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Sunday, February 26, 2012

Barking Up The Wrong Tree

Today's Thoughts 2/26/11 Barking Up The Wrong Tree

Barking up the wrong tree, is that what we are doing? As professional truck drivers, we insist on being as safe and legal as we can. However, we keep asking the FMCSA, a federal level entity, to do what it has no power to do. That is imposing safer, more stringent regulations for not only who can become a truck driver, but also how they are trained out in the real world. Let me say up front that I have never trained a person in the art of driving a truck, and I do consider what I do behind the wheel a form of art. We in the industry know that to be a professional truck driver you have to put "you" into your work just as if you were an artist putting themselves into a work of art to come up with a perfect piece of work.

As I ponder over how it is that we might accomplish a better training environment for new truck drivers, I found myself looking at how it is we are going about this task and why it is that we keep asking at the federal level when it is the states that decide who gets a license, not the federal government. Therefore, as I see it, it the federal government refuses to act or is unable to act, then the issue falls to the states to decide. In short, we should be looking at our state officials to impose what safety standards need to be in place as a truck passes through their jurisdiction with a trainee at the wheel. The state needs to impose where the trainer is while the trainee is driving. And last but not least, the state, not a school or a company needs to be the one to do the final testing on a trainee before a CDL license is obtained. As you may well know, others may have their own version as to what needs to be met here but the end result should be states making sure their own highways are protected without relying on a Federal Government that has no intention of acting on this subject.

As we can see from the current state of things, the FMCSA is once again trailing behind as we professional drivers forge ahead on this training issue. What the exact answer to safer, a more well trained driver is I am not quite sure myself, I do believe that it is time to look at a different approach as to where we can get the proper training etiquette imposed. So I say lets us look at the state level for a possible solution.

Be safe peeps …
Jeff Head.
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Thursday, February 23, 2012

NATIONAL MONUMENT TO THE FOREFATHERS

"Today's Thoughts 2/22/12 NATIONAL MONUMENT TO THE FOREFATHERS

Jesus said, "...you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32. There I go right off the bat starting out quoting scripter right out of the bible. Hold on folks, not that I mind doing a little Bible quoting every now and then, I just think that for now I will just throw in a few facts that seem to be lost in history about who we are as a people. I could wonder why these things have been lost but we all know the answer. In an effort to change history for their own benefits, we as a nation are being retrained on purpose not to know or understand our history and where it is or why it was that we came from as Americans.

Well the best defense against that is to seek out and educate ourselves to know and understand these things. That my dear friends, is what I am all about today. I found a gem that has been quietly tucked away and forgotten about and if you will lend me a few minutes of your time, I think I can help Americans reclaim the knowledge of who and why we are. A few things that they are trying to lead us to forget. Let us take a little trip if you will back to the eighteen hundreds and see what it is that we can see.

The place, Plymouth, Massachusetts is where one can find The National Monument to the Forefathers. In a little park located in a residential area this eighty-one foot tall granite monument stands alone and forgotten it seems to most Americans today. The cornerstone of the monument was laid on August 2, 1859 by the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts under the direction of Grand Master John T. Heard. The monument was said to be completed in October 1888. It was then dedicated with on August 1, 1889. What this Monument depicts is what the Pilgrims that founded our country were looking for. It shows their hopes and dreams for the new country that they had set out to form and how they viewed the world that they had escaped. Let us take a moment to look at each different aspect of this great monument and see what it is that we have been lead to forget about the founding of our Nation.

On top stands the monument's central figure, Faith. The figure is of a woman and attests to the strong belief that having faith in God is of primary importance. She Holds a Bible in her left hand and points to the Heavens with her right hand.

Around her and closer to the base of the monument are four other figures. The first that I will describe is Morality. The figure depicts a woman and in her left hand she is holding a book inscribed with "GOD." In addition, she holds in her right hand the scroll of Revelation. At the base of the figure is two inset carvings, the first being of Moses, the Prophet, with him holding the Ten Commandments, and the other is of an Evangelist writing in a book.
As we move along and around the monument, we see that the next figure promotes the value of Education. Another woman and she is enthusiastically pointing to a book and all around her small figures at her base representing Youth and Wisdom. So far I think I am liking what this monument has to offer America, let's move along and see what lies ahead.

The Law seems to be next. As we all know with any ordered society, you must have laws to keep things in order. Rules and regulations are necessary if society is to survive. This figure is of a man holding a book. As we look under his chair, we find the figures of Justice and Mercy, key points to any great Nation.

The last figure at this level that you will see is Liberty. He is depicted by a helmeted soldier wearing a lion's skin and in his arms he holds a sword and a broken chain. The small figures at the base of his chair are Peace and Tyranny. Peace is a woman holding a horn filled with food and drink. Then we find Tyranny being represented by the figure of a king laid low by a soldier. The Second amendment in granite form.

So we have Freedom, Morality, Law and Education all look over by Faith in a God and on the front panel we find this inscribed. "National Monument to the Forefathers. Erected by a grateful people in remembrance of their labors, sacrifices and sufferings for the cause of civil and religious liberty."

On the right and left panels are the names of those who came over in the Mayflower. Looking at the rear panel, which was not engraved until recently, is a quote from Governor William Bradford's famous history, Of Plymouth Plantation: It reads as follows;

"Thus out of small beginnings greater things have been produced by His hand that made all things of nothing and gives being to all things that are; and as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone unto many, yea in some sort to our whole nation; let the glorious name of Jehovah have all praise."

Also you will find that on each side of the monument's pedestal, directly under each of the 4 ancillary figures, a scene illustrating events from the Pilgrims' history. The first scene shows Pilgrims boarding the Mayflower and traveling to the New World. Another of the Forefathers drawing up the Mayflower Compact aboard The Mayflower, just prior to setting foot on Cape Cod. A third shows the Pilgrims' first landing. The forth being a scene showing the Pilgrims meeting with the local Wampanoag Indian Tribal Elders.

As you can see, this forgotten monument was built by our forefathers in my opinion to help future Americans remember not only who they were in years gone by, but to help us find the path to who we should be in future generations. We are not a people that are born to be government dependents but a people that through faith in a being greater then ourselves, that we shall remain a people that shall remain free from the tyranny of governments that would hold us hostage for whatever reason. A lesson that in today's times with our current administration we need to guard against with great regard. We truly need to heed the lessons of the past lest we become the next Pilgrims searching for the next free Nation.

Above all, I believe this monument cements in granite the very fact that our Nation was founded upon religious principles. It would be a very fool hearted thing to do in my opinion to forget that fact. We must stand strong as a People and defend ourselves from those that would take our freedoms from us, from those that would change our history and impose their own form of tyranny upon us.

Be safe peeps Jeff Head.
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Monday, February 20, 2012

Our Constitution

Today's Thoughts 2/20/12 Our Constitution

Hello everyone, hope all is well with you today and that everyone is having a great day and enjoying good things. As for me, I was able to beat last weekend's snowstorm so that was a good thing and it made for a good day. It did not leave me much time for my writing though and some would consider that a good thing. I am thinking that I am not worried about those folks so there is another good thing. I like how good things stack up and make great days. I was early for my appointment this morning and if they will not hold me up all day, I will be able to get out of here early enough to get paid for this load tomorrow, yet another good thing. All these good things in my day-to-day normal activities would be great if it were not for the overshadowing shenanigans of the powers that be up on Capitol Hill.

Although I was too busy to write much last week, I found myself left with plenty of driving time to listen to the news of the day. The stories I found most interesting were how one major newspaper came out and said that our US Constitution was no longer a useful thing. That it was old and out dated and served no purpose any more. This coincides with the Supreme Courts justice that a few weeks ago told the world that our Constitution was not a document that they would consider useful for people around the world that were building new governments on foreign lands. Could these people be right? The people that is that are no longer respectful of our form of government. Is our Constitution no longer valid? Is it no longer a useful tool in the governance of our country?

I think they are right. The Constitution is almost (repeat almost) no longer a valid piece of paper anymore. The reason that it is almost no longer valid is that too many politicians that have sworn to uphold and defend it are completely ignoring it. They are intentionally trying to destroy and remove it so that they can bring in the Socialist utopia that they see for America's future. Our Constitution has served this country well over past years and when its principles are indeed adhered to and upheld with the honor that it so deserves, America works just fine. Our fellow citizens enjoy riches of their own making for the most part instead of riches handed to them by those that wish to enslave them as the poor for truly poor are taking care of with honor. The poor are not used as forced government dependents generation after generation for political power. These people will never have a chance to climb out of their predicament due to government over regulation and up into a world of prosperity of their own making. We find in today's world a Constitution that is in the way of those that would do our way of life harm. It is indeed in the way of those that would destroy us from within. Of course to those that do not understand true freedom our Constitution is indeed out dated and in the way.

How do I know this? It is not a hard thing to figure out. Just watch the news and look for the little inch-by-inch, step-by-step things that go on in our normal everyday life. Like the story this past week of the child in school that had her lunch replaced by the new food police that hang out and teach our kids that the government, not our parents are the ones that will take care of them. This child's parents made a perfectly decent turkey sandwich for their child's lunch just t have some government thug replace it with chicken nuggets. We are being driving into a Green Energy Policy that is not only bankrupting everyone that touches it, but also our Nation as a whole. Watch, as you will as time goes by and you will see that everything they touch in the name of our good is a thing that destroys our ability to survive financiallyas a individual. They are bankrupting us by design. They intend to destroy us from within under the guises of saving us from ourselves.

Now I am not saying that it is time to take up arms or to invoke the Second Amendment and defend ourselves from tyranny. Not just yet anyway, not at this time as we have an election just a few months off and we really need to get involved and kick the bums out. It is time although I think to let those that think they are going to discredit the greatest document that our forefathers left us that they have a huge fight on their hands. Even if they succeed and they will if we sit back and do nothing, but even if they succeed, that they will have one heck of a fight when the rest of America defends themselves from the tyranny that they themselves have showered down upon the America people. No sir, I will not go quietly into the night. I will stand and die to keep this country free and I shall fight that fight from the top tiers of our government all the way down to these Socialist food thugs that they are placing in our schools.

I pray with all my heart that this remains a silent battle, that no shots will ever be fired in anger. However, as President Kennedy said, "Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable". Let us pray that those that are trying to discredit our Constitution, those that seem to think that it is in their way, do not decide that our peaceful effort to remain a free nation are not enough to stop their efforts to dissolve our Constitution. That a violent revolution will not be forced into play by their insistence that we become a Socialist Nation. They must understand that we will in the end, by whatever means it takes, defend our freedom, our Constitution, for our future generations.

Be safe peeps …
Jeff Head.
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Monday, February 13, 2012

Sixteen Million

Today's Thoughts 2/13/12 Sixteen Million
Sixteen Million results, well, at least I think big when I get to thinking. There is no way though that I am ever going to be able to come up with a complete list with that many research results on the topic I entered into my search engine. What topic was that you ask? I was looking for cures for Sleep Apnea without using a CPAP machine.

Of course, everyone knows that the FMCSA and its attacking the killer trucker's medical advisory board are at it once again. Soon there will be a new comment period so that the public (that is you and I) get to put in our unwanted opinion and they get to ignore it again. However, me being me, I have to figure out a way to self educate myself on the hot topic of the day and see just how many monkey wrenches I can throw into the mix. Just would not be right if I did not get involved in some way. So let us see what or whom it is that I have been able to come up with this time.

Introducing Sandy Long of course; and her research into the topic of sleep apnea and its connection with the FMCSA and highway safety. Wow, How lazy of me but the truth is, she pretty much hits the nail right on the head with her research work. Sandy is much better than I am at pulling the stats when it comes to the technical stuff and after a few conversations with her, I am sure you will agree the truckers in this country are fixing to get the CPAP shaft basically just to line the pockets of the elite that regulate our industry. So let us pull a few facts from some of Sandy's latest articals and see just what it is we are up against with this thing.

First, I love the fact that Studies have shown fatigue related factors in large truck crashes are under 2.5% of the cause of the wreck. The numbers of truck crashes over all has gone down and stayed that way for over three years. Then of course, there is the fact that I can find no study showing that the reason for the fatigue cited as the factors in the wrecks as shown above have anything at all to do with sleep apnea. As far as anyone knows, the driver simply stayed up to late studying all the new FMCSA regulations and was not able to get in a proper rest period. Nothing at all to do with sleep apnea as you can see. So let us go see what else Sandy can teach us about this subject.

Body size has a lot to do with your chances of having sleep apnea and as we all know, it is not the only factor to look at though. While the new supposed regulations are calling for any one over a body mass (BMI) of over 35 for a mandatory testing, skinny people are just as likely to have a problem as fat people like I am are to have. I am not the biggest guy out here but as I read through Sandy's articles I'm learning that Cortisol causes excess belly fat and what causes Cortisol? Work related stress of course. The two main causes of stress for me is dealing with the 80% of the traffic that causes wrecks in the first place between cars and trucks, the cars of course and the stress caused by wondering just which new regulation the FMCSA is going to come up with next month to put me out of business.

I can just about bet you that the majority of my weight problems comes from not being able or not being allowed to deal with stress like any normal person outside of the trucking industry could deal with it. I have to run my butt off to keep within the hours of service rules and wherever that forces me to stop, whatever food is available is all that I can choose from that day. Then stepping out of your truck for exercise in a busy truck stop or road is more likely to get you killed then it will do you any good. Take this from a guy that has twice been hit by trucks trying to get some exercise in. Kicking back and winding down in a safe place and a nice cold beer will send just about any politically correct person over the edge. No Sir, As far as the powers that be see this, we just pull up and flip a switch, grab a rice cake and all our stress is not only gone, but never a bit of it was caused by them.

I think the most fascinating thing I learned from Sandy's articles was about the money trail. Yes, I have always been a believer in the fact that if you want to know why something is, just follow the money. So let us see what this money trail shows us.

In the year 2001, Sleep Apnea made the industry sixty two million dollars and by the year 2009, a whooping 235 million dollars was in play so as you can see, profits have been growing extremely rapidly in this industry. But what if we can get three million truck drivers and force them to have to be tested. How many millions would that bring in? Easy enough to accomplish when the first head of the FMCSA's medical review board was a Doctor Barbra Phillips who just happens to be the Chair of the National Sleep Foundation (NSF). Interesting at the least you would think. She did her thing trying to get all the drivers on CPAP machines but her efforts failed.

In today's world, we have as the head of the FMCSA's Medical Review Board a Doctor Benjamin H. Hoffman, M.D. M.P.H. Please notice his affiliation as the Global Chief Medical Officer at GE Energy. We all know that GE Energy develops and markets sleep apnea aid parts. Wonder what good old DR. Hoffman's cut will be if all us drivers have to kick out for sleep studies costing between $2,000-3,000.00. and then a C-PAP machine plus parts and labor, """the only corrective device suggested by the Medical Review Board,""" all this can cost over $5,000.00 per driver on the road. Now let us times that by about three million of us drivers and somebody needs to be explain the words CONFLICT OF INTEREST to somebody before we get reamed in our CPAP induced sleep. I guarantee you one thing though; just around the time they figure all this is going to be paid for by Obama care, it will all go away as if it never happened.

Sandy Long has done some great articles on this subject. I have only touched on a few of the points and I highly recommend that you seek out and read about more of them on your own. Take some time now to look into this matter so that when the comment period does open up, you will be able to put in a well educated, well informed and most importantly, a respectable argument that will be taken seriously by those in power.
Be safe peeps …
Jeff Head.
Be sure to add me as a friend if you like "Today's Thoughts"

Friday, February 10, 2012

Wool Pulling

Today's Thoughts 2/10/12 Wool Pulling

That is what he did today, Obama that is, as he tried to skirt around this Catholic issue. He proudly announced to the world that he was not going to make Catholics pay for contraceptives that they did not believe in. Oh what a gracious president we have for sure. He just told the insurance companies that when a Catholic group purchased insurance from them, that they could not charge them for the free contraceptives but had to provide them anyway. Cool. How extremely big of him to do this to us. They still have to buy insurance that will provide things Catholics do not believe in.

Let us look under the wool that has been pulled over our eyes, The rest of America. First off, did anyone bother asking the insurance companies just how they felt about giving out contraceptives for free. Probably not I think. My guess is they will be asking for tax breaks that you and I will have to pay more in taxes to cover. Then short of that happing, the insurance companies will just pass along the extra cost to the premiums that you and I will be forced to pay for our government-mandated health care. In short folks, we got screwed and never even got to see that goods.

In short, this man just changed the wording and changed nothing about the issue. Every group in America now has to pay for the Catholics even if we cannot afford to pay for our own, even if it is against our religious beliefs. He has once again pitted one group against the other. I have no intention of letting this stand and in just a short, my representatives will be hearing from me once again.

Be safe peeps …
Jeff Head.
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Wednesday, February 8, 2012

They Are Here

Today's Thoughts 2/8/12 They Are Here

They are here, the socialist that is that occupy our White House. They are here to take the first step in destroying our freedom to practice our religion as we see fit. Sure, it is just a pill or some other form of contraceptive. That my dear is how it starts in case you do not know. Remember that little word called "Incrementalism". Who knows what are whom will be next. No matter how you might feel about this subject, no matter which side of the fence you might be on. No matter what your stance is on religion or abortion or whatever you may think. If we do not stand up for the Catholics and their right to practice their religion as they see fit without government shoving itself into the mix, then who will be here to stand for us when they come for us. So I want to remind everyone of a little history lesson. Let us take a moment to remember the past so that we do not repeat its mistakes.
I found several names as to the author of this piece. I hope I have selected the correct person.

When They Came For Me
When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists, I did not speak out; I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews, I remained silent; I wasnt a Jew.

When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out.

Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892-1984)
Be safe peeps
Jeff Head.
Be sure to add me as a friend if you like "Today's Thoughts"

Monday, February 6, 2012

Self Education

Today's Thoughts 2/6/12 Self Education
Wow, what a heck of a last two weeks I had. Digging into all sorts of things and pulling out information from all sorts of places. Like our Constitution and letters between our ancestors. I bet I read a ton of legal papers and quotes from people in high places dating all the way back to when George Washington himself was president of our great Nation. Day after day learning more and more about not only how our country was developed, but also more importantly why. Even though I ended up on the losing side of the battle, I am a much smarter man for whatever that is worth. The war though is not over. This Natural Born Citizen and what the exact definition is has been around for quite some time and will be for years to come. That is not my point today. No Sir, my point is more to the fun I had learning all that I learned.

I cannot think of a better way to learn something then have a complete interest into the subject. Being so enthusiastic about it that you spend every waking hour digging and finding out things about our American way of life that you never even thought could have happened or could be. Keeping an open mind and understanding both sides of the argument makes it all the better. Watching the home team gain the win, then toss it aside was a roller coaster of a ride for sure, but the end game was a deeper understanding and education that would have took years of college to gain. Even though I disagree with the courts ruling about Obama's eligibility, at least now I understand it. I also now understand what each side's view of it is and I made a few friends to boot. I can also tell you to expect this to come up repeatedly for a long time to come. This will not go away even if the Supreme Court of the land looks at it and makes a final ruling. Welcome to American politics.

I highly recommend to everyone that you pick one or two of the issues this election season, really dig into it, and take a stand. Look back at how our ancestors dealt with your issue all the way through today's time and I bet you will learn more about this Country then they ever taught you in school. You will walk away a more educated person and hold the position of a higher educated voter on all the issues. One thing I could see for sure is that they are using our lack of knowledge against us. If they can create a truth without us being able to know the truth, then they can lead us down any path that they so choose. Self-educating ourselves will put an end to that. They will have to rise to meet our newly gained knowledge and will no longer find themselves able to pull the wool over our eyes.

Well now, with that said, what to do, what to do? I am sure there has to be something for me to dig into and piss someone off about. Soon, It won't take but a minute or two and I'll be back in the saddle again.

Be safe peeps …
Jeff Head.
Be sure to add me as a friend if you like "Today's Thoughts"