Friday, February 19, 2010

FBI Censored Austin Pilot Andrew Joseph Stack III Suicide Note

This is directly copied from johnstyn.com (who is an awesome guy) because I couldn't have written a more appropriate comment on the pilot's note and actions myself. I figure if I'm not already on half a dozen FBI witch hunt lists, then this will surely put me there. At least I'll be in good company when they come to arrest/silence us all.

I hope others will also repost Joseph Stack's note so that it does not go unread by the masses like our government would prefer. They have already forced even CNN to remove the page with the text on it. CNN!!! They are major news media - what about the first amendment? If this is not proof that our government controls our media, then I don't know what is.

This is important stuff people. This could be any one of us driven to this kind of frustration, altho we may not take the same kind of action. I know I've felt the long arm of the IRS (currently even), and the frustration of being hog tied in a system tailored to the rich and powerful. I am tired of Uncle Sam reaching into my wallet too. There is a place for government in our nation, but the people we've elected to power (with a handful of exceptions, because there are always exceptions to the rule) are corrupt and greedy and need to be replaced by those that are not. Unfortunately, those that are not don't stand a chance in the system as it is.

The Internet gives the people the power because there is communication. The government fears this because they know no matter how many Enron and Arthur Andersen and Halliburton execs there are, there are still MORE of us in the middle class, the ones they exploit. This is why they try to eliminate the truth from the public view, then force feed us what they want us to think on the news. That's what "spin doctors" are hired to do. But there won't be change without action. Reposting is the action I'm choosing for now.

FBI censor (suicide note repost with comments)

by halcyon on February 18, 2010

Domestic Terrorism is a tricky beast. It would be much easier to dismiss this plane crash if the pilot’s skin was brown and he followed the wrong god. Instead we can relate all-too-well to his soul-crushing frustration. Like a capitalist version of a burning monk, we have to look at the situation that would motivate such a drastic choice. A US citizen driven to ultimate frustration is much different than being attacked from 3rd world outsiders, “because they are jealous of us and our freedom.” His note is the sad final squeak from someone who has lost his voice from a lifetime of complaining to deaf ears. Do i approve of his actions? Of course not. Nor do I approve of any act of terrorism. But I do think there is value in trying to understand the frustration that can lead to such drastic measures.

History shows that every oppressed people has a tipping point that pushes them to action: Be that slave revolt, Declaration of Independence, or suicide bombing.

The FBI has removed his note from the web. I am re-posting it below.

Joe Stack’s suicide note: (now censored from his site)

If you’re reading this, you’re no doubt asking yourself, “Why did this have to happen?” The simple truth is that it is complicated and has been coming for a long time. The writing process, started many months ago, was intended to be therapy in the face of the looming realization that there isn’t enough therapy in the world that can fix what is really broken. Needless to say, this rant could fill volumes with example after example if I would let it. I find the process of writing it frustrating, tedious, and probably pointless… especially given my gross inability to gracefully articulate my thoughts in light of the storm raging in my head. Exactly what is therapeutic about that I’m not sure, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

We are all taught as children that without laws there would be no society, only anarchy. Sadly, starting at early ages we in this country have been brainwashed to believe that, in return for our dedication and service, our government stands for justice for all. We are further brainwashed to believe that there is freedom in this place, and that we should be ready to lay our lives down for the noble principals represented by its founding fathers. Remember? One of these was “no taxation without representation”. I have spent the total years of my adulthood unlearning that crap from only a few years of my childhood. These days anyone who really stands up for that principal is promptly labeled a “crackpot”, traitor and worse.

While very few working people would say they haven’t had their fair share of taxes (as can I), in my lifetime I can say with a great degree of certainty that there has never been a politician cast a vote on any matter with the likes of me or my interests in mind. Nor, for that matter, are they the least bit interested in me or anything I have to say.

Why is it that a handful of thugs and plunderers can commit unthinkable atrocities (and in the case of the GM executives, for scores of years) and when it’s time for their gravy train to crash under the weight of their gluttony and overwhelming stupidity, the force of the full federal government has no difficulty coming to their aid within days if not hours? Yet at the same time, the joke we call the American medical system, including the drug and insurance companies, are murdering tens of thousands of people a year and stealing from the corpses and victims they cripple, and this country’s leaders don’t see this as important as bailing out a few of their vile, rich cronies. Yet, the political “representatives” (thieves, liars, and self-serving scumbags is far more accurate) have endless time to sit around for year after year and debate the state of the “terrible health care problem”. It’s clear they see no crisis as long as the dead people don’t get in the way of their corporate profits rolling in.

And justice? You’ve got to be kidding!

How can any rational individual explain that white elephant conundrum in the middle of our tax system and, indeed, our entire legal system? Here we have a system that is, by far, too complicated for the brightest of the master scholars to understand. Yet, it mercilessly “holds accountable” its victims, claiming that they’re responsible for fully complying with laws not even the experts understand. The law “requires” a signature on the bottom of a tax filing; yet no one can say truthfully that they understand what they are signing; if that’s not “duress” than what is. If this is not the measure of a totalitarian regime, nothing is.

How did I get here?

My introduction to the real American nightmare starts back in the early ‘80s. Unfortunately after more than 16 years of school, somewhere along the line I picked up the absurd, pompous notion that I could read and understand plain English. Some friends introduced me to a group of people who were having ‘tax code’ readings and discussions. In particular, zeroed in on a section relating to the wonderful “exemptions” that make institutions like the vulgar, corrupt Catholic Church so incredibly wealthy. We carefully studied the law (with the help of some of the “best”, high-paid, experienced tax lawyers in the business), and then began to do exactly what the “big boys” were doing (except that we weren’t steeling from our congregation or lying to the government about our massive profits in the name of God). We took a great deal of care to make it all visible, following all of the rules, exactly the way the law said it was to be done.

The intent of this exercise and our efforts was to bring about a much-needed re-evaluation of the laws that allow the monsters of organized religion to make such a mockery of people who earn an honest living. However, this is where I learned that there are two “interpretations” for every law; one for the very rich, and one for the rest of us… Oh, and the monsters are the very ones making and enforcing the laws; the inquisition is still alive and well today in this country.

That little lesson in patriotism cost me $40,000+, 10 years of my life, and set my retirement plans back to 0. It made me realize for the first time that I live in a country with an ideology that is based on a total and complete lie. It also made me realize, not only how naive I had been, but also the incredible stupidity of the American public; that they buy, hook, line, and sinker, the crap about their “freedom”… and that they continue to do so with eyes closed in the face of overwhelming evidence and all that keeps happening in front of them.

Before even having to make a shaky recovery from the sting of the first lesson on what justice really means in this country (around 1984 after making my way through engineering school and still another five years of “paying my dues”), I felt I finally had to take a chance of launching my dream of becoming an independent engineer.

On the subjects of engineers and dreams of independence, I should digress somewhat to say that I’m sure that I inherited the fascination for creative problem solving from my father. I realized this at a very young age.

The significance of independence, however, came much later during my early years of college; at the age of 18 or 19 when I was living on my own as student in an apartment in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. My neighbor was an elderly retired woman (80+ seemed ancient to me at that age) who was the widowed wife of a retired steel worker. Her husband had worked all his life in the steel mills of central Pennsylvania with promises from big business and the union that, for his 30 years of service, he would have a pension and medical care to look forward to in his retirement. Instead he was one of the thousands who got nothing because the incompetent mill management and corrupt union (not to mention the government) raided their pension funds and stole their retirement. All she had was social security to live on.

In retrospect, the situation was laughable because here I was living on peanut butter and bread (or Ritz crackers when I could afford to splurge) for months at a time. When I got to know this poor figure and heard her story I felt worse for her plight than for my own (I, after all, I thought I had everything to in front of me). I was genuinely appalled at one point, as we exchanged stories and commiserated with each other over our situations, when she in her grandmotherly fashion tried to convince me that I would be “healthier” eating cat food (like her) rather than trying to get all my substance from peanut butter and bread. I couldn’t quite go there, but the impression was made. I decided that I didn’t trust big business to take care of me, and that I would take responsibility for my own future and myself.

Return to the early ‘80s, and here I was off to a terrifying start as a ‘wet-behind-the-ears’ contract software engineer… and two years later, thanks to the fine backroom, midnight effort by the sleazy executives of Arthur Andersen (the very same folks who later brought us Enron and other such calamities) and an equally sleazy New York Senator (Patrick Moynihan), we saw the passage of 1986 tax reform act with its section 1706.

For you who are unfamiliar, here is the core text of the IRS Section 1706, defining the treatment of workers (such as contract engineers) for tax purposes. Visit this link for a conference committee report (http://www.synergistech.com/1706.shtml#ConferenceCommitteeReport) regarding the intended interpretation of Section 1706 and the relevant parts of Section 530, as amended. For information on how these laws affect technical services workers and their clients, read our discussion here (http://www.synergistech.com/ic-taxlaw.shtml).

SEC. 1706. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN TECHNICAL PERSONNEL.

(a) IN GENERAL – Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:

(d) EXCEPTION. – This section shall not apply in the case of an individual who pursuant to an arrangement between the taxpayer and another person, provides services for such other person as an engineer, designer, drafter, computer programmer, systems analyst, or other similarly skilled worker engaged in a similar line of work.

(b) EFFECTIVE DATE. – The amendment made by this section shall apply to remuneration paid and services rendered after December 31, 1986.

Note:

· “another person” is the client in the traditional job-shop relationship.

· “taxpayer” is the recruiter, broker, agency, or job shop.

· “individual”, “employee”, or “worker” is you.

Admittedly, you need to read the treatment to understand what it is saying but it’s not very complicated. The bottom line is that they may as well have put my name right in the text of section (d). Moreover, they could only have been more blunt if they would have came out and directly declared me a criminal and non-citizen slave. Twenty years later, I still can’t believe my eyes.

During 1987, I spent close to $5000 of my ‘pocket change’, and at least 1000 hours of my time writing, printing, and mailing to any senator, congressman, governor, or slug that might listen; none did, and they universally treated me as if I was wasting their time. I spent countless hours on the L.A. freeways driving to meetings and any and all of the disorganized professional groups who were attempting to mount a campaign against this atrocity. This, only to discover that our efforts were being easily derailed by a few moles from the brokers who were just beginning to enjoy the windfall from the new declaration of their “freedom”. Oh, and don’t forget, for all of the time I was spending on this, I was loosing income that I couldn’t bill clients.

After months of struggling it had clearly gotten to be a futile exercise. The best we could get for all of our trouble is a pronouncement from an IRS mouthpiece that they weren’t going to enforce that provision (read harass engineers and scientists). This immediately proved to be a lie, and the mere existence of the regulation began to have its impact on my bottom line; this, of course, was the intended effect.

Again, rewind my retirement plans back to 0 and shift them into idle. If I had any sense, I clearly should have left abandoned engineering and never looked back.

Instead I got busy working 100-hour workweeks. Then came the L.A. depression of the early 1990s. Our leaders decided that they didn’t need the all of those extra Air Force bases they had in Southern California, so they were closed; just like that. The result was economic devastation in the region that rivaled the widely publicized Texas S&L fiasco. However, because the government caused it, no one gave a shit about all of the young families who lost their homes or street after street of boarded up houses abandoned to the wealthy loan companies who received government funds to “shore up” their windfall. Again, I lost my retirement.

Years later, after weathering a divorce and the constant struggle trying to build some momentum with my business, I find myself once again beginning to finally pick up some speed. Then came the .COM bust and the 911 nightmare. Our leaders decided that all aircraft were grounded for what seemed like an eternity; and long after that, ‘special’ facilities like San Francisco were on security alert for months. This made access to my customers prohibitively expensive. Ironically, after what they had done the Government came to the aid of the airlines with billions of our tax dollars … as usual they left me to rot and die while they bailed out their rich, incompetent cronies WITH MY MONEY! After these events, there went my business but not quite yet all of my retirement and savings.

By this time, I’m thinking that it might be good for a change. Bye to California, I’ll try Austin for a while. So I moved, only to find out that this is a place with a highly inflated sense of self-importance and where damn little real engineering work is done. I’ve never experienced such a hard time finding work. The rates are 1/3 of what I was earning before the crash, because pay rates here are fixed by the three or four large companies in the area who are in collusion to drive down prices and wages… and this happens because the justice department is all on the take and doesn’t give a fuck about serving anyone or anything but themselves and their rich buddies.

To survive, I was forced to cannibalize my savings and retirement, the last of which was a small IRA. This came in a year with mammoth expenses and not a single dollar of income. I filed no return that year thinking that because I didn’t have any income there was no need. The sleazy government decided that they disagreed. But they didn’t notify me in time for me to launch a legal objection so when I attempted to get a protest filed with the court I was told I was no longer entitled to due process because the time to file ran out. Bend over for another $10,000 helping of justice.

So now we come to the present. After my experience with the CPA world, following the business crash I swore that I’d never enter another accountant’s office again. But here I am with a new marriage and a boatload of undocumented income, not to mention an expensive new business asset, a piano, which I had no idea how to handle. After considerable thought I decided that it would be irresponsible NOT to get professional help; a very big mistake.

When we received the forms back I was very optimistic that they were in order. I had taken all of the years information to Bill Ross, and he came back with results very similar to what I was expecting. Except that he had neglected to include the contents of Sheryl’s unreported income; $12,700 worth of it. To make matters worse, Ross knew all along this was missing and I didn’t have a clue until he pointed it out in the middle of the audit. By that time it had become brutally evident that he was representing himself and not me.

This left me stuck in the middle of this disaster trying to defend transactions that have no relationship to anything tax-related (at least the tax-related transactions were poorly documented). Things I never knew anything about and things my wife had no clue would ever matter to anyone. The end result is… well, just look around.

I remember reading about the stock market crash before the “great” depression and how there were wealthy bankers and businessmen jumping out of windows when they realized they screwed up and lost everything. Isn’t it ironic how far we’ve come in 60 years in this country that they now know how to fix that little economic problem; they just steal from the middle class (who doesn’t have any say in it, elections are a joke) to cover their asses and it’s “business-as-usual”. Now when the wealthy fuck up, the poor get to die for the mistakes… isn’t that a clever, tidy solution.

As government agencies go, the FAA is often justifiably referred to as a tombstone agency, though they are hardly alone. The recent presidential puppet GW Bush and his cronies in their eight years certainly reinforced for all of us that this criticism rings equally true for all of the government. Nothing changes unless there is a body count (unless it is in the interest of the wealthy sows at the government trough). In a government full of hypocrites from top to bottom, life is as cheap as their lies and their self-serving laws.

I know I’m hardly the first one to decide I have had all I can stand. It has always been a myth that people have stopped dying for their freedom in this country, and it isn’t limited to the blacks, and poor immigrants. I know there have been countless before me and there are sure to be as many after. But I also know that by not adding my body to the count, I insure nothing will change. I choose to not keep looking over my shoulder at “big brother” while he strips my carcass, I choose not to ignore what is going on all around me, I choose not to pretend that business as usual won’t continue; I have just had enough.

I can only hope that the numbers quickly get too big to be white washed and ignored that the American zombies wake up and revolt; it will take nothing less. I would only hope that by striking a nerve that stimulates the inevitable double standard, knee-jerk government reaction that results in more stupid draconian restrictions people wake up and begin to see the pompous political thugs and their mindless minions for what they are. Sadly, though I spent my entire life trying to believe it wasn’t so, but violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer. The cruel joke is that the really big chunks of shit at the top have known this all along and have been laughing, at and using this awareness against, fools like me all along.

I saw it written once that the definition of insanity is repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to suddenly be different. I am finally ready to stop this insanity. Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let’s try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well.

The communist creed: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

The capitalist creed: From each according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed.

Joe Stack (1956-2010)

02/18/2010

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Excessive Income

Awhile back I was watching the Louise Hay video, You Can Heal Your Life. It was shortly after I was laid off, and I was depressed about having to look for another job (I am not good at selling myself so the interview process is stressful), and I was just generally in an icky mood, so I figured this might help improve things. And it did.

During the video one of the people they interviewed mentions she uses this affirmation: My income in constantly increasing. For whatever reason, that phrase, at that moment, said in just that way, really hit it right with me. I wrote it down, posted it on my mirror, and I said it anytime I would lay eyes on it.

It seemed to work because I started getting calls to do odd jobs and I made a few extra bucks here and there. Nothing that would replace my income, but enough to have some play money besides getting all the bills paid with unemployment benefits. The more dollars that dribbled in, the more I believed this phrase was the reason. Honestly, it has not let me down in the last 10 months!

There is a spiritual store in Oceanside that I've mentioned before, Kindred Journeys, and they hold all sorts of interesting classes there. I especially enjoy the ones lead by Teri Mahaney. At one of these classes I related the story of finding this affirmation and how well it's worked for me. I went on to say that I wished I could communicate to the Universe that I would like to increase my income to a level where I no longer have to live paycheck to paycheck. I'm always grateful for money coming in, but I would really like the security of knowing the Universe's endless supply of same is available to me at any local ATM! Teri suggested changing my affirmation to: My income exceeds my expenses.

I was having a little trouble with this because although I think it's a good affirmation, the word "exceeds" somehow holds a negative connotation in the right side of my brain, as if it automatically reverses "income" and "expenses" in the request I'm making each time I say it. I think this is because I've often been told that I live beyond my means and I should not let my expenses exceed my income. I can't tell you how many times I've heard those exact words, especially from my parents.

Logically (left brain) I know the technical words are correct and okay in context, but there is just something about it that doesn't FEEL good, so I'm afraid what I'm putting out there is exactly opposite of what I intend. Obviously, that's not cool! I've already proven I can easily spend more than I make. I certainly don't need any help with that!

I've tried modifying the phrase as such: My income always far exceeds my expenses. I figured putting a couple other words in there to separate "income" and "expenses" would give the neurons an extra nanosecond to clarify and fully comprehend what I mean. The new version sounds a little better in my head, but there's still that tiny nagging doubt, almost like the Brain KNOWS I'm just trying to fool it or something. I seriously think my Left Brain wanted to be a lawyer.

In the past week I've really been having some panic issues because all along I've been thinking my benefits will run out in mid-March. I don't remember how I came to this conclusion, but that was the time frame on my mental calendar. For the past several months, I've really stepped up my effort. I've been applying all sorts of places online, I signed up with a couple employment agencies, and I have even forced myself to put aside my shyness and go out there to NETWORK (please. kill. me. now!).

I have gotten ZERO response (from established companies). I mean it. And I'm not some unqualified idiot drone type person either. I have plenty of experience, it's been varied so I can handle lots of different things, and I've always gotten great reviews from my peers and superiors alike. My resume is written properly and professionally, I have multiple resumes for various positions, I taylor each one to the job I'm applying for - I do all the right things, so how is it possible I'm getting CRICKETS?!

I do actually have some freelance projects for Pearson right now, and those are great because the money comes in a big chunk when I'm done. The timing is getting worrisome though because the end of these projects keep getting delayed, and Pearson takes 60 days to pay (SIXTY!) after you invoice, so the help from these projects may not come until it's too late.

If I'm being completely honest too, just in the last few days I've actually received three responses to jobs I applied for on craigslist, but I'm a bit afraid the pay will be too low so I might be wasting my time on those. But that's just in the last two to three days - literally. They do offer some hope.

I've been saying my affirmation and still getting the little odd jobs here and there, I've been expressing my gratitude for everything I DO have (because honestly, even on the limited budget, my life ROCKS compared to many), but I can't seem to break that barrier into having a true, reliable source of income again.

So tonight I go to the mailbox because I know my unemployment check is in there. Turns out there are THREE things from EDD (California's unemployment agency). I open the first one and it is a notice stating that I've reported some income on the last check period and confirming that the information I reported was correct. Superfluous paperwork wasting the taxpayer's money, I swear. If they would just put all this online, California would probably gain some of their revenue back.

Second piece of mail from them is the check for the OTHER week in the pay period where I did not report income. Thank God. That will be paying my rent tomorrow. And OMG... wait a minute... what is this? Is that balance correct? Turns out I have enough still in my reserve to go another ELEVEN weeks. Not just four. That is a HUGE relief. Not that I desire to be on unemployment another three months, but I was thinking I might be homeless by April! I'm not kidding! I've been pushing away all kinds of awful Hollywood-induced scenarios in my head.

Third piece of mail is a notice (AGAIN!) - apparently from the Redundant Department of Redundancy telling me I reported income on my last benefit period which is why I get nothing for that week. It says:

Note the wording: No benefits are payable because I reported EXCESSIVE EARNINGS. I had EXCESSIVE EARNINGS! That means A LOT OF INCOME! EXCESSIVE EVEN! And I can tell there is something about putting it this way that doesn't sound bad to my brain. I can't stress enough how key the emotion behind the thought is. The Universe hears your underlying intent, always. You cannot LIE to the Cosmos. Somehow this combination of words hits the Right Brain properly and FEELS as well as sounds like hey, I manifested LOTS of money! So much that I can't collect unemployment that week! Actually, it took me several months to make all that money, it just came in one check so I only had to report on one week, but still... EXCESSIVE INCOME! WOO!

I just thought their choice of words was so funny. This is how God talks to you though, if you care to listen. Little coincidences and hints. Divine winks. It's like a treasure hunt. I actually have to give the credit for the part of my personality that thrives on that to my Mom. Sometimes on birthdays and especially at Easter (not that we were ever Christian), she would write clues for me and leave a trail I had to follow and figure out to find my presents or the Easter basket. It was a lot of fun.

Not to get too far off the subject, but there was a day when my friend M and I were hiking, and met up with a guy that had FOUR dogs off leash on the trail. At first we were worried, but it was quickly obvious he had complete verbal control over these dogs. We asked him how he got them trained so well and he said, "I don't issue commands, I make it fun. Dogs respond to fun." I think humans do too. But I digress.

That's what I desire - excessive income all the time. Who doesn't want so much money in the bank they don't have to worry about it the rest of their lives?

Apparently I really need to write "the damn book" too (definitely the working title as I've already said it so often). Maybe that's how I will have excessive income forever. Last night I picked up a local publication that's been sitting around my room for weeks waiting to be read. On the front cover is a headline about a local guy that's a retired FBI agent (I've been wearing Katy's FBI sweatshirt a lot lately because it's so comfortable) who wrote a book that became a bestseller. Hmmm - FBI - books - authors. All words related to me in some way. I open the magazine looking for the article on the author and I "happen" to open to a half page ad with DRAGONFLY scrawled across it. Apparently this is the name of a new plant nursery in Pala. I couldn't have missed the word though if it was plastered to my face. Like the Universe calling my name. Some may find that too much of a stretch to qualify it as a message, but not me. If those subjects were all truly unrelated, I would've missed the memo.

One more last little wisdom sound bite for you... last night the bf and I were on IM talking about what he makes on Google AdSense. He has a regular day job right now as well. I was saying that what he makes JUST from ads would pay my bills every month. He related how it is important to make free money while you work someplace else if you want a really good income. (You don't have to tell me free money is good! DUH!) He says a friend of his put it best: Don't work on products, work on engines. Engines that make money while you're not there. I'm not surprised this made an impression on him since he's a train fanatic so the word "engine" would be something his brain would easily latch onto.

I had never thought of it in that way, but it clicked for me too. (Must be the product part of it and my marketing background.) Engines, not products. Just the idea the words portray indicate movement (i.e., INcome - incoming) vs. something stationary. He pointed out that a book is an engine because you will still be getting royalties (one would hope) long after you're working on the next one. I'd always viewed it as a product... until now.

So to circle back again to the original subject, I think I will modify my affirmation to: My income is EXCESSIVE all the time. And if the lottery or a book or some other form of free money is my engine, I'll gladly hop on and ride it as long as it goes!

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Still Valid 40 Years Later

"Too much and too long, we seem to have surrendered community excellence and community values in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product - if we should judge America by that - counts air pollution and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for those who break them. It counts the destruction of our redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic sprawl. It counts napalm and the cost of a nuclear warhead, and armored cars for police who fight riots in our streets. It counts Whitman's rifle and Speck's knife, and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children.

Yet the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages; the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage; neither our wisdom nor our learning; neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country; it measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile. And it tells us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans."

- Robert Kennedy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas, March 18, 1968

There is a reason the Kennedys were so powerful and I feel it's not because they were all very "pretty" in their time. They were a family full of wisdom. Granted, speeches are normally written by professional speech writers and the politicians often just deliver the words with a few changes here and there, but the team work can create a powerful message that remains valid for forty years.

I was made aware of this quote by the most recent TED video (below). This is David Cameron speaking about behavioral economics. I think he's on the right track talking about how to change people's political behavior by appealing to who they already are, not trying to change or mold them into someone else.

Of course, anything said in a British accent sounds so much more intelligent. Why IS that?

(Well that stinks - their video won't play so I had to change it to a link that opens in a new window.)