Timothy Lawton

Author Archive

The Ever Growing Divide Between Liberals And Conservatives

by on Sep.16, 2009, under Political, Uncategorized

On the commemeration of September 11th I wanted to write a blog about what makes us all Americans, but as I started to try to sort out my thoughts I did’t think I could honestly write such a piece. Instead I found myself pondering how far the extreme left has departed from the ideals that made this country great. Let me be clear here. I am not talking about ALL liberals. I am referring to the fringe of the ideology that has become anti-capitalist, socialistic, willing to use the power of the government to silence their opponents, and generally blames all the problems of the world on the United States and/or Israel. The use of epithets and hyperbole characterize every debate that they have. Recently we have seen any one who oppoes the policies of Obama called racist and even some have been likened to Nazis.

So, let us look at what the far left has been asserting in these last several weeks. We have had Nancy Pelosi say that the people against government run health care at the Townhall meetings were carrying swastikas. Jimmy Carter has said that many people opposed to Obama are upset because a black man is President. And countless columnists and pundits have claimed that any one opposed to the President is doing so because of his race. I’m sure their are some who hold these thoughts in their head, but it is possible to disagree with the liberal assault on our Constitution and way of life based on the merits. Last year I voted for myself for President, because it was the first time that I was over 35 years old and that is one of the requirements for that office. Prior to that I have voted for Jesus and I still don’t know what race he was. Maybe the left should spend more time trying to convince those who are against their policies why they have the best plan for this country instead of resorting to name calling. I, and virtually everyone else I know, base our opinions on which policies will move this nation and the world in the right direction. The liberal cry of racism is at best a distraction and at worst a deliberate attempt to scare people from voicing their opinions.

The true racists are those who incorporate race into their every thought. The ones who can never simply be people. The ones who not only voted against Obama because of his race, but those who voted FOR him because of his race as well. This applies to sex in an equally valid manner. These Tea Parties and anger at the Townhalls would have been just as vociferous had Hillary Clinton been elected and proposed the same policies. This would have had the left playing the sexist card instead of the race card had she won the office of President. Had John Edwards, or some other white male won, it would be interesting to see what arguments they would have had to come up with. Possibly they would have had to actually debate the issues.

How far the left is willing to go is truly becoming scary. Their opposition to the war in Iraq has actually had Senators and Congressmen publicly state that the war was lost while our troops were still engaged in combat, that our men were “cold blooded” killers of innocent women and children, and the consistent broadcasting of the message that we are ready to turn and run at a moments notice. Couple this with the Obama apology tour and we are headed back to a pre-9/11 mindset. We can disagree, but we should never hinder the ability of the men and women on the ground to do the jobs that their survival deems necessary. Americans will NEVER tolerate undue brutality in war, but we cannot have our troops constantly looking over their shoulders. Remember, one of the worst attrocities in the Vietnam war perpetrated by our forces was My Lai, but it was our very own men who put a stop to it.

As for freedom of speech who is it that is trying to prevent it? Were hundreds of thousands prevented from marching in the streets protesting the Iraq war during President Bush’s time in office? Was Cindy Sheehan and her supporters taken away in the middle of the night when they set up camp outside Bush’s ranch in Crawford, Texas? No, it is the liberals who are trying to curb the first amendment. They know they can’t overtly shut down talk radio with the fairness doctrine, so they are planning to do it with “localism” and “diversity”. Liberal talk radio can’t survive on its own even with the millions that the likes of George Soros have poured into it. The left hates that it is actually being held to account for its distortions and half-truths. They hate that millions are abandoning their newspapers, network news, and left-leaning cable stations and turning to talk radio, FOX news, and the web. So, when competing has failed they are now trying to craft another method to silence their opposition. Watch closely over the next several months and see what types of proposals will come from the FCC’s new “diversity” Czar. They will attempt to impose fines or fees that will make it economically unviable for affiliates to carry national radio hosts. They will do it in the name of local representation, but its real purpose is to silence those who oppose their culture changing agenda.

America we are at a crossroads. We are witnessing the insidious rise of a radical attempt to alter our society. It is being done deliberately and incrementally. Those who wish for this brave new world know that they cannot allow their plans to be aired in the open. They have been working their way into the mind of our world for about a century. The divide between the right and the left grows because the liberals are abandoning the values that have made this country strong. Hard work, self-determination, and freedom are merely abstracts that obtrude into their vision of a society governed by the control of an ”enlightened” bureaucracy. The radical liberals do not believe in the things that have made America great. In fact they are opposed to them and have a different set of values that they want to see guide the world. To them America is not to be admired it is to be subdued.

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Seeding Clouds Is Wrong

by on Aug.28, 2009, under General

Cloud seeding disrupts the natural flow of the eco-system. It may benefit a particular area, but its detriments are a plethora. Artificially causing moisture to fall in one region inevitably causes less precipitation to fall in a locality in which it should have fallen. This causes changes that ripple through the global climate in which we have no ability to predict the outcomes of our actions. How can we justify altering the weather patterns when we have no potential to assess what the long term effects of our actions will be? Therefore it is imperative that we allow the weather to take its course and we simply respond to its results. Doing anything else is playing with nature in a manner in which we cannot anticipate the outcomes of our artificial manipulations.

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Powerlines And Trees Can Coexist

by on Aug.18, 2009, under Gardening, General, Uncategorized

During this sweltering heatwave I have had the misfortune of running into the local electric company butchering trees. As usual they were doing an “over zealous” job. Exactly the type of job that has been done on trees that I have planted. This is not only upsetting on a personal basis, but it is especially irritating when we are in the midst of trying to “reduce our carbon footprint”. Many of these same companies support the cap and trade bill which will do NOTHING to reduce our emissions of CO2, yet they continue to hack any branch that comes within 6 feet of there precious powerlines. How many square miles of vegetation in our country, and around the world, are sacrificed to their inability to realize that they don’t have to clear so much away from the trees in order to preserve power to their customers. In fact they are actually damaging the trees to the point that they are making them MORE likely to fall.

I have had around 20 years working with trees and almost four decades of observing them. My Great Grandfather, whom I knew for the first five years of my life, was not only an avid lover of trees but planted many of the trees in the town in which I grew up. Many of his trees towered well above the wires that they grew around. Some even came within inches of the powerlines, but they never caused problems. This was largely due to the fact that he had his trees manicured instead of  hacked. The power companies of today usually contract their work out to people who have no knowledge of how to cut a tree. So, the end result is short, stubby, unhealthy trees which actually have a greater chance of causing damage to the very infrastructure that they are trying to protect.

I hate power outages and understand that we need to shape our trees to meet the needs of the whole community, but they can also be healthier and more stable. All it will take is a little education to those who are cutting our trees. We can have beautiful and safe trees that are not mowed down below the wire line. The trees that I planted that were hacked have had to be cut again about three times in seven years, This is not a good use of our resources. It is also not a good manner in which to maintain our land. Not only do they overcut trees they make more work for themselves during the process. They also cut at the worst times of year. Trees should be cut from late fall through early spring (unless circumstances dictate). Taking away branches in the summer only serves to take precious nutrients and energy from our trees making them sickly and weak.

We need to do a better job maintaining trees around powerlines. This can improve the quality of our air and the beauty of our neighborhoods. Accomplishing this goal can be cost saving as well. Less work and better timing can yield amazing results. I have seen it with my own eyes. So, whatever your reason join me in the fight to better manage the trees that surround us. I simply like trees, what about you?

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Conservative Protester Is No Longer An Oxymoron

by on Aug.12, 2009, under Political

The last six months have seen the explosion of a new phenomenon, the conservative protester. It began with the Tea Parties early in 2009 and has made for the incredible scenes we have seen recently at Townhall meetings where ordinary citizens are venting their frustration at national political figures. This is the result of the explosion of debt and proposed government takeovers of nearly every aspect of our lives. It is the awakening of Americans to the threat that the ultra-left poses to the values that have made this country great. It is the voice of common sense standing up to an out of control ivory tower federal government. This is the cultural civil war that has been a long time in coming.

For decades the liberals have marched in the streets overtly protesting  and covertly used the courts and social institutions to bypass the American electorate. We have seen their effete socialism crawl into every corner of our society. Their relativism has been used to reorder our culture and traditions. They finally have gone too far. Feeling comfortable with their control of the White House, a fillibuster proof majority in the Senate, and a considerable margin in the House of Representatives they have proceeded to take the federal government to a level of power never envisioned by our Founders. The 787 BILLION dollar “stimulus” bill was their first strike in this war on the America we know. They have tossed bilions at their cronies, virtually taken over the auto industry, and have proposed the largest tax increase in history with their cap and trade bill. Their latest attack, the attempt to takeover our health care system, seems to have been the last straw. Citizens who never dreamed of taking to the streets have now become protesters with all of the accoutrements that go along with it. Signs, chants, and yes the occasional heated confrontation. Many people have realized what the left is up to and understand that if unchecked America as we know it will cease to exist.

I have sat smiling watching old men, young mothers, and countless others challenging the arrogance of our elected officials. Politicians who find it too tedious to actually read the bills that they are signing into law. Politicians who try to explain how we, the ordinary citizen, don’t know the good that they are trying to do for our benefit. The satisfaction that I take in seeing conservatives finally taking to the streets is more than I can express. For a generation, or more, the left has had a near stranglehold on demonstrations. It was the liberal who told us that it was their right to protest. That it was they who were acting on their American liberties. Well, now the tables have turned and they can’t stand it. The San Francisco socialist has likened the conservatives speaking out to Nazis. The President has a handpicked audience for his Townhall and tried to present it as a random crowd. Countless others on the left have tried to characterize the anger and frustration we have seen as unnatural and manufactured. That is fine by me. They do it to their own detriment. If they think that what has been happening over the last several months is not the organic reflection of a true opposition to the “change” they envision they are sadly mistaken. “We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it any more!!”

This is the beginning of an open battle in our society. No longer will the leftists control the debate. No longer will they be able to inculcate their mantras into the minds of the people unopposed. College campuses and the media are no longer the sole bastions of the left. The social experiment is over. It is the common sense citizens of this country that must stand up now and loudly. We must take back the government at the ballot box and illuminate the millions who have yet to recognize the threat of the liberal agenda to our American way of life. The socialist state that they propose is the antithesis of everything that this nation is supposed to be about. The federal control of our lives, that they seek, is exactly what our ancestors rebelled against when we demanded our rights as citizens from the British Crown.

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A Good Year Gone Very Bad

by on Aug.05, 2009, under Gardening

When this year’s gardening season started I had such high hopes. The preparations that I had made to deter weeds were the best I had ever laid out. All of my plantings were spaced well and the rain was plentiful. Oh how things have gone down hill from there. What started out so well has possibly become the worst year I have ever had.

First the ample rain turned into deluges that beat my plants into the ground. Then persistent cloudiness and low temperatures proceeded to retard the growth of my gardens. Then came the ravenous deer. It rained so often it was impossible to weed. In fact rather than weed by late June I took to cutting the weeds with scissors and shears because if I pulled them out the plants I wanted to keep were coming out along with them. Yet the greatest problem I have had to contend with has been the deer. They usually come and I lose a few plants here or there, but this season they have come almost every day. Sometimes even in broad daylight. I would not doubt if 75% of all my plants, that are not fenced in or inaccessible, have been eaten one or more times. Not one sunflower has made it to bloom yet in my largest garden. I have tried Irish Sring soap,  pepper, Deer Scram, coyote urine, milorganite, and ultrasonic deterrents. NOTHING has worked!

Aside from these problems the coolness of the summer has delayed all the life cycles in the area. Cicadas didn’t make a sound in northern New Jersey until late July, three weeks later than normal. I have not had a single tomato ripen and my zuchinnis first batch rotted off the stalk. My broccoli and cauliflower are about a month behind in growth and generally nothing is doing well. What has been ok is now starting to succumb to disease. In short 2009’s growing season will be one for the record books. The bad records!! At this point I will salvage what I can and get ready for next year. Thank God I don’t depend on my gardens to sustain me, then this year would have been a tragedy instead of an annoyance.

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