Sunnyside Council Inspired By Wrong “Footloose” Characters

July 12, 2009 by

The Sunnyside City Council is again taking up the idea of a moratorium, considering public input on a ban on caberet licenses that would facilitate dancing within the city limits.

Footloose Movie Poster

This reminds me of the 1984 movie “Footloose”, where a small western town banned certain types of music and dancing.  Kevin Bacon’s character leads opposition to the city’s ordinance, and in the end people are having fun and dancing to a best-selling soundtrack album.  Our Council should seek inspiration from those with spirit, and not seek to repress its townspeople.

The issues in Sunnyside do not seem to be inspired by religious zealotry, but have more to do with a general effort to “keep the peace” for those that like it quiet.  As someone who would rather stay at home and read a book than go out to a club or party, I can relate to that.  However, I also would like my friends and neighbors to be able to enjoy activities they find pleasurable as well.

Elvis doing the jailhouse rock!

Using the force of government to stamp out other people’s entertainment choices is an abuse.  This takes freedom away from others.  It is not morally right to put a blanket moratorium across the entire city because you personally don’t enjoy dancing.  Our City Council Members should consider that we have a diverse mix of people in our town, that enjoy a wide variety of activities.

At the same time, however, it is necessary for everyone to respect each other.  Feel free to dance the night away, but if the music is disturbing your neighbor, then you are taking away the freedom of your neighbor to enjoy some quiet time.

Instead of banning dancing in Sunnyside, we should consider how to address the issues that affect people.  The dancing is not what disturbs people.  Loud music playing late into the night is.  The Council should consider crafting a noise ordinance with escalating penalties to send a message that disturbing your neighbors will not be tolerated.

The Council can revise and update requirements for a caberet license and hold property owners responsible for what takes place at a dance hall they rent out.  If people police themselves, it would be better for all concerned.  This does not require a ban on dancing from the City Council.

You have a right to do what you want, as long as it does not infringe on the rights of others.  Banning dancing in the entire city is overkill.  The Council should focus on the real problems.  End the moratorium, but keep working to address the actual issues.

Filed under Freedom Issues, Sunnyside Council, Uncategorized Tagged with , , ,

Obama Will Be A One Term President

July 9, 2009 by 1 Comment

Prediction: Obama will be a one term President.

According to Rasmussen Reports Obama’s approval rating is down to 51% (his lowest yet) and continuing to fall.  New jobless numbers are not helping him.

His gaff prone VP Joe Biden recently said that they “misjudged” the employment situation in the economy.  Really?  You mean the government stimulus and takeover of private industry is not having the outcome you thought it would?

On the other hand, some purist kool-aid drinkers are still in denial and saying we should allow more time for all the economic wizardry to work.  Right!  We should just have government continue to take over private industry (healthcare) and tax our very act of breathing (carbon tax), destroy our standard of living, and expect things will get better?

For freedom loving Americans, the prospect of Federal home inspectors coming into our houses without a warrant to check the energy efficiency of our windows is just a bit too much!  4th amendment anyone?

Another bill that will take away freedom of Americans if passed is HR 45.  It would require EVERY individual to have a FEDERAL firearms license in order to buy or sell a firearm!  This bill and others like it are attempts at gun control.  How many people with guns have a FEDERAL firearms license?  Not very many.  2nd amendment anyone?   What part of “shall not be infringed” do Obama and Congress not understand?

U.S. News and World Report is now reporting that Obama’s aids are saying that a second stimulus “might eventually be needed”.  Let’s see, the first stimulus was passed with Nancy Pelosi saying we would lose 500 million jobs if it did not become law!

We now have unemployment nearing double digits.  Some say we could add 5-10% to the unemployment figure if we don’t count newly created government jobs, and also the number of people looking for jobs that have accepted part-time employment.  That means the true unemployment figure could be as high as 15-20%.  What’s more disconcerting, is that the jobless numbers continue to increase!

Our recession will be more like the “Great Depression” the more the government tries to manipulate markets.  However, just like Mikhail Gorbachev, Obama and Congress seem hell-bent on maintaining this suicidal course.  Gorbachev was the last President of the Soviet Union.  He knew his country’s economy was bad.  However, he felt that if they just implemented the right kind of government reforms and programs they could fix it.  He was wrong.  His country collapsed, totally.

We know from history that government run centrally planned economies don’t work.  We also know, from our own history, that a free market capitalism can bring prosperity to our people.

I predict the expansion of government and accompanying efforts to take away American freedoms will drive Obama out of office at the end of his first term.  Time will tell…

Filed under Economy, Freedom Issues, President Obama, Traditional Values, Uncategorized Tagged with , , , , , , , , , ,

You Have Been Spotted!!

July 6, 2009 by 4 Comments

I got this in my e-mail and just had to share it here :)

You have been spotted!!

Filed under President Obama, Uncategorized Tagged with , , ,

New Transformers Movie Is Both Good And Disappointing

July 6, 2009 by 2 Comments

Yes, that’s right!  The new Transformers movie is both good and disappointing!  It is a great example of big budget blockbuster movies that typically get released during the summer months.  It has lots of action, great special effects, and as an added plus: generally decent acting.

I have been a fan of Transformers since the 1980′s when I would watch the cartoon series on TV.  I even had a few of the toys produced.  Since then, there have been spin-off series produced, which never quite matched the popularity of the original.

Now, we are treated to the live action Transformers movie franchise.  This sequel, subtitled “Revenge of the Fallen” is heavy on the action.  The movie keeps a quick pace all the way through until the end.  It has humor interjected, and not just from the human characters.  Wise-cracking robots also provide comic relief.

On the flip side, I am also disappointed in the new Transformers movie.

***SPOILER ALERT***

The movie was enjoyable for me to watch, but not something I would want to take my small children to see.  The off-color sexual jokes, and even the drug humor, are not what I want my four year old to see.

Yes, that’s right: drug humor!  In one scene, the mother is eating brownies made with marijuana, seemingly oblivious to what she is consuming.

There are some sexual references made in the new movie as well.  The main character, Sam, is starting college, so the movie makers seemed to take free license with interjecting lots of crude “Animal House” type of material.  There is even a “make out” scene with a beautiful woman, which turns out to be a killer robot.  This seems an awful lot like Terminator, and not Transformers, but o.k.

In another scene, a pair of robots called “The Twins” form an ice cream truck, with the bumper sticker saying “Suck My Popsicle” on the side.  It’s funny, but not age appropriate, in my opinion.

Why am I making a fuss over the content of the movie?  Because Transformers has been oriented towards children from its inception.  There is a new line of toys in local stores, based on the new PG-13 movie.

As much as I like the movie on a personal level, (and yes, even the South Park style humor), I am disappointed as a parent, that it was not made in a more family friendly manner.

I suspect many movie theater operators are also wishing it had been made more family friendly as well.  They make more on concession sales when both parents and children go to the shows.

Having said all that, it is a good movie overall.  Older children and adults will like it.  As for me, I would recommend keeping the little ones at home.

Filed under movies, Traditional Values, Uncategorized Tagged with , , , , ,

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776

July 4, 2009 by 2 Comments

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

This is how the Declaration of Independence starts.  This is the pivotal event that marks the reason for celebration today.  The signers of this document pledged more than just their signatures to this document.  By signing it, they pledged their entire lives and property to their beliefs.

By their willingness to give everything they had for their values, a new nation was born.

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

The crafting of this document was not like circulating a petition, or signing on for a voter initiative in modern society.  The signers of the Declaration were openly and defiantly challenging the government of their day, and declaring that their rights were not granted from their government, but derived from Natural Law.  Our rights are God-given.

Does revolutionary blood course through your veins?  Do you believe, as I do, that men (and women) have rights by virtue of their Creator, and that these rights exist whether written down in documents like the Declaration, or the Bill of Rights, or not?

As we sit back with our beverage of choice, enjoying barbecue, or a fireworks show, please join me in thanking our fore-fathers for giving us our separate and equal station among all the peoples of the world.

God Bless America!

Reference:

The National Archives: The Declaration of Independence

 

Filed under Constitutional Issues, Freedom Issues, Traditional Values, Uncategorized Tagged with , , , , ,

FEMA Tells Monroe, WA Mobile Home Residents To Move

July 1, 2009 by

Just a couple of quick notes here:

  • If you choose to live in a flood plain, that is a bad decision on your part.  Why do you expect the U.S. taxpayer to pay for your bad decisions?
  • We have spider-web like planning commissions, boundary-review boards, boards of adjustment, zoning ordinances, permitting procedures, and other bureaucratic hoops to jump through to before ever building any type of home at city, county, and state levels of government.  How do homes ever get built in a flood plain to begin with?
  • Why do local governments expect a Federal agency to come to their aid, after allowing homes to be built in a flood plain?

About 100 people live in a mobile home park on the Snohomish River in Monroe.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency is telling them they need to move.  The mobile homes are in an area that floods EVERY year.

Developers should exercise some responsibility and not build in flood prone areas.  The local government has a responsibility to exercise some common sense before allowing said developers to build in flood prone areas.

Why in the world is the United States Government involved in what is clearly a LOCAL issue???

Folks, we don’t need Uncle Sam to take care of us.  Given FEMA’s track record on emergency response, why would anyone want their assistance?

We can make decisions for ourselves.  If we make bad decisions, we should not expect someone else’s tax dollars to pay for our mistakes.  We need to take responsibility for our own personal decisions, as well as our own local government decisions.

The federal government offers flood insurance to people who choose to live in flood plains, as well as those that live in beachfront homes.  Those people should live with the consequences of their decisions, and not expect a government bailout.  There is a reason why the private flood insurance companies would not write policies in these areas.  The government takeover of flood insurance is not justified as a response.  Also, as these Monroe residents are finding out, a helping hand is also a controlling hand.

The founding fathers did not want this type of centralized government control over the everyday lives of individual Americans.  Where you choose to live is your personal choice.  At most, local government, if necessary, can regulate development within its jurisdictions.

We can and should make decisions on development at a local level.  We don’t need FEMA, HUD, FAA, EPA, Department of the Interior, Department of Agriculture, Transportation, Commerce, Department of Education, or Homeland Security approval for development decisions.

Reference:

The Seattle Times: FEMA: Monroe mobile homes in flood plain must go

Filed under Constitutional Issues, Freedom Issues, Traditional Values, Uncategorized Tagged with , , , , , ,

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