Second Amendment Myth: The Myth Maker

The individual right of the Second Amendment Myth spawns from a single, deadly, resourceful, political source: the river of funding that is the NRA. It has misconstrued the meaning by chopping off the first thirteen words, leaving the final fourteen,

'the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.'

Originally, the NRA (National Rifle Association) existed to raise awareness of gun safety and general sportsmanship among the common folk. It's not the NGA (Gun) or the NWA (Weapon) for a reason. We're talking rifles. It started with a bunch of concerned hunters. They'd teach some basic skills to the uneducated masses, tramping a noisy, messy path through their prized, pristine forests. The seed of their intention was the simple notion of not getting shot by some idiot, recklessly sporting their first rifle. The NRA was a grassroots, educational program sponsored by real people. Why was the NRA created? Because rifles are deadly in the hands of the ignorant.

They were once safety advocates; but now?

The most powerful industry lobby in the world;

they own the GOP;

they're a cooperation

with the proverbial finger on the trigger.

And they keep pulling it.

Ironically the hero of the GOP, Ronald Reagan, was a victim of this very instrument, lying at the base of this party's foundation. A member of the GOP cannot hold office without a favorable NRA rating. This lobby has twisted the fundamental right of self-preservation into the Constitutional Right of a Militia. People don't have the right to carry a gun because the NRA or the Second Amendment says so. People have the right to carry a gun because the States decide they will allow the Citizenry to arm themselves with guns because guns are an effective tool. But are they always useful? Statistically, they do more harm than good. It's hypocritical that pro-life people so often support death with such fervor. Fact: no Citizen has the right to bear Arms; Arms are for armies.

There is no Constitutional prohibition of acquiring the implements to protect one's family. The government's not coming for your guns. No one's saying you can't have an alarm-system or even a shotgun. The sacrosanct boarder of the household is a Constitutional Right. This amendment addresses the sacrosanct boarder of the State. But neither the NRA nor the individual has the right to decide AK-47s are on the list of approved weaponry; only States do. Why not a claymore or a sound-cannon? There's a line. As a society, we must face the limits of access. Surly, no one believes I have a the right to an Apache helicopter. We must answer the question: what is reasonable? Do we the People set terms or will we still stomach NRA profits leading our way? If the GOP cannot take the initiative to return the NRA to it's roots, eventually the rising death-toll will.

We will change.

The only remaining question:

How many of us must die to make it so?

Second Amendment Myth: The Myth

The Second Amendment:

'A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.'

Note: the CDC (Center for Disease Control) is legally barred from studying the effects of firearms upon the American population– really GOP? This means the US Government has no more idea of the mental health implications of gun violence than anyone else. There are no numbers. No one knows exactly how many people were shot dead last year in the US. There's no precise database, no standard– only estimates. Beyond working towards a day when the numbers are finally seen and studied, we have no other choice but to look outside of the US for clues.

“It's not access to guns; it's an issue of mental health.”

Every time I hear this, I cringe. It's both. Generally in countries with restrictive guns rights (at the very least on par with driving a car), gun-related mass-murder by the populace is not the daily occurrence it's becoming in the US. In modern societies with the most limited rights like Japan, these events are rare if ever. Australia is a wonderful example of how removing weapons of useless violence after one of these incidences drastically reduces these incidences. It is not about removing tools that happen to be guns but addressing access to weapons of mass-murder and mental health. How much of an arsenal does one require to protect one's self from lunatics?

Access to Arms by the US Citizenry as a Constitutional Right is a lie, in fact a very lucrative myth. Nowhere in the Constitution are individuals given the right have a gun. It is the right of the people (everyone in every State) that the States are given an implied directive to create a well regulated Militia (the words are capitalized for a reason; although this is not the ratified version of the amendment, it exists in the National Archives as the original version passed by Congress, handwritten by William Lambert). The Second Amendment gives this and only this Militia the right to keep and bear Arms because a well regulated body (and I'm going to hammer the point here: only the Militia is bestowed with the right to keep and bear Arms) is 'necessary to the security of a free State.'

And when it comes to regulation, 'regulated' is the third word of the amendment. Furthermore, the word 'gun' or 'rifle' or the phrase, 'just enough explosive to blow this tree-root apart,' cannot be found in any corner of the Constitution. Arms are strictly tools of war, created to defend the State from enemies, both foreign and domestic. The Second Amendment has nothing to do with Cousin Skeeter duck hunting with a hunting rifle. The Second Amendment is about securing a free State. Arms include everything from a knife to a Cruise missile. Just about everyone can have a knife but no one can have a Cruise missile. Missiles are for governments; States are governments with a Constitutional right to keep and bear Arms. The term 'Arms' clearly applies to States, not individuals like you and me.

Why does the Constitution create Militias? Think about it: they're the touchstone of American freedom. The Revolution was a bunch of independent, community-based actors coming together to win. When this document was written, America had no cash to finance a standing army. But we had skills and an effective model. We succeeded in the face of an overwhelming invasion by stitching together a cluster of militias into an effective army at a moments notice.

The Second Amendment's sole purpose insures a ready-force, willing to act in the face of an external threat to the freedom of any State; the only individual here is the State. This amendment does not provide citizens ready-access to an arsenal of mass-murder. Only the State's Militia has the right to these instruments of destruction. In truth, this amendment's brevity is matched only by its genius: it provided our newborn country with a relatively affordable, standing army, comprised of people like you and me, supplied, and trained by the State to bear these Arms for our collective security.   

$ Strategies: the Keep

I plug every hole I see but sometimes there are holes I cannot; so, I take the extreme measure of building a credit-keep: an impenetrable fortress of security, buried deep in my fortified city.

Credit-rating agencies are the keepers of the rivers of commerce; credit flows. By default, our credit is open. With the right information, signatures, verifications, and paperwork credit lines are established through these three agencies. What does Identity Theft really mean? Money. I define Identity Theft as the moment someone has convinced these agencies that they are me. If someone is slick enough to slide the right information past the right sentinels of commerce, these agencies will have no choice but to accept the debt on our behalf. The trick is to dismiss the guards and close the gate.

And there are many guards, many for-profit companies eager to provide the monitoring necessary to protect your open credit. For a monthly fee, they will scan the universe for intruders. But is this money well-spent? In a word, 'no.' You will pay these agencies to protect you from something that you can do much better for yourself at a minimal cost with a maximum benefit. For anyone willing to put a little effort into their financial health, credit-monitoring is a scam. How? Simple: a credit-lock.

Let me say that this solution is not for everyone, all of the time. That said, this solution is for anyone willing to fortify their credit. But it requires work and discipline. You must open and close your credit with planning and intention. It also costs money, not much but some. It's easy to use, and secures us against the greatest risk: unknown, unauthorized credit lines. The process is relatively simple. You sign up at each of the agencies. You request a lock on your credit, pay the fee, and create a password. Then, when you want to open your credit for some perspective creditor to view, you create a temporary lift of the lock and pay that same fee again. This means that if you want to open a new credit-card, buy a house, or a car, you will have to plan for it.

Although it takes effort, a credit-lock insures our exposure is vastly limited. Having to intentionally use our credit means we considered new lines more closely. I highly recommend it. Then again, if new lines of credit is critical to your long-term business strategy, maybe this isn't for you. In that case, you could do worse than to pay the right people to monitor your credit. But come on, if you're wealthy enough to be opening and closing accounts regularly, you've got people whose sole job is to take care of that. The effort it takes to live with a credit-lock is how the rest of us remain bulletproof.

Donald Chump Treasure

The basic question when it comes to 'The Donald' and his run is whether the Office fits. Please.

His candidacy has always been about the luxurious nature of his candidacy. His singular message encompasses many traditional GOP points of view, including the Putinesque strongman image of the 'Doer.' Doesn't matter the problem, he knows the guy. The Donald gets it done. For every question, he has no other answer: the Donald's a Doer. He loves everyone, everyone loves him, and he knows what's best. The shinny, golden, god-like level of the Chump's narcissism is not run-of-the-mill.

No, it's the best, most classy, luxurious, highest quality in Town. He sets the bar.

Although there would be no greater Democratic gift than his nomination, Donald's Treasure is for the GOP. His candidacy represents an opportunity to pivot. Over the next year, the bashing of the Chump's 19^th century's views will allow this party to redefine itself and finally join the 21^st century. The Donald raises many issues worth discussing: immigration, healthcare, women's rights, and the legitimacy of Obama's “official birth-certificate.” Okay, not the last one; that's more of an example of this pivot-point. The value of The Donald is the distance the GOP can run from him. This distance is directly proportional to their remaining relevance. Run Republicans run.

Why is he so popular right now? Because it's right now. Activists are the only ones engaged at this point and they love him. Let's hope more than the GOP candidates challenge his message. What would be really nice is if the other side seizes this opportunity for real dialogue. Then both sides can come together for a single purpose:

Pile-on the Chump!

May the truth of this Treasure be the moment the GOP has a real conversation with the American People.

Their failure insures their status as the inevitable third-party.

$ Strategies: The Fortified City of Wealth

The best financial defense is your effort: spend time; remain alert, proactive; monitor exposure. Keeping the avenues of commerce open while avoiding obstruction is a balancing act. As Sun-Tzu might say, 'though a general does not lose, it does not mean he wins.' Victory does not simply come from a good offense but requires a solid defense. Sun-Tzu warns the invader to consider the great cost when attacking a fortified city. Financially speaking, we can vastly limit our exposure and create that fortified city of wealth.

A simple example of a great defensive habit is to log-out. Why should I make the effort if the system will automatically deactivate access to my account after being idle for a specific interval? Fair point. For the most part, that protects most of us most of the time. If being secure most of the time is good enough for you, then why worry? For me, I'm concerned about those moments when automation fails. I close each secure session every time. The second a system is hacked sufficiently, all open accounts become targets. Anyone with the bad luck of being connected to a breached system's core runs the risk of exposure. During this time, the system's security will find it challenging to detect your absence when the hackers raid and manipulate your information. Because you did n

ot log-out, their activity appears as your activity. It takes so little effort to click the link. That's why it's there. Use it.

A tight ship does not leak. Any hard-copy with my personal data is stored or burned. Period. One thing we control is what comes out of our homes. We can toss our junk mail out; we can be lazy and fail to go through it. On the other hand, we can imagine the many pieces to the Identity Theft puzzle. Junk-mail constitutes a few. Credit-card offers are a prize, like a game-piece ready for play. Denying any single avenue makes theft difficult for thieves; denying all of them makes it impossible for anyone. I choose to burn; others prefer to shred. Ashes, when scattered, are not as easily reconstituted as bits of paper. Maybe some alien, quantum magic exist out there where spread ashes can be reincarnated. I guess I'll take my chances. What I am not willing to take a chance on is shredding.

Of course, large-scale shredding that is directly recycled is perfectly safe for industry. But it's different when it comes to my limited, personal information. I plug every hole I see.

$ Strategies: Powerful, Easy Passwords

If you ever suspect a favorite website has been hacked, run a malware and virus scan on the devices used to access the site, then change your password. For sites with financial accounts such as online banks, utilities, or credit cards, create unique passwords that are not used with any other type of site. If a hacker gets your password from a favorite shopping site, social media site, or even from work, they can't empty your checking account and clone your credit cards.

The creation of passwords is tricky and exhausting. Never: use the same password for everything, use birth-dates, sports jersey numbers, addresses, ID numbers, pet or family names, or use the word 'password.' And if a word appears on any of your social media platforms, don't use it. The challenge is to create one you can remember that isn't your last name followed by one, two, three. So what do you do? You can come up with lists of passwords, get a password generator, or try the key-and-lock approach.

This method breaks the password into two pieces. The first half is a standard password like BlueB04. The second half is related to the specific site. This could be the first letters of the site's address, the company name, or any other information relating to the account. In effect, a single password becomes many. Examples: BlueB04Costco, BlueB04SBUX, BlueB04XYZ123 … With financially significant sites like a bank, you could use a special code or pin between the two parts. Example FIN for financial would look like: BlueB04FINXYZ123 – the longer the password the better.

There is a different technique altogether. Instead of picking some absurd concept to encode on a keyboard like BlueB04, use the keyboard as a landscape and plot a pattern the same way most phones are opened. For example, a straight, horizontal line would be 'qwerty.' Your password becomes a simple, geographical pattern on the keyboard, like a little journey or dance your fingers play out in a specific way. Think of a picture-key. This method consists of circles, taps, and swipes over an image. Simply translate that to the keyboard. You start at a point and walk a predetermined path. This makes the password easy to remember, super-fast to enter, and can be quickly changed by simply starting with a new key but following the same shape.  

The ultimate strength of a password is its randomness. Personally, I use a combination of both techniques in three sections: first, a pattern; second, a standard; and third, a site-related. Example: qwertyBlueB04XYZ123. This tactic produces powerful, easily-managed passwords.

The Enemy's Flag Flies Over US Capitals

Why did the US Civil War happen? Simple: the power to make money; aka the right for the rich to stay rich despite the cost to humanity.

The institution of slavery created centuries of wealth for many of the world's governments. The practice is Biblical. But it becomes increasingly difficult to treat people as animals when they are increasing seen as human. The US was not the first nor the last to abolish this source of unethical labor. And like the Exodus, it came at a great cost to the nation resisting change. But unlike the ancient tale, the force facing the American Pharaoh named Jefferson Davis was a well-regulated army of soldiers supported by a diverse middle-class, not a mass of ragtag slaves lead by a psychic magician across the parted river into the empty desert under a watchful eye.

The American Civil War began over the establishment of California – a state free from slavery. The South felt boxed in. Without direct access to the Pacific, maximizing profits from their ill-gotten gains became untenable. With this irreplaceable export route blocked, they formed a new country and went to war for the right to exist; they had to protect the old-fashion way. Over the preceding decades of increasing restrictions to their business model and in light of the contemporary trend of world governments abandoning the practice altogether, the South saw the writing on the wall and like the Luddites raged against the machine of progress. 

The Confederate States of America was the attempt to create a foreign country within US boarders based on the institution of slavery. The Confederate Battle Flag symbolizes a foreign country's aggression upon this soil. What other enemy is favored with such an honor? Such logic requires zombie-like cognitive dissidence. How much longer will the enemy's flag fly over US capitals?