An Interesting and Informative Cartoon

I've been meaning to post this gem for a while. Enjoy.

 

 

 

As usual, you're invited to poke around in the archives. Oh, and you can click on any of the other links in the sidebar, some of them are friends and would welcome the hits.

More About the People Behind the Arab Spring, Lots More

This is kind of a long article, so I'll just link it and let y'all get your own beer.

It's about the global efforts of anarchists, communists, socialists and other ne'er-do-wells to tear down capitalism, Israel and America. It appears to be an ongoing, global effort designed to destroy civilization as we know it. That is no exaggeration. These people are dead serious and have declared their hatred for freedom. We will ignore them at our peril.


The Engineers of 'Leaderless" Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street.


We really need to figure out a way to stop these people.

They are our enemies.

Obama Is NOT a Communist !

Heh. This is just so cute, since it's the type of argument you're likely to hear from an ObamaBot.




However, if you do believe that Obama isn't a communist, or at least a Marxist/Socialist, I have some land I want to sell you, just as soon as the tide goes out.

(h/t Trevor Loudon't New Zeal blog.)

Where We All Belong: To the Government

Ace found this video that kicked off the D 'n C last night.

Creepy doesn't begin to describe it.




Now compare this to Clint Eastwood's "We own the government. They work for us."

Mitt's campaign echos the sentiment:

We don't belong to government, the government belongs to us.
— Mitt Romney (@MittRomney) September 4, 2012

Conservatives on Twitter beg to differ with the Dims.

 The D 'n C is already trying to walk this back...

The “Welcome to Charlotte” video was solely produced and paid for by the Host Committee’s New American City Fund, which promotes the city of Charlotte and welcomes our guests. The intent of this video was to tell the story of this region and it is completely unaffiliated with the Obama campaign or the Democratic National Committee.
 

 Yeah, I believe that. Oh, here's your mask back. You must have dropped it.


I'm a free man. I don't "belong" to the government, thank you very much.

How much further from the Founders could this Democrat Party get? I really don't want to find out.

New AFP ObamaCare Ad

Here's a new ad from the good folks at Americans For Prosperity that outlines what we've known for decades now, that those countries who have socialized medicine practice it poorly. We have had the best medical system in the world until the Progressives installed their wet dream of ObamaCare.

This is what we can look forward to unless we elect Mitt Romney and repeal ObamaCare.



I can't quite understand, with all the other examples of poor care and long waits of other countries, why the Progs felt it necessary to inflict that upon us. I mean, I can: they did it for the power it gives them. However, there's nothing in the Constitution that mentions any sort of right to healthcare.

If Romney wants to replace OCare with anything, it should be a free-market alternative that includes tort reform and allows interstate competition for insurance companies, along with a provision for high-risk pools. With the large number of Baby Boomers, this is necessary.

I don't need or want a bunch of unaccountable bureaucrats between me and my healthcare provider. They have no business in my business.

Your Weekend Reading Assignment - The Blessings of a Free Country

OK, buckaroos and buckarettes, here is you weekend reading assignment. It's from the great Kyle Becker once again, over at Conservative Daily News called The Blessings of a Free Country.

I'll warn you ahead of time: this is a long article that may require more than one adult beverage to complete. But it's well worth your time. I have every confidence that y'all are up to the task.

Here's a taste...

What the leftist will never realize is that what separates the United States from those it supposedly ‘colonizes,’ with merely an offer of trade no less, is America’s capitalist economic system, which allows free-thinking individuals to create, risk-taking entrepreneurs to invest, and carefully-spending consumers to buy. America put a productive gap between itself and many other states that preceded it by millennia by adopting free market capitalism while other states continued on in tyranny and oppression. Simply put, the U.S. thrived while despotisms lagged behind. The tyrannies of the world could not beat the United States in terms of economic clout while still maintaining strangleholds on their respective peoples – therefore the U.S. had to be subverted. The statists of the world adopted and codified an ideology that would rationalize their totalitarian control over the economies, governments, and societies of the world, and scapegoated “capitalism,” a term invented by Karl Marx as a monolithic descriptor of free market economies, as the source of all of mankind’s woe. Here was a boot-licking statist ideology that so-called “radicals” could [get] behind. Unbeknownst to most of these malcontents, subversion of the free market system leads directly to tyranny in economics and then in politics.

 Becker's article is a strong defense of capitalism and freedom.

Do read the whole thing. You won't regret it.

America's Actual Deficit - $200 Trillion, with a "T"

We've heard several extraordinarily large figures over the past few years from economists attempting to calculate the total of our outstanding federal debt.

And there are several numbers to be considered, depending on how you want to count it. But this new number is bordering on the incomprehensible. The true indebtedness of the United States now exceeds $222 trillion. Appearing on National Public Radio in August of 2011 Professor Laurence J. Kotlikoff of Boston University said...

 If you add up all the promises that have been made for spending obligations, and subtract all the taxes we expect to collect, the difference is $211 Trillion. This is the fiscal gap. That is our true indebtedness.

And it's gone up since then, as the American Thinker article states, to $222T.

I don't think I have enough fingers and toes to count that high.

On a partially related note, Ol' Slow Joe Biden thinks that your budget is your measure. Well, let's see your budget. Oh, right. You haven't produced one in over 1200 days, violating the law in the process. So, what does that tell us about your values?

George Soros Raids Coven for New Succubus

Your favorite anti-Christ and mine, George Soros is getting married again.

His fiancee might want to talk to this previous Soros girlfiend. You know, the one he assaulted and who is now suing him for a cool $50M.

Just a little girl talk...

Capitalism, the Superior Societal System

This article should get your week off to a positive start. From the Conservative Daily News comes this full-throated defense of the free market entitled Capitalism, the Superior Societal System.

When someone performs labor, they have transferred a part of themselves into that which they have done. The task has become intertwined with their very soul. Same with someone who creates a product, that endeavour also is a part of them. This, I believe is the inherent reason that wherever and whenever socialism or communism is experimented with, it always fails. It is because the economic system of socialism punishes the producer and rewards the mooch. It steals the very soul of man. When a person lays their hand to the plow, they do it to better their socio-economic status, not for their health. They do it for their family. This is why the recent remarks made by President Obama about small business owner’s hit such a sour note. “If you have a business, you didn’t build that, someone else made that happen.” The election that we happen upon will be a decision solely won or lost on who we think will do a better job of pulling the American economy out of the ditch. Capitalism vs. socialism. The difference's, couldn’t be further apart. Our politicians are attempting to mix the two, and have. However, I suggest they are not compatible with one another. One steals from one party, and distributes the stolen money to those without the morality to know that they should refuse to take the money. One, lets the party who earned the money to keep the fruits of their labor, and spend it accordingly to their will. They do not mix as philosophies.

If I might expand this concept: Capitalism provides a necessary psychological outlet. Instead of channeling energy towards aggression (and, let's face it, history has many demonstrations of mankind's inhumanity to man), capitalism redirects this energy (through self-interest) into action, goods, and services that benefit others.

In other words, work is good for you. It's a healthy outlet that has a beneficial side-effect. If the Twentieth Century taught us anything, it's that if man is free, his natural curiosity and drive will result in positive consequences for others. The 1900's saw the largest aggregate improvement in the condition of people worldwide than at any other time in history. A quick perusal of technological advancements and inventions show an explosion of creativity previously unknown. The car, home appliances, computers, television and radio all became common household objects, saving us time and money which we could spend with friends and loved ones.

On could conclude (if one chose to look at it from a certain prospective) that technology brought the human race closer together.

Technology that was brought to market (and into your home) thanks to capitalism.

And freedom.

Today, capitalism is under assault from deviants who abhor freedom. This minority sees freedom in action and they reflexively strive to stop it by any means necessary. Jealous, they are confronted by their own inadequacy and seek to compensate for their personal failure by imposing their will (through lies and deceit) over the lives of others instead of themselves. Covetous, these people seek equal outcomes of misery for all in the name of "fairness," not equal opportunity for success. They point to any individual failure and condemn the entire system.

They ignore a basic truth: Life Isn't Fair. It never has been, and likely never will be. But once this truism is accepted (as intellectually mature people do), then the real work of being your own person can begin. Your inner drive can direct you without the soul-crushing pressure of laws and regulations that are typical of failed forms of governments that have followed socialist doctrine. You will impose fairness upon yourself.

In short, capitalism works, but only when combined with freedom.

Alinsky Ethics - Mobsters, Murder and Mayhem

Here's an interesting post over at Breitbart.com (aren't they all?) that sheds some light on the teachings of one Saul Alinsky, the guy who dedicated his book Rules for Radicals to the devil; The Community Organizer-in-Chief, Part One: The Alinsky Ethics.

This is important because our current president and his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are both admirers of Alinsky. What this means is that they are enemies of America. What this means-means is they hate the American way of life, Americans, and me and you.

Just so you know.

Because of the Fourth Estate Fail, it’s incumbent on conservative activists and citizen journalists to do the job of explaining to voters the truth about Barack Obama. This article is the first in a series that uses Kurtz’s Spreading The Wealth as a jumping off point to lay out in stark detail how President Obama has practiced distinct brand of Chicago-style politics has had implications for every aspect of his policy, from Obamacare to the housing crisis.

The plain truth is that President Barack Obama has operated in a manner completely consistent with his political roots as an Alinsky-style community organizer. That simple assessment is accurate but useless as an explanation. Most voters have no idea who Saul Alinsky was or even what being a "community organizer" means. Ironically, this ignorance is especially acute among liberals.

Ignorance yourself no more. That's part of why you, gentle reader, are here. To digest the subtle nuances and overtones of American Politics, to ask questions and to probe the soft underbelly of the political beast, but only while it's asleep.

Now, where was I? Oh, yeah, Saul Alinsky. If you click on the link that says Rules for Radicals, you'll read about this for yourself. Understand whilst reading this that you're reading a manual for overthrowing our government, you little subversive you. Shame.

In it, you'll also discover many of the secrets that those on the left don't want you to know, like hiding your numbers. That's Rule Number One. After you've digested all the Rules (and it may take a few readings), you'll come to recognize many of the tactics in use by the leftards today, most notably the MSM.

This first Rule is really important, because there's a tendency to align with others, primarily due to the "coolness factor" of an idea or a candidate. You want to be one of the "cool kids," don't you? Sure you do. Here's all you gotta do; say this, believe this and vote for this guy.

Everybody's Doing It.

This is how we got into the mess we're in today, by voting for the "cool guy." High school class presidents are elected this way. President's shouldn't be. Nor should anyone who wields power of any sort. The biggest thing about understanding politics is that you're literally playing with fire. When the fire is under your control, all is well. Let the fire get out of control, and well, you could get burned.

And we've been very badly immolated. But we've made stupid decisions before, and we'll probably make a few more before it's all over. It's What We Do, especially when it comes to presidents: Obama, Carter, Johnson, Wilson. Crap, now that I think about it, we're not doing too well at all when it comes to picking our presidents.

Oh well. It's vitally important that we educate ourselves and learn as much as we can about the person we're electing. While we're all unique, we should be looking to elect people who have as much in common with us as possible. Check out their record, if they have one. How do they vote if they have a record. Anything questionable there? If you have any doubts, then do some more research. If you're reading this, then you already have the keys to the world's largest library.

Use it.

The Socialist Mask of Marxism and Modern American Democrats

Given the noticeable and disturbing turn to the left that our federal government has taken recently, it's no wonder that more attention is now being paid to the rise of foreign elements (Socialism, Marxism, and Communism) within the American Democrat Party. Representative Alan West opened the discussion by calling Progressives what they really are: Communists.

If you missed it (and you really shouldn't have), Breitbart's Joel Pollack recently revealed Barack Obama'a membership in the radical-left New Party. That should make you pause and think for a bit about your future, your family's future and the future of your country.

Do you wish to live in slavery to your government?

Do you like not having any money?

Do you enjoy being told what to eat and what to buy?

Does it bother you that today's youth are so misinformed about the real world, so much so that our world educational rankings are falling precipitously? That they can't spell, can't perform simple arithmetic and don't possess critical thinking skills to prepare them for adult life?

All of these sad facts are the result of enemy action.


Maybe you're one of the lucky few who haven't been negatively affected by the destructive policies of this current administration and the truly bad laws and regulations that have been put in place by the leftist politicians who preceded them. I don't see how, but that's entirely possible.

There is a reason why all these negative things are happening to us. It's part of a not-so-secret plan to destroy us from within. I've made it a point to let all fourteen of you know this, so you can prepare and fight these forces with your voice and your vote. Indeed, knowledge is power. You can't fight what you can't see.

I certainly hope you don't think that "it can't happen here." It is happening here, right before our very eyes. But you don't have to take my word for it: you can hear it from someone who has been on the other side of freedom.

I'd like to introduce you to a fellow named Lt. General Ion Mihai Pacepa. His history as the highest-ranking official ever to have defected from the former Soviet bloc gives him a unique insight into the inner workings of socialism. He sees the same things happening in America today as I do.

His recent column over at PJ Media is your reading assignment for today. In The Socialist Mask of Marxism, he lays out the beginnings of installing a Marxist/Socialist/Communist government here in clear defiance of our Constitution.

Here's a sample:

Although we now live in an age of technology, we still do not have an instrument that can scientifically measure to what extent the Communist endorsement of the Democratic Party influenced the results of the 2008 election. But if there had been any doubt in my mind that the Democratic and the Communist parties had secretly joined forces, that doubt was erased in 2009, when Van Jones, part of a left fringe of declared communists, became the White House’s green jobs czar. Soon after that, the White House and the Democrat-controlled Congress began dutifuly following in Marx’s footsteps by redistributing our country’s wealth and putting under government control a part of its health care, banking system, and automobile industry.

Today it is considered bad manners even to mention the word Marxism, a doctrine that killed some 94 million people and transformed a third of the world into feudal societies in the middle of the 20th century.

Scared yet? To quote that great philosopher/warrior Yoda, "You will be."

In November, the United States will indeed face one of the most important elections in its history. On the surface, the voters will decide which of our two main political parties will control the White House and the U.S. Congress. In fact, the voters will chose between keeping the country the leader of the Free World, or allowing the United States to be further infected by the virus of Marxism.

My friends, the choice is yours.

Choose wisely. For yourself, for your family, and for your country.

What is Wrong with Socialism, Besides Everything?

Here's a great article written by Kyle Becker over at Conservative Daily News: What is Wrong with Socialism?

Pretty much everything.

When I was young and dirt had that, um, fresh dirt smell, it was a widely accepted and understood fact of life that America had enemies. There were people who despised us for our freedom and were jealous of the prosperity our freedom granted us.

No other form of government yet conceived had done so much to elevate its people and the world as our American form of representative democracy.

But nowadays, you'll be hard pressed to find much of that prevailing societal attitude concerning America, thanks to the many domestic enemies who inhabit our shores, many born on her sacred land, such as Bill Ayers. They can be found in the halls of Congress also: Bernie Sanders and Keith Ellison come to mind. How them (or anyone who holds such anti-American view points) can be elected to high office is a mystery I have yet to unravel.

What kind of insanity drives a person to hate their own freedom and wish to destroy it?

And what kind of insanity makes otherwise intelligent Americans vote for them?

But I digress.

Here's a snippet or two from the article.

The American Dream used to mean an opportunity to achieve success through hard work, rather than being promised a free ride at others’ expense. Those of us who respect the former, rather than believe in the latter, have an instinctive disdain for “socialism.”
But mention anything untoward about socialist ideals in polite society nowadays, and one is likely to be greeted with the reply:

What is wrong with Socialism?

Socialism is a necessarily totalitarian ideology that seeks to synthesize the political, economic, social, and private life of individuals and places control over it all in the state. Indeed, capitalism makes the separation of life into separate spheres possible, because freedom of choice economically is necessary for freedom of choice in every other sphere.

Accompanying the article is a highly scientific illustration of the socialist brain of a liberal Democrat...

You sure could have fooled me. I thought their heads were empty.

Do read it all and pass it around to your friends. Since most of them were educated in public schools, they have probably never understood what socialism is. If they still don't understand, just tell them to look around them at the shambles of our once-robust economy.

That's what the beginning of socialist rule is. It only gets worse.

Your Monday Reading, um, Viewing Assignment

I ran across this link yesterday and thought you guys might appreciate it. It's from The Noisy Room.net and is a series of videos that you really should watch.

I won't give it away except to counsel you to keep an open mind about the host. He's fairly controversial in some circles, but I consider him something of a modern-day prophet. Understand that I mean the word "prophet" in the original, Biblical meaning of the term as "one who speaks out," not someone who can see the future.

He asks some very interesting questions. Just trust me and watch them all.

America’s Political Cancer – Progressivism

In case you haven’t noticed it yet, America is sick.

Inside the country lives a foreign organism that is eating away at it. It was diagnosed about a hundred years ago. Many efforts have been made to cut it out, but it has always returned, stronger and more determined to consume the host.

We’re seeing the effects of this sickness everywhere we look: our economy is anemic, we’re saddled with unimaginable debt, inflation is running rampant, there are record numbers of Americans living below the poverty level and on food stamps for the first time, and that’s just in the first breath.

The rights you were once guaranteed are now under attack. You no longer have property rights thanks to the awful Supreme Court Kelo decision that gave local governments the ability to seize your property for its purpose, those being unrelated to the traditional expansion of a community.

In the not-so-distant past, these traditional uses were for the building of roads, or schools. Everyone accepted the need for such services and understood the reasons for them. But since Kelo, your property can now be condemned for private developers who promise to increase the tax base through their redevelopments.

Your clearly defined right to own a firearm has been under attack for generations. I wonder which part of “The right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed” cannot be understood by those who would rob us of this very basic right.

All this and more is a clear indication of a country that’s not what it once was. As concerning as all these problems are, they are only symptoms of a larger disease.

That disease is called “progressivism.”

You may say to yourself, “But Mr. Boy, isn’t progress a good thing?”

Well, out here in the real world, it is. But understand that in the realm of politics, nothing is as it seems and the words you and I use in everyday conversation have a radically different meaning in the alternate universe that is politics.

Some of us remember when a garbage man was called a garbage man, not a sanitation engineer. In order to be a valid and accurate description of the position, one would normally associate the word “engineering” with the actual act of engineering, something that is difficult to envision happening while hanging from the rear of a large truck filled with refuse.

This is a perfect example of the alternate reality of politics. Clear speech is twisted and distorted so that only an insider would understand it. We now are expected to speak (and therefore think) in a politically correct way. What was once called “war” is now termed “kinetic military action.” Terrorism is now called “man-caused disaster.”

It’s ironic in the extreme that politics, which should be the repository of clear thinking and concise action, now creates its own language that confuses simple issues.

Again, this is merely a symptom of a much more serious problem.

It’s important to understand just what is meant by the term “progressive” in today’s politics. You may have guessed it doesn’t mean what you think it means.

Sure, the word sounds innocent enough. Who wouldn’t want progress? Isn’t that the normal course of history, to progress and to become better?

That, gentle reader, is exactly what you’re supposed to think.

The mere act of introducing alternate, political meanings to everyday language should set off your alarm bells and have your Bullshit Meter pegged. True, language evolves, but this isn’t a natural evolution of language: it’s a deliberate attempt to confuse you with words.

And it seems to be working quite well.

Today’s “progressive” is yesterday’s Socialist. Or Marxist. Or Communist. Or Fascist. Take your pick; they’re all opposed to the American values of individual liberty, limited government, private property rights, and capitalism.

You might be interested to know that we already have a Socialist in Congress, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Although he official designation is that of Independent, Sanders is a Socialist, which his Congressional web site readily acknowledges.

How this has managed to occur in our fair country, that we elected an American to high office that aligns himself with anti-American political beliefs, is a mystery. It is a testament to the power of purposeful confusion. And also to the stupidity of Vermont voters.

Or didn’t you know that socialism is directly opposed to American values?

Of course you did, that’s why you’re here, reading this blog.

What you may still not know is that the Democrat party has undergone a not-so-subtle transformation in the past few decades. What it stands for today is far removed from its roots.

Today’s Democrat is likely to call itself a “progressive” instead of a Democrat. This is a not-unimportant distinction. It could also call itself a "Progressive Democrat," thus doubling down on the idiocy.

While I could spend several thousand more words explaining why “progressivism” in our political system is a bad thing, I don’t really need to. All you have to do is look around to see the results of big-government, free-spending “progressives.”

Do you like what you see? Do you think that a 9.1% unemployment rate, when we had a rate half that high less than five years ago, is a good thing? Do you think our skyrocketing debt is good for you, or your children, or your grandchildren? Do you think that the Obama administrations’ takeover of the healthcare system will be good for the country? Do you think that the EPA’s threatened shutdown of oil drilling in Texas to protect a worthless lizard is good for gas prices and your wallet?

This and much more can be laid directly at the feet of “progressives” and "progressive thought." Even that term is misleading, for thought requires the admission of that pesky thing called reality, and a recognition of logic and common sense. None of that figures into what passes for "progressive thought," based as it is on emotionality and feelings.

You really should start to believe that we have a problem within our own political system. It can be removed from the body politic, but it will take some effort.

We have to purge “progressivism” from our political system if we are to continue as a country of laws and freedom. If you find anyone in any political race that calls themselves a “progressive,” be they Democrat or Republican, know that this person is your enemy and do everything in your power to defeat them.

“Progressivism” should be viewed as the cancer it is, eating away at our liberties and our way of life. And those who call themselves “progressive” are the willful carriers of this most dangerous political disease.

Coming to England – Government Mandated Blackouts

Imagine that your government controls when you have electricity and when you don’t.

Imagine a refrigerator full of spoiled food.

Imagine that you can’t turn on the TV.

Imagine that you can’t access the Internet.

Imagine children dying from extreme heat because the power is off.

Imagine your grandparents dying from extreme cold because the power is off.

Imagine you or a loved one who relies on a medicine that must be constantly refrigerated.

Imagine you can’t charge your electric car and cannot travel, even for a medical emergency.

All this and more is the result of so-called “Green Technology” and the socialistic control of what was once considered a public utility – electricity. And it’s coming to Britain.

Ace of Spades HQ had this post up yesterday, The Coming Dark Ages. Here’s the article from their link.

Wind power will require lifestyle change


Electricity consumers in the UK will need to get used to flicking the switch and finding the power unavailable, according to Steve Holliday, CEO of National Grid, the country’s grid operator. Because of a six-fold increase in wind generation, which won’t be available when the wind doesn’t blow, “The grid is going to be a very different system in 2020, 2030,” he told BBC’s Radio 4. “We keep thinking that we want it to be there and provide power when we need it. It’s going to be much smarter than that.


“We are going to change our own behaviour and consume it when it is available and available cheaply.”


Holliday has for several years been predicting that blackouts could become a feature of power systems that replace reliable coal plants with wind turbines in order to meet greenhouse gas targets. Wind-based power systems are necessary to meet the government’s targets, he has explained, but they will require lifestyle changes.


Under the so-called “smart grid” that the UK is developing, the government-regulated utility will be able to decide when and where power should be delivered, to ensure that it meets the highest social purpose. Governments may, for example, decide that the needs of key industries take precedence over others, or that the needs of industry trump that of residential consumers. Governments would also be able to price power prohibitively if it is used for non-essential purposes.


Smart grids are being developed by utilities worldwide to allow the government to control electricity use in the home, down to the individual appliance. Smart grids would monitor the consumption of each appliance and be capable of turning them off if the power is needed elsewhere.


Holliday’s startling comments on BBC Radio 4 were reported by The Daily Telegraph.


(Emphasis mine.)

This, my friends, is the future as envisioned by our energy overlords. Even the idea of a battery backup is excluded.

I’m not even sure I need to expand on the insanity of this policy, as the examples I’ve outlined above should suffice. I’m sure you can think of a few more.

How the notion of moving civilization backwards ever caught on in political circles is beyond my comprehension, despite this blog’s title. But rest assured there are many in Washington with the same goal. One need look no further that the Obama administration’s continued illegal moratorium on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico to see where we’re headed.

We’re being constantly bombarded with the idea of some sort of new “green energy economy” as the self-avowed communist Van Jones puts it. The more we hear about this supposed need to rely on technology that has proven unreliable and has failed in the marketplace, the more it crowds out the fact that there are proven technologies that are being shoved aside. It won’t take long for folks to forget that there are such things as clean coal, natural gas and nuclear power. Even petroleum power is far cleaner today than it was a generation ago, and the overall improvement of air quality in many major cities proves it.

Yet this isn’t enough for the environmental movement. Now, it’s becoming clear how truly radical this movement is. They are intent on retarding mankind’s’ progress. This is truly ironic since the so-called political “progressives” are the ones promoting this madness.

They must be purged from American politics. They have proven themselves to be the enemy of mankind. Why this is so is anyone's guess, but the fact remains: this will be American if they are allowed to continue to restrict our ability to harvest our natural resources.