NORFOLK FOREVER? (OR: GET YOUR SH*T TOGETHER AND STOP ACTING LIKE TOMORROW IS GUARANTEED)

What if we lived in Norfolk, Nebraska for the rest of our lives? With no family within four hours, only two other family members in the same state, and two families scattered in every imaginable way and direction, Norfolk has some things going against it. Depressing things.

Yet Norfolk offers almost everything that many people have said they want in their hometown--it’s small enough to feel safe, big enough to support a family, remote enough that it’s largely populated by people who were born in the area, and slow enough that it will probably be the same town when your kids have kids of their own. Omaha doesn’t check any of those boxes, and Lincoln is full of people who are just taking a break before they move to their mountain homes in Vail.

THE 18 STEPS THAT BROUGHT ME HOME

EMPTY

When there wasn't a small enough box to hold everything that I would bring into my marriage.

UNPREPARED

When, after having spent my first post-college year working a retail job, I moved to Norfolk because my future wife had a job there. 

SMALL

When I saw in myself none of the things that I believed a husband should have: money, a successful career, or at least the prospect of having one or the other. A husband, above all, should provide for his family.

AIMLESS

When I saw endless reminders that I couldn't aim to be successful when I didn't even know where my target was.

WHEN HYPOCRISY MASQUERADES AS PRINCIPLE

When it comes to the Affordable Care Act, states rights are being trampled and the U.S. Constitution is under attack.

But when Colorado legalizes marijuana, states rights mean nothing--those stoners are violating federal laws, and the Supreme Court needs to get them back in line.

From Jon Bruning, Nebraska Attorney General, regarding Colorado's marijuana laws:

Nebraska and Oklahoma's complaint argues that Colorado does not have authority to pass laws that conflict with the federal prohibition on marijuana. Doing so, the states claim, violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

That's handy, isn't it? In this case, federal laws (regardless of their own constitutionality) override all state laws. The Supremacy Clause says so. Not even the strongest can overcome the power of the capitol.

Or can they? From the same Jon Bruning, regarding the Affordable Care Act:

"It tramples on individual liberty and dumps on the states the burden of an unfunded mandate that taxpayers cannot afford," said Bruning, who is also president of the National Association of Attorneys General.

When hypocrisy masquerades as principle, the formula is pretty easy to see: federal laws should be ignored when they force you to do something that you don't want to do, but federal laws are absolutely supreme when they prevent someone else from doing something you don't want them to be able to do. If you claim to be a "small government" person and then you go crying to a branch of the federal government over another state's marijuana laws, then you absolutely deserve to have something the Affordable Care Act land right in your lap.

GETTING PLAYED (OR: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ELECT SOMEONE)

The national peddling of the left-right paradigm was on display in Colorado this week, with school kids walking out of class in protest of curriculum changes that came from "conservative school board members" who took office last November. The Facebook comments to the Fox News-produced story were predictable, angry, and eye-opening in terms of just how well the divide-and-conquer scheme is working in America.

The walkout aside, the story presents the bold agenda being pushed by the new board members. It's bold not so much in terms of its goal, but in terms of its unveiling of what is essentially one of many versions of propaganda which are blind to their own fallacies. Those with the authority to do so call such propaganda "history."

From the story:

The school board proposal that triggered the walkouts in Jefferson County calls of instructional materials that present positive aspects of the nation and its heritage. It would establish a committee to regularly review texts and course plans, starting with Advanced Placement history, to make sure materials "promote citizenship, patriotism...and benefits of the free-market system, respect for authority and respect for individual rights" and don't "encourage or condone civil disorder, social strike or disregard of the law."

Citizenship: you will pay taxes, or you will go to jail. Or you can pay to renounce your citizenship...which is something you could do for free just a few years ago, apparently. So if you're one of those people whose intellectual contribution to these conversations is limited to angrily asking the question "If you don't like it here, why don't you just leave?", bear in mind--that solution has a cost now, too. So it's not quite as helpful as you may think.

CLARK COUNTY, NEVADA: WACO 2.0 (BUT WITH MORE CAMERAS!)

From the video below: Who has the AR's and the body armor? I think we know the answer to that question. In any case, this is happens when people without tasers stand up to people with tasers.

Is this what Waco would have looked like with protesters? (Note: the video is not work friendly.)

Cliven Bundy is a rancher in Clark County, Nevada. The shortest version of how we got here is that Bundy has allowed his cows to graze on land that the federal Bureau of Land Management (the agency/bureau that the people in the video refer to as "BLM") deemed to be restricted for the sake of reviving the population of an endangered animal (some kind of desert tortoise). Bundy claims—and no one is disputing—that Bundy and his family have been allowing their cattle to graze on the land since well before the restrictions were put in place. As such, both Bundy and the Bureau of Land Management are claiming that Bundy owes "fees" for his use of the land*—Bundy acknowledges owing $300,000, whereas and the Bureau of Land Management indicates that he owes upwards of one million dollars.

Bundy does not appear to have any intention of paying the fees.

CHOOSING TO BE THE WEAKNESS

Any state, any entity, any ideology that fails to recognize the worth, dignity, the rights of man—that state is obsolete.

The state had the power to kill. Romney Wordsworth had no power whatsoever, yet he was able to bring the state to its knees with nothing more than an invitation and a locked door.

The power of the state itself was what allowed Romney Wordsworth's invitation and locked door to have such an effect. The state's power was a power which required a show in order to maintain and expand—the state had to show up in order to prove that it wasn't afraid of anything. The state had to show up in order to allow Romney Wordsworth to beg for his life, which the state expected he would. The state had to show that it had the power to deal with anyone who didn't fit its formula. The state thought it had all of the power. Romney Wordsworth knew that the state's claims of power were hollow, so he turned the state's power on itself and revealed it for what it was: just a show, albeit a show with deadly consequences.

I WELCOME MYSELF TO [YOUR CITY]: THE FORM LETTER

When your company or organization is based on a cluster of blind ambition—and you look to hire the most ambitious person you can find to be your leader, regardless of loyalty—there can be a good deal of turnover at the helm of your organization.

Since turnover can lead to a lack of continuity on your organization's mission statement, code of "ethics," or promotional materials (web site, pamphlets, etc.)—after all, each new person will probably want to say the same thing using his or her own words regarding an introduction—Analog Schemes has created a user-friendly form letter which will allow your organization to skip the pleasantries and simply say what needs to be said.

Simply fill in the blanks, ambitious company/organization, and keep on tending the souls of your flock.

SUCCEEDING VIA THE SMALL BALL

You know how to play small ball. So you do it. Quiet success is yours.

You can't control much when you're living in a hurry, and your schemes have always reflected it. When other people were dating, you were lighting fireworks with your best friend down the street. When you were dating, everyone else was getting engaged. When everyone else was getting married and you were yet to get engaged, it was more of the same. When you got married, everyone else was busy winning the kid race. They'll be grandparents, and you'll still have kids at home.

Maybe you'll die first. That's a possibility.