Paul R Rickert

The Growth of the Commerce Clause as Mechanism of Control

Paul R. Rickert — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 11:32:26 PDT

Article 1, Section 8, clause 3 of the United States Constitution states that “Congress shall have the power… To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes”. This short and simple statement has been progressively used, in combination with a few other powers both granted and assumed by various federal actors, to take greater and broader powers over the states and private citizenry. The original judicial understanding of the so-called Commerce Clause (differentiated from original intent) comes from the 1824 case of Gibbons v. Ogden, 22 U.S. 1. Through subsequent cases, the judicial understanding of the commerce clause is clarified. Then during the administration of Franklin Roosevelt, there seemed to be a change in attitude toward using an enumerated power to infringe on a police power, which is properly the role of the individual states. Through this new understanding of the power of the commerce clause, 20th century America sees unprecedented growth in federal regulation and criminalization on numerous fronts of civil society. This understanding continued until about 1995, when the Supreme Court struck down the Gun Free School Zones Act as unconstitutional. This began a shift in the way the Court saw the power of the commerce clause as elements of the federal government began to temper what they perceived their powers to be.

A Presuppositional Critique of Constructivism

Paul R. Rickert — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:04:13 PDT

Educational theories have roots. They have roots in broader philosophies, conceptions of the nature of reality, and the theories utilized in classrooms to teach have implications for broader society. Specifically, this paper discusses the problems of constructivist theory in the classroom. The author takes a presuppostitional view and shows that all systems have most basic beliefs which are un-provable. So at the heart of any form of interpretive schema is faith in that schema. The author discusses ontological and epistemological options and how shifts in philosophy change the order of the most basic beliefs, but not the fact that they are beliefs, nonetheless. The author discusses the role of theories of truth, and how a fact-constructivism embraces a relativist position that is self-refuting and ultimately untenable absent a suspension of laws of logic. The author argues in favor of revelation from God as axiomatic and demonstrates how logic can exist on that basis, whereas on a secular basis, philosophy cannot generate any True facts whatsoever. The author then looks at the educational theory of constructivism and examines the theory and the classroom practices it endorses it in light of the presuppositional critique.

“Three Strikes” Legislation: Utilitarian Deterrence

Paul R. Rickert — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 10:04:12 PDT

The author argues that current "three-strikes" legislation does not have justice as its end-goal, because it is based in utilitarian philosophy.

Paul Rickert's Tax Day TEA Party Speech - Lafayette Square, Washington, DC

Paul R. Rickert — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:11:58 PDT

Here is the text to my speech given at Lafayette Square, on April 15, 2009 at the National Tax Day TEA Party event. I had not concluded my remarks when the Secret Service shut down the event for safety concerns over a package being thrown over the fence onto the White House lawn. In the end it only had tea bags in it, but it effectively shut down the event.

Slavery in the 21st Century

Paul R. Rickert — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 10:15:16 PST

This paper briefly examines the modern practice of slavery. It attempts to demonstrate that slavery is a larger problem than most understand, does exist in the United States, and will outline some effective means to combat it.

The U.S. and the International Criminal Court (ICC)

Paul R. Rickert — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 10:15:16 PST

This paper is a discussion of the notable issues the U.S. points out regarding the Rome Treaty, the treaty establishing the International Criminal Court.

Combating Money Laundering

Paul R. Rickert — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 10:15:16 PST

This paper discusses the modern problem of dealing with money laundering. Illicit occupations inherently create illicit incomes that must be given the appearance of legitimately earned income. The more government criminalizes activities of its citizens, the greater the need for laundering money.

The Likely Effect of a Radiological Dispersion Device

Paul R. Rickert — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 10:15:16 PST

With the end of the Cold War, the political and strategic relationships that undergirded the global balance of power were shattered. The powers that held nation-states together, like the USSR, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and others largely disappeared and to fill the vacuum left by the reduction of political authority, nationalist and religious identities emerged strong. As a result, the former USSR has broken into at least thirteen new countries, mostly along historic ethnic lines, Czechoslovakia into two, Yugoslavia, violently, into five along both religious and ethnic lines. These are only the most familiar examples, as there are many more. The threat of this type of strategic and geopolitical change is in the change itself. During this time, most significantly in the former USSR, much of the military hardware was sold off, traded, or stolen, to include radiological materials.

Legal Positivism: The Leading Legal Theory in America

Paul R. Rickert — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 10:15:15 PST

The author discusses the transition in from a Natural Law base for American Jurisprudence to legal positivism.

The Conceptual Model of Peace Operations (CMPO) as a Framework for Comparing National Doctrines for International Peacekeeping Operations

Paul R. Rickert — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 07:37:37 PST

This research generates a method for easy comparison of national military doctrines as they pertain to peacekeeping operations by using the Conceptual Model of Peace Operations (CMPO) as an organizational framework. Microsoft Excel is utilized as an interface as a means for individuals or organizations to compare individual national peacekeeping doctrines on an independent framework. This project also utilizes graphing techniques to allow users to view more generalized comparisons of doctrine so conclusions might be more readily drawn with regards to specific areas of coverage, areas of doctrine needing to be more fully or less extensively addressed, and the political rationale that may have been used by the nations while developing their respective doctrines. This project may benefit government policy makers on both national and international levels, as well as those members of national militaries as they create, modify, and harmonize their own doctrines for peacekeeping operations.