Szandor Blestman
Szandor Blestman was born the 6th of 8 children to a high school English teacher and a certified financial planner. He attended the University of Illinois and earned a Bachelor's degree in Rhetoric in 1984 with minors in Math and Geology. He took some time off school to raise a family. He has five wonderful children, three of which have grown to adulthood. He achieved a Master's of Science in IT from the University of Maryland University College in Dec. 2004. Szandor has been laid off from work since January and is looking for employment. If you know of or have any job openings, particularly in writing, editing, acting or media production, please contact him at sblestman@yahoo.com. Also contact him if you are a publisher and wish to offer him a contract for the work he has already done. He will relocate for the right opportunity. Szandor loves receiving email and feedback. Please contact him at sblestman@yahoo.com
Coming soon: Szandor's new book entitled "Boneyard Boys" will soon be available. Keep an eye on this space for future developments. Unfortunately, due to economic conditions, Szandor's publisher has informed him that his book will not be available for sale until sometime in 2010, if they can manage to stay afloat. It's beginning to look like Szandor's ship may be lost at sea.
Coming soon: Szandor's new book entitled "Boneyard Boys" will soon be available. Keep an eye on this space for future developments. Unfortunately, due to economic conditions, Szandor's publisher has informed him that his book will not be available for sale until sometime in 2010, if they can manage to stay afloat. It's beginning to look like Szandor's ship may be lost at sea.
Contact Information
Articles by Szandor Blestman
March 12, 2010
I thought I heard something the other night. It was a distant sound, a low rumbling, a roar from some far off beast that had finally pronounced its presence. It woke me for a second, but it was so distant I felt no threat and simply rolled over and went back to sleep. The next morning I learned that...
March 09, 2010
A thirty six year old man decided to commit suicide on March 4th, 2010. His name was John Patrick Bedell. Perhaps he didn't make that decision consciously, no one can be certain what he was thinking as he acted out the last moments of his life, but regardless his death was the inevitable outcome of ...
March 05, 2010
I have a friend and former coworker who is completely enamored and has total faith in Mr. Barack Obama and the Democrat party. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. The guy is a complete sports nut, knowing more about the stats of former and present baseball and football players than he knows about anyt...
February 27, 2010
My mother is a retired Certified Financial Planner. She worked for many years helping people figure out the best ways to invest their money to ensure a stable and prosperous retirement. The other day I called her and she, knowing my proclivity for writing about such things, proceeded to voice a part...
February 18, 2010
I just learned of a story where a man, Joe Stack, flew an airplane into a building in Austin, Tx. I first wish to express my concern and heartfelt condolences to any victims and their families who may have suffered as a result of this man´s desperate act. It´s a shame when anyone suffers...
February 12, 2010
I´ve been paying particular attention to the governor´s race in Texas of late, particularly the Republican primary for that position. There´s a woman running, a true champion of freedom. She understands the concept of liberty. She embraces it. She offers real solutions to real prob...
February 10, 2010
I am a huge Ron Paul supporter. His voting record speaks for itself. It is as freedom oriented and constitutional as anyone could hope for. How many other politicians can say that? Not too many, if any at all. That´s why I wrote so much about him when he was running for president. That´s...
February 08, 2010
In my lifetime, I've had more dreams than I care to think about stolen from me. Well, perhaps they weren't stolen, perhaps just postponed. The most significant occurrence was probably when my first publisher went out of business due to embezzlement. The owner and his son managed to lose several mill...
February 01, 2010
Lately there´s been a controversy playing out over an organization known as LEAP and an outspoken member over there named Bradley Jardis. LEAP stands for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition and Bradley Jardis was a law enforcement officer who was against laws prohibiting drugs. The controversy...
January 28, 2010
I have a small following. There are not millions of people yet reading my commentaries and hanging on every word. More and more are waking up to the ideas I express, but there are many other people besides me, thank god, that are also expressing these ideas. There are many others who are likely bett...
January 22, 2010
Well, Scott Brown, Republican, beat out Martha Coakley, Democrat, in a race that was never supposed to be even close. Now the mainstream media acts surprised and some in the alternative media are crowing about how much of a difference this is going to make and how the people have spoken. Well, I&acu...
January 21, 2010
My mother prepares taxes. She´s in her seventies now and she still prepares them for some of the clients she served when she was a financial planner. Many of them trust no one else. I am one of the people who trust her to save the most or get the most back when it comes to taxes.
I´ve never had ...
January 18, 2010
It´s nearly a year into Mr. Obama´s first term as president and already the trail of broken promises leads to the doors of the big banks and authoritarian rule by the corporate elite. If it has not become obvious to you by now who pulls Mr. Obama´s strings, or if you still believe ...
December 31, 2009
So, on Christmas Eve, at a time when most people were paying no attention to the shenanigans going on in Washington, DC, the Senate of the United States of America pushed forward with its health care agenda that puts the health care of America in the hands of politicians rather than physicians. No s...
December 30, 2009
Quite often I write about my doubts about the validity of human driven climate change. Some people seem to think this means I don't care about the environment. They seem to think I believe that mankind has no impact on the natural world. This is, of course, untrue. I am, in fact, very concerned abou...
December 26, 2009
The quest for individual liberty has not ended. For ten historic days in November, 2009, from the 11th to the 21st, delegates from forty eight of the fifty states met in St. Charles, Illinois to discuss the unconstitutional usurpations of the federal government of the United States of America and pe...
December 19, 2009
Man made climate change is not a scientific debate. Al Gore declared it so. He declared that the science was in and the debate was over. Many others have followed suit. Politicians parrot his work to try to make themselves look heroic as they claim they wish to "save the planet" by taxing carbon dio...
December 15, 2009
At this time of year, as the cold wraps its fingers around the Midwest and coats it in a blanket of snow, one is inclined to reflect on past events and give thanks for past accomplishments. One can also reflect on failures he may have had and make plans for the future that will hopefully correct pas...
December 07, 2009
Judge Andrew Napolitano likes to say that the camera is the new gun. He is more right than even he may know. Cameras in the hands of ordinary citizens are something that most bureaucrats have a deathly fear of. They are more afraid of a common man with a camera than they are of giant hairy spiders. ...
November 26, 2009
I do have a bit of a science background. Granted, it's not much, but it is enough to understand certain concepts that others might have trouble wrapping their minds around. It was at least partially due to this background, due to being trained in the scientific method, observation, and critical thin...
November 23, 2009
I remember at one point during the Bush years, when things looked particularly dark and the police state was closing in, I saw Youtube clips of a man by the name of Keith Olbermann speak poignantly to power about the evisceration of our constitution. He pointed out to President Bush that most of the...
November 21, 2009
History has a strange way of repeating itself. In the late 1700s, in America, people were experiencing the culmination of the Enlightenment. They were on the fringes of the greatest empire at the time, an empire run by the parliamentary monarchy of King George III in a land far from the colonies. As...
November 13, 2009
There's an anger roiling throughout American society. Perhaps it reaches overseas into all of Western society, I can't say, but it's particularly palpable here, especially among the middle classes. People know that something is wrong. They may not be able to put their finger on exactly what is wrong...
November 10, 2009
Nancy Pelosi was recently asked where in the Constitution she (and congress) got the power to pass laws involving health care. Her reply was "Are you serious?" That was the best answer this woman could come up with? Are you serious? Is she serious? The woman supposedly took an oath to uphold the Con...
November 05, 2009
I had nothing better to do the other day and was browsing through some blogs and some news stories. I was surprised to see so many people still vehemently arguing about the reality of climate change and insisting that something needs to be done about it. Many pointed to this graph and that graph, th...
November 02, 2009
One of my brothers suffers from diabetes. He often complains about health care in this country. But you won't find him complaining about its cost. He doesn't complain because he can't get health care. He's a teacher with great insurance and access to all the doctors one could possibly hope for. Ther...
October 28, 2009
I was contacted earlier by some readers of my articles and asked for my view on the events scheduled to take place in December in Copenhagen. This was something I had only recently heard about and therefore had little knowledge of. I quickly discovered a speech on climate change given by Lord Monckt...
October 23, 2009
It seems the political establishment in this country continues to ignore their constitutional roots. They decided long ago to do away with this document and head down their own path regardless of the consequences to the American people and the ideals upon which this nation was built. By doing this t...
October 17, 2009
I used to consider myself a Republican. That was long ago and far away. It began with the presidential candidacy of a man named Ronald Reagan. He said some pretty profound things like "Government isn't the solution to the problem, government is the problem" and "The nine most terrifying words in the...
October 11, 2009
I have lost all respect for the Nobel Peace Prize. Not that they've had that great of a track record when it comes to who gets this award, but by giving it to Barack Obama they have done away with all pretense of actually caring about peace in the world. Perhaps a better name for this award would be...
October 07, 2009
I took the flu shot one year. It was offered at work and paid for by my employer. Most of us employees lined up happily, filled out the forms, answered the questions the nurses asked, rolled up our sleeves and took the shot. A few days later, I was sick as a dog. I'd never been so sick in my life. I...
September 28, 2009
"Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem."
Ronald Reagan
The Age of Enlightenment, in my opinion, started even before the mid seventeenth century as some historians would argue. This is because I believe that the undercurrents that brought about the Enlightenme...
September 20, 2009
"Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream,
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream."
Verse from a famous childhood song
I´ve always wanted to be an actor. I was able to pursue that dream for a while when I was younger, when I was in high school and had no real fina...
September 04, 2009
I was glad to see that Cindy Sheehan finally decided to protest Barack Obama's war policy. I was beginning to wonder what had happened to the anti-war movement in this country. I hope her decision will help to reinvigorate peace activists. I also hope that perhaps many who were involved in the peace...
September 03, 2009
I've heard that on Tuesday, September 8th, 2009 Mr. Obama plans on addressing the school children residing in the United States of America. It is my understanding that his speech will address issues such as national service, health care, and other items on the administration's agenda. It is also my ...
August 28, 2009
I know that I usually write about politics, but I thought that this week I'd switch gears and write a little something about gardening. I used to have a little garden of my own that I'd take care of, but as life would have it I have lost my home and now live in an apartment, so I have a garden no lo...
August 20, 2009
I'm getting very upset by what I've been seeing since this health care issue has come to the fore. I'm becoming really angry by how much my intelligence has been insulted. I'm beginning to feel like the man who has to explain to his friends that Criss Angel is not really defying the laws of physics....
August 14, 2009
Are you paying attention? Have you been listening to what the politicians have been saying? Have you been listening and noticing the mainstream media's twist on recent happenings? I don't mean have you been simply hearing the words and seeing the images, I mean have you been truly listening and payi...
August 08, 2009
I watched some videos on Youtube recently and was pleasantly surprised by what I saw. Thousands of people across the nation have been attending town hall meetings to express their concerns, vent their anger and demand that their representatives vote no on the proposed health care bill, AKA Obamacare...
August 04, 2009
I realize I write a lot about Ron Paul. I make no apologies for that. He is out on the forefront of a new freedom movement, a movement that is gaining strength as more and more people begin to understand its true nature. There are two divergent ideologies at odds in the world today, collectivism and...
July 27, 2009
"The American republic; it's not your founding forefathers' representative democracy anymore"
Szandor Blestman
I'm not a huge fan of democracy. I think it's over rated and that the propaganda espousing its greatness has indoctrinated many people into believing that mob rule is the best political...
July 20, 2009
I´ve recently moved. As a result, I´ve been meeting new and interesting people. The more neighbors I meet, the more common folk I speak with, the more I realize that the vast majority of people realize and understand the principles upon which this country was built and that our governmen...
July 14, 2009
I had the pleasure of being a guest on a radio show hosted in part by Elaine Brown. I found her to be intelligent and engaging. This was, of course, a couple of years ago, just before federal agents arrested the Browns for pointing out to all of us the inherent immorality of extorting money from hon...
June 30, 2009
Do you believe you own yourself? If so, you may come to believe differently by the time you´re done reading this article. If not, do you believe you ought to own yourself? These are fundamental questions that many have pondered over the millennia. They are basic to the principles of liberty.
I h...
June 27, 2009
I saw Glenn Beck the other day talking about the shooting at the holocaust memorial. On this particular program he wasn´t so much reporting the facts of the case as he was regaling us with his opinion. It appears as if this man James von Brunn has set a tempest upon us with his despicable action. On...
June 21, 2009
Once again imprisoned journalists have made the news. This time two lovely women have suffered a fate I would not wish upon my worst enemy. I am talking about the two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who were sentenced to twelve years hard labor for the crime of supposedly entering Nor...
June 15, 2009
Throughout history there have been occasions where one group of humans would demonize another group of humans. This happens most prevalently during times of war. It is, after all, easier for most to kill a foul beast than it is to kill a fellow human being. It is also easier to justify inhumane trea...
June 07, 2009
A while back I started hearing about Barack Obama´s decision to maintain Bush era military tribunals. There was some speculation that some people of a certain political persuasion may have a problem with this decision. Certain people that may have supported and voted for Mr. Obama in November´s elec...
May 28, 2009
As an author of horror novels, I have a fascination with evil creatures that force their ways into the lives of innocents for nefarious purposes. I think classical monsters are the best. They can all fall into certain categories. Dracula, or vampire type monsters, lull and mesmerize their victims in...
May 20, 2009
I have this problem. I like to express my opinions in commentaries such as the one you´re reading now. I´ve been doing so for a little over three years now and have yet to make a penny from it. I´ve noticed that some people seem to appreciate my opinion more than others. I do my best to remain polit...
May 19, 2009
Sometimes it becomes necessary to better define words and terms in order to get a clearer understanding of concepts that are often times nebulous at best and misrepresented at worst. This is especially true of words in the English language which have more than one meaning. Often times these same wor...
May 05, 2009
I have recently written separate commentaries on two jailed journalists. One, Roxana Saberi, has received a great deal of attention from the mainstream media and her case has been widely reported on and disseminated across the globe. The other case is that of Sam Dodson. His case has gotten virtuall...
April 23, 2009
You have most likely broken the law. As you sit there right now, reading this, you are probably doing or have done something recently that has transgressed some statute, some rule of government. You haven´t done anything to harm another, you haven´t stolen or damaged the property of anot...
April 20, 2009
Many have now heard about the plight of Roxana Saberi and her recent espionage conviction handed down by the contemptible Iranian authorities. To sum things up for those who may not know, Ms. Saberi is a person of dual citizenship, born and raised in Fargo, North Dakota but also a citizen of Iran. S...
April 16, 2009
I watched another one of Mr. Obama´s speech a couple of days ago on television. I couldn´t help but feel I was being sold a bill of goods. I couldn´t help but feel I was being asked to buy something I knew I couldn´t afford and was likely not going to use. I felt as if I had ...
April 11, 2009
Last year at this time, a presidential campaign captured the interest of many in the nation. Tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of voters like me supported the candidacy of Dr. Ron Paul, a long time Republican congressman from Texas. Those of us who are interested in liberty and personal independen...
April 02, 2009
I had a discussion a while back with one of my daughters in which I was accused of being an idealist. I asked her what she was if not an idealist and she said she was a realist. Upon reflection, the situation strikes me as being just a little bit odd. Isn´t it supposed to be the other way around? Ar...
March 22, 2009
I have a couple of friends who are true believers. They are older gentlemen, otherwise very intelligent and quite capable of making their own decisions and running their own lives, but for some reason they have chosen to put their faith in a place where perhaps it doesn´t belong.
As good c...
March 19, 2009
By now many of you have probably heard about the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) report that labeled constitutionalists, Ron Paul supporters and others as possible domestic terrorists. When I first heard about it my first thought was something like, "Oh no, here we go again. The governme...
March 15, 2009
The day after the Liberty Forum ended, as I was still driving home from that magnificent event, I heard the news that Brian Travis´ property in Candia, New Hampshire had been raided by area police, a couple of veterinarians and a representative of the SPCA. The alleged purpose of this raid was for t...
March 11, 2009
I had the good fortune to be able to spend the weekend of March 5th – March 8th of 2009 attending the Liberty Forum in Nashua, New Hampshire which was put on by The Free State Project. To say I was energized and excited by the happenings there would be an understatement. Words can not begin to descr...
February 21, 2009
Recently I´ve been hearing stories in the news of congressmen and senators complaining about the salaries and bonuses of certain CEOs in certain businesses. Now, I´m no fan of high paid CEOs and I doubt very much that any of them actually deserve to be rewarded with the obscene amounts they get paid...
February 19, 2009
Many people might find it hard to fathom that the Law of Attraction has a dark side. It seems such a fine, positive, happy law that it seems impossible that something could actually be dangerous about it. And yet, in my mind, there is a growing shadow, a creeping suspicion that somewhere in the univ...
February 09, 2009
Recently I was involved in a discussion about what has become known as "The Law of Attraction." It became rather heated. It seems to me that some proponents of this "law" have a tendency to become rather fervent in its defense when its premises are questioned. As so often happens during a verbal int...
February 07, 2009
A couple of days ago, Mr. Obama addressed his fellow Democrats. He gave a speech which some in the media characterized as partisan and derisive to the Republicans who have opposed his stimulus plan all along. I have to admit, Mr. Obama is a good public speaker. Most politicians are. It´s tough to ob...
February 04, 2009
I heard an interesting bit of propaganda the other day. According to CBS news, an IRS survey showed that ninety percent of Americans feel it´s wrong to cheat on their income taxes. Ninety percent! That´s a huge percentage. This got me to thinking, "Who are these people?" Certainly if nin...
February 02, 2009
"Be the change that you want to see in the world."
Mohandas Ghandi
I was discussing recent events with my mom the other day and she told me not to worry about my unemployment situation, that 2009 was going to be a year of "change." Now, I love my mother dearly, but the problems with that stateme...
January 25, 2009
I am not a rich man. Those of you who read my column likely know this. It seems I have struggled my entire adult life to make ends meet. Although I have always worked hard and have always been able to hold down a job and do it well, it seems I´ve never been able to get ahead. I haven´t l...
January 15, 2009
On Friday, January 9th 2009 I was laid off. It came as a shock to me. I´m in a position in the company where I didn´t think they could afford to lay me off. I know and do things in the company no one else knows how to do. I was the supervisor of a department and we had just started a new project tha...
January 08, 2009
I don´t like to write about politics. That last statement might come as a surprise to some of my regular readers. "Szandor," you might think, "You love to write about politics. You do it all the time." Well, the last part of that statement may be true, but the first part is actually a misconception....
January 04, 2009
Here in Illinois, at least in DuPage County, when one walks into the county courthouse one is not allowed to take so much as a camera phone in. I´ve often wondered about this. I´ve thought to myself, at times, "I wonder what they´re so afraid of." It seems to me that this is a public building, so ar...
January 03, 2009
"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door."
As you likely know, the above quote is from the poem "The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus...
December 07, 2008
I am not a curmudgeon. I won´t tell you that Santa´s name is unsettlingly close to Satan´s or that by believing in him you´re paying homage to the wrong mythical being. I think there is plenty of love in this world and inside everyone to love as many mythological beings as you want. I do, in fact, l...
November 29, 2008
The mantra of the modern man seems to be "Hey, where´s mine?" Many individuals seem to be so worried about what the other guy is getting, and how he´s getting it, that quite a number of us are starting to question the fairness of the system. Many people are beginning to understand that t...
November 25, 2008
I´m tired of hearing politicians and the media blaming our current economic downturn we´re in, i.e. the recession, on the free market. There is so much that is wrong with that characterization that I hardly know where to begin with my objections. I guess I could start by stating the obvi...
November 19, 2008
The word soviet means council, as in city council or a committee. It is a democratically elected body of people set up with the purpose of controlling the lives of others. These people would get together and plan the lives of those in their local communities, answering to higher up, larger soviets u...
November 15, 2008
Ian Freeman, AKA Ian Bernard, hosts quite a unique and successful talk show called Free Talk Live. His innovations in the field led me to start listening to talk radio again. His approach is simple, let anyone who wants to call in talk about anything he wants to talk about. It´s kind of a free...
November 03, 2008
Many average Americans, indeed many average citizens around the world, are beginning to wonder exactly what is happening with the world economy. They are worried as they see their savings shrink. They are worried as they hear about the credit crisis. They are worried as they see institutions fail fi...
October 31, 2008
Yes, I know, the election is still a couple of days away. It doesn´t matter. Perhaps I´m a little cynical, but I believe this election was decided long ago, maybe even as long as two years ago. At the very least, about a year ago we were already hearing about John McCain and this newcome...
October 13, 2008
There´s been a lot of talk about change in this year´s presidential campaign. Apparently, both the Democrat and Republican candidates seem to believe they can deliver change to the American people. And, of course, no matter which candidate is elected there will be change. The questions a...
October 04, 2008
Were you paying attention? Did you hear them speaking? Did you listen to what they were saying? Perhaps you did, but I can say this, I don´t believe they listened to you. In fact, they more or less proved they don´t care about you one iota, unless you happen to be one of their wealthy fr...
October 01, 2008
A friend of mine, Jon, initiated a conversation with me the other day. He wanted to tell me a story. You see, he had recently received his property tax bill. Of course, his taxes had gone up. It seems the government had his house appraised and felt it was worth more than it had been last year. Never...
September 28, 2008
I went on a tirade the other day. I told my coworker that just this once I was abandoning my libertarian principles of non initiation of force and doing no harm. There are men in this world, men who have all the money and all the power, who just keep taking and taking from the common folk. They just...
September 26, 2008
A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article about Ron Paul´s ability to raise money and Bob Barr´s failure to do so. In the course of that article I expressed my impressions of some of the other third party candidates in a not too favorable light. This was also an expression of my frustrati...
September 25, 2008
Recently, I wrote an article explaining my views on why Ron Paul was able to gain so much support from the common man and raise the kind of money he did while Bob Barr was not. I half expected to get some emails from Bob Barr supporters telling me I was wrong, but that never happened. Instead, I got...
September 22, 2008
I grew up in the sixties. Yeah, I was just a little kid, but I remember quite a bit of what was going on. I guess I have a pretty good memory. I watched a war in Vietnam on television. I watched protesters take to the streets. I saw a lot of violence on the evening news. Back then, the reporters got...
September 14, 2008
Most of us who are paying attention know about the Ron Paul candidacy´s ability to raise money. The money bombs that catapulted him into the national spotlight for a time were strokes of genius that politicos will be talking about for years. They were, in fact, such a good idea that many other...
September 04, 2008
Some time ago, in the spring of 2008, I was contacted by someone involved with Ron Paul´s candidacy and asked to write a speech to be given at the RNC. It was to be a speech designed to entice the undecided delegates into casting their votes for Ron Paul to run for the office of President of t...
September 04, 2008
Some time ago, in the spring of 2008, I was contacted by someone involved with Ron Paul´s candidacy and asked to write a speech to be given at the RNC. It was to be a speech designed to entice the undecided delegates into casting their votes for Ron Paul to run for the office of President of t...
August 21, 2008
I have a new hero. He calls himself Sam I am and he´s from Texas. He has bravely decided to take on a gang of thugs, liars and thieves armed with nothing but a camera. He put his life and fortune at risk to expose these criminals. He rattled their cages a little and got under their skin. He to...
August 09, 2008
I heard a conversation take place the other day where one person was explaining to another how he felt about Barack Obama. He told this woman that to him, and to people in his generation, Barack Obama represented the same hope that Jack Kennedy had represented to that generation. This statement sent...
July 31, 2008
When I was in the fourth grade, I had a friend named Andy. I walked to school with him every day. Back then we had neighborhood schools, so we were allowed to walk home at lunch time to enjoy a home made meal. People might say that times were different then, that people were different, but I don&acu...
July 25, 2008
Hello and welcome to planet Earth.
I trust your trip was a pleasant one. To be honest I´ve always believed you existed. I know some of us here have a little problem believing in you guys, but I´ve always figured in such a big universe with so many planets that you guys had to exist. I...
July 19, 2008
It seems to me that many Americans have given up on the concept of freedom, perhaps the majority of them. This is evident when you consider the "what´s in it for me?" mentality that many people take with them when they go to the polls to cast their votes. Many people are going to vote for a ca...
July 20, 2008
A couple days ago I read an article by Mary Sparrowdancer explaining the predicament of one Sean Dix, the inventor of a simple yet revolutionary product for flossing teeth. Ms. Sparrowdancer struck me as a thoughtful, intelligent, trustworthy individual and a principled reporter. She did an excellen...
July 20, 2008
Recently, I wrote an article explaining the tyranny of seatbelt laws and pointing out some basic flaws in the system that make me question of the reality of our supposed freedom in this nation. In my opinion, we are no longer a free people and instead have become, for the most part, a nation of shee...
July 20, 2008
As anyone who has been paying attention to the Ron Paul r3VOLution knows, the movement was never really about getting Ron Paul elected president – although that certainly should have happened considering the other (cough) candidates and it would have been the icing on the cake – it was about getting...
July 13, 2008
In the year 2006, well before the new century was more than a decade old, the American people decided they´d had enough of the Republicans´ shenanigans. Specifically, they´d had enough of George W. Bush and his administration lying us into war, violating the constitution and doing ...
July 06, 2008
In Illinois there is a law that says one must wear their seatbelt when driving their car. Should a member of a state sanctioned gang known as the police pull you over and find you are not wearing your seatbelt, they are instructed to write a citation instructing you to either mail your tribute to on...
June 22, 2008
As most Ron Paul supporters know, he has suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. This has upset many people I know, a couple of my coworkers specifically. Valentine seemed especially upset with this and came in Tuesday morning with his head hung low and in poor spirits bec...
May 26, 2008
I´ve noticed lately that the media has taken to calling John McCain the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. It´s a strange sort of twist considering that a couple months ago they seemed so certain that McCain was the Republican presidential nominee. It wasn´t so long ago t...
May 27, 2008
Over the Memorial Day weekend the Libertarian Party picked a candidate to run for president. In doing so, it managed to rid itself of any significance it had ever had. The presidential candidate it picked was a conservative named Bob Barr, a former Republican whose voting record on issues of persona...
May 18, 2008
Recently California´s Supreme Court ruled that gay people could marry each other. Personally, I don´t see what the big deal is. Why do you need to ask permission from the government to live with someone in a manner you both see fit? I lived with the same woman for nineteen years without ...
May 18, 2008
When I was a child, my friends and I used to rush home from school to watch the next installment of the cartoon "Speed Racer." It was my favorite cartoon. For whatever reason, I was always anxious to see how Speed would get out of the trouble he was in at the end of the last episode and what new pro...
May 17, 2008
I heard John McCain say that if he was elected president he felt the war in Iraq could be won by the time his first term ended. He also made the claim that most of our troops would be out of Iraq by then. This from the man who not too long ago crowed that he felt fine about keeping our troops in Ira...
May 12, 2008
I´ve heard that in 1913, before the Federal Reserve was created, eighty percent of homes owned by Americans were owned outright. Could you imagine that? Eighty percent of the families living in single family homes didn´t have to pay a mortgage. They had all that extra money to spend on o...
April 28, 2008
Reports of Ron Paul´s early demise were greatly exaggerated. Above all else, he still survives. He is still in the running for the presidential nomination. Like a baseball team going into the bottom of the ninth down ten to nothing, there is still hope, though perhaps not as much hope as we wo...
April 27, 2008
Recently, Wesley Snipes was sentenced to three years in prison for not paying his taxes. He was acquitted of tax fraud and conspiracy charges, but convicted of three counts of the misdemeanor charge of failure to file tax returns. I´ve read and heard some stuff about this case that is rather d...
April 20, 2008
Two years ago today I was given an opportunity by americanchronicle.com and I decided to start writing and posting opinion articles. I made that decision while I was sitting with a friend at a local Chili´s. I did so because I didn´t like some of the trends I was seeing in society. Speci...
April 06, 2008
I´ve noticed in life that people seem to have a tendency to believe that everyone thinks and acts as they do. If one is a thief, he will most likely believe that everyone is a thief, or at least would be if they could get away with it. Often a thief may accuse others of stealing. If one is a l...
April 05, 2008
Last year in Burma there was great unrest. Buddhist monks began to protest perceived injustices brought about by the heavy hand of too much government. Like people all over the world, these monks wanted more freedoms to run their own lives. Now, Buddhist monks are perhaps some of the most peaceful p...
March 30, 2008
Throughout history men have given memorable speeches. Great orators have often times been able to whip up the emotions of their populace and mobilize them to work toward one agenda or another. Their speeches come down to us through the ages and small bits are oft times quoted as pearls of wisdom. Th...
March 21, 2008
I recently used the DownsizeDC.org website to contact my representative and the senators from Illinois and tell them I support the "Read the Bills Act" and that I want them to vote for it. Senator Dick Durbin (well, probably not him personally but his staff) actually took the time to shoot me an ema...
March 18, 2008
I´ve recently had the misfortune of hearing President Bush speak. He´s been all over the news the last few days and he´s very hard to avoid. I noticed that he does seem to have a happy demeanor about him. He does put forth in his public persona a sunny outlook on the future. It mak...
March 16, 2008
I know next to nothing about Eliot Spitzer. Until this week, I didn´t even know he was the governor of New York, nor did I care. All I know about him I found out in the last week from news releases and opinion articles about his follies with some prostitute and his subsequent capture by the mo...
March 09, 2008
Turn off the TV. Set down the newspaper. Log on to the Internet. Engage yourself with others, find alternative viewpoints, and interact with reality.
Americans have a recent history of passivity. In the past we have been involved with each other. We would talk with each other on our front porches...
March 02, 2008
For all the reporting they´ve done on him, you´d think Ron Paul didn´t exist. He´s one of three candidates left in a Republican field that started with eleven, and yet you´d never know he was one of the last three survivors. If he was on American idol he´d be maki...
February 17, 2008
I heard of a radio talk show host that came up with the idea to a form a group DAMM, Drivers Against Madd Mothers. Recently events have occurred on a very local level that gave me pause to think about this. These events are tragic in their own way, and yet it seems to me that we as a society like to...
February 13, 2008
I know a bit about fantasy. I write Fantasy novels. In them, there is a clear cut good versus evil theme. The evil is always supreme, bent on the total destruction of life and beauty, and the good is always striving to save the world and a culture of decency. Real life is quite a bit different. In t...
February 10, 2008
Has anyone ever told you that life´s not fair? I remember hearing that many times when I was a child. Life isn´t fair. We can see it all around. Nature provides many examples. Life certainly doesn´t seem fair to the poor little antelope when he´s caught by a vicious lion. Yet...
January 28, 2008
There are many times in every nation´s history when that nation reaches a crossroads. The decisions made at those times help to define that nation´s character for many years, perhaps decades to come. It is my humble opinion that this great nation known as the United State of America has come to such...
January 17, 2008
Whether you like him or not, Ron Paul has become a worldwide phenomenon. His banners fly in the skies over US cities. His signs are springing up alongside our nation´s highways. Bumper stickers are appearing on cars, it seems almost spontaneously. Certain days of commemoration are set up to donate o...
January 14, 2008
I quit smoking on Oct. 14th, 1996. I did so cold turkey. Everyone was amazed that I was able to quit after smoking one and a half to two packs a day for fifteen years. I´ve stayed quit for over eleven years now. Since I´ve quit I´ve felt much healthier. I´ve gotten rid of a b...
January 09, 2008
The votes have been counted from the New Hampshire primary. McCain has been declared the winner of the Republican primary and Clinton has been declared the winner on the Democrat side. I sit in a state of disbelief. Lately in this campaign season I’ve heard much about change. I’ve heard Barak Obama ...
January 07, 2008
Politicians make a lot of promises to a lot of people. That’s just the nature of the beast. They pander to the lowest common denominator in order to try to get votes. The politicians in this presidential contest are no different. They make promises they may or may not be able to keep. They promise t...
January 03, 2008
I’ve made a few observations while on this trip called life and some of them I’ve found quite curious. One of the things I’ve noticed when it comes to political assassinations is that it seems only politicians who are popular with the general public are targeted. I could go through a laundry list of...
December 26, 2007
The other day I sat down to my computer with a big bowl of chocolate ice cream to catch up on the latest Ron Paul news. He had received 6.3 million dollars in contributions from over 50,000 donors in one day. This was huge news. Since that time the mainstream media has found it hard to ignore Ron Pa...
December 23, 2007
People are not born free. They are born into a system. These systems are called communities. These communities are usually made up of many smaller units known as families. It is within this unit where most of us are able to exercise the most control. It is within this unit where most will find the m...
December 19, 2007
I love stuff. I’ve always loved stuff. I would go as far as to say that I love more than just stuff, I love junk. I love cheap plastic junk that breaks easily and does neat stuff. I’ve loved cheap plastic junk that breaks easily and does neat stuff ever since I was a kid, before it was all made in C...
December 18, 2007
I believe I can say with relative impunity that the Internet is not just some fad that will soon fade into history. Nor is it any longer the purview of a few geeks interested only in sharing scientific papers and findings. The Internet has become an integral part of our society. It has become a tool...
December 03, 2007
When I first started writing these articles back in April 2006, I had no idea where they’d take me. I had a few things to say and when the opportunity presented itself I thought I’d go ahead and say them. I knew my writings were political in nature, but I was also trying to relate my viewpoint to re...
November 27, 2007
My parents are elderly. They have been through a lot in their lives. They have seen a great depression, a world war, other smaller wars, an economic boom, a couple of recessions, an oil crisis, an energy crisis, etc., etc., etc. I find too often many people ignore the elderly. They feel that, for wh...
November 21, 2007
It can be said that the English language is a living language. This is because as time goes on the language changes. Words come to mean different things. Sometimes the same word can mean one thing to some people and quite another to a different group. This is especially true of legalese, but I won’t...
November 18, 2007
On Wednesday, November 14th, 2007, agents from the FBI and Secret Service raided the offices of American Liberty Dollar in Evansville, Indiana and the mint they do business with. They confiscated all their records, their gold, silver, copper and platinum. They confiscated tons of Ron Paul liberty do...
November 13, 2007
George was on the net one day,
He thought he’d take some time and play.
To youtube he decided to surf,
He came upon Ron Paul’s turf.
He saw a video at the mall,
Where on the dais stood Ron Paul.
Ron Paul spoke true and he spoke loud,
Below him gathered quite a crowd.
He said “I will end all ...
November 09, 2007
During the War for Independence fought by the thirteen original colonies of these United States of America, a hero rose from the ranks of the populace by the name of John Paul Jones. I believe most Americans have heard of this gentleman, but without going into too much detail he was a captain in the...
November 09, 2007
I have to admit, I am hopelessly human. I am fallible. I’ve made my share of mistakes in my life, some small and some rather significant. We all make mistakes, it’s part of being human. Making mistakes is how we learn. The important things are that we learn how not to make the same mistake again and...
November 05, 2007
When humans are born, they are helpless. They are forced to depend on others for survival. Infants quickly learn who their parents are as these are the people who will feed and protect them. They may come to know an extended family, brothers and sisters, grandparents, uncles and aunts, for the same ...
November 04, 2007
This article refers to a blog by the editors of Foreign Policy which can be found here:
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/mboyer
Mike Boyer is a blogger for Foreign Policy magazine. In a recent blog entry he asserts that Ron Paul's fifteen minutes of fame should be up. Of course, when Andy Warhol orig...
November 04, 2007
In 1776 a little war started in this country that would eventually lead to the independence of several small British colonies on the American continent. Recently, I've had the opportunity to read up on it and I find it interesting to look back upon the writings of those who were living at that time ...
November 01, 2007
I think it's human nature to want to know the future. People wonder and worry about everything from whether or not it will rain tomorrow to what life's going to be like a hundred years from now. It's not so hard to predict something that might happen a minute from now, or an hour, or tomorrow's weat...
October 26, 2007
The RedState blog has decided to ban discussion of Ron Paul to its members that have been on for less than six months. The reasoning is that those who have accounts less than six months old that “shill” for Ron Paul must be philosophically libertarian and not philosophically republican. Now, I don’t...
October 22, 2007
Recently, I’ve had the chance to read Thomas Paine’s treatise entitled “Common Sense.” In it, Thomas Paine basically talks about what was happening in his times between the British colonies on the continent of North America and the country of Great Britain which was charged with protecting the colon...
October 22, 2007
I’ve never tried to hide the fact that I’m an Independent. Sure, I also claim to be a Libertarian, but that’s only because their ideology and mine coincide. I’ve never belonged to the Libertarian political party. I consider myself more of an Independent simply because I believe that as a voter one s...
October 14, 2007
The letter this reply relates to can be found here:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/21270546
Dear Mr. Harwood,
I must say that you write a very eloquent open letter. I am so happy to see someone from the “mainstream” media finally admit that the post debate polls aren’t being hacked, that nothing illegal...
October 12, 2007
The letter this article refers to can be found here:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/21257762?__source=RSS*blog*&par=RSS
Sir,
I read your explanation for taking down the Ron Paul poll and I must say I was taken aback. First, let me say that the opinions expressed here are my own and I speak for n...
October 11, 2007
Money talks, BS walks. How many times have you heard that phrase? I know I’ve heard it more than twice in my lifetime. It appears that this saying has proven true for the Ron Paul campaign. After raising 5.1 million dollars in the third quarter, over a million of that in the last week, the mainstrea...
October 06, 2007
It is my opinion that taxes are nothing more than extortion. The income tax is especially heinous. I see no difference between the government demanding money from me and telling me if I don’t pay a band of armed men will come into my house, kidnap me and throw me in a cell (or perhaps kill me if I r...
October 03, 2007
So, I’m a Ronbot. According to certain denizens of the web lurking in their shadowy corners of the blogosphere, there are many of us Ronbots out there, but not too many. No, if there were too many if us, if we were more than say one or two percent of the population, then that would shatter the world...
October 03, 2007
We do not live in a perfect society. People are not always nice to each other. They don’t always follow the golden rule. They don’t always do what’s best for the greater good. They don’t always do what’s best for their family. They don’t always do what’s best for their own selves. This is not earth ...
September 26, 2007
The other day I was driving past a very busy Intersection in my neck of the woods and I noticed a Ron Paul Revolution sign had gone up. There were a couple more on the toll way that some farmer had put up. These were put there on private property by people that most likely were not paid to do s...
September 18, 2007
“You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one,
I hope some day you’ll join us, and the world will live as one.”
John Lennon
What is freedom? This is a question mankind has asked since we stopped our wandering and strapped ourselves to the land via agriculture. Since the dawn of civiliza...
August 17, 2007
“That’s what you get for pretending the danger’s not real.
Meek and obedient , you follow the leader
down well trodden corridors, into the valley of steel.
What a surprise! A look of terminal shock in your eyes!
Now things are really what they seem. No, this is not a bad dream.”
Excerpt from th...
July 30, 2007
Nearly six years ago, on September 11th, 2001, a criminal act occurred in New York, New York. It was broadcast around the world. I remember that on that day I called my mother and told her to turn on the TV while I could only listen to the radio because I was at work. I remember telling her that we ...
July 27, 2007
I’ve heard many a politician claim that we are a nation of laws. I thought we were supposed to be a nation of free individuals. Wasn’t this country set up to make individual freedom the most important factor in government? Didn’t the original English settlers come to this country to get away from un...
July 23, 2007
From the fifteenth century to the nineteenth century, people were accused of witchcraft, put on trial and sentenced to death if found guilty. These proceedings were often barbaric and one sided. The accused never stood a chance. Torture was used to obtain confessions. Trickery was used to obtain wit...
July 16, 2007
Most citizens in the United States of America do not vote. Many never registered to vote, many others are registered but simply don’t vote. In the last federal election, fifty nine percent of the registered voters in this country showed up to vote. Of approximately two hundred and seven million regi...
July 07, 2007
When I was in my early twenties, I had a girlfriend I was very much in love with. I spent a lot of time over at her house. One day her mother and I were in the kitchen talking when, and I don’t know how this happened, the subject of religion came up. I had been brought up a Roman Catholic and my gir...
July 03, 2007
July 4th is Independence Day. We celebrate every year our independence from an empirical monarchy that refused to supply proper representation for the colonists. A war was fought over taxation without representation and other improprieties taken by a tyrannical government. This war was sold to the c...
June 20, 2007
Do you remember the story of Robin Hood? He was a hero to nearly every child. Why was he a hero? Remember he stole from the rich to give to the poor? We were always taught that stealing is wrong. What would make it right to steal from a merchant who had made his fortune honestly? Nothing. Ah, but we...
June 18, 2007
Ok, I admit it, I love Star Trek. I was only a little kid when it first came out. I used to watch it all the time. I’ve probably seen each episode two or three times. Even though it took place in the future, often times the show’s themes were pertinent to events taking place in the present. Other ti...
June 18, 2007
I have this dream. I dream that one day I will live in freedom. I dream that I will be able to choose where to spend the money I earn. I dream that I will be able to open a business without having to worry about paying the extortionists for protection. I dream that I will be able to write out my op...
April 29, 2007
Saturday, April 28th, 2007 marked the passing of Arlo. He was just three years old. My wife says he was the cutest bunny ever. I used to feed him every morning. He’d always be so excited to see me and seemed famished whenever food hit his bowl. He would sometimes come up to me and put his front feet...
April 16, 2007
I watched a documentary the other day called “The Great Global Warming Swindle” from the BBC. The basic premise of the documentary was to show that carbon dioxide is not the main cause of global warming, that the sun’s energy output is, and it is not the threat that certain political interests would...
March 22, 2007
A few days back I wrote an article on something that happened to me on my birthday with Best Buy and a gift card I received. I have never received so much response to an article. When I first sat down to write about my experience, it was not my intention to become a type of Don Quixote. I am now und...
March 19, 2007
It was my birthday a couple of days ago. I’ve gotten well past the point where I make a big deal out of it. Still, it is nice that others recognize the day. It is pleasant that someone else lets you know that they are happy you were born. It’s also nice to get presents. So, it was my birthday and my...
February 25, 2007
I wonder how many people in this country of ours can actually answer that question by looking on a map. I know, many of you are saying America is a large country situated on the North American continent between Canada and Mexico with Alaska being a large chunk of land situated north of the rest of t...
February 19, 2007
I’ve always been interested in magic. I do know a little about it. I like to dabble in it. I’m not talking about the natural kind of magic that Wiccans and the like practice, although that type of magic does hold a certain fascination for me, but the store bought type of magic, the type of magic Har...
February 11, 2007
Mr. Branson, Mr. Gore, I have done it. I have figured out a way to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere after it has been released and convert it to oxygen! I like to call this marvelous technology, the “tree.” It is amazing! This machine is very easy to build. In fact, they reproduce themselv...
February 10, 2007
Mr. Branson, Mr. Gore, I have done it. I have figured out a way to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere after it has been released and convert it to oxygen! I like to call this marvelous technology, the “tree.” It is amazing! This machine is very easy to build. In fact, they reproduce themselv...
February 06, 2007
Lately I’ve been reading a lot about positive thinking and a thought responsive universe. I learned about the power of positive thinking way back in the seventies and have practiced it throughout my life. There are some people who swear by it, others who will tell you it’s nothing but bull hockey an...
January 31, 2007
Back in 2002 Valentine, my coworker and friend, and I would often have discussions about whether or not the United States should invade Iraq. Valentine was against any action in Iraq and I was on the fence. Valentine explained to me that he felt there was no reason to invade Iraq. He felt that Sadda...
January 29, 2007
Sometimes we can find the most appropriate words in the least likely places. The other night I was watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Toward the end of the movie the headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, says, “There are dark times ahead. Soon we will all have to chose between what is...
January 29, 2007
As many of you know, I am an environmental advocate. I’m all for clean air to breathe, clean water to drink and clean land to live on, farm and recreate upon. Recently, however, something happened to my family that made me realize just how wrong it is for the government to mandate checks of auto emi...
November 18, 2006
A while back, a friend of mine and I were having a political discussion. He was of the opinion that, depending on certain definitions, ten percent of us were liberal, 10 percent conservative and the rest were somewhere in between. I felt that was a fair assessment.
A few days ago, I read an arti...
November 12, 2006
I don’t like to wake up in the morning. I wake up as a progression, hitting the snooze button after the alarm goes off, rolling over and going back to sleep for a few more minutes. I do this a couple of times. It’s psychological, I suppose. It gets me ready for the day. Problem is, every once in a w...
September 08, 2006
As events unfold in this time of Man, driven by forces seen and unseen, spawned by the minds of those who would govern the masses and nourished by those who would benefit from the suffering of others, it sometimes becomes necessary to remind the few that they are given their power by the good graces...
September 06, 2006
Tired of the propaganda yet? I know I am. Watch the news on TV. CNN, Fox, MSNBC, it doesn’t matter. They’re all broadcasting propaganda. They all have their agenda to fill. I’m tired of reading and hearing how the “liberal left” own the media. When I watch TV news, especially Fox, I see and hear not...
August 07, 2006
I used to smoke. In fact, I smoked quite a bit. I smoked two, sometimes three packs a day. For fifteen years I smoked. Experts might say I was addicted to cigarettes. Well, on the outside it certainly may appear that way. Even I have to admit the urge to smoke is powerful. But addicted? I don’t thin...
August 02, 2006
I wasn’t a big kid. In fact, I was a pretty small kid. When I was in grade school, as I recall, I was the smallest kid in my class. I was also quite sickly, being afflicted with asthma. I was not very athletic or strong. As a result, I was often teased or picked on.
Before I start to sound like ...
July 26, 2006
What’s all this talk about cut and run? We’ve won the war with Iraq. We’ve accomplished all the objectives the president laid out when he made his case for invading Iraq in the first place.
First, we beat the snot out of their armed forces, at least the few of them that were willing to stick arou...
July 21, 2006
I’ve always enjoyed Matt Groenig’s work. I remember before "The Simpsons" were on TV he did a cartoon called “Life in Hell”. What I really like about Matt’s work is how he uses his characters to express his own viewpoints. Sometimes he is subtle, sometimes not.
I remember a particular episode of ...
July 09, 2006
I live in the fine state of Illinois. Here, in the Midwest, we like to think (or at least pretend) that we are sensible people. We like to believe we use our common sense quite well, thank you. I know that everyone all over the world likes to think that, yet it seems many times in course of human ev...
May 13, 2006
I thought it might be fun to look at some things fathers have said through the years and see if they still apply today. Some of these I have used on my own children.
Have you ever heard something similar to this?
“You need how much for what? Money doesn’t grow on trees you know.”
This is still...
May 13, 2006
In the 1960s and early 70s we were taught that the USSR was our enemy. We were taught that their system of government was an evil system, one that was restrictive and callous of human rights. We were taught that the newspapers, TV and radio were all state controlled and so their people had no way of...
May 07, 2006
My youngest son has been having problems in school lately. His teacher has been calling me at work to let me know about it. It seems he hasn?t been doing his homework. This isn?t a new problem. In fact, we?ve been dealing with it all year.
Now, I?ve never been a big fan of homework, especially at ...
May 04, 2006
It’s common knowledge among those who know me that I’m a history buff. I love history. I love studying it from as many angles and perspectives as possible. The History Channel is one of my favorite channels, right alongside the Discovery Channel and The Science Channel. But no matter how much I stud...
April 30, 2006
I don?t usually rant and rave when I write. I like to tell a story. That?s going to change a little today. Excuse me while I climb upon this soapbox.
I went to high school in the mid seventies. At that time, despite a severe gas shortage and inflation threatening to go out of control, the future h...
April 26, 2006
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt
When I was a child, I was a scared little boy. I mostly have my older brothers to thank for this. As I think back on those foggy memories, I recall that they used to torment me by hiding around corners and jumping out at me o...
April 24, 2006
I work with an 80 year old man named Valentine. I don’t think he has to work, I think he wants to work. He seems to like working. I think it keeps his mind sharp and active. He only comes in a few hours a week. He and I have deep conversations on politics, the supernatural, morals, society, space, s...
April 23, 2006
Years ago I had an out of body experience, sort of. Not to worry dear, concerned readers, I was no where near death or even close to getting hurt. Needless to say, I hope I still have quite a number of good years left in me. No, nothing quite so dramatic happened to me.
It happened because I was y...
April 21, 2006
Hello. Let me introduce myself. I am Szandor Blestman. I am a fort-ysix year old white male living in the far west suburbs of Chicago. I have a wife, three kids and two step kids. Normally, I don't differentiate between my biological children and my step children. I've been with my wife for seventee...