TO MUCH FREE TIME

By Ron Dupuis

The other day, after spending about twenty minutes playing games with a telemarketer my wife stated that I had “way too much free time on my hands.”

Before the “Do Not Call” registry, telemarketers had pretty much a free hand as to when, where, and how irritating they were allowed to be. For awhile that changed. Threats of heavy fines curbed these minimum wage hawkers to a point where a family could enjoy an evening meal together without suffering the anxiety of having to decide whether or not to join the “Beef of the Month” club.

All this is beginning to change. The calls are returning at an even more intense frequency.
The incident that prompted my wife’s comments was a call that informed me that I had won four round trip tickets to any destination in the country. Immediately realizing that it was some sort of scam, I decided to have some fun by taking it, with a little humor of course, to the logical conclusion; no tickets for me.

“Mr. Dupuis, you have won four round trip tickets to any destination you choose, to be used at any time you choose.” “Isn’t that wonderful” the obnoxiously perky, high pitched voice suggested?”

“That certainly is” I responded. “As a matter of fact, at this very moment I was planning a get-a-way for a week or so.” “Just don’t send the tickets here”, “send them to my girlfriend’s house.”
I was then informed that it would be necessary for me and my girlfriend to pick up the prize tickets at a time share vacation resort a few hundred miles away. All we had to do, after enjoying a buffet breakfast, is listen to a ninety minute, no pressure presentation as to the joys of owning a time share at their
wonderful, modern resort facility. We would then receive the precious ducats and be on our way to any destination we choose.

Miss high pitched perky voice then inquired if my girlfriend and I, despite “no purchase necessary”, would have any interest in buying a time share.
“No” I responded. “I don’t think my wife would appreciate it.”
A pregnant silence, then a curt “Thank you for your time.”

The line went dead in the middle of “What about my tickets?”
A little research taught me that any time you put your phone number on a receipt or e-mail address for that matter, a company has a right to call you with “No purchase necessary’ offers, despite being on the “No call” list.

The same research produced some other tidbits of information concerning telemarketers.
First; at times your phone will ring and there is no one there. That is a machine recording the time you are home and answering the phone to be used at a later date for a live person to call. The best defense is to repeatedly hit the # key as fast as possible which will confuse the recording machine and throw your number out. If you have the time and strength, the next best defense is to keep the live person on the phone as long as possible. I once told a telemarketer that I was a Federal agent investigating a possible homicide at this location and needed their name and a call record as to how many times they called. I told another male telemarketer that I suspected him of being the man who has been running around with my wife for the last year and if I ever caught him he would pay with his life. I led another persistent person who was trying to sell me “Fruit of the Month for the next decade or so by exclaiming that I was not only allergic to fruit but also eighty seven years old and had just been informed that there weren’t too many months left. You’ll be surprised how quickly the call is terminated and how, over time, you hear less and less from these people.

My wife may be right. Perhaps I do have “way too much free time on my hands.”

Ron Dupuis is a long time New Hampshire resident, a former State Representative, and a freelance writer. His e-mail is drcdupuis@comcast.net. His web site may be viewed at www.imho-nh.blogspot.com.

RACISM, MEXICAN STYLE

By Dave Buhlman

When several of us New Hampshire State Representatives introduced bills last year to oppose illegal immigration, a few of the pro-lawbreaking dolts accused us of being racist. What tripe! That's the best they could do - attack us with worn out lies.

Now comes President Bush's boon companion, former Mexican President Vincente Fox, to offer his stale, offensive rhetoric:

"NEW YORK (AP) - Former Mexican President Vicente Fox said Monday that the United States is letting racism dictate its policies, especially when it comes to immigration.
'The xenophobics, the racists, those who feel they are a superior race ... they are deciding the future of this nation,' he said, without naming names, in an interview with The Associated Press.
In his first interview to promote his new book, 'Revolution of Hope,' Fox applauded President Bush's desire to pass an immigration accord that would allow more Mexicans to work legally in the U.S. "

It has been said that wrapping oneself in the flag is the last refuge of a scoundrel. For Vincente, wrapping himself in what he knows are lies is the refuge of a manipulator who has no truth in him. He should be tarred and feathered and ridden out of town on a rail. Instead the controlled media lackeys will swoon over him and his recently published book, "Yankee, Get Out of Your Home", or something like that.

The majority of Americans of all colors oppose the Bush/Kennedy/McCain amnesty program for illegal immigrants. These Americans are either citizens or those who are in this country legally. They are standing up for the rule of law and to protect their jobs and families from the invasion from the south orchestrated by the elite both north and south of the Rio Grande. The real racists and shallow thinkers are those who scoff at these law-abiding beliefs, like the President and his collaborator friend Fox. They tell Americans to shut up and take what the government dishes out. Worse, to paraphrase Moe of the Three Stooges, they say to us, "You'll take it AND you'll like it!". What ever happened to the concept of shame?

Regarding Fox's above comment about "superior race", do check out the web sites of La Raza and similar racist sites. Their praise of Hispanics is reminiscent of what you'll see on a National Socialist (Nazi) web site about the white race. Different colors, same idiotic racial biases.

It appears that Bush, McCain, Kennedy, and other collaborating quislings in Washington, DC have little to no allegiance to the concept of country, and were probably lost in a day dream when reciting their oaths of office. They are way out of step with those they purport to lead. May they fade into history soon, and their names be spoken no more.

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RON PAUL FOR PRESIDENT

By Dave Buhlman

I fully support the nomination of Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) for President of the United States.

The main reason for my support is that Congressman Paul is a strong advocate for abiding by the US Constitution and, with his votes in Congress, has proven that he means it. Paul, along with the other 534 members of Congress and all state legislators, took an oath to support and defend the Constitution. But unlike most of the others, he takes his oath seriously. He knows, for example, that there's no role in the Constitution for the federal government to be involved in education, so he opposes all schemes that bring the federal leviathan into the local classrooms. He also knows that, to go to war, Congress must pass a Declaration of War, not some smarmy resolution substitute. Had our government abided by this requirement, many thousands of American lives would have been saved instead of being lost on foreign battlefields where we were not wanted. The brave ones who died in these unconstitutional wars, and those who fought alongside them, were and are so much better than the leaders who sent them on the mission. So much better.

Congressman Paul supports a return to sound money and the abolition of the privately owned federal reserve banking system. He knows that it's not "federal" and that there are no reserves. It's not an exciting subject, but we all feel the effects of the Fed's fiat money when we shop. It's not that prices have just gone up; it's that the value of the fiat dollars have gone down because the Fed keeps issuing too many of them. The founders had it right when they set the requirements for our money in the Constitution.

As a medical doctor who has delivered about 5,000 babies, he is solidly pro-life. Since 1973, the number of abortions that have been carried out in this country now approach 50 million. That's death on a grand scale, matching that perpetrated by Mao, Stalin and Hitler. Congressman Paul respects and believes in the Ninth and Tenth Amendments which leave the power not granted in the Constitution to the sovereign states, such as New Hampshire.

Recently, Congressman Paul raised a significant amount of money for a "second tier" candidate. This will allow him to carry his message to more Americans, and shake the establishment even more. If you want real change in this country, please support Ron Paul.

The Carbon Hustle

-- by Micheal

I know I've been a little preoccupied lately, so I've not followed the Carbon story very closely. There's been firewood to get split and stacked for winter, and the last of the tomatoes to get in before frost. For whichever reason, I've not been following the Carbon Causes Global Warming story as closely as others have been. This might actually be a good thing, though. Sometimes it helps to come in half way through the show. Doing so avoids clouds of back story confusion. I'll give you an example.

Years ago, I annoyed my mother in law by walking up behind her while she was watching one of her favorite Soaps. Not knowing any better, I proceeded to identify the characters (by type). "Oh, she's the floosie, she's the perpetual victim, he's the shallow-minded cheater," etc. She argued that I only saw 10 minutes of the show. How could I possibly know anything? She's been watching it for years, knowing all the characters' back stories, etc.

Was I wrong, I asked? She didn't want to admit it, but had to confess that my assessments were right. All her years of watching had only clouded her judgement. "Poor little Jessica" was abused as a child, or never really recovered from so-and-so's suicide, blah blah blah. Whatever. She was mean-spirited busybody. I could see that in a matter of minutes. All that back story stuff was just a distraction.

I feel the same with this Carbon story. I look up from my firewood stacking and it seems everyone around me (mostly Democratic candidates) are hawking the idea that Carbon emissions are the 11th plague which is going to ruin the world. What strikes me odd, is what people are pushing as the solution: Sell Carbon Credits.

Any time spending money is a proposed solution to a problem, I'm instantly suspicious. At bit of looking into it doesn't help. Big carbon producers can "buy" a lesser polluter's cleanness? How in blazes does this help? The greater polluter didn't pollute less. He just paid money. The pollution remained the same. Talk about vaporware. Now the lack of carbon has become a commodity that can be bought and sold.  Factories buying the nothing which another factory did not make? Factories "selling" their nothings as if they were a commodity? Doesn't this strike anyone as bizarre? This sounds exactly like farm subsidies, which I've been told is a bad thing.

The other thing that strikes me a little odd, is that everyone is harping on Carbon. Why? A little online research tells me that 72% of greenhouse gas emissions are carbondioxide (mostly from power plants), with 18% being methane -- almost all of that from the agricultural sector. (i.e. Cows) Since methane is 20 to 60 times as powerful as a greenhouse gas than carbondioxide, that means that methane outweighs carbon something like 7 to 1. Why are we fussing over carbon so much? Why isn't everyone bellyaching about Methane Credits? Why is there no Democratic candidate pounding the podium for burpless cows?

Why? Because there's no money in cow bellies. You can't negotiate with a cow to burp less so you can drive your SUV the same as you always have. No. The money is in the hands of wealthy industrialists. They generate carbon. So? go after the money. 

This whole Carbon emissions thing is starting to smell like one giant hustle. An elaborate scam to transfer money from wealthy industrialists to less wealthy ones. The world (warmer or not) goes on unaffected. Maybe my many years of listening to politicians and demagogues has made me cynical. But as soon as they start talking about spending money (usually MY money) to solve their problem d'jour, I instantly don't believe them. It smells like a hustle to me.