The Federalist Papers: Interpretation of the US Constitution

In these trying times, in the United States nowadays, we are forced to take a good look at ourselves. Look deep, to find those things truly valuable to us in order for us to be able to move forward as a country. In an effort to more fully understand the founding principles, I have taken up the task of reading the Federalist Papers, essays commonly used as interpretations of the intent behind our United States Constitution. There Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison strive to explain in narratives the philosophies behind the decisions they made. I am currently on the fourth of 85 essays.. Wish me luck..

The Federalist Papers can be found here.

We Still Hold These Truths

..."to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."

Declaration of Independence of the United States of America.



The Heritage Foundation has made a touching video about our founding principles. Principles in which one of the people states are being sliced away like salami.

People, even as touching as this video may be, the truth about where we are is surely more stark. The international community has financed our government operations to the extent that Americans no longer are in control of their own destiny. Individual freedoms, property rights, and interests of the people have become completely arbitrary to the decisions of the elites of the state. Government has become a commanding force that exerts its force in many matters with prejudice seeking to be a paternalistic omniscient well-intended oppression that has layers of bureaucracy; that, in the end, does not prevent what it was put in place to prevent. While the weight of the structure continues to build, the supports that keep the structure standing are continually being attacked.

In the wake of the serious recession, we've emerged as corporate statists; corporate fascists. Bailing out and subsidizing projects the government feels is best for everyone, even though these projects never turn a profit and can never survive without the subsidies provided. All indicators are pointing toward a severe economic collapse in which dismantlement of the United States would ensue. The labor in this country, unwilling to negotiate with their employers, demand still the luxuries no longer affordable. These companies will go out of business. The litigious society that successfully sues companies that have nothing to do with someone's malady will aid in the economic collapse. Judges legislating from the bench; acting as a one man king or queen usurping the power of the Legislative and Executive branch of government.

We need serious austerity measures in place for us to go forward: Meaningful tort reform of our legal system, government backing out of it's paternalistic role of running everyone's life (no more welfare, family courts, subsidies for favorite industries), restoring the virtue of private property, dispensing of the interstate commerce clause, bring true fairness to labor negotiations, rewarding of savings, productivity and investment, outlaw teachers unions, outlaw government unions in totality. But, unfortunately, nobody has the guts to step up to get back to the principles of freedom- to fly as high as your wings can take you. Americans no longer have the stomach to face their responsibilities; yet try to be interventionists across the globe seeking to order people around in their own land. Bring home the troops and have them carry out their true role.

The weight of the structure continues to build and sooner, rather than later, the entire structure of bureaucracy will crash down upon itself as in every other example of Socialist and Communist experiments in the past.

The Volatility or "Fear" index

Reading through the news this morning, I found it funny that the market affixes a price tag to fear. Basically, this is "With increased activity in options trading, particularly with put options (which let investors profit from falling prices), options prices rose in response to the volatile market movements, thereby boosting the VIX.

It seems that it's typical to see the VIX move counter to the S&P 500. When the market is jittery and falling, the VIX tends to rise. And by the same token, when the stock market seems to be chugging along and few investors are seeking out the "insurance" that options can sometimes offer, the VIX drops and fear is deemed to be low (Reference)."

The Progression of a Soul

I'm a bit reluctant to post this (as I am with many topics posted here), I feel compelled for some reason to jot this down before it escapes me. I was raised Catholic, but do not currently practice at this time; however, I still have a strong affinity for this sect of Christianity for many reasons I will omit at this point. One thing that's always bothered me is the omission of the Bible of many topics that we may ask ourselves about life and God's relationship with it. For instance, at what point does the soul enter the body? Where is the soul actually made? Has our soul inhabited other human bodies before? Christ was essentially mute on these questions, with regards to the Bible as we know it today. As we all know, many Gospels were left out of the modern Bible by the Council of Nicea so there will be no way for definitively know for sure if the topic was spoken of. Secondly, we must take into consideration that these topics were spoken 2000 years ago, so any explanation would have been spoken from the standpoint that any person living 2000 years ago may understand. Having a more educated population of people today, it may have been written differently.

Some time ago, I happened to run into an article about a man named Edgar Cayce who lived in the late 1800's and early 1900's who used to go into trances and find cures for ailments, talk about history and Christ. When he was a boy, he would learn books by heart simply by sleeping on them. Reading about this guy got me really interested, but what interested me even more, was some of the things that he said while he was in these trances about Christ. I won't go too much into it, as you can check it out for yourself but I will give you a synopsis.

His hypothesis was that Christ was more like an "older brother" to humanity. The following paragraphs are excerpts from the website:

"From Cayce's perspective, we are not simply physical bodies, instead we are spiritual beings who are having a physical experience entailing personal growth and development. Many individuals have incorrectly assumed that the goal of being in the earth is to simply reach heaven, find enlightenment, or somehow "get out of the earth." And yet, this is a perspective quite different from that contained in the Cayce material. Instead, Cayce believed that as children of God, our mission was to somehow bring spirit into the earth."

"The dynamics of our deep and literal connection to God can be found throughout scripture, beginning with Genesis when we are told that God made humankind in the Creator's image. But our relationship with God as our Parent is perhaps no more clearly illustrated than in the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-24). This parable describes the journey of the soul: we were with God in the beginning, through the power of our free will we were able to make choices that were not necessarily in perfect accord with the Creator. And, at some point, we will "arise" and decide to return to God, regaining our inheritance and experiencing our true relationship with Him."

"The readings state that God desires to be expressed in the world through us. The example set by Jesus is apparently a "pattern" of wholeness for each and every soul.Regardless of an individual's religious or personal beliefs, this Christ pattern exists in potential upon the very fiber of their being. It is that part of each of us that is in perfect accord with the Creator and is simply waiting to find expression in our lives."

"Reincarnation is the belief that each of us goes through a series of lifetimes for the purpose of spiritual growth and soul development. Cayce's approach does not include the concept of transmigration, which states that it is possible for human beings to be born again as animals. From the standpoint of the Cayce material, souls only occupy human bodies through their spiritual growth and developmental process."

After reading this some time ago, it has lingered in my head for a very long time. I've grappled with the idea that a soul can jump into a human, be with it throughout it's lifetime, then leave the body after the flesh dies only to find a new challenge in another human lifetime.

Now, the questions that I have had to ask myself is: (a) Are my beliefs strong enough to be confronted with this; enough to be objective? Answer is yes, I believe so. (b) Do I believe in good in evil? Light and dark? Answer is yes. (c) Do I believe that there is another spiritual realm? Answer is yes.

The next question that I really had to get over was a tough one. Is any one religion "right?" Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, etc. It took me a long time to mill the idea that these religions would have any connection. All stated here, after all, do have their good points. Should I not believe that "all roads lead home," if asked my specific faith?

What I believe is that each being, each soul, that inhabits a living being is a little piece of creation, a piece of God. Some souls are more cognizant and more aware than others. I'm in agreement with Mr. Cayce's statements that all souls are striving for "Christhood," progressing their way back to the creator (aka dying and going to heaven). I do believe that Christ was a living person, I also believe that he is the Son of God. More importantly, I think that he was crucial in establishing the guidebook for souls, the Bible, for humankind. In-so-doing, the Bible was made with just enough information to allow people to keep going on their way of progression to the light. This is no different for the Torah or the Qu'ran for Muslims. My firm belief is that any religion when practiced for the good or the light, will aid our souls in its progression back home. This is where it gets tricky because many religions have their customs and beliefs that can lead to extremism that commit acts that do not conform to the light. Who are we to say that our religion is more "right" than another's? We see it all the time though. Certain people preaching in the name of their religion about murder and enslavement of another people because their beliefs are more right than others or hold some sort of Divine sanction against another therefore justifying their extreme action. I subscribe to none of this. Why? Because this follows no means of good or light for humanity. If we're all God's children, would He approve or disapprove of people using his name to justify murder? Does God really care what custom your religion has, so long as you have faith in Him? Does He really care how many times you go to Church when you willingly commit acts like a sinner outside of the Church/Synagogue/Mosque/Temple?

I do believe that there is a life cycle- a light and a dark. Both spiritual realms exist and make each other's presence known in every day life.

All these are interesting points to ponder; certainly, provocative in circles. But then again, so little is known outside of what is stated in the Bible or many other religious texts to be able to explain with more detail some of the intricacies of what may lie beyond death and how it all works. Being a Christian, I'm perfectly fine with this thinking because it does not violate my beliefs in any way; in fact, I think that it strengthens them. We should all be skeptical of what people say though and their interpretations of literal meanings in the religious texts, using them as precursors to commit acts that contrast with the premise of them.

Zionist Extremism

Zionism is described as follows by the Jews against Zionism website: "it is a movement founded by Theodor Herzl in 1896 whose goal is the return of Jews to Eretz Yisrael, or Zion, the Jewish synonym for Jerusalem and the Land of Israel. The name of 'Zionism' comes from the hill Zion, the hill on which the Temple of Jerusalem was situated. Supporters of this movement are called 'Zionists'.

The purpose of this website (Jews Against Zionism) is to explain why traditional Jews do not support Zionism (the return to the land called "Israel") and why the Zionist ideology is totally contrary to traditional Jewish law and beliefs and the teachings of the Holy Torah.

Here is a good explanation of Zionism:



Jews, Christians and Muslims against Zionism:


Seems provocative, does it not? The truth is that it isn't provocative to suggest that Jews in Israel are a part of the world community and they need to start acting like it. They have disenfranchised Palestinian Muslims and Christians alike. There are also videos all over YouTube of Hasidic Zionist Jews harassing Christians and Muslims. This may be hard to hear or read, but think about it; does a religion of tolerance truly teach people to do this? Unfortunately, I think that some Jews in Israel have fallen for the Zionist ideology then treat their neighbors horribly.

Jews have had a tough history, this is true. The UN acknowledges Israel as a country, yes. But, at what point do people in the world community recognize what Israel does to its neighbors? There is simply no excuse for murder, destruction and enslavement no matter what people may be the perpetrator or the victim. Extremism must be stopped and the Zionists in Israel need to stop their recklessness.

Big Government TSA

If you didn't know already, there is a federal bureaucracy called the Transportation Security administration or TSA that searches people at the airport. This was a gift from George W. Bush that just keeps on giving.

In case you aren't up to speed on the news, this agency is renowned for patting down grandma, or 8 year old kids for that matter.

First, why are we patting down grandma and kids who exhibit no suspicious behavior? This is so blatantly useless, it could only be a government organization doing this. Why don't we just cut to the chase here and say that we should just abolish the TSA. The echo chamber of "conservatives" found their new whipping boy whom they will punish. They'll sit and harp about it until I puke on my pants as I am driving in my car. Seriously, let's quit harping about it and abolish this bureaucratic, useless organization. All the TSA is doing is pissing off every person who wants to fly in the United States and would doubtfully actually thwart any type of attack. Terrorists are versatile and creative with their plans; Americans on the other hand, are dependents expecting big daddy government to shield them from every possible hardship in life. It simply comes as no surprise that a big federal behemoth has beget from the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

By the way, if you plan on flying in the US, a new disclaimer will come written on your ticket: "Sexual assault may be conducted for your security."

Suddenly the old Ben Franklin quote starts to make a little more sense...

"Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither."