Sorry, Dave, i also missed your post.

RE:
“… Maybe I should write a long-winded and observational consensus of the failings of our governmental system… it, like all the other books mentioned above, won’t change anything because it is preaching to the converted, but at least it would give Nicker something to read in the shittier…”

No! The shitter is reserved for Hot Rod and Circle Track tech articles …..

RE:
“… I fear that America’s laziness in monitoring our political leaders …”

Well, there is a fix.
But it’ll take all of us getting off our lazy asses and involved.
My wife an officer in the Federate Republican Women’s organization.
I’m an alternate on the count Republican party central committee. and a precinct walker.
Ya, it’s a pain in the ass….. but what’s the alternative?

How about instead of a “long winded observation” you try getting involved…..??

Just a thought.
-nicker-

Sorry i missed your last post.
-BTW-
Those titles weren’t in any meaningful order. I had a bookcase cave in. The resulting book-slide destroyed my “book-system.”
Can’t find a damned thing anymore.

Going to the Library?
“Manufacturing Matters” (the myth of the post industrial Economy) is a great retort to all those intellectual snobs who were responsible for the demise of High School shop classes.

It counters all those arguments about why its OK for America to outsource its manufacturing capability.

Moreover, it validates all of us who love…… no, make that need to build stuff in the Garage…….

-nicker-

nice to know you have SOME spare time Chris.

paul

I’m dislecsic, so a lot-a the time the letters jump around on me….

RE:
“… I am a very strong Republican…”

Well, i’ve always been an independent conservative.
But this last year i had to sign on as a Rebublican in order to be a local precinct captain.
When i go door-to-door i tell-em i’m an American First, then a Conservative, and then a Republican.

Sounds to me like we’re in violent agreement……….

RE:
“…old and crippled …”
I hear-ya, My “friend” Author-Itis is taking me dowm that road too.

-nicker-

>But i do know from the News, History, and Books, and common local knowledge that UC has been and continues to be as a Progressive hot bed where “class-envy” is promoted and Socialism and Communism are openly taught..>> I just used U.C. Berkley as an example, I am a very strong Republican, and I don’t envy anyone, I live where I want, do as I please, don’t owe anyone for anything, and every day is like Christmas to my wife and myself. After reading then re-reading your [post and mine, I think we may be saying the same things ! But with different wording? Yes , I believe Politics are a game played at our expense, any way you put it, and Yes, I agree, it is a very deadly game. If it were up to me , I would institute a drug policy for testing, starting with the President on down.

The incomperable Hunter Thompson said it best, and this quote may not be 100% correctly worded as I am remembering it, but the meaning is still clear, ” It is tragic, that a country that was founded on rugged individualism gives so little to those who still practice it.”

Pepper, you are a beautiful woman and a beautiful mind. Thanks for the kind words and for the update on Florida.

Marilyn, my sweet friend, thank you. You have the ability, like no other has ever, to make me feel that someone out there is on the same vibe as I am. When you share with me the eloquent words that Dennis put to paper on the same issues before me, it makes me realize why he is listed as one of my heroes.

Nicker, I’m off to the library. Like I said I read constantly and I have managed to get through books like Machiavelli’s “The Prince” and Emanuel Kant’s “Critique Of Pure Reason” so I’ll give these a stab. Although the “Slouching towards Gomorrah” title sounds like it could give either of them a run for their money…..

Thanks!
C-

RE:
“…. I wont stoop as low as You, by trying to belittle your ‘name’…”
“…. If I were to stoop as low….”

Stooping to what..???
I’m clueless, the beef….??

As i understand it, you see politics as a “Game” played by politicians so “the rich get richer and the poor get poorer .” And because those in power don’t care we’ve got a country that’s filling up with homeless, hungry, sick, poor, and “dumb” people.

Now that sounds more like typical “Progressive Class Envy” to me, anyway.

RE:
“…I also know teachers, educational administrators , University Professors and a Regent at a little university in Berkley Ca.. So What, Big Deal ! …”

Well, ya got me there Dude. I don’t know any UC Berkeley Regents or Profs.

But i do know from the News, History, and Books, and common local knowledge that UC has been and continues to be as a Progressive hot bed where “class-envy” is promoted and Socialism and Communism are openly taught..

RE:
“…You try to come across here as the wizard of “Know it All “…”

I don’t “try to come across” as any more than who i am. Never have, never will. Mostly because it’s just too much trouble. I know what i know through experience (training, reading, going, doing and living).

As i read your comments, apparently my anti Socialist/Communist experience (and thus, perspective) pushes your buttons(?).
Well, there i gotta plead guilty.

The stuff that’s happened to my family and friends at the hands of Progressive Social Governments around the world is my motivation. And i’ll not stop talking about it till the day i die.
So, if you’re a Progressive Liberal then we’re diametrically opposed in our life-perspective and i would expect you to react negatively to my writing. Hell, that’s why i do it…..!

Those trying to social-engineer Utopia where i live is gonna “feel my pain.”
And those who think such endeavors are a good idea should be made to “feel uncomfortable.”

RE:
“….I used to enjoy what you wrote about motorcycles, but when you get in to politics and the Sky is falling mode, you are just talking Trash …”

The only thing i can say in my defense is I’m simply a product of my life-experience.
I am who i am, no apologies offered.

I don’t see politics as a game. If it is, it certainly is a deadly one.
the way i see it Politicians should take a Hippocratic Oath…. “First do no harm”
The road to hell is paved with good political intentions.

Writing about motorcycles is fun.
Writing about politics is necessary.

And yes…”i authorize the previous message”…………….
-nicker-

And speaking of freedom, let’s not forget the grassroots movement in this country, and around the world, who represent riders, who are generally unaware of the battles that are still being fought so they have the right to ride. Currently Florida is trying to pass legislation that will allow your motorcycle to be confiscated should you do something illegal. Not fine you, not take away your endorsement for six months, but confiscate your property. It is aimed at sportbike riders but a motorcycle is a motorcycle…

SB-802 GENERAL BILL by Garcia (Compare HB-137)
“Motorcycles or Mopeds/Reckless Driving [EPCC]; Provides that if a person is operating or is in actual physical control of a motorcycle while driving recklessly, a law enforcement officer shall arrest the person, take him or her into custody, and seize the motorcycle. Requires that a person riding on a motorcycle or moped must ride while sitting astride the seat with one leg on each side and with both wheels on the ground at all times, etc.”

The motorcyclist’s rights movement needs the support of all the motorcycle magazines and blogs. Keep up the good work, and be diligent.

RE:
“…Ca. wants to stop home schooling because, they don’t get money from the government if there isn’t a warm butt sitting in the class room! pure and simple ! Its all about MONEY ! …”

Really wish that were true….
But, as a partial product of that system and knowing lots of teachers here, le-me assure you that ,for the most part, it’s about control and social engineering.
(see the reading list)

-nicker-

RE:
“…I meant similar countries e.g. Japan, Germany, Great Britain. G8 summit countries…”

OK.

Well, visited my cousin in Germany last year.
That socio-political system has squashed their ambition and drive to do anything, but sit.
That’s not the type of “freedom” i want.

Visited Japan in the late 60′s.
A monolithic group-think culture.
Not my idea of freedom.

And GB (source of the cartoon strip Andy Cap).
Their medical system killed more people in 2007 than their Highway system.
Here’s a society that has raised at least one generation (cradle to grave) without working (on the dole).

Freedom isn’t easy, no one said it would be..
There is a reason why the US has more people locked up than any other country.
Your free to fuck-up, big time… and many people do (just ask BL)!

Anyone who wants a guaranteed painless life, please feel “free” to immigrate to another G8 country.
But stop trying to change the place most other people in the world seem to want to move to, the USA.

And if the US gets socialized medicine, where will the Canadians go…..

“Any society that tries to indemnify stupidity will find itself quickly populated with morons”
Some one said it (don’t remember who).

Sorry, i’m not much into sympathy or a free lunch.
-nicker-

Nicker,
I meant similar countries e.g. Japan, Germany, Great Britain. G8 summit countries.

“…why then do we have homeless, sick and hungry people …”
Because homelessness disease and hunger have been part of the world since the beginning of human history.
That is reality.
Any thing else is an academic Utopian dream.

“… [other countries] hate us and then beg for more! … I am tired of [it]…”
What do you expect?
What part of human nature don’t you understand.
That is SOP! you want isolationism then vote Libertarian.

RE: -saorij-
“…sick and hungry people everywhere. The USA has the biggest proportion of ‘poor’ people than any other 1st world nation…”
Say what?
In all the 3rd world places i’ve been to exactly the opposite is true.
Moreover, after his return from self imposed exile, even Eldridge Cleaver go on the radio (here in Nor-Cal) and said….
“i’ve lived in a lot of places in the world and i’ve come to the conclusion that America is THE BEST of them all.”

RE: -Marilyn-
“… we’ve been too willing to give these freedoms away in exchange for so-called security…”
Socialism is the devil’s bargain…. ‘i’ll take care of you, but you must put me in control’

You are spot-on girl!!!
And why have “we” been so willing????
Dewey and is Progressive pals insinuated this crap into the American Public School system.
And it’s still there.

RE: -Kiwi Mike-
“…fell in love with what this country was founded upon and its freedoms…”
ya Mike, me too. But that freedom swings both ways. Free to do good and free to fuck-up.
It’s all on you. Know your limitations. Your family is your support group, not the Government.

“…Riding motorcycles regularly keeps me close to reality…”
Well, more to the point it’s one of the increasingly few activities that still allow you to control your own fate.
You build it, you ride it, you decide how much risk you wanna take, and you deal with the consequences.
(as long as we can keep the lawyers and DOT out of it)

RE: -rodent-
“… “when the government fucks you you have the right and duty to overthrow it’ …”

Ya, that’s about what the 2nd amendment means.
It’s about maintaining a militia capability that can take power away from an out of control government.
Not about putting squirrels on the dinner table.
See the Federalist Papers for a reality check.

Sorry about the rant….
-nicker-

Dude you’ve opened Pandora’s Box…….
“The Bell Curve, Intelligence and class Structure in American Life” -Herrnstein & Murray-
“Radical Son” -D. Horowitz-
“Set up & Sold Out What Green Really Means” -Swanson-
“Managers of Virtue” -D. Tyack & Hansot-
“Tenured Radicals, How Politics Corrupted Higher Education” -R. Kimball-
“Indoctrination U. The Left’s war Against Academic Freedom” -D. Horowitz-
“Reach For Glory, LBJ’s Secret White House Tapes” -M. Beschloss-
“U.S. Customs, Badge of Dishonor” -D. Catalon-
“Fourth World War, Diplomacy and Espionage in the age of Terrorism” -Count De Marenches-
“Stolen Lives, 20 years in a desert jail” -Malika Oufkir-
“The Tempting of America” -R. Bork-
“Slouching Toward Gomorrah, Modern Liberalism and American Decline” -R. Bork-

Bell Curve is a tough read, ya might start with Set Up & Sold Out.
Bell Curve was a tough read for me.
Got a bunch more…. Real good ones too. If your really interested.

-nicker-

We often use the word freedom in an attempt to describe the feelings we experience when we ride our motorcycles. It is a difficult word, technically a noun, but so vast in its connotation that the meaning is abstract without a frame of reference…
But from any perspective, freedom is the most valuable of concepts. It is the freedom to move about without excessive interference, regulation or control; to act without restraint or direction; to have exemption and immunity from tyranny, oppression or slavery. Remember, the freedom we experience going down the highway as the front wheel passes state and municipal boundaries without consequence, has been dearly bought over many generations.
My generation grew up under the shadow of the Vietnam War. My father’s war was World War II – and the Korean conflict. His father’s war was WWI and his father’s was the Civil War. That war germinated perhaps the most concise and poignant illustration on the cost of freedom that I have found. I would like to share it with you here:

To Mrs. Bixby, Boston, Mass.
Dear Madam,
I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you consolation that may be found in the thanks of the republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.
Yours very sincerely and respectfully,
A. Lincoln

That’s the end of the column excerpt, and I’ll tell you, both Dennis and I were amazed at the responses we had from it – most of them debating whether Lincoln was a god or a devil and missing the point completely. I’m sure that readers of Cyril’s blog would never be guilty of that error.

I read all the time so I am always up for new titles, let’s hear your list.

Thanks to Cyril for posting this rant. I am very proud to live in this country and am also tired of visitors laughing at us. When I stated above that bikers have always been freedom fighters I didn’t mean in a sense of fighting for rights in political areans, more that freedom and individuality are the key ingredients in motorcycle culture. Anyway, just some thoughts, thanks again.

C-