Joshua Steele's Journal

11:16pm: Update
Well, it has been quite a while since I last posted on LJ.

Let me see. . .

home . . . we moved, now we are renting a larger space from my wife's BFF parents.

children . . . Lucas and Asher are doing wonderful.

injury . . . Lindsay slipped today and put her hand through a window, 6 stitches to close it up.

work . . .my current employer is sealing the company, though I think what he is doing is spinning off the stuff he really wants to do and letting the rest go.

that about sums it up. I need to have better stuff to talk about, my last several posts (spanning most of two years) are gripes about employment.

God, I need a life.

5:54am: Alert!
I have a full time Engineering job again.

That is all, carry on.

Thank you.

10:07pm: Employment!
I got a call today and am now gainfully employed with Nebraska irrigation company in Columbus, NE!

2:16pm: Employment . . . and Wonder
Still unemployed, still looking.

I know I should be patient and trust in the Lord, but . . .

9:35am: Christmas
Merry Christmas to all, and to all (at least here in the midwest) a Blizzard.

6:27am: I live. . .
. . .though I feel into the Facebook trap and had trouble getting out.

UPDATE Time!

~Physically, I am doing fine.

~Lindsay and I are still happily married.

~Lucas is handsome, and more importantly the fulfillment of everything I wanted.

~Sadly, on Nov 30 I will find myself unemployed as my current employer has decided to replace me with a lesser Engineer who currently has two weeks and three days experience with the grain dryer product.

~I have resumes out all over the country but we all know how the job market is. I have called a half dozen recruiters, I have an application in with Menard's Manufacturing wing, and am currently in the running for a job up in Thurston, NE. Twice I have contacted them to be told they have yet to make the decision, the Engineering Manager has been out in the field testing product for much of the last two (relatively dry) weeks.

~I thought about going back to school and getting my Master degree, but without a full time job lined up to keep us alive going back to school full time is not a solution.

11:09am: Work
Good news, bad news time.

Good news: I still have a job.

Bad news: I might not in three-six months.

Good news: I am learning a new skill to add to my Resume.

Bad news: I am no longer a real Engineer, they took my product line away from me.

Good news: I have time to look for a new job and still get paid at NECO.

Bad news: I have to do this at all.

Good news: My wife, who is the best wife in the world, is willing to move if that is what is needed.

Bad news: This is home, this is where my heart is.

~Joshua
 

4:08pm: Health Care Town Hall Meeting
Rep Lee Terry of Nebraska is having a town hall meeting on health care this Saturday morning. 8:30 AM at 8807 Maple st, the Homestyle Cafe.

I hope they have glossy prepared statements from the administration to hand out.

7:56am: I am an Engineer?
I took the what star trek character quiz are you.

Tried to copy/paste the results here and they did not work.

I got Engineer Laforge @ 70%.

I also got a red-shirt no-name ensign at 70%.

So what does that say about me?

10:29pm: Graduate School
So, I am thinking of going back to Graduate School.

I would be going back to UNL in Lincoln but would love to keep working for NECO.

As I see it I have three options before me (assuming I get in, I have to finish the application this week):

1) Forget it: If NECO will not let me go, and Lindsay and I feel we can not afford to stop working for NECO I will just forget about Grad School.

2) Work Something Out: I would love to go to hourly (currently salaried worker) and then the three days I do not have class I will just work 12 hours a day to make up for being gone on two of the days.

3) F*$k NECO: If they will not let me go, and Lindsay and I feel we can survive. I will leave NECO and, I guess, go back to Menards part time so I can go to Grad School.

Which option do you think is the best one for me at this time?

7:58am: So, I contacted a former friend through Facebook. . .

Why did I even try?

11:37pm: Graduate School
/start update/

I applied to Graduate School today.

I want to go back, but I want to keep my current job with NECO.

I hope that we can come to a compromise (I think I take classes two days a week) and work 30 hours a week - part time hours). Don't know if it will work, but we can only hope.

I don't want to have to give up the job, though I am having issues with the boss. I get the impression that he thinks me lazy and unwilling to change. Truthfully for those of you who know me, am I lazy?

/end update/

9:12am: The Federal Reserve did what!?!?!?
Question: What is inflation?

Answer: Inflation is when there is too much money in the economy, hence the value of the money goes down.

Question: What is a dollar worth today? At that time 1/20th of a dollar would by 1/20 of a pound of gold.

Answer: About three cents of what it was worth in 1913.

Question: What happened in Germany after WWI?

Answer: The government printed money to attempt to keep ahead of rising prices, which in turn caused prices to rise at a faster rate. People were taking wheelbarrows full of money to the store to buy bread, and children were using marks as writing paper.

Question: What is the Federal Reserve's answer to the current crisis?

Answer: Print more money!

Question: Has anyone learned anything from history?

Answer: Hell no!

Reference: http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/18/business/fed.php

Question: Why do we have a Federal Reserve?

Answer: The Federal Reserve Act of 1913, also called the Aldrich Act. Forced on us by International Bankers!

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Reserve_Act

Question: Is the Federal Reserve even legal?

Answer: No!

Reference: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html

Excerpt: "Section 8. The Congress shall have Power . . . To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof"

Question: Where does all this lead us?

Answer: Eventually the rest of the world will realize that the dollar is kaput and abandon it.

Reference: http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE52H2CY20090318

10:25am: It worked once before!
TAX DAY TEA PARTY
http://www.taxdayteaparty.com/

Nebraska

The following is a list of CONFIRMED Tea Party Tax Revolts planned within the state of Nebraska. Please note that we ONLY list events happening on April 15th, and they MUST have a location and contact information in order to be fully confirmed and listed here.

————-
City: Lincoln
When: April 15, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Where: TBA
Contact: EMAIL
Phone: 402.261.5573
Other Info:
Facebook Group: CLICK HERE
————-

City: Omaha
When: April 15, 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Where: TBA
Contact: EMAIL
P. 402.452.8372
Other Info:http://nebraskateaparties.com
Facebook Group: CLICK HERE

I have a (all day) meeting at work so I do not believe I will make it to the Omaha rally. Look for me at the Lincoln one though.

Freedom!

10:23am: When everyone else is gone, who will stand up for your rights?
The following quote is attributed to Friedrich Gustav Emil Martin Niemöller a Protestant pastor and social activist.

When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

You might not agree with everything we stand for, you might think of us as nuts, hillbillies, clingers to our guns and religion, or any other derogatory phrase the establishment has labeled us with. But when we no one is left for the government to go after who will speak up for you.

Be it your tax dollars and the way they are wasted. Be it your freedom of religion, to assemble, even to speak out. Be it your freedom to own a firearm, not just to hunt, but to feel safe in a world where not all bad guys wear black hats. Be it your protection from illegal search and seizure, your right to a fair trial, your right to a lawyer. Be it your very right to live, whether you are young or old.

March 17, 2009


Dear Friend of Liberty,

Maybe you've heard, or maybe not, but the Missouri State Police think you might be a security threat.

Why? Because you support Ron Paul and the Campaign for Liberty. Also, because maybe you own guns, oppose abortion or homeschool.

Even, and I'm serious, because you support the U.S. Constitution.

I know, it's ridiculous...and probably steams you a bit.

But here at Campaign for Liberty we are going to give this foolishness the treatment it deserves. More on that in a moment. Let me give you a bit more background.

As you may be aware by now, the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) recently released a report titled, "The Modern Militia Movement" to over one thousand Missouri law enforcement officers.

What is the Missouri Information Analysis Center? According to its website,

"MIAC is the mechanism to collect incident reports of suspicious activities to be evaluated and analyzed in an effort to identify potential trends or patterns of terrorist or criminal operations within the state of Missouri. MIAC will also function as a vehicle for two-way communication between federal, state and local law enforcement community within our region."
The MIAC warned officers that violent militia members are "usually" supporters of presidential candidates like Ron Paul and are also known for opposition to things like the Federal Reserve and the income tax.

The "study" was undoubtably written by some university liberal who knows nothing of the hundreds of thousands of Missourians who share our values. I can only imagine how many hundreds of thousands of Missouri tax dollars funded this.

Both Ron Paul and Campaign for Liberty champion principles of freedom, peace, and prosperity. We believe that the Founder's vision for America can be reclaimed through education and peaceful activism. It is a common practice of elitist intellectuals and backroom bureaucrats to attempt to crowd everyone into groups and stick labels on them, especially when it involves those who support a Constitutionally-limited government.

Anthony Gregory, editor-in-chief at Campaign for Liberty, has posted an excellent new article on our site concerning government broad-brush fear campaigns.

It is important that we respond in the right way when faced with such a government labeling, and the proper way is to go straight to the top in Missouri.

The way to fight thugs and ignorant people in authority is not to cower or rage, but to proudly proclaim who you are and what you believe.

That's why I urge you to sign our Citizen's Petition here today.

Our petition spells out in no uncertain terms who we are and what we believe. And it reminds those in charge of enforcing Missouri's laws that we are citizen activists who will not be intimidated nor embarassed into silence.

Simply owning a gun does not make you a threat. It means you are a free citizen.

Supporting our Constitution does not make you worthy of a watchlist, it makes you a Patriot.

So please, sign our Citizen's Petition today. Be sure to stay tuned for more information on how we plan to respond to the MIAC.

Finally, I want to ask you a final favor. If you can, please join us next week as we gather in St. Louis for the first Campaign for Liberty Regional Conference and show the people of Missouri what Campaign for Liberty truly stands for and represents.

We will be hosting a free event on Friday Night with Ron Paul and Judge Andrew Napolitano that is open to the public, and the conference will be highlighted by grassroots training on Saturday, March 28.

Learning how to properly mobilize in order to implement liberty-based legislation is absolutely critical to our success as a movement, and our Regional Conference will provide you with the tools you need as we move forward.

For more information on our Conference, check out our Regional Conference page. For special travel and hotel information, click here.

Liberty is never free, and demands vigilance.

I look forward to seeing you in St. Louis for an exciting weekend of celebration and training!

In Liberty,


John Tate
President, Campaign for Liberty

P.S. And don't forget to fill out our Citizen's Petition, which we will deliver to the Missouri Governor and Attorney General.

9:01am: Baby news
Its a boy!

10:08pm: Question
I was looking through some old posts on LJ from years ago, back when I started this journal. It brings up an important question: Was I as whinny as I sound to myself now?

10:06pm: Mother
My mother took a fall outside my parent's house this afternoon. She is relatively okay, but Alex took her into the emergency room to have a wrist x-ray since she (like me) tried to catch herself when she fell. I hope she is okay.

I will reply to this thread as I find more information.

7:19am: Volunteer community service?
http://change.gov/americaserves/
. . .by setting a goal that all middle school and high school students do 50 hours of community service a year and

Read the above paragraph carefully. High School students will have to do 50 hours of community service - I thought that was voluntary unless it was a punishment, does Obama plan to punish high school students?

. . .by developing a plan so that all college students who conduct 100 hours of community service receive a universal and fully refundable tax credit ensuring that the first $4,000 of their college education is completely free.

College students who do 100 hours of community service get a $4,000 refundable tax credit for college education, so he is going to pay college kids $40 per hour to do volunteer work. That is money that the rest of us will have to pay in taxes.

4:26pm: Oh well, everyone get out your checkbook. BOHICA!
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/29/business/main4555857.shtml?source=RSSattr=U.S._4555857

The cost of the merger: $10,000,000,000 worth of tax payer money, and 25,000 - 35,000 additional jobs.

Add it together, figure each worker will get unemployment for (heck) the full six months (this is Michigan after all and their economy is crumbling), so at $400 a week, and 4 weeks in a month, that means $1,600 a month, 6 months means $9,600 total per person. Let's round it to $10,000 per person for simplicity - so we have a total bailout cost (these stage at least) of $10.25 to $10.35 billion dollars. All because they were unwilling to change with the times as technology changed and are now facing disappearing. Whatever happened to survival of the fittest - capitalism's defining facet against socialism.

4:23pm: Still think Obama will reduce your taxes?
Still think Obama will reduce your taxes?


http://www.fortcollinsnow.com/article/20081029/NEWS/810299979/1057&parentprofile=1057&title=Boucher:%20What%20Obama%20Really%20Means%20by%20%27Change%27

I had a shocking conversation with a well-informed voter the other day. She asked about Barack Obama's “tax cut for 95 percent of Americans.” I laughed, noting that it was going to be quite a trick to give a “tax cut” to the roughly 40 percent of Americans who don't pay federal income taxes.

“What?” She asked.

It stopped me dead in my tracks.

“After deductions, about 40 percent of Americans don't end up owing income taxes,” I explained. “Barack Obama's idea of a 'tax cut' for them is to send them a 'refundable tax credit.' In other words, he's going to cut everyone a government check.” (“Spread the wealth around,” indeed.)

We're days away from a national election, and no one in the media has even bothered to explain Obama's “tax cut.” No one has broken down just what Obama is proposing and what it will mean for you, your family budget, your retirement savings and your job security.

Obama's tax plan includes four main components: Higher marginal rates; higher estate taxes; higher corporate taxes; and higher taxes on investments. Let's go through them, one-by-one.

Start with the now-famous “Joe the Plumber” tax which would raise taxes on income over $250,000. (Is it $250,000? Obama's new ad now clearly says $200,000. Just this week, Joe Biden said it was $150,000. So who really knows? It seems to be dropping daily.) According to the Wall Street Journal, the combined Obama tax plan would “add up to about a 10-percentage-point hike in marginal tax rates for those making more than $250,000 a year, including millions of small businesses that pay taxes at individual rates.”

And there's the problem. The “Joe the Plumber” tax raises taxes on small businesses, crushing entrepreneurial job creation at the most basic level. Most small businesses are LLC's or S-corporations. Every net dollar they earn is taxed as “income” for the owner. Even if a small business owner decides to take a small salary each year and leave money in his or her business for future investment or payroll, all of that money is taxed as “personal income.” Moreover, many small businesses live from contract to contract. They might receive a large check at the end of a year and then set that money aside to make sure they can make payroll for upcoming lean months. Obama's plan raises taxes on that money, perversely calling it “income.” In the real world, that money is often next month's paycheck or next year's job security for employees.

Barack Obama is also calling for higher estate taxes: More “tax the rich” class warfare, more real-world pain for working Americans. The current estate tax rate is scheduled to sunset over the next few years. Barack Obama will set it at 45 percent. For Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, that might not be that big a deal, but what about a family farm or small business? Many are worth enough to trigger the estate tax but only produce a modest income for the owners. Those farms or businesses are taxed at the “value” of the company, not for the revenue they produce. All too often, the only way the next generation can cover their estate tax bill is to sell off the farm or business. Most “Mom and Pop” small businesses don't survive to the next generation. The estate tax destroys them.

But what if you don't own a small family business, don't work for a small family business or don't shop at small family businesses? Well, do your parents own their home? If they passed away, would you be able to write a check to cover the estate taxes on the value of that home, or would you have to put it on the market in order to pay the government? On Dec. 31, 2010, the estate tax is scheduled to expire. Barack Obama wants to set it to 45 percent for the highest marginal rates. Part of the American Dream is that our children will live better than we do, that we'll be able to create something and pass it on. Barack Obama's tax plan makes that dream unattainable for many Americans.

Barack Obama will raise taxes on “big oil.” Who do you think actually pays for those taxes on “big oil?” We do, of course. Everyone pays, regardless of whether or not we can afford it. We pay higher prices at the gas pump and higher prices for our groceries. (It takes gas to run farm equipment and the trucks that get the groceries to the supermarket.) Barack Obama's higher taxes on “big oil” will hurt lower-income Americans the most. While they might make for a nice sound byte, taxes on “big oil” are among the most regressive and punitive taxes. Remember those 40 percent who don't owe federal income taxes? Ironically, Barack Obama's plan means they take less money home at the end of the week.

Finally, a question: How's your 401k these days? Your pension? Stocks have plummeted as investors have pulled their money out of the market. Yet just as the market is crashing, Barack Obama is planning to raise taxes on capital gains and dividends, further discouraging investment and cutting an even larger chunk of money out of the stock market. Were you planning on retiring anytime soon? Under an Obama administration, you might be working a few extra years.

We've seen this type of “tax the rich” mentality before. In 1989, President George H.W. Bush and the Democrat-controlled Congress passed a 10 percent “luxury tax” on yachts priced at more than $100,000, thinking that the “rich” would easily be able to afford the surcharge. What happened? Just two years after the new tax went into effect, the New York Times reported, “In the last two years, about 100 builders of luxury boats—recreational craft costing more than $100,000—cut their operations severely and laid off thousands of workers.”

Thousands of workers lost their jobs: Machinists, tradesmen, carpenters, laborers, designers. The “tax the rich” mentality—especially higher taxes on business—sends lower and middle income workers to the unemployment office. Higher estate taxes destroy the ability to pass small businesses, family farms or homes on to the next generation. Higher taxes on “big oil” lead to regressive cost increases at the gas pump and the grocery checkout lane. Higher taxes on investments leads to reduced values for retirement accounts, 401ks and pensions.

That is what Barack Obama is proposing. That is his change for America. Look at it this way: Maybe you can use your government check—oops, I mean “refundable tax credit”—to pay for it all. You might even want to spend it on some new resume paper. You're going to need it.

9:47am: The (Democratic) New Socialist Senator Obama
Obama the Redistributive Socialist

The following links come from several articles I read this morning during my brief break here at 9:30. I guess the only bright patch is from my earlier post (yesterday) we can all get jobs in this new Government department the Democrats want to establish.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27327204/ - Slow Economy = Smaller Paychecks

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,444256,00.html – Redistribute the Wealth

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-goldberg28-2008oct28,0,6803276.column – What does Barack Obama, Woodrow Wilson, and Franklin Roosevelt have in common?

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-goldberg28-2008oct28,0,6803276.column - Obama's Stealth Reparations

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122515112102674263.html - And what does Obama support: The Employee Free Forced Choice Act. What will it do: Increase the size of the Labor Unions. Required higher wages = reduced corporate profits. Reduced corporate profits = reduced payroll. Reduced payroll = working man job losses.

http://townhall.com/columnists/PatrickJBuchanan/2008/10/28/obamas_first_100_days?page=1 – A brief glimpse at what might come.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122515067227674187.html - Obama’s Redistributive Constitution?

9:37am: And the truth shall set you free!
Is it really paranoia if everyone is out to get you?

Am I really close-minded if I don't drink the cool-aid and accept this 'one' as the Messiah. As for myself I will follow the Lord.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iivL4c_3pck

Yes I found this from a less than trustworthy site, but then I found it on foxnews.com as well. So have at, the MSM is finally reporting on the Messiah.

~Waz

8:28am: Department of Peace and Nonviolence Act
What do we expect from the New Socialist Party.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.808

Sounds very George Orwellian to me.

Just a scared man holding onto his guns and religion.

10:51pm: Truth be told
Despite what my wife says, I have not seen the 'errors' of my ways. Well, I guess I have I need to explain myself to everyone. I could care less about either candidate, I prefer Ron Paul and belief that we should follow the Constitution.

What I really want is the truth.

Is Obama Kenyan? I doubt it. In the pics of him as a 5 year old, he looks to be almost 10 years old.

Is Obama a muslim? Does it matter on this earth, why am I any better than 'that one'? I just want to know the truth of was he raised a muslim.

My primary concern is, I want to know the truth?

As for 'my' candidate, supposedly John McCain. Why did he get preferential treatment while in the POW camp in Vietnam? Did he trade state secrets for better treatment (something he alluded to in his autobiography)? Why did he leave his first wife, and do we need another womanizing president?

Do I think that Obama will lead us into a great Socialist country? Well, Bush started us on the way, McCain helped, so if Obama follows, what is the point?

I personally feel that the government has no need to be in issues such as gay marriage, abortion, or health care. I am sure that you can argue both ways on all three points, but that is not the point here, the fact you can argue is protected, thank you God.

I am sorry that I stepped on peoples toes with what I said, I guess I should have prefaced my post more.