Many organizations in the United States have come up with a new and unique solution to poverty in this country: criminalize it! In my studies on CPS activities, I have found a good number of individuals who have had their initial CPS encounters after enrolling their children in Head Start Programs, taking them to WIC or free immunization programs, or even testing them for lead. If these encounters were initiated because bruises, burns, or other possible symptoms of abuse were observed, I woul...

Imagine this scenario: You are a poor, working class person who works hard to maintain a reasonable standard of living. You work hard, earn a aycheck, come home at night, and are in most ways a respectable citizen. Your one vice is coming home and playing your Clash records so loud you have one of your neighbors pounding and screaming on the walls. your neighbor gets mad, calls crimestoppers, and anonymously reports that you are a drug dealer. He fictitiously reports that people come by your...

I am writing this article for those who would describe themselves as conservative on JoeUser. While you are in the majority here and in the US government, your opinions are often shouted down in the mainstream media and in the world. Many conservatives are quick to cry that they are victims; that the attacks on their ideologies are unmerited and personal, when nothing could be further from the truth. And yet I, a former leftist, have not been able to find a home among the conservative camp in...

This is just an observation from those who tend to subscribe to leftist philosophy on this site. Take it for what it's worth, and discard the rest. I personally believe that many of the articles on JoeUser that have been put forth by centrist writers or others who see "both sides", but have veered right have been for one simple reason: Because the nature of most who would describe themselves as "left" is to act on "feeling" and emotion, and because it is far easier to "get your goat" by using...

As i have begun studying poverty in the United States, I have been compelled by the stats to look deeper. I have heard the number "40 million" tossed out as the number of Americans in poverty in the US; a recent article on the afl-cio's website ( Link ) puts the number at 37 million. Either way, the interesting fact is that that represents about 13 percent of our nation's population. That is substantially below the world bank's estimate of the global percentage of poverty at 20% of the world...

One of the biggest wrongs we can commit against the ideology of another is to sum up their ideology in one or two word sound bites (examples: the right, the left, conservative, liberal, Republican, democrat, libertarian, green). And yet it seems to be a necessary evil to address the group that is the focus of our discussion. With that disclaimer in mind, I'd like to make some observations about what I see as the right's key misunderstanding about the left (knowing that a good number of you won't...

I'm developing my Campaign slogan, and I'd appreciate your input. The slogan is "Family. Freedom. Future", and I plan to elaborate on each with the following (EXTREMELY rough drafts) in my literature: "Family: We have seen a de-emphasis, if not an outright war, on family values deemed traditional up until about thirty years ago. We have broadened definitions of abuse and neglect to prohibit traditional forms of discipline and to criminalize poverty among families. We need a legislature tha...

Well, I filed two important sets of papers today. The first was my Campaign Tresurer Appointment, with the Texas Ethics Commission (I sent that out "Certified"--no way I'm getting busted because a secretary can't keep track of incoming mail). So now I'm ready and raring for all them campaign contributions to come in (the silence so far is deafening...lol). I really didn't file because I expect contributions to come in (although I remain hopeful), but because I must have a treasurer appointed if ...

I intend to use this article as the starting point for a pamhlet with the same or similar title. Feel free to add comments or elaborate (or, yes, even debate) in the comments. I will be doing this in a series, so topics not covered here should be covered in future articles. In today's society, regardless of political affiliation, the majority of Americans seem to think their government is dysfunctional. While it's true that corruption, incompetence, and impropriety seem to be synonymous with ...

As many of you, especially my regular readers, know, I am running for a seat in the Texas house of Representatives as a Libertarian. I delayed my announcement until after January 2, because that was the filing deadline. My intention was to delay the announcement so as not to encourage the Democrats to put a candidate in for the race (the Republican incumbent has run unopposed since his initial election to the office in 1988). My reasoning was that, if the Democrats do not run, it's a two pers...

You'll have to forgive me. I have been reading the "Heritage Guide to the Constitution" (published by the Heritage Foundation), and so it may culminate in a number of Constitution based articles as I work my way through this highly recommended publication. One of the arguments I have heard lately on talk radio and conservative print media sources is that the right to the "pursuit of happiness" is not in the Constitution, and thus, not a right guaranteed to all Americans. They're right on t...

The government is getting ever so closer to saying what it means. The message that it is sending is that we are too stupid to think for ourselves, better let the government do it for us. Now, in deference to some individual policies, some government officials are trying to change that, but it's an uphill battle. Witness the attempt to privatize social security (in other words, trust us with our own money) as exhibit A. What brought this on? Well, a visit from the US Census Bureau (WHAT? Ce...

Most people who read me know that, in my Christian faith I am personally quite conservative. They also know that, politically I am a Libertarian. I am often asked about what outsiders often perceive to be inconsistencies in those positions. The two areas on which I am most frequently challenged are the LP positions on abortion and drug legalization. I have already recently addressed my position on abortion in light of both philosophical stands, so I feel it is only natural for me to clarify my p...

Tim Justice, of Lefors, Texas, officially announced his candidacy for the office of District 88 State Representative in the state of Texas today. Justice, 35, is running as a Libertarian. Justice, who writes under the pen name Gideon MacLeish, is running on a platform of restoring rights to individuals as established under the United States and Texas Bill of Rights. He supports legislation similar to that being considered in the state of Pennsylvania under the Family Preservation Act that wou...

I have noticed an interesting trend among apologists for the left lately. When referring to the Iraqi dead, they will often use the number of 1.5 million, rather than the 30,000 acknowledged by even LIBERAL estimates to have died since our invasion of Iraq. When pressed, they will acknowledge that the 1.5 million number includes those estimated by the UN to have died as a result of sanctions. Why is this ironic? Well, all it requires is a memory span of just over three years to understand thi...