Carterville 9/12ers

Maybe September 11 Instead?

2009-08-25T09:31:00.000-07:00

I forgot several of our members would be leaving for Disneyland on September 12. That is too bad because that is our iconic day. Maybe next year...

Anyway, I think we'll switch it to September 11 at 7:00 PM. Please read as much of The 5000 Year Leap as you can.

Hope to see you there!

Welcome Back to our Next Meeting: 9/12/09 (When Else?)

2009-08-10T08:26:00.000-07:00

Our next meeting for the Carterville 9/12ers will be on September 12th. The time is still to be determined. On September 12th, we will tune into to a special Glenn Beck program where he will be showing what other people around the country have been doing with their 9-12 projects. I don't know very many details of this program so we'll all just have to wait and see.

I hope that by then we all have finished reading The 5000 Year Leap. I would like everybody, if you are willing, to log on to the Carterville 9/12 Project blog and post a comment about your thoughts and impressions of what you have learned from reading TFYL. We will be referencing this book and its ideas in future meetings as well.

Also, we will be trying to add Action Items to our meetings and we hope that everybody will take part in these. Just talking about these principles isn't enough; we all need to get first-hand experience being active participants in our community, state, and national government to whatever extent we can. We learn a great deal by doing as well as through dialogue.

I am looking forward to continuing and growing our little movement here. Let's not be afraid to share this with others. I am certain there are many who will want to join something bigger with like-minded individuals. I'm trying to involve others. Some are interested, others aren't or they are doing something else. It doesn't matter what people are doing for the sake of our freedom or liberty as long as they are doing something.

Thanks!

C(r)ap and T(ax)rade Passed The House... Don't Let it Get Any Further

2009-07-06T12:13:00.000-07:00

OK, so C(r)ap and T(ax)rade passed the House. I think that was rather expected. Now it goes to the Senate for their buy-off. Nine-Twelvers, this is our hour! Before the bill comes up for vote, we need to FLOOD our senators' offices with phone calls, faxes, emails, letters, any or all of these telling them that not only will we not vote for anyone who supports this, but we will ACTIVELY CAMPAIGN AGAINST THEM! As Glenn Beck said, even if Beelzebub is running against them we will campaign against them. I know that is hyperbole, but we need to be serious about this. They must be held accountable to us.

Also, we must be the ones who bring this up with our friends and neighbors, so we need to become more educated about what it is proposing to do and our individual rights and freedoms. I will try to get more information for you in the coming weeks. I hope you'll do your own homework as well. I know you're all busy, but this is critical that we get people mobilized.

Stop C(r)ap & T(ax)rade Today!

2009-06-26T09:33:00.000-07:00

The Waxman-Markey "American" Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 C(r)ap and Trade sham bill is being forced into the House today for a vote (HB 2454). It is 1200 pages long and was submitted for debate and vote this morning at the wee hour of about 2 AM.

I urge the 9-12ers to contact their congressperson as soon as possible by any means possible to express your distaste for this legislation. There is no excuse to pass this on such a rushed schedule. It is being forced through on purpose. Please understand that the energy costs of ordinary Americans who struggle to make a living will be dramatically increased (by 50% or more by some estimates) if this is passed.

Don't misunderstand what I'm saying. We need to be good stewards of our planet and need to work for better air quality and other environmental standards, but make no mistake, this is a tax on us disguised as something else and it must not pass. This is the hour to make our voices heard! Remember our 9th principle: The government works for me, I do not work for them.

Your message can be short and to the point. Below is what I faxed to my congressmen. Please leave comments and questions. I don't profess to know all about it, but maybe somebody else will know answers that I do not.

Dear Senator Hatch (I wrote this to Sen. Bennett and Rep. Chaffetz as well):

I urge you to vote no on any and all so-called "Cap and Trade" legislation which would impose taxes on energy producing companies in the United States and by extension taxes on the consumers of that energy. The proposal to tax this way in the name of environmentalism is immoral and unjust. You can be sure that any elected representative who votes in favor of Cap and Trade will lose my vote at the next election.

Sincerely,

Ethan Jolley

Thankfully, Jason Chaffetz has already expressed in no uncertain terms that he is against this legislation. We need others in other states to make sure their reps know how they feel. Please call them and let them know today!

Cancelling Meeting This Saturday

2009-06-18T10:44:00.000-07:00

The June 20th Meeting is cancelled. Please RSVP for the meetings using the poll on the right. If we only get one response (my own) we won't be meeting (as much as you might think I like to talk to myself!)

Also, a big Happy Birthday to Melanie (Saturday)! Hope you have a good one.!

Open Letter to the Politicians

2009-06-18T10:32:00.000-07:00

This letter was read on the air by Glenn. I pretty much agree with everything here, so I am posting it. You can replace her personal information with mine and the message would otherwise remain unchanged. (Except I was never a Democrat and was a Republican in name only.)

I am Janet Contreras, a concerned, home-grown American citizen. I am 53, and I have been a registered Democrat all of my adult life. Before the last Presidential election, I registered Republican because I no longer feel the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. I now no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. There must be someone, please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me you are there and are willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please do it now. You might ask yourselves what my views and issues are that I would feel so horribly disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut job am I? Will you please tell me? These are briefly my views and issues for which I seek representation:

* Illegal Immigration—I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S. I am not a racist. This not to be confused with legal immigration.

* TARP Bill—I want it repealed and no further funding supplied to it. We told you “NO!” but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze! Repeal!

* Czars—I want the circumvention of our checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the Czars. No more Czars. Government officials answer to the process not the President. Stop trampling on our Constitution and honor it.

* Cap & Trade—the debate on global warming is NOT over, there IS more to say.

* Universal Health Care—I will not be rushed into another expensive decision. Don’t you dare pass this in the middle of the night and then go on break. Slow down!

* Growing Government Control—I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. Shrink it down. Please mind your own business; you have enough to do with your REAL obligations. Let’s start there.

* ACORN—I do not want ACORN or its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them on every real estate deal that closes. Stop all funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audit and investigation. I do not trust them with the taking of the census or with taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before the taxpayers get any further involved with them. It walks like a duck and talks like a duck—hello… stop protecting political buddies. You work for the people. Investigate.

* Redistribution of Wealth—No. If I work for it, it is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs. That is the only redistribution of wealth I support. I never got a job from a poor person. Why do want me to hate my employers? What do your have against shareholders making a profit?

* Charitable Contributions—although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities where we know our needs best and can use local talent and resources. Butt out, please. We want to do this ourselves.

* Corporate Bail Outs—knock it off! Sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we will be better off just getting to it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful, like ripping off a band aid. We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us a chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.

* Transparency and Accountability—how about it? No really, let’s have it. Let’s say we give the “buzz” words a rest and have some straight, honest talk. Please stop trying to manipulate and appease me with cleaver wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.

* Unprecedented Quick Spending—stop it, now. Take a breath. Listen to “The People.” Let’s just slow down and get some more input from some “non-politicians” on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant nor a violent person. I am a mother and grandmother. I am a working woman. I am busy, busy, busy and tired, tired, tired.

I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawns and wash our cars on weekends, and be responsible, contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same, all the while living in the home of the free and land of the brave. I entrusted you with upholding our Constitution and believed in the checks and balances to keep you from getting too far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think that I find humor in hiring a speed reader to unintelligibly ramble through a bill you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not! It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face! I am not laughing—the arrogance! Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it, but you expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children? We did not want that TARP bill. We said “NO!” We would repeal it if we could. I am not sure that we still cannot. There is such urgency and recklessness in all the recent spending. From my perspective, it seems that you have all gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back! You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on you to bring our concerns to Washington.

Glenn Beck's Common Sense Tour

2009-06-05T08:30:00.000-07:00

Marilee, Greg, Will and I attended the simulcast of Glenn Beck's 2009 Common Sense tour. Once again, I was boring and failed to get pictures, but you've all seen a movie theater before.

You know, you watch the news headlines and then, if your head hasn't exploded, you read the news stories and you do have to wonder: "Does nobody in our government have common sense anymore?" (The answer is almost nobody). As many who talk to me can attest, I nearly always say something like "So-and-so is an idiot" or "So-and-so is crazy," after reading or hearing some kind of news story. Then, immediately after I say this, I nearly always follow it up with, "No, they know exactly what they are doing and they don't care how destructive it is"... and then I get really upset.

Whether they really do know exactly what they are doing or not, it doesn't matter. They are being reckless. They are gambling with America's future, that means our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and so on. It is immoral what they are doing. It is treasonous to future generations, and they ought to be removed from office, publicly humiliated, and then sent to prison for life or executed.

Common sense has fled the government, but you know, it has really fled us. Who chooses our government, after all? The government is really just a reflection of the will of the people. If rascals are allowed to stay in office, it is because we didn't fire them when they needed firing.

We all need to wake up, embrace common sense, and do our part to help others awake from their slumber of bondage.

I encourage us all to get a copy of Glenn Beck's new book, Common Sense (inspired by Thomas Paine) which will be out on June 23.

Had to move up meeting

2009-06-01T11:40:00.000-07:00

Because of other conflicts, we had to move the date of the next meeting up to June 20.

I know the summer months are going to be busy for a lot of people, so even if you cannot make it to the meetings, I hope you will continue to read the book and comment on the website.

Thanks, and have a great day!

Our Next Meeting: June 20, 4:00 PM

2009-05-27T08:46:00.000-07:00

Attention 9/12ers! Our next meeting will be on June 20 at 4 PM

The topic will be: Principles 1 through 5 plus a quiz on Articles I, II, and III of the Constitution. The best score gets a prize. If there is a tie for the best score, we'll have a face off. It will be worth it, so come prepared!

Please bring a refreshment to share if you have time.

We hope to see you all there!

Patrick Henry Caucus

2009-05-20T16:29:00.001-07:00

In our last meeting we talked briefly about the formation of The Patrick Henry Caucus. (Click here to go to their website for more details.) This caucus was formed by five Utah state legislators for the purpose of organizing citizens into a body which supports the limiting of government powers to appropriate levels. As stated on the website, their goal is "To restore and uphold the sovereignty and rights of the individual States as guaranteed by the tenth amendment of the United States Constitution, which states, 'The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.'"

Below are two youtube links of (kind of shaky) footage of the formal announcement at the Utah State Capitol.

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

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

I think this would be a good thing to be a part of, if you are interested. If you are coming to our meetings, I assume you are interested. I believe it is intended to be nationwide and not limited to Utah. These Utah legislators are just trying to kick it off. If you are living in a different state, you could suggest to your state leaders to join this caucus or do something that supports the 10th Amendment. It might be better for all to unite in a single group, but many groups with the same goal is essentially the same thing.

Our May 16 Meeting

2009-05-19T13:50:00.000-07:00

We missed several of you who were there for our inaugural meeting. No worries! We'll be having more. Also, I neglected to get pictures and/or video from this meeting as I had promised. I'm trying to get better with the visual media. Thanks for your patience and long-suffering.

In this meeting, we discussed part I of The 5000 Year Leap. We talked about the extremes of tyranny and anarchy and how the constitution, 180 years in the making, was supposed to help the country stay in the middle, the People's Law. We talked about how the founders were inspired by the governments of the Anglo-Saxons and ancient Israel, how problems in those civilizations were resolved at the lowest possible level, and how the powers delegated to the highest levels were really limited to keeping the people safe from their enemies and maintaining the rule of law.

I think that it was clear from the reading that in order to have freedom, we need to have a balanced government. Problems do need to be solved or the people will take matters into their own hands and conditions will deteriorate toward anarchy. On the other hand, not all problems can be or ought to be solved by the government. Our government should only be concerned with problems that cannot be solved at a smaller level. If our government worked only on those things that make sense at that level (national defense, reasonable and measured environmental protection, monetary policy, foreign relations, true interstate commerce, and a few others), our taxes would be much smaller, our government would run much more efficiently and effectively, and we would generally have more freedom to produce more.

The other side of that coin is that we need to be a virtuous people. We don't all have to believe in God in the same way, but we do need to stop idolizing our own methods and agendas and we need to cease seeking to build up ourselves at the cost of our neighbor. Good and honest government always comes from the governed who are themselves good and honest. We can never hope to have any kind of freedom without righteousness.

Look for our next topic in another post.

Tu Ne Cede Malis

2009-05-13T10:07:00.000-07:00

Never give in to evil.

I had a conversation with my mother-in-law, Marsha Johnson (a Carterville 9/12er), yesterday. We talked about the new Patrick Henry Caucus that is being formed by five members of the Utah house (Keith Grover, Chris Herrod, Stephen Sandstrom, Ken Sumsion, and Carl Wimmer). It is the goal of the Patrick Henry Caucus to draft legislation that would hopefully add to the flintlock in igniting similar legislation in other states. This kind of legislation is called nullification. In essence, it is the states asserting their power by not enforcing federal law that the states deem unconstitutional and which the Supreme Court of the United States has not yet seen fit to challenge.

I would invite you to watch this YouTube video of Thomas Woods explaining the origin of nullification and its place in the maintenance of our individual freedoms when the federal government oversteps its bounds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0Vcjm3XiOk&feature=player_embedded

Montana has already enacted a nullification law (HB 246) applicable to firearms manufactured and sold within the Montana state borders. Since the firearms covered by this law are not part of interstate commerce, the federal government does not have any jurisdiction over these firearms. This is dictated by the constitution.

We can expect legal challenges to this law by people or organizations who favor big centralized government. It is imperative that other states enact similar nullification legislation so that these laws are escalated to the Supreme Court where we can pray they will be upheld. If they are upheld, it is presupposed by various legal experts that decades of progressive policy will be struck down and the federal government's power will be again properly limited.

On May 20, one week from today, the Patrick Henry Caucus will be formally announced and a news conference/rally will be held at the Utah State Capitol at noon, west stairs, second floor. I invite all 9/12ers to be a part of that rally. My work may not allow me to attend. I am trying to make it there. I hope that if you cannot attend, you will try to at least look at the news coverage. I will post here whatever coverage I can find. If I can attend, I will take pictures and video of the event and post that here. I feel that we need to support this kind of legislation. This could be where the progressive movement is stopped in its tracks.

Now there will be a fight.

Welcome to the New Carterville 9/12ers Site

2009-05-11T23:03:00.000-07:00

We're still trying to figure out how to best use Facebook and this blog to do what we were doing before. Thanks for your patience, and thanks for visiting us here.

We will still be having our meetup on May 16 at 5:00 PM if you would like to come. See the post for that meeting on this site.

The reason for moving venues is because I wanted to try to make this work using a free service even though I thought Meetup worked great. If any of you have a better idea, please share it. We may end up going back to meetup.com if this doesn't work.

Thanks!

Ethan