Andorra. Australia. Austria. Bahamas. Barbados. Belgium. Canada. Cape Verde. Chile. Costa Rica. Cyprus. Czech Republic. Denmark. Dominica. Estonia. Finland. France. Germany. Hungary. Iceland. Ireland. Italy. Kiribati. Liechtenstein. Lithuania. Luxembourg. Malta. Marshall Islands. Micronesia. Nauru. Netherlands. New Zealand. Norway. Palau. Poland. Portugal. Saint Kitts and Nevis. Saint Lucia. San Marino. Slovakia. Slovenia. Spain. Sweden. Switzerland. Tuvalu. United Kingdom. United States. Uruguay.

No, this isn’t a geography quiz. It’s a list of countries that, according to Freedom House, scored the maximum score in the 2008 Freedom of the World report. The US and 47 other countries share this honor - which makes me think that there’s got to be a better way to differentiate the “most free” from the “free.” But that’s another topic.

I post this list because, although the US is still considered one of the most free countries, economically speaking, that’s quickly changing. In the past eight years, we’ve increased the national debt by $9 trillion (if you include the bills for the bailout), we’re spying on our own citizens in the name of “homeland security,” we’re handing out money left and right to people who can’t properly run the companies they’ve been given charge of, and we’re fighting two wars that no one can tell how we’re going to win. And this has all been with a Republican president and a generally Republican Congress!! Imagine how the Democrats are going to screw things up!!

As most of you know, I’ve switched to the Libertarian Party. But, even knowing that I’m a member of the most freedom-minded US political party isn’t making me very happy right now. That’s where the list comes in. Would a liberty-minded person be happier (and still just as free) in Australia? Canada? Germany? Micronesia? Liechtenstein? Or, even more broadly - is America past the point where it can be fixed? Have we, like the Roman Republic, gone too far down the road towards government control?

The knee-jerk response is, ‘Of course, America is worth it. We’ll get through it - we always do. We are the city on a hill.’ But I really don’t think that Americans have the same passion for liberty that we once had. Jefferson said that “the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” There is a very small minority of Americans today who would shed their blood for freedom - and since 1945, they’ve been told to shed their blood for someone else’s freedom! I honestly don’t think the majority of Americans care whether or not they are free - as long as American Idol comes on and they get their tax rebate check from the IRS every April.

I don’t have any answers right now. I’m disgruntled, disappointed, and frustrated. Perhaps there are those in the GOP who share similar feelings because their candidate lost. That is not the source of my frustration - although the late political season has given me opportunity to think about such things in depth. I just think I’ve lost the wide-eyed amazement about this country.

In late 2007, I was following the Marvel Comics Civil War miniseries where the superheroes were split into two factions lead by Captain America and Iron Man and fought against each other over Super Human registration act which required all super heros to register with the government and reveal their identities. In a particular issue, they focused on a period in the Roman Republic when Cesar was prepared to enter Rome with his armies and start a civil war within that period. The issue was focused on at some point in time events are set in motion that cause you to either fight, or let the government walk all over you. Basically, they are focusing on the point of no return, where no matter what happens the world is going to change.

 I bring that up because I think the Russian Invasion into Georgia is such a point of no return. I see a number of things that have changed in regards to U.S. power in the world because of this invasion.

1)Our allies have no reason to expect we will be supporting them in any effort against Tyranny.

2)Russia, China, and any other nation who wants to challenge us knows they have no reason to expect any consequences from us regardless of their actions.

 3)Russia, in particular, will continue to try to seize power, particularly the former Soviet provinces and any area that will provide them with more control over energy.

4)If we don’t wake up we will see our nation and wealth taken from us by the sword.

 I don’t see much that can be done about this situation that isnt going to get deadly on both sides. We need to stop being a nation to afraid to act for ourselves or for our allies.

I wrote this over in Craigslist a few minutes ago and I thought it was pretty good.

When I read these posts, I can’t help but be shocked at how naive people truly are. So many people are wrapped up in their own cultural perceptions that they don’t allow themselves to see reality as it is. They don’t see their place in this world, nor their true relationship to others.

It’s all about themselves. Reality has to be what they see reality is. And if something happens that they don’t like or if things don’t work out the way they expect, they don’t stop and ask themselves what was wrong with their viewpoint. Instead they whine, and moan, and complain about how life’s not fair. It’s someone elses fault their life sucks. It’s someone elses fault there is so much evil in the world. It’s someone elses fault.

Right now it seems a lot of blame is going to President Bush. The man is far from perfect, but if your life is screwed up, it’s not his fault. If some hurricane destroys your city, it’s not his fault. If some earthquake happens causing a tsunami, it’s not his fault. He is only one man, a man is a position of power, but he isn’t God. He doesnt have more power and control over your life than you do. I am sure if Senator McCain or Obama get elected, people will sit around complaining about them as well.

But no. It’s everyone else’s fault. Everyone else is wrong. The world has to go our way or else someone or something is trying to screw us over. I know truth is such a foreign concept to so many people. We live in a culture that denies the existance of truth. People don’t want to see the world as it really is because they are afraid of it. They are quite comfortable in their little world getting fat, complaining about their family, whining about how their leaders are screwing their lives. But they won’t lift a figure to do something about it.

I am not sure whether it’s more because they are lazy. Or because they are truly so self centered that the world must evolve around them. They think the world owes them something.

Well, it doesn’t. The world doesn’t owe you anything. In fact, it doesn’t even owe you a single breath after you are born. Every second you live has to be earned. You have to breath each breath. You have to work for sustanance. And yes, sometimes you have to fight and kill to defend yourself. That is the reality of this world. We live in a world governed by force. Whether violent force or just the force it takes for us to move.

Our entire society is an artificial construct. It’s a brilliant construct, but it’s still artificial. This is not our natural state of existance. Our natural state of existance is not order. It’s Chaos/Anarchy. And in our purely natural state, we would completely destroy each other. That is why we create rules, norms, order, etc. The only thing that keeps us from destroying one another is our collective effort.

And if people remain naive of this truth or refuse to accept it. Or act contrary to it, we will see society devolve faster than you can imagine and massive casualties overnight. It’s happened before. It will happen again. Learn from it, or else you are going to die because of your ignorance.

In the general election contest many think that the Iraq War will trump all other issues. In the past week or so, I believe that has changed. No doubt about it, the price of oil, the falling dollar, and inflation are going to be the main topics. My guess is if McCain comes out strongly for exploiting the resources available in the US, he’ll win. Yet, he has not shown a desire to do so.

While McCain has been saying, “We can’t drill our way out of this problem…,” the fact is we can drill ourselves from reliance upon other countries, especially regimes like Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Venezuela, while developing alternative sources for quite some time. As recapped here:

…Recent polling data from Gallup show the percentage of voters blaming oil companies for skyrocketing gasoline prices has dropped from 34 percent to 20 percent over the past year. At the same time, support for more drilling in U.S. coastal and wilderness areas has increased to 57 percent from 41 percent.

And the candidates remain blind to these shifts.

Obama continues to lambaste oil companies while congressional Democrats push for cap-and-trade. They’re missing the point, big time. The public wants more energy and more fuel to cut high prices and spur economic growth. But the costly cap-and-trade plan would produce less fuel and less growth. It would only raise gas pump prices while mounting a Gosplan-type taxing, spending, and regulating program that would be the moral equivalent of Hillarycare on nationalized medicine.

Sen. McCain has an opening here. Yet he, like Obama, would have voted for cap-and-trade, which went down to defeat in last week’s Senate vote. And while Mr. McCain favors some off-shore production and has been strong on nuclear development, he is against drilling in ANWR Alaska.

Then there’s the oil nobody is talking about. The Bakken fields beneath North Dakota, Montana, and Canada hold an estimated 400 billion barrels of oil. In comparison, Saudi Arabia’s biggest field, Gahawar, has an estimated 55 billion barrels, while ANWR has an estimated 10.4 billion barrels.

Hat tip to Mark Perry at the Carpe Diem blog site for these figures. Perry also is reporting a Bureau of Land Management study showing 279 million acres under federal management where oil and gas could potentially be extracted. But more than half of this is totally off limits. Off-shore, where another 86 billion barrels lie in wait, is also restricted. Then there’s liquefied natural gas, oil shale, and the various coal-to-liquid carbon-capture and sequestration technologies that would be priced out of the market by cap-and-trade.

The U.S. is the Saudi Arabia of coal, but we can’t produce. We’re still the world’s third-largest oil producer, but we could be the Saudi Arabia of oil if our companies were free to drill. Oil CEOs like Rex Tillerson of ExxonMobil and David O’Reilly of Chevron keep saying this. But politicians aren’t heeding their message…

Obviously with the price of a barrel of gas closing on $138 today, the increase price of shipping costs, production costs, are being added to everything we buy. In Europe the lorry drivers are striking, no longer able to make a profit with the costs there, for their taxes on petrol are significantly higher than in the United States. To think that type of response in the US will take $8 a gallon prices, well our patience isn’t that long. Now Senator McCain hints that he may back a windfall profits tax on the oil company, following the same plan to increase the costs to the consumer, as Senator Obama.

Truth of the matter is if there is punishment to be meted out it should be where the fault lies, which is with Congress which for the past 20 or more years has made it impossible for the oil companies to explore, much less develop our own natural resources.

The inflationary effects of the increased cost of oil has not gone unnoticed by any of us. There isn’t a product that we buy that doesn’t consume energy during production and shipping. The cost of imports will be even higher in the future, considering the cost of maritime fuel added to the cost of diesel to bring the goods from ports to stores. With the falling dollar and no action by Washington to stop it, history says we should be concerned about hyperinflation.

My hope, as pointed out by Kudlow is that the public is becoming concerned as the Gallup poll attests to. Hopefully they will make their feelings clear to their representatives and certainly in November.

Match the quote with the speaker….

1. We will lay the foundation for our future capacity to meet America’s energy needs from America’s own resources.

2. We cannot afford continued delays. We cannot afford prolonged vulnerability to foreign producers. We must act.

3. We are the generation that will win the war on the energy problem and in that process, rebuild the unity and confidence of America.

4. Energy independence is the best preparation America can make for the future.

5. The Congress should enact measures to increase domestic energy production and energy conservation in order to reduce dependence on foreign oil.

6. We have it our power to act right here, right now. I propose $6 billion in tax cuts and research and development to encourage innovation, renewable energy, fuel efficient cars, fuel efficient homes.

7. We have got to do something about our dependence on oil, for two reasons. It provides an economic and national security risk and makes it harder to be wise stewards of the environment.

A. Gerald Ford
B. Ronald Reagan
C. Bill Clinton
D. Richard Nixon
E. Jimmy Carter
F. George HW Bush
G. George W. Bush

1-D
2-A
3-E
4-B
5-F
6-C
7-G

Source; USA Today, 5-15-08, page 11A

I found myself staring at my alarm clock at 3:57am. I could hear the cats moving around in the house. My thoughts were centered on departing as quickly as possible. No use trying to go back to sleep. Up at 4:00 am, I started tooling around the house. I did a last-minute sweep to ensure I’d brought everything I wanted to bring. I watched TV for a few minutes wondering if It’d be the last time I get to enjoy “my” TV (we’re including it in the house sale).

After the car was loaded and warming, Mary and I exchanged our goodbyes and off I went. Traffic was thick coming out of Puyallup towards and thru Sumner. I didn’t feel free of traffic until I made it to I90, just about 4 Miles up the road from Tiger Mountain, off hwy 18.

Wasn’t too long until I stopped for a potty break. I snapped a couple pics to show how I have the in-car camera set-up.

Stopping at the Columbia River, at Vantage, WA

On to Spokane, WA to pay my regards to my Grandfather, Grandmother, and Uncle -

Through Idaho, I found beautiful wide-open fast mountain roads…and snow on the edges.

After my final stop for fuel of the day, at the Missoula Kum & Go -

…I made it to today’s final stop - Holiday Inn, Butte, MT.

Four more days to go! Yikes.

-darin