I Have Had ENOUGH! – The Trans/Drag Movement

?u=https3.bp.blogspot.com-fYRTNk48SCwT8ua0IRDWPIAAAAAAAAFZUpexSmJsN2Kos1600overcoming-adversity-help-yourself-believe-cubby-motivational-1289878102.jpg&f=1&nofb=1Last week, feel free to look it up on YouTube, Officer Tatum was discussing a Drag Queen show where children are present, and the Drag Queen is exposing their underwear regularly to the horror of the children attending.  Now, take a minute and put your critical thinking hat on.  If a man or woman exposes their drawers to a child anywhere, that person is arrested for exposure and investigated for child endangerment and other potential crimes.  Yet, if the person claims to be a cross-dressing member of the LGBTQ+ community, the law somehow doesn’t apply.  Tell me why!

Recently, again YouTube has a video, a mother hears about a Drag Queen indecently exposing themselves at her daughter’s school.  Indecent exposure, as defined in legal communities, is “the crime of displaying one’s genitalia to one or more people in a public place, usually with the apparent intent to shock the unsuspecting viewer and give the exposer a sexual charge.”  It is important to note that in many U.S. jurisdictions, “it is not required that someone observe the act, or see the perpetrator’s private parts, in order for the perpetrator to face criminal charges.”  Never forget that those exposing themself in public are at risk of committing more serious sexual crimes and are a danger to society.  The mother wears the same outfit to the school board and is considered immodestly dressed for a public forum.  News stations blurred the mother’s image to prevent problems with the FCC.  Why wasn’t the Drag Queen treated similarly?  Why is there a two-tier judicial system in the Republic of the United States of America?

Earlier in 2022, a video is taken of a child slipping cash into the underwear of a Drag Queen.  Why haven’t any of these parents been investigated for child endangerment?  Children deserve to be raised by parents who are not abusing them by exposing the child to the sexual predilections of a perverted mind.  How many more instances of child endangerment are needed before schools, governments, and the judicial system before we as a society take action to stop this chicanery??u=http2.bp.blogspot.com-fGEUjJsJ2h4VcJgswaisnIAAAAAAAABcsoFqEewPF_E4s1600quote-if-the-freedom-of-speech-is-taken-away-then-dumb-and-silent-we-may-be-led-like-sheep-to-the-george-washington-193690.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

All are created equally.  All are equal under the law.  These are not aphorisms or nice thoughts; they are how society works.  We must be able to trust the legal system to treat ALL equally under the law.  Yet, if you choose to cross-dress, believing you are a soul in the wrong body, somehow you have special treatment under the law and can commit crimes that others would be jailed and rightfully ostracized from society for committing.

Curiosity is no sin, and I have long wondered why we hear stories of men crashing women’s locker rooms but never a woman entering a man’s locker room.  A trans boy in Vermont crashes a girl’s locker room, makes snide and disparaging comments, makes the girls feel uncomfortable, and the girls are punished.  America has witnessed a star varsity girl be a quarterback on a football team.  Yet, she never crashed the boy’s locker room.  I have been in school districts where girls have wrestled on the boys’ wrestling team; they never thought to watch the boys change, dress, disparage comments, or make the boys feel uncomfortable.  Have you ever wondered why this is always a one-directional story, boys and men against women and girls?

Since SCOTUS ruled in Obergefell v. Hodges, the claim has been made that children would be sacrificed for political correctness.  What have we seen happen in America; child molesters are now called “Minor Attracted People,” Drag Queens are paid tax dollars to dance and expose themselves to children in schools, and explicit LGBTQ+ pornography is peddled through school libraries to children who should not be exposed to this garbage.  Why?  Do not misunderstand; I am thoroughly against heterosexual pornography being peddled to children.  We have laws against heterosexual porn marketing and set legal age limits.  Why does gay porn not have the same common sense approaches and age restrictions?Lemmings 1

In 2019, I substitute taught at a high school in Albuquerque, NM, for several months.  I was horrified at what passed for A.P. English reading materials.  Seeing the reading materials that described explicit details of gay sexual activity was sickening.  Peddle heterosexual pornography with this explicit amount of detail to minors, and you would be jailed, and rightly so.  There are laws restricting this material from minors, but somehow if the materials are gay sexual activity, the rules magically do not apply.  Why?

I have seen reading materials pushed by the American Library Association (ALA) that are so obscene I could not finish reading them, and I am not a young mind in K-12.  Let me elaborate upon this significance.  In Junior High school (1989-1991), I challenged myself to learn about the world.  In seventh grade, I was going to read all the books in the Crosby Junior High School library.  I was exposed to harlequin romances that were inappropriate for my age, and regret having read them.  I read Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler, the Koran, ideals, and philosophies from all over the world, and I am better for the experience.  I wanted an expanded mind; I developed my mind and then felt better about experiencing and experimenting with the world.

NO FearGenerally, I am against banning books, but I am all in for age appropriateness in materials offered for reading.  Tell me, should kindergarten-aged children be learning about masturbation?  Their young minds and bodies are not developed sufficiently, yet what do we find in kindergarten required reading, how to masturbate?  It was inappropriate to have harlequin romances in a junior high school library.  What I needed was to learn about love, not sex.  Not knowing there was a difference cost me a lot of time and relationships.  What is the exposure to gay sexual details doing to the children’s minds right now?  Why are these materials not only allowed but promoted to children?

President Thomas Jefferson, when discussing equality in 1776, rightly reminded his countrymen that he never intended to say anything original in the Declaration but only “to place before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent.”  Well, with this missive, my intent is similar; I desire to place before you, dear reader, the common sense of this subject, in plain terms, firmly stated sufficient to command your attention and recognize the evil that has beset this nation.

There is no excuse for the sexual attacks on our children and youth in the name of equality.  Equality has become the brick stick to beat populations into submission and chain those minds in captivity.  I choose to allow all the freedom to act as they choose, with two provisions:

  1. I am allowed to act as I so choose.
  2. Those who think differently do NOT use the power of governmental force to compel me to give up my liberties encompassed in the first provision.

If you choose to dress as a different sex, gender, or type of person, you are more than free to do so.  Make your choices, live your consequences, and leave me alone.  However, the LGBTQ+ community is not happy leaving people alone; they insist on stealing rights and liberties through judicial twisting, legislation, and bureaucratic fiat, which is immoral, unethical, and illegal.

Exclamation MarkWhere are the rights of parents?  On YouTube, a discussion was held that a mother and father had no legal say in what their child was taught in his second-grade classroom.  Really, where did the rights of parents go?  In 6th -12th grade, I freely admit I forged parental signatures on permission forms.  Yet, my parents were still afforded their right to say no and tell the school board.  More, when my mother became vociferous sufficiently to make a nuisance, she was jailed for contempt regarding teacher overreach in what was being taught to my younger brothers.

The oppression of parental rights is not new, but it has taken a decidedly dangerous turn, and this trend MUST be reversed!  The class I hated the most in school sexual education.  In the eight different high schools I attended, this class was masked under the guise of reproductivity, family planning, health, and other less obnoxious sounding titles.  But always, the class was sexual education, and too often, the course sickened me mentally and physically.  Yet, in all eight high schools, the classes were made mandatory, not by parents, but by legislatures who had been hoodwinked by Planned Parenthood and other nefarious political bodies.  I learned about women’s periods and cycles in junior high and was physically ill.  On my second trip through fourth grade, I saw movies on how children were conceived and more physical nausea.

During those years of government-mandated public education, I learned the words of Jefferson: “Liberty … is unobstructed action according to our will: but rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will, within the limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others.  I do not add ‘within the limits of the law’; because law is often but the tyrant’s will, and always so when it violates the right of an individual.”  The limits drawn by tyrants are violating the rights of individuals, and the noose cinching our growth originates in the twisted minds of those claiming equality for sexual perversion and mental illness.

Tell me, have you researched the psychiatric book on mental illness?  Several sections are devoted to the mental illnesses of sexual disorders and the mental health of people who create problems because they refuse to be bound by limits in sexual appetites.  The consequences of sexual perversion create mental health disorders.  Please, do not blindly believe me; look up the DSM 5.  The DSM-5 officially is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition, text revision (DSM-5-TR) released on March 18, 2022, by the American Psychiatric Association (APA).  The DSM is a reference handbook that most U.S. mental health professionals use to reach an accurate diagnosis, and the latest version of the manual is the DSM-5-TR.Plato 2

While there are always discussions on the applicability and use of the DSM, this is the reference for lawyers, mental health professionals, and medical doctors in dealing with mental health cases.  The information in the DSM-5-TR remains the standard upon which diagnoses and treatment of mental health patients rest.  A basic level of reading comprehension leaves the reader with a firm grasp of the obvious, sexual appetites and passions have consequences, and those consequences lead to poor mental health, including depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, physical, sexual, and mental abuse of others, and a host of social problems and legal issues.

Yet, instead of addressing the problem and suggesting more control of personal appetites, the reverse is preached by media, politicians, doctors, and other key societal groups.  Leading us back to Jefferson’s claim that “law is often the tyrant’s will” as a weapon to violate the rights of individuals.  Another glimpse into the mind of President Jefferson shows us the following pattern.  “Whereas it appeareth that however certain forms of government are better calculated than others to protect individuals in the free exercise of their natural rights and are at the same time themselves better guarded against degeneracy, yet experience hath [shown], that even under the best forms, those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny . . . [emphasis mine].”

Slow operations are perverting government into tyranny; where have we seen this more apparent than in the bureaucratic nightmare of the federal, state, county, and city/town government on education in publicly funded schools?  Under the guise of the twisted and plastic term progress, the ability to read was curtailed by Dewey, and education was bureaucratized slowly into the mess it has become.  Math and history are weaponized into topics hated and despised, so the student knows nothing of their country’s rich heritage and history.  The popularization of topics has seen the rise of perversion in a bold attempt to groom children for the sexual appetites and passions of adults who deserve public shaming.  Instead, those with morals and ethics are denounced and shunned.Image - Eagle & Flag

Let me be clear and concise, using President Jefferson to help, “Under the law of nature, all men are born free, every one comes into the world with a right to his own person, which includes the liberty of moving and using it at his own will.  This is what is called personal liberty, and [personal liberty] is given him by the author of nature because [it is] necessary for his own sustenance.”  How you choose is your business, provided it does not infringe upon the rights and liberties of others to pursue life, exercise liberty, and choose happiness.  However, what is occurring right now remains in direct violation of personal liberty, and these purveyors of sexual perversion must cease and desist immediately!

You do not have the right to twist the minds of children!  You are not the parents, and your job does not give you the authority to interfere in parental rights!  The power of government is not an acceptable excuse to steal innocence, groom minds, or pervert those not interested in your lifestyle choices!  How you choose to exercise your liberty is between you and the author of that liberty.  When you go forth exercising your liberty and try to steal rights and liberties from others, you are the problem.  You deserve social castigation, denunciation, and the harshest penalties of the legal system.

PatriotismYou have no claims upon my personal liberty, and I want my rights back!

© Copyright 2022 – M. Dave Salisbury
The author holds no claims for the art used herein, the pictures were obtained in the public domain, and the intellectual property belongs to those who created the images.  Quoted materials remain the property of the original author.

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Serial Betrayal – More Government Attacks Against Citizens

Angry Wet ChickenGovernment laws, rules, regulations, and the tyrannical thumb of bureaucrats upon the scale of justice mean citizens lose, not gain, freedoms.  Consider the oppression created by the European Union to “protect” wine industries but, in so doing, eradicated competition and locked-in prices to which the government takes through taxes, tariffs, and trade.  The cost, though, is to stop the majority of innovation, the role of technology, and the promotion of class warfare.

For example, in reviewing the history of wine, there are several events where a member of the royalty got into a particular product, and the upper classes adopted the same tastes, regardless of costs, and to the detriment of all citizens.  Tea, Port wine, Champagne, and so many other products through history repeat this process, and the government is used to protect the product, to the detriment and cost of all citizens.  Consider this for a moment; similar tactics would be considered protectionist, monopolistic, and highly illegal in any other industry.  Yet, because the government takes these actions, they are allowed to bend the rules, act in a manner disrupting all citizens, and worse, betray the foundational anchors of a society to trust their government.  When trust in government is destroyed, the government has no moral standing to represent its citizens.  Few understand this is a precious commodity, and even fewer, especially in government, will admit to honoring it.This we'll defend. | Defender, Army mom, American flag

A few examples are required to help drive home this truth; please note those specifically named politicians represent the problem, not the only people betraying and using government jargon and bureaucrats to hide and obfuscate the citizenry.  Ridding the body politic of these examples is a small step in the right direction, but the bureaucrats are the primary source of power; thus, reducing the size of government is the answer, not merely replacing the elected heads abusing their office for personal gain and political power.

Senator Mitt Romney finds himself on top of this list of characters not deserving of his office, and who, with his family, should be as investigated as Biden and Clinton.  Sen. Romney recently changed his mind about SCOTUS Nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson.  Because of a supposedly in-depth discussion, the senator now considers the nominee “mainstream.”  Senator, what does “mainstream” mean?  Why should a judge be “mainstream?”  Finally, which stream is “mainstream?”

I have made my mind up on this disastrous nominee based solely upon her non-qualification for a judicial appointment, let alone the ability to sit on the “Court of last resort.”  Her judicial activism, her refusal to use logic and common sense in her decisions, her flaccid legal mind, and her disastrous leaning toward pro-child pornography are just a few reasons she should NEVER sit on the Supreme Court of this the United States of America.  Good senator, your Yahoo! News article fluff piece does nothing to explain why you changed your mind.  If Judge Jackson was not qualified for a district judgeship, what has changed in the last few weeks to change your mind?  I smell serial betrayal of the citizenry and more mealy-mouthed yellow spinelessness that cost you the US Presidency!

Three state governors also help to elucidate the principle of serial betrayal and deserve removal (in shame) from public office and a transparent investigation.  New Mexico, Utah, and Michigan, your governors Michelle Lujan Grisham, Spencer J. Cox, and Gretchen Whitmer, respectively, are serial betrayers worthy of Benedict Arnold, Doña Marina, or Brutus.  Consider their actions, not their words, and you will find innumerable betrayals made for personal power, political gain, and the demonization of the citizens for the promotion of those who consider themselves elite.  From mask-wearing, mask mandates, government brutality against citizens, and the passing of laws to the destruction of the citizenry, these governors do not deserve janitor’s office, let alone commander-in-chief.

Under the rule of Grisham and through a disastrous legislature, New Mexico became what is termed an“Adult-use Cannabis” state, which means that for recreational use, cannabis can be sold and consumed by adults.  In a state teeming with homelessness, poverty, and already suffering from drug and alcohol abuse problems rampant in the citizenry, the legislature, cheered on by the governor, began to sell cannabis.  The excuse sold to the people, “The state needs to expand its revenue base.”  How does selling an addictive substance to a citizenry already near collapse from the weight of homelessness, illegal immigration, and government regulation improve the tax base?  Simple question, never asked by the cheering media nor answered by the betraying elected leaders proposing another sale of an addictive and harmful substance.Ziad K. Abdelnour Quote: "Trust is earned, respect is given, and loyalty is demonstrated ...

Governor Cox ruled that when the Utah Jazz began awarding scholarships based on race qualifications, as not racist, his colors were evident as a betrayer in deed, not merely by word.  Worse, look to the wording of his first action as governor, what is known as the Utah Compact on Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: A Declaration on Five Principles and Actions to Create Equal Opportunity.  First, we need to clarify that nothing in this declaration was needed as existing laws are regularly enforced already on the books.  Yet, this new declaration adds some pretty ambiguous wording that is not clarified and will make judicial activism worse, not better.  Leading to the first question, why was this signed into law by the governor who is expected to lead a state?

What does “economic inclusion” mean, and why should all Utahns or any citizens in a direct representative government agree this wording is essential?  What is a “racially equitable state?”  Utah and every other state in America’s union are already racially equitable, only made inequitable by the bureaucrats enforcing the government’s wishes.  Consider the housing projects created by the federal government, supported by state governments, where race is inequitable by design.  Tell me why the government doesn’t just end the housing programs and the racial division they created to have a class of people always ready to riot?25 Quotes on Friendship, Trust, Love and Betrayal

What are “cultures of inclusion?”  The US Constitution already declares in words of soberness, “All men are created equal.”  The Utah State Constitution declares in Section 1 the following:

All men have the inherent and inalienable right to enjoy and defend their lives and liberties; to acquire, possess, and protect property; to worship according to the dictates of their consciences; to assemble peaceably, protest against wrongs, and petition for redress of grievances; to communicate freely their thoughts and opinions, being responsible for the abuse of that right.”

As a point of fact, Section four of the Utah State Constitution remains an even more powerful declaration, more easily understood, supporting equal rights, where equal rights promote a society of inclusion, where cultures of inclusion are grown and sustained.

Further in the declaration on racial equity, diversity, and inclusion, we find another phrase with no meaning and lots of availability for abuse, “… equal opportunity and access to education, employment, housing, and healthcare.”  The recent COVID-Farrago saw healthcare limited based upon race, and Governor Cox did nothing!  The recent COVID-Government sponsored pandemic also saw employment and housing decisions influenced unequally, opportunities to pursue life, liberty, and happiness were restricted, and Governors Cox, Grisham, and Whitmer were leading the pack in cheering and advancing unequal treatment under the law.  Why?  Why is equality something to be turned on and off based upon skin color, obeisance to government mandates, and the cudgel of government used against citizens who have the right to be left alone?Betrayal Sayings and Quotes ~ Best Quotes and Sayings

In reading the five actions you have committed Utahans to follow, Governor Cox, I am left in a mental swamp equivalent to the Okefenokee Swamp.  Racism in America, especially in Utah, only exists because the government is building a disgruntled class of people who can be depended upon to riot explosively anytime their government benefits are threatened.  This is not equality and does not promote life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but you have insisted that all Utahans are racist by default.  I OBJECT!

Action item two declares the need to invest more in creating the perpetually aggrieved class.  More welfare, not less, breeds more discouragement, anger, and racial inequity.  Since the government has created racial problems and supports racial inequality through government action, why do we not reduce government to improve racial justice and inclusion?  The remaining action items do nothing to advance anything but more government top-down actions, which further promote racism as a government action!10 True Quotes About Being Betrayed

30 April 2020, the Michigan State Supreme Court stripped Governor Whitmer of her legal basis of powers for violating the citizen’s rights to representative government.  Yet, Gov. Whitmer was able to continue to abuse, despise, and detest through government actions the rights, liberties, and lives of Michigan’s electorate for the entirety of the government-mandated COVID-Pandemic.  Is there any more glaring example of treason and betrayal by an elected official, let alone a sitting governor, on a massive power grab?  Newsom and Cuomo cannot pale the hubris of this governor, Gov. Whitmer; you deserve to be named beside Benedict Arnold, Doña Marina, or Brutus as the greatest betrayers and traitors in history.

Serial betrayal of the electorate appears to be a game; how much can a politician get away with, remain in power, and be considered honorable?  Hollywood got something right in the Pirates of the Caribbean” movies when Captain Jack Sparrow said, “The deepest circle of hell is reserved for betrayers and mutineers.”  I believe in the rule of law and so wish you your day in court, in front of a jury of your peers, where justice may be served.  I am not your judge, juror, or executioner.  I am a concerned citizen who is fed up with the gamesmanship of politics!

Knowledge Check!America is a Constitutional Republic, a democracy, and a direct representative style of government; thus, I ask, who are you representing?  The demographics of Utah reflect that the governor is not representing the majority of his constituents.  The demographics of New Mexico and Michigan are similar but also reflect that the constituents are not being represented by the governments and governors currently executing the offices held.  On the mayoral level, too many mayors are learning how to deceive, mimic despicableness, and manipulate the media to play the games and achieve elected offices beyond their maximum level of incompetence.  Why is this happening, the gamesmanship of politicians?  The bureaucrats consider themselves to possess lifelong employment in a cushy and “influential” office; they have lists of media heads to call and whisper to and lists of donors and influential people schmooze.

The answer to solving these problems is a more informed electorate and smaller government!

© Copyright 2022 – M. Dave Salisbury
The author holds no claims for the art used herein, the pictures were obtained in the public domain, and the intellectual property belongs to those who created the images.  Quoted materials remain the property of the original author.

Jacob and Esau – The Perils of Government; An Analogy

Bobblehead DollSeveral books of scripture, in multiple religions, record the story of Jacob and Esau.  Jacob and Esau are twins male children of Isaac and Rebekah.  The boys were competitors for their entire lives.  Esau acts outside his parent’s wishes in marriage, sells his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of pottage (stew or beans; something cooked in a pot), and late in life is reconciled to Jacob even though his people continue to have animosity towards Jacob’s people to this day.  While the story of these twin brothers remains useful to those in religion and teaches several morals of importance, Jacob and Esau represent a classic tale of why government should be limited in size and scope.

Genesis 27, Old Testament, contains the story of how Jacob obtains the birthright blessing, which had been sold to him by Esau for the aforementioned bowl of pottage.  Consider with me what would have happened if the same bloated government we have right now had meddled in the affairs of Isaac, Jacob, and Esau.  The cost of meddling in the internal family affairs, the government would have taken 40% inheritance tax.  Esau would have always had the government as a millstone and ready excuse for not reconciling with Jacob, and lawyers and government officials would have further sundered the family.

Remember this, for it has importance in the following discussion, the government does not grant freedom, EVER!  As described and stated in the US Constitution and US Bill of Rights, freedom comes from a power higher than government, and government was only, ever, instituted for the benefit of man.  Ask yourself, is your government benefitting you?Plato 2

I guarantee the answer is no; regardless of the political spectrum, you prefer.  Why, because the government should not be exerting powers in areas that control or curtail the freedoms of the people.  Esau never valued his birthright, so selling it was easy, and a bowl of pottage was a rich reward for something he did not value.

How expensive is government-funded medical treatment?  Some will claim, but those receiving treatment never see a bill; really?  Costs are more than merely a statement representing the need to pay money.  What about the loss of privacy?  What about the loss of freedom to choose what treatments and providers are best for you?  What about the loss of innovation to the thumb of oppression from the government?  What about the loss of self-reliance and the health benefits of independence?  What about the destruction of your community and the connections people felt with and pride for community hospitals?  What was lost when the medical community forced, through the abuse of government intervention, the knowledge of herbs for the sterility of Big Pharmaceutical drugs?

For the hope of a prosperous retirement, what was sold; freedom and money in the now.  Yet, one should ask, where does the government get the power to take money, then give it back at some future point?  Except, how many of those government retirement Ponzi Schemes are fully funded, even with all the money flowing in?  The answer is as empty as Esau’s bowl.  Still, the government continues to steal money through forced taxation and purchase the hopes and liberties of citizens for that hoped-for bowl of pottage, prosperity in retirement.Plato 3

For the hope of reducing poverty, the government purchased a class of people whom they could abuse and ignite for political gain anytime they want or desire.  To create this aggrieved class of people, the government took over welfare programs, bought people with bread and circuses, asked them to stay in government houses, live on government food, enjoy government-provided entertainment, etc.  What was sold for this bowl of pottage; liberty, potential, freedom, upward mobility financially, safety and security, and hope.  What has been the consequences of this purchase; a permanently aggrieved class of people who look longingly at another’s possessions and desire them through theft because hard work is racist, demoralizing, and stops the government handouts.  Worse, the government had to grow in power and size to “manage” this class of people, creating those with six-digit salaries to rub the purchased people’s faces in the irony of what was lost in the purchase.

The United States has been waging a “War on Drugs,” almost since its founding.  The government considers one drug “good,” mainly due to the ease of controlling it for taxation purposes, and another drug “bad.”  Yet, how successful has it been in this “war?”  Not at all, and its failures are increasing year-over-year, even while new methods of taxation are being invented to manage “legal drugs.”

Alcohol in the United States has had a history of acceptance, tolerance, legal banning, and returned to tolerance and acceptance, all through human desires, abuse of government powers, and the need for tax revenue.  Sin taxes, the class of tax used to allow a citizen government approval to get drunk, stoned, or inject poison into their bodies, are among the highest taxes in America.  Yet, the more the taxes increase, the more people want these products, and the more the government wants people to use these products, for we see the purchase of something transitory using something highly precious to barter.  What is more precious than time and physical health, and what is purchased but something that can only temporarily ease pain or provide relief at best.Apathy

Tobacco has been a favorite drug of the government for its population to enjoy, pushing the popularity of the drug even while condemning and restricting how, when, where the drug can be enjoyed.  Tobacco farmers have played vital roles in American history, and the product has been a significant cash crop for government revenue.  Have you ever wondered where the money and research facilities originate to improve cigarette addiction?  Have you ever considered where the marketing materials originated to pitch the health benefits of smoking?  Do you realize that government is the biggest provider of money for research and marketing purposes?  Never forget the government has become flush with cash, pushing tobacco, regulating tobacco, and licensing tobacco.  Now ask yourself, why would the government give on the one hand and take on the other, because it is making money with both hands as people sell something precious for something valueless and transitory.

Do people get injured and need assistance; yes, but the government is never the answer to provide help.  Are there those who are trying to thrive and escape poverty; yes, but the government is never the answer to providing help.  A truth from time immemorial, governments do not produce anything; thus, the government must first take through legalized theft, taxation, and legal abuse to give to someone else.  Every representative government must walk a balancing act between what a government is and what responsibilities a government must shoulder.  Except, how many continue to make Esau’s mistake and sell something incredibly precious for something transitory and essentially valueless?

Worse, evaluate the consequences of allowing the purchase to occur.  First, the seller experiences buyer’s remorse, anger, jealousy, regret, and the government making the purchase laughs, making the bitterness of the sell more poignant.  Second, the seller needs an outlet for this buyer’s remorse.  In an effort to continue to purchase while appeasing, the government allows the seller to go destroy the property and goods of another less politically connected person and calls this social justice.  Third, the abused class of people who are not politically affiliated or are political rivals, whose property is being destroyed, looks on, and envy, malice, and contempt are bred, which furthers the goals and desires of the government.The Duty of Americans

Esau took a long time to be reconciled to Jacob, but it first required admitting that he had sold his birthright (something of great value) for something transitory and valueless (food).  Jacob and Esau’s story remains of great importance and a cautionary tale, especially for understanding why government needs to be smaller, less involved, and less able to abuse the citizenry.  For too long, the governments worldwide have either abused their powers to purchase or been established as a tyrannical and oppressive government.  Either way, the government is the problem, and the answer continues to be the same, curb the government!

Knowledge Check!If COVID has taught the populations of the earth anything, let us learn this valuable lesson, the government is the problem, not the solution!  The size of government is oppression, the cost of government is theft, and the loss of precious freedom and liberty for transitory and valueless gifts or benefits which come at too high a price in treasure and other precious resources.  We, the owners and the abused of government, must change how we think and feel about the role of government before all is lost to the ever-hungry maw of government and self-interests!

© Copyright 2021 – M. Dave Salisbury
The author holds no claims for the art used herein, the pictures were obtained in the public domain, and the intellectual property belongs to those who created the images.  Quoted materials remain the property of the original author.

Unconscious Bias – A Fallacy of the Oppressor!

Bobblehead DollA few years ago, I had the unfortunate privilege of having for a manager a homosexual person.  Let me emphasize; I do not care about your personal choices and lifestyle; keep it to yourself and out of the workspace.  Hetero- or homosexual, does not matter; it does not belong in the workplace!  Back to the manager, as he was openly homosexual, he embraced all the biases claptrap and accused me of being racist and homophobic.quote-mans-inhumanity

Of which, I am neither.  When informed that I am neither homophobic nor racist, sexist, genderist, etc., I was told he was observing my unconscious biases and claiming that I was not biased was actually declaring I was heavily biased.  He then went so far as to write me up for being biased.  At the time, I had not studied the research on biases and could not counter his charges.  This manager chose to stand inside personal space for the guys on his team, but not the females, which was sexual harassment, but the business refused to think this was sexual harassment.  That this manager continually rubbed himself against the guys on his team was also rejected as sexual harassment.quote-mans-inhumanity-2

I have learned much since this incident, and I want to help those in similar situations understand a few pieces of the language plasticity that goes into the bias arguments.  I will be clear that if a heterosexual male rubs against a female, which is considered sexual harassment, then the same is true for a homosexual, regardless of gender.  Being uncomfortable with being touched is not an indication of bias, simply an expression of a personal preference.

Unconscious Bias

3-direectional-balanceBog-standard bias is considered as attitudes, behaviors, and actions that are prejudiced in favor or opposition to a person, group, or thing.  But, here is the clincher, bias is judged by others as a projection of themselves when they encounter other people, places, or things.  If you think you have a handle on the language of biases, an unconscious bias is also called an implicit bias.  Implicit bias is described as bias that occurs automatically and unintentionally, that nevertheless affects judgments, decisions, and behaviors, however just to keep you in the dark, implicit biases are also stereotypes.  In social identity theory, an implicit bias or implicit stereotype is the pre-reflective attribution of particular qualities by an individual to a social out-group member. Implicit stereotypes are shaped by experience and learned associations between certain qualities and social categories, including race or gender.

Now, if you think you finally have a grasp on biases, stereotypes, and preferences, we add the final straw to the argument.  Biases and stereotypes are judged by an observer using their understanding, education, experience, and opinions as a projection upon you and your actions, behaviors, and attitudes as a lens to understand the world around them.  Thus, my not saying “Good Morning” to my manager was projecting his own biased thinking and homophobia, declaring my actions are homophobic slurs.  In reality, I am not a morning person and generally do not talk to anyone, spouse included, before 0800.  Walking in at 0400 to begin a shift in a call center meant my cherub-like demeanor had not woken up yet, and silence was the only policy.

Bias Self-AuditingWhy

In my email box, I have an email that includes a self-audit of bias for managers.  Before continuing, consider what you know about bias.  Bias is the thoughts, feelings, ideas, and visions of another person, project upon you and your actions, attitudes, and behaviors, so the person projecting can understand the world.  I cleaned up the obvious grammatical errors, not that this improved the material very much.

How and to whom do you delegate work?

            • By giving specific tasks to one team member, am I depriving another team member of a growth opportunity?
            • Am I giving the same level of detail, and therefore equally setting each team member up for success when I assign projects?

End goal: Ensuring that everyone has an equal chance to take on challenging and meaningful projects

How do you give feedback to different direct reports?

            • Am I delivering feedback casually to some team members and formally to others?
            • Do I soften critiques for some team members more than others?

End goal: Making sure you’re delivering feedback equitably.

Any generalizations you make about team members.

            • What kind of assumptions am I making about team members based on age, ethnic background, race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, appearance, or anything else?
            • Do my assumptions impact how I feel about their capability and competency?

End goal: Minimizing the perpetuation of stereotypes while practicing and displaying empathy.

Who do you praise publicly, and who do not praise publicly?

            • Is there a personal motivation behind team members I praise publicly and those for whom I withhold praise?
            • Do I limit the exposure of my compliments for some team members and show my appreciation more widely for others?

End goal: Ensuring that you’re sharing accolades fairly.

How and with whom do you exchange casual banter?

            • Do I have friendly conversations or share memes with some teammates more than others? How might that affect workplace alliances?
            • Do some teammates feel alienated or marginalized by witnessing my apparent affinity for other teammates?

End goal: Avoiding outsized allegiances with people based on your shared perspective to the detriment of developing relationships with others with different viewpoints.

Who do you go to for advice?

            • Do I go to the same people time and time again for mentorship? Do they look like me?
            • Are there people to whom I could go for advice and a more expansive perspective?

End goal: Avoid making decisions based only on the feedback shared in an echo chamber.

Consider these statements with me for a moment as part of a discussion on biases.  Feel free to leave your comments in the space provided below this article.  When I need advice, my manager is younger than I am, but has years of experience in the company.  His boss is older than I am by a little bit.  They both look like me.  Does this automatically mean that I must sacrifice talents, skills, abilities, and tenure because the information comes from someone who looks like I do?  No, logic screams.  But the emotional immaturity of those casting biased aspersion will claim yes.Anton Ego

When I first arrived on my ship USS Barry (DDG 52), my second-class petty officers were two white males, one black male, and one black female.  For competence, I went to the black female as she displayed the most leadership—the two white males were involved in their own relationships and were rarely available to answer questions.  The black male did not possess the maturity to answer questions.  The first-class petty officers were three white males, two of whom embodied immaturity, and our chief… well, let’s not speak ill of the dead.  If I acted as these bias audits claim, my Navy career would have been disastrous, for I would have rejected competency and maturity for race, gender, and incompetence.

Suggestions, Ideas, and Thoughts

Stop seeing race, gender, nationality, and other lines of separation.  These are distractions cast upon everyone by foul oppressors who see these lines of separation and project their inadequacies upon everyone else.  It is perfectly acceptable not to have biases and claim you have no preferences.  I do not care about your gender, race, color, creed, religion, handicap status, or anything else.  I care only about your competency, and if I can help you, or you can help me increase competency, let’s work together!cropped-rocks-in-a-stream-2.jpg

Believe that you are a good person!  I know those projecting their inadequacies and claiming you have biases are profoundly pernicious in their approaches.  But, when you have confidence that you are doing the best you can, you can rest easy when these pernicious oppressors begin to attempt to humiliate you.  In the movie “The Sound of Music,” there is a song called “I Have Confidence.”  When you need reminding of your goodness, play this song, and sing along at the top of your lungs!  I promise you will feel better!

When you treat everyone as you desire to be treated, without fear and with confidence, you will always have loyal people at your back to support you.  If you live by implicit bias and fear, the whole world will never trust you, and you will not have confidence in yourself.  Those who oppress want you miserable; deny them that opportunity!Knowledge Check!

Living without biases is possible, is easy, but is sometimes not very convenient.  But, as Mr. Miagi said in the original “Karate Kid,” “Man who walks in street, gets squished like grape.”  Dr. Seuss is right, “Be the best you, you can be.”  Stop allowing the oppressors into your mind; they are not worth your time.

© 2021 M. Dave Salisbury
All Rights Reserved
The images used herein were obtained in the public domain; this author holds no copyright to the images displayed.

NO MORE BS: – Let us Open a Dialogue – The Gender Choices

Social Justice Warrior 2The elected clowns have filled my email inbox with all sorts of marketing emails regarding “The Equality Act.”  The Equality Act remedies these disparities by amending the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, education, housing, credit, jury service, public accommodations, and federal funding.  The following are not examples of closed-mindedness, nor am I passing judgment; honest questions, attempting to understand a social issue that makes no sense to me personally, creating too much emotional hyperbole in society.

Why do we need the “Equality Act?”

The US Constitution claims all men are created equal; America has had to amend to include women in this claim because of bigots stuck in the fourth century AD.  But, there are sufficient laws on the books covering the need to treat everyone regardless of sex, religion, handicap, etc., equally.  Why do we specifically need a law to cover personal bedroom and gender choices that should never be discussed anyway?  I do not care about your gender choices, nor do I want to hear about your bedroom activities, homo- or heterosexual choices.  These are your choices, the consequences are yours to enjoy, and frankly, I could care less.  Just keep your preferences private and leave me out of your choices.  If you already have equality under the law as written in the US Constitution and other existing laws, why are we creating new laws?

Respect for self and modesty in public – What happened?

ModestyThe one relationship I have had where I did not respect my partner to keep my bedroom choices in my bedroom and not in public, I have regretted it, and apologies never made right my loss of control.  I learned harsh lessons about respect and caring about the other person; more, I learned about respecting society to allow social behavior to not interfere with my partner and me.

RememberModesty in public is more than hemlines, it is an attitude of respect for others, and it is a desire to not inflict upon another that which they do not want to witness.  Yet, every day, a person is assaulted in public by behaviors and activities that belong at home, or more specifically in a bedroom.  Since the LGBTQ+ crowd seems to have lost their minds the most with respect for their partner/s and the public square, I must ask, why do you disrespect yourselves and your partner/s so much as to take your bedroom into public?  Not letting the heterosexual crowd off the hook, the last couple of movie theaters visited had severe problems with respect and modesty in public.

When I asked why they could not control themselves, I was told not to watch.  As the couple engaging was sitting directly in front of me, it was hard to miss the spectacle.  I went to see a G-rated animated movie and was forced to watch the film with XXX-rated material provided by the couple.  It is not enjoyable, not acceptable, and not respectful for either the couple or the other theatergoers or the public in general.  Yet, the behavior in the last “Gay Pride Parade” was exponentially worse, and I could not watch the news, go in public, or go anywhere without being assaulted by the images of disrespect and the shunning of modesty for the public spectacles of bad decisions and poor behavior.

moral-valuesThus, I ask, what happened to respect for oneself, their partner, and the public in presenting modest behavior in public and controlling one’s behavior until they returned home?  What happened to respect for the public square and standards for conduct in public?  It is not too much to ask a person to control themselves and respect their partner/s in public!

Elected Officials – Are all the other issues in America Resolved?

Do we have a balanced budget, making payments on the debt, and resolving all other issues that made passing the “Equality Act” of paramount importance?  You waste my time and yours by focusing upon the minutia when the 800#-Gorilla of debt and financial instability remains a glaring problem.  The COVID crisis created by government hyperventilating remains a time-sensitive issue; did I miss the memo where this had been resolved, and people can return to business as usual?  What about illegal immigration?  Has the southern wall been built, old laws culled, and the problem resolved so American’s can go back to work in America, the welfare rolls reduced of illegal-aliens, and security can be found in American cities?

Theres moreWhy was the “Equality Act” fast-tracked into Congressional business when so many other issues remain outstanding?  You, the elected representatives in the legislative branch, have two jobs, write common-sense laws that help everyone, and scrutinize the government.  How is that scrutinization of government going?  Have all the problems with out-of-control bureaucrats been resolved?  Can veterans receive respect and dignity from the VA?  What about the IRS, are their employees all paying their taxes now?  What about all the other government departments?  How are they operating?  Have all their unfunded liabilities been collected and a plan put into place to pay them off?

Pride – Which definition?  Why?

The marketing materials speak of pride in accomplishing the passing of the “Equality Act.”  Really?!?!?  Pride?!?!  What was accomplished?  What good is being provided to all Americans?  Where is the value of this legislation?

Pride 2Pride has several definitions, the first being, according to Webster, Noun – “a feeling of deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired.”  The second, “consciousness of one’s dignity.”  The third, “confidence and self-respect as expressed by members of a group, typically one that has been socially marginalized, based on their shared identity, culture, and experience.”

Pride is defined as “being especially proud of (a particular quality or skill)” when used as a verb.  In older dictionaries, the definition of pride also included the following, “enmity.”  Enmity is defined as “the state or feeling of being actively opposed or hostile to someone or something.”  Feel free to comment, but this definition of pride appears to be more applicable to the “Equality Act” than any other definition.  The hostility of the elected representatives towards the American people appears to ooze from every email marketing this “great achievement.”  The hostility and active opposition to performing the roles we elected you to fill is glaring and very much not appreciated!

Detective 3Enmity remains synonymous with pride for a reason.  Pride is always competitive in nature, where the person possessing pride claims they are better than everyone else, and all must bow and worship the owner of pride.  Well, I have removed my consent to be governed by you!  Pride is always short-tempered, unkind, envious, and hostile.  Hence, I wonder why you choose to feel pride over passing the “Equality Act.”  Did you read the act before voting?  How many elected supporters got their palms greased, and their special interests paid for with the public’s money to pass the “Equality Act?”

A “Liberty FIRST Culture” recognizes the sham and will not allow you to continue to abuse the American Public for much longer!

© 2021 M. Dave Salisbury
All Rights Reserved
The images used herein were obtained in the public domain; this author holds no copyright to the images displayed.