Janet's Place

HOW LONG DOES THE USA HAVE?

This is the most interesting thing I've read in a long time. The sad thing about it, you can see it coming.

I have always heard about this democracy countdown. It is interesting to see it in print. God help us, not that we deserve it.

How Long Do We Have?

About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier:

'A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government.'

'A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.'

'From t hat moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.'

'The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years'

'During those 200 years, those

nations always progressed through the following sequence:

1. From bondage to spiritual faith;

2. From spiritual faith to great courage;

3. From courage to liberty;

4. From liberty to abundance;

5. From abundance to complacency;

6. From complacency to apathy;

7. From apathy to dependence;

8. From dependence back into bondage'

Professor Joseph Olson of Hemline University School of Law, St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning the 2000 Presidential election:

Number of States won by:
Gore: 19
Bush: 29

Square miles of land won by:
Gore: 580,000
Bush: 2,427,000

Population of counties won by:
Gore: 127 million
Bush: 143 million

Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by:
Gore: 13.2
Bush: 2.1

Professor Olson adds: 'In aggregate, the map of the territory Bush won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of this great country.
Gore's territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government welfare...' Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the 'complacency and apathy' phase of Professor Tyler's definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation's population already having reached the 'governmental dependency' phase.

If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegal and they vote, then we can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years.

 Dexter is a television series made by Showtime starring Michael C. Hall as a serial Killer Dexter Morgan, who works as a forensics analyst specializing in bloodstain patterns analysis for the Miami Metro Police Department. The series is based on the novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay.     http://sho.com/site/dexter/xml/blood_spatter.xml                                                           

 Season 1

  Orphaned at the age of three and harboring a traumatic secret Dexter was adopted by a Miami police officer who recognized his  Homicidal tendencies and taught him to channel his gruesome passion for human dissection in a “constructive” way. By killing only heinous criminals (such as child molesters, mob assassins, and  serial killers of the innocent) who have slipped through the justice system’s cracks.       

 To satisfy his interest in blood and to facilitate his own crimes, Dexter works as a bloodspatter analyst for the Miami police. Although his drive to kill is unflinching, he is easily able to emulate normal emotions and keep up his appearance as a socially responsible human being. He is well liked by most of his colleagues, his girlfriend, and her children.

 The show is narrated exclusively from Dexter's point of view and focuses mostly on his pursuit of the "Ice Truck Killer". After the Ice Truck Killer kidnaps Deborah, Dexter confronts him and it is revealed that the killer is actually Dexter's long lost brother, Brian, who like Dexter, witnessed their mother's brutal murder.  

  Brian is introduced under the fake name Rudy', a aprosthetist who becomes Deborah's  boyfriend, and his relationship to Dexter is only revealed late in the first season.  Dexter kills Brian instead of letting him kill his sister and escape. Deborah does not discover her  brother's secret.                    

       Main Dexter characters  

        Michael C. Hall as Dexter Morgan  

         Julie Benz as Rita Bennett   

        Jennifer Carpenter as Deborah Morgan 

          Erik King as Sgt. James Doakes  

           Lauren Vélez as Lt. Maria LaGuerta 

        David Zayas as Angel Batista 

        James Remar as Harry Morgan   

          C.S. Lee as Vince Masuka

 Season 2

  The part of the ocean where Dexter dumps his bodies is discovered by  treasure  hunters,  which sparks a manhunt for the so-called "Bay Harbor Butcher" that draws in even  the FBI. A cult following begins to form behind the "Butcher" when it's discovered who his victims are. Dexter also seems to be having problems executing his latest victims. New cast members include Keith Carradine as Special Agent Lundy, and Jaime Murray as Lila, an ex-junkie artist who becomes Dexter's ally. I can only guess at what will happen next. But that is why I tune in to watch week after week.

The first season of Dexter is now out on DVD. Yes I have it !      DexterPodcast