three decades and their childhoods couldn't have been more different, both of their administrations have suffered from similar dilemmas.

Jimmy Carter was born in Georgia and grew up in a traditional family on a farm. From the time he was a young man, Carter wanted to attend naval academy. In 1946, he graduated from the United States Naval Academy, serving in the Navy until his resignation in '53. That same year he moved his family back to Georgia, heading up his family's peanut farm. Taking interest in politics, Carter became a state senator, and, in '70, was elected governor of GA for one term. During his governorship, he had a dream to run for president. In '76 he was nominated for president on the democrat ticket, winning the election.

Barack Obama was born in Hawaii to a white American mother and a black father from Kenya. When Obama was two years old, his parents divorced. His mother remarried and Obama moved with his mom and step dad to Indonesia. By the time he was in 5th grade, Obama moved back to Honolulu to live with his mother's parents. Attending college he majored in political science and went on to Harvard Law School, becoming a civil rights lawyer. He later became a community organizer, a state senator in Illinois, and then a U.S. senator. In 2008 he was nominated for president on the democrat ticket. On November 4th 2008, Obama was elected as the first black president of the United States.

Carter's presidency was marred by stagflation which is high inflation coupled with high unemployment. During his presidency, unemployment was at 7.5 percent and inflation was at a whapping 12-13 percent! Like Carter, Obama has been dealing with major unemployment. Obama promised that unemployment would not exceed 10 percent if his stimulus package passed, which it did. Now, unemployment is well over 10 percent. Obama does contrast Carter in that, at the moment, inflation is relatively low.

Carter was a colorless and humorless speaker. Obama on the other hand is a motivational speaker. He learned the method of agitation- making people angry enough to do something about a certain situation. Fortunately, he lacks real humor and tends to elaborate on one subject too long.

Carter claimed to be a born-again Christian whereas nobody is quite sure what faith Obama truly follows. Obama's father was Muslim and while on an ABC interview, Obama said "my Muslim faith". While speaking in Cairo, he also referred to the Koran 4 times as the "Holy Koran". Normally, only Muslims refer to the Koran as "holy". He contradicted himself during an interview on Larry King Live saying he was not Muslim but Christian.

While Obama and Carter's presidencies have great differences but suffer some of the same flaws, we can hope that Obama will follow Carter's precedence in being a one term president.

A Rainy Day at the Coast