Lessons of Lexington, 1775

via Tenth Amendment Center by Tenth Amendment on 11/8/10

by Dan Eichenbaum

On the night of April 18, 1775, the lantern's alarm sent Revere, William Dawes and other riders on the road to spread the news. The messengers cried out the alarm, awakening every house, warning of the British column making its way towards Lexington. In the rider's wake there erupted the peeling of church bells, the beating of drums and the roar of gun shots – all announcing the danger and calling the local militias to action.

After that first successful skirmish, our founders endured unimaginable hardships, lost battles, emotional despair, and a debilitating winter at Valley Forge, until Washington's final victory at Yorktown. The battles of Lexington and Concord were just the beginning of America's struggle for freedom.

November 2, 2010, was our Battle of Lexington Green, our "shot heard 'round the world." Will we have the courage and determination to fight on to win total victory?

The forces of Progressive Socialism will not spend much time licking their wounds. I have no doubt, nor should any of you, that they will double their efforts to take control our government and continue their assault on our Constitution. Armed with massive funding from their puppet masters, they will use misdirection and prevarication to convince the American people that....


Read the rest here.

Cop, TSA agent steal, assault clerk

Double whammy! What charges are brought against civilians should be double for officers. They know the law a heckuva lot more that everyday people and they bend it to suit them.

via Cop Block by Brett Perry on 11/22/10

A cop and his TSA girlfriend entered a gas station after drinking to get more alcohol. After arguing with the clerk, the TSA agent flashes her bade, lies and says she's with DHS and steals two slices of pizza. When the clerk tried to write down the license plate # they block the plate...


Read the rest here.

Alternate To Body Scanners

OK.

I've been bitching and moaning about these clearly illegal, and when I say illegal, I mean UNConstitutional searches. I don't care that they say that I give up my rights the moment I buy a plane ticket. I don't see why the federal government gets in the way of a private transaction between myself and the airlines. They need to remember that they are the servant, the employee, and we are the masters and employers.

So what to do about these scanners... How about this?



Doesn't this seem so simple, so elegant? In a time when we're trying to save money AND increase REAL security, doesn't this just make sense?  We can do better; we must do better.

Give Thanks...For Property Rights!

Property Rights vs Communitarian living. Working for yourself or working for others. The Pilgrims came and tried to work for each other, but couldn't make it work, so they gave out land for private use and BAM! There was no discontent about fair share of labor and the fruits of their labor could be traded freely.

This year, I'll give thanks for property rights. 

via Reason Magazine's Hit & Run by Meredith Bragg on 11/25/10

The Pilgrims founded their colony at Plymouth Plantation in December 1620 and promptly started dying off in droves.
As the colony's early governor, William Bradford, wrote in "Of Plymouth Plantation":

That which was most sadd & lamentable was, that in 2. or 3. moneths time halfe of their company dyed.

When the settlers finally stopped croaking, they set about creating a heaven on earth, a society without private property, where all worked for the common good. Everything was shared. Especially bitching and moaning about working for the common good. Bradford again:

Yong-men that were most able and fitte for labour and service did repine that they should spend their time and streingth to worke for other mens wives and children, with out any recompense....And for men's wives to be commanded to doe service for other men, as dresing their meate, washing their cloaths, etc., they deemed it a kind of slavery, neither could many husbands well brooke it.

With nobody working, everybody was suffering. And in case you think nobody was working simply because they couldn't understand a damn thing Bradford was saying, chew on this: In 1623, Bradford and the other leaders

...assigned to every family a parceel of land...this had very good success; for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more torne was planted then other waise would have bene by any means the Govr or any other could use, and saved him a great deall of trouble, and gave farr better contente. 

 In no time at all

any generall wante of famine hath not been amongest them since to this day.

America would never go hungry again. So this week, before you drift into your annual tryptophan-induced coma, don't forget to give thanks to the true patron of this holiday feast: property rights.
For more on this, go here. For a contrary take on whether the Pilgrims were proto-socialists, go here.

2 square meters of sunlight, focused, will melt anything on Earth

This is really cool! Now why don't we have this kind of wow stuff going on in America? I mean I love that Ninja Warrior or Wipeout is on, but we don't get to see something of substance, like this, unless you're watching the Discovery channel.

I wonder what kind of material needs to be developed to resist 3,500 degrees Celsius.

via MAKE Magazine by Sean Michael Ragan on 11/25/10

Free Banking

Here's something interesting.

Free Banking would be something opposite to what we have today. Free banking would allow banks to print/mint their own money, make their own rules about money management and would be independent of government control or a lot fewer controls that what we have today.  I have read more on this! Apparently there have been periods in America's past where we had such a system, this is good because if the Federal Reserve were to go away, then how would you explain how banking works? What if there were a run on the banks? How should they react without hurting the customer?

I think most liberals and conservatives agree that monopolies are counterproductive to a free society. Monopolies stifle innovation, inflate prices, and generally create worse consumer experience. It's like this because there is no motivation, no incentive to keep improving or offering better customer service or competitive prices. If we all agree that this is true, then why do we allow the government a monopoly on money, police, fire, national defense, practically anything that can be done better and cheaper by the private sector?

If we had competing currencies then you'd have items priced in several currencies. It would be in the interest of the bank issuing the currency to maintain good customer relations, maintain a relatively stable value - never deflating or inflating too much. Currently, government controlled currencies are subject to the whims of political pressures and as we can see the dollar has lost more than 95% of its value since the Federal Reserve took over in 1913. Comparatively, the dollar inflated only 10% from 1776 to 1913. The reason why governments like non-commodity based currencies, i.e. fiat money, is that they can print as much as they desire to wage wars or offer welfare programs to the people. This also allows politicians to slowly devalue the money without imposing unpopular taxes. A free banking system wouldn't allow this because of competition with other banks, so they must keep the customer (currency holder) happy.

TSA: More Theater Less Security

Body scanners that give a virtual strip show, gropings that so intimate, you'd go to jail if you weren't a government official. All of these punishments, normally reserved for prisoners, await the law abiding public. It is easily deductible that these invasive pat-downs are designed to be as uncomfortable as possible in order to "encourage" people to go through the scanners. Isn't funny how these scanners became so readily, if not expensively, available? Underwear bomber - POOF - Nekkid scanners!

Well if invasion of your privacy isn't that much of a concern; if you have nothing to hide, then let's put cameras in your bedroom. It's dignity and privacy people. It's no longer about 9/11, it's about getting you to comply with a federal agency, and if you don't, well... you can drive cross-country to that meeting. Don't believe me? Let's hear what the TSA workers have to say...

Now if you want to fly, suck it up and accept that you have to submit to the security procedures. Yes you think they are stupid or unnecessary but TSA officers and TSA don’t care what you think. They try to make it all warm and fuzzy but they can’t because it is security not a trip to Disney World. Shut up and get in the scanner or don’t fly.

November 24th is National Opt-Out Day. On this day, anyone, everyone can opt-out and get felt up. The point is to make it inconvenient for TSA agents, to make it obnoxious. Of course, you'd want to plan ahead while traveling. As you can image I fully support this civil disobedience. There should be more. There should be revolts against this security theater. That's what it is. It doesn't increase security. Israel, goes about it differently. They make it unobtrusive yet very effective.



At least this gives me a bit more hope. Americans are beginning to take a stand. Let's hope it's not too late. We've seen the rise of the tea parties, Ron Paul, and now a backlash against TSA. Individual rights make us more secure and free, not a bigger government.

Tron-gasm!

This movie cannot get here soon enough! Almost since last year, Disney has been dangling this piece of nostalgia-filled-Prime-ribbed-awesomeness in the faces of geeks. Well, they've given us yet another table scrap for us to fumble over - Here's the 3rd trailer...




via Gizmodo by Jesus Diaz on 11/9/10

New Tron Legacy trailer. I said, NEW TRON LEGACY TRAILER! By the way, Disney, this movie better be good or I will kidnap Mickey, drown him in gasoline and torch that bloody rat. Watch it and get into the grid. More »

Be sure to clean up after yourselves.

For Understanding: Explaining the Libertarian

I'm a Libertarian. Often when I tell people that, they get this funny look in their eye. They either confuse me with a liberal or an extreme conservative. hehe While I may be socially liberal, I am also fiscally conservative. Just to eliminate any confusion, Republicans have been socially conservative and Democrats have been socially liberal. Both are fiscally liberal, spending our money without regard and despite what they say that they're trying to cut spending.

For another, perhaps more eloquent explanation, here's this guy:

via Beyond The Broken Spectrum - Advancing the cause of truth and liberty daily by Stephen on 11/10/10

It is often that I find people regularly misunderstanding where libertarian types are coming from when they make statements about their positions on limited government and the way in which government should be structured. Often there isn't enough clarification on our "libertarian" end, which leads to confusion about why we support the positions we do.

Read the rest here.

Ron Gets Closer to Ending the Fed

This is a bit old, but it's still a sign of positive things on the horizon. Ron Paul in the ranking member of the House Subcommittee for Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology. What does this mean for the rest of us? It means that he can affect changes to the way the Federal Reserve does business.

One of the big pieces of legislation that way making its way through congress, but was perverted by a few congressmen was HR1207.  Currently its sitting in committee. The intent was to allow auditing of the Federal Reserve. Currently, the Fed can refuse audits because it claims that they need to operate in secrecy to avoid pressures from politics. HA! News Flash: The Fed is under the influence of politics.

Bad Things That Could Happen

I saw this video and thought it'd be a nice thing to post, especially after my posting about work.



Bad Things That Could Happen from This Is It on Vimeo.

Bad things can and do happen, especially if you speak out. At work, that's not such a good thing, even if you are paid for your professional opinion. Rein it in buddy. On the government, however, you should be able to speak freely.

Enjoy.

At work

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I feel better. This blog is therapeutic for me.

From now on, I will simply go along instead of voicing my opinion.

What I'm Reading: Comeback

Comeback: A Mother and Daughter's Journey Through Hell and Back

If you're jaded, then this is probably just another sob story that will have a happy ending. I'm trying to move away from those feelings. I have daughters and I think this could be one of those good read books. This may seem like an unusual read for a frustrated guy like your truly, but I hope to expand and branch out. This isn't a self-help book like How To Win Friends and Influence People (I'm still working on that, by the way). No sir, this is just a true story of how far a mom went to save her daughter from a life of drugs. This is a true story of a daughter's journey to the bottom and returning. Both of their stories are told and are interwoven to give you a more complete picture of their tribulations.

I don't have any expectations from this book. I don't plan on analyzing for deeper meanings or symbolism. This will just be for enjoyment and perhaps a deeper appreciation of parenthood.

I have several more books on the shelf to be read, I can't wait to get to them.

Jaw-dropping "unmixing" demo appears to reverse entropy

The title says it all. That was the face I made when I watched this.

via MAKE Magazine by Sean Michael Ragan on 11/1/10

I identify as a scientist, but I gotta admit: When I saw this video from Steve Spangler Science, my first impulse was to jump back from the computer, cross myself, and douse the screen with holy water. It reminded me of a line from John Carpenter's underappreciated 1987 horror movie, Prince of Darkness:

And we assume time is an arrow because it is as a clock...Cause precedes effect - fruit rots, water flows downstream. We're born, we age, we die. The reverse NEVER happens...

Unless, apparently, you're dealing with a system operating under conditions of laminar flow. Obviously, there is no real "violation" of the second law of thermodynamics, here, but because almost all of our intuitions about how liquids are going to behave are formed under conditions of turbulent flow, it sure does seem like it. [Thanks, Alan Dove!]

WOW!

Arizona School Choice Fight Goes to U.S. Supreme Court

Most of the time I can side with the ACLU because they side with Constitutionality. This time, however, I must disagree with them. I don't see why private individuals making a private donation (and receiving a tax benefit), in order to create a scholarship so that families can have freedom of choice of where their children can attend school.




via Reason.tv

What I'm Reading: The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy

I heard about this book for a long time and I saw the movie. I can't say I was all that impressed with either. There was decent acting, I suppose, in the movie. As far as the book goes, I think it's a fun trip through the imagination of Douglas Adams. Sadly when I conjured images in my mind, I thought about the different scenes in the movie. That movie probably ruined the book for me.  I tried. I guess if I had read this book when I was younger and didn't watch the movie I could enjoy it more, but as it stands, I must be getting old or my tastes have changed. I would recommend this book for middle and high school-ers and pot-heads.

I'm kind of looking forward to the next book on my list. It's a mother-daughter book about the journey both of them endured. The mother that wouldn't give up and the daughter that lost her way. Yeah, it sounds girly, but I want to move out of my comfort zone.

TRON 2 Release Date!!! I Take A Dump!

Do you hear that squishy, pip-popping, slopping sound?

That's my brain being put back into my dome. I had to pick it up off the wall because it jumped out and tried to run to the movie theater without me.

Tron 2! That's right baby! ZOMG!  It's like I'm reliving 1982 again!

Take a look at the new and old and Korean.

If you were born after 1982, I'll forgive you for not understanding and will kindly ask you to "get off my lawn."

Yeah sure, it's laughable now. It may have had a crappy plot and action scenes but it was state of the art back then. It was futuristic the way Avatar may have seemed to you. It was a movie that would remain with a whole generation of geeks.

Now please excuse me while I go change my adult diapers.

Via Gizmodo

UPDATE:  WTH!  Over at IMDB, they have release dates for Japan and other countries but not Korea. Is Korea unwilling to import this film??!!!  I can see it happening, but please don't do it. Come to the land of Starcraft....please.

Cop Blocks Bike Lane To Ticket Cyclists For Not Using Lane, on

Remember boys and girls, it's not about safety and serving the public good, its about paying the cops' salaries and making you cow to their authority.
[UPDATE BELOW] Sometimes the NYPD's inanity is so perfect, so immaculately risible, that you just want to burst into applause and toss a bouquet of roses onto the hood of a squad car. Today is one of those days. According to a tipster, a cop parked in the bike lane on First Avenue near 23rd Street proceeded to write tickets for cyclists who weren't using the bike lane, because they had to ride around him to get by. This is presumably part of the new crackdown on scofflaw cyclists, and hey—sometimes you have to destroy a bike lane in order to save it. (How come there's never a clown cop around when you need one?) Our source says: This morning I received a ticket on the corner of 14th and 1st for not riding in a bike lane. The lane was being blocked by a cop car and as I pulled around it a cop pulled me over and informed me of my infraction. About 5 or 6 other cyclists got the same treatment. The cop later moved his car so that it wasn't in the bike lane (but was now parked squarely in the turning lane). A couple of other cyclists got pulled over, but argued with the cop that they had to leave the lane because he was parked there—those people were allowed to ride on. After pulling a bunch of us he must of realized how stupid his logic was and decided to cross to the other side of the road (where the bus lane is) and pulled a cyclist from there. Our unlucky tipster says his ticket is for $130 for "Reckless operation of bicycle." We've put in a request for comment with the NYPD press office, and we're sure they'll get back to us STAT. In the meantime, here is the city's law about cyclists and bike lanes: 34 RCNY § 4-12(p) Bicycles. (1) Bicycle riders to use bicycle lanes. Whenever a usable path or lane for bicycles has been provided, bicycle riders shall use such path or lane only except under any of the following situations: (i) When preparing for a turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway. (ii) When reasonably necessary to avoid conditions (including but not limited to, fixed or moving objects, motor vehicles, bicycles, pedestrians, pushcarts, animals, surface hazards) that make it unsafe to continue within such bicycle path or lane. Attorney Gideon Oliver writes in to tell us that after consulting with our tipster, he's determined that the ticket he was issued is for a NYCAC 19-176 violation. "That’s the bicycling on the sidewalk part of the code," Oliver tells us. "It’s irresponsible—and illegal—for the NYPD to crackdown on 'scofflaw' cyclists using provisions of law or regulation that don’t apply to bicyclists (i.e., ticketing bicyclists for reckless operation of a motor vehicle or for riding outside the bike lane in violation of state laws that don’t apply in NYC). "It’s also irresponsible and illegal, not to mention dangerous and just plain nonsensical, for NYPD officers to set up 'checkpoints' to ticket cyclists by illegally parking police vehicles in bike lanes, forcing cyclists out of the bike lanes and into the streets, then citing cyclists for “reckless operation of a bicycle” in violation of NYC Administrative Code 19-176 - a provision of local law prohibiting bicycling on the sidewalk. Unfortunately, Commissioner Kelly’s NYPD is not interested in making the roads safer for cyclists, and these tickets are good for buffing summons stats, so it’s likely we’ll continue to see this kind of outrageous police misconduct, including issuing facially insufficient and illegal summonses and flat-out perjury, in the future." via Copblock via  Gothamist

65% Favor Getting Rid of Entire Congress and Starting Over

This is encouraging! Perhaps more Americans are beginning to question what's going on in Washington. We should always question what they're doing. They're human after all and if what they're doing is unreasonable or unrealistic, then we need to speak up. It our duty as citizens to do this. I think that since FDR, most of us have come to accept a greater level of intrusion into our lives. Some want the government to do for us what private citizens and businesses can't find profit in doing. Classic examples are running electricity to the farmers in the 1930's and currently there's talk about running broadband to the farmers so that they can take part in the discussions held on-line.

Of course I disagree with some of my fellow countrymen. I want the federal government, and to a lesser degree, state and local governments out of my life. I want the freedom to start a business with minimal fuss, pay my employees with a rate that we decide on, and do anything else so long as I don't interfere with the rights of my neighbors. Sadly some of us want a govenment that hundreds or thousands of miles away telling us what to do. I wonder if they're the same ones that can't do for themselves and must rely on those who can.

via BLACKLISTEDNEWS.COM on 10/27/10

Let's face it: Most Americans don't have much use for either of the major political parties and think it would be better to dump the entire Congress on Election Day.

Using Reason: Cops Are More Dangerous Than Terrorists

I like to think that when I'm faced with a situation, that I can use reason to find the best answer. I hope you, good reader, are of the same mind. After all, if something is illogical or doesn't make sense, then shouldn't we make an effort to understand and adjust?

For example, the chances of getting killed on a flight are rare. Compare that with driving. I know we can quote all sorts of statistics, but for the most part is safer to fly than drive. So if your chances of getting killed on a flight are rare, then getting killed on an airplane by terrorist must be extremely rare. This article clears it up a bit better than I can.:

What about your chances of dying in an airplane crash? A one-year risk of one in 400,000 and one in 5,000 lifetime risk. What about walking across the street? A one-year risk of one in 48,500 and a lifetime risk of one in 625. Drowning? A one-year risk of one in 88,000 and a one in 1100 lifetime risk. In a fire? About the same risk as drowning. Murder? A one-year risk of one in 16,500 and a lifetime risk of one in 210. What about falling? Essentially the same as being murdered. And the proverbial being struck by lightning? A one-year risk of one in 6.2 million and a lifetime risk of one in 80,000. And what is the risk that you will die of a catastrophic asteroid strike? In 1994, astronomers calculated that the chance was one in 20,000. However, as they've gathered more data on the orbits of near earth objects, the lifetime risk has been reduced to one in 200,000 or more.

So how do these common risks compare to your risk of dying in a terrorist attack? To try to calculate those odds realistically, Michael Rothschild, a former business professor at the University of Wisconsin, worked out a couple of plausible scenarios. For example, he figured that if terrorists were to destroy entirely one of America's 40,000 shopping malls per week, your chances of being there at the wrong time would be about one in one million or more. Rothschild also estimated that if terrorists hijacked and crashed one of America's 18,000 commercial flights per week that your chance of being on the crashed plane would be one in 135,000.

Even if terrorists were able to pull off one attack per year on the scale of the 9/11 atrocity, that would mean your one-year risk would be one in 100,000 and your lifetime risk would be about one in 1300. (300,000,000 ÷ 3,000 = 100,000 ÷ 78 years = 1282) In other words, your risk of dying in a plausible terrorist attack is much lower than your risk of dying in a car accident, by walking across the street, by drowning, in a fire, by falling, or by being murdered.

Aiyana Jones was killed in a raid on the wrong house.

It's easy to think about it in these terms, but what about putting in more perspective? I don't know of anyone that has encountered a terrorist, do you? I was in Iraq an I was at arms length from suspects, possibly terrorists. I guess if you've been in combat, you're more likely to encounter one. On the other hand, I'm very likely to run across a cop. How likely am I to be killed by a cop versus a terrorist?  Let's see, according to this article,

• You are 12 times more likely to die from accidental suffocation in bed than from a terrorist attack

• You are 9 times more likely to choke to death on your own vomit than die in a terrorist attack

• You are 8 times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist

• You are 8 times more likely to die from accidental electrocution than from a terrorist attack

• You are 6 times more likely to die from hot weather than from a terrorist attack

Considering the amount of money being poured into homeland security, TSA, and extra regulations, are we really getting any safer? Is the cost/benefit really there? Perhaps it's time to take a step back and reexamine what we're doing. Perhaps it's time to stop reacting with emotion and think about more effective, less intrusive, and realistic security measures.

Careful! Examples of Statism Abound During Ft. Lauderdale FIJA Outreach!

I know Florida has been the heel of many jokes since the 2000 elections. It seems to most people that Florida is a screwy place where the surreal can happen. Most times I like to think that it's really no worse than any other part of America or perhaps even better because we don't have an income tax, we're favorable to business, and we follow the Constitution more than some of them there northern states. But, occasionally, we have our gaffes. We have cops or security personnel that are untrained in the rights of others and they have to be set right.

via Cop Block by Pete Eyre on 11/4/10

(Cross-posted at Liberty On Tour.) HIALEAH, FL -Last week we joined FIJA super-activist James Cox in Ft. Lauderdale at not one, but two courthouses. Our intention was to inform more people about jury nullification. We did that, and we did well – a ton of people walked away with FIJA pamphlets and we had some really [...]

Read the rest here.

While these guys may be in the right, if you're wrong, Florida WILL come down hard on you. We love our freedoms in the Sunshine State, but if you violate them, we're very harsh.

Korea Kicking People Offline With One Strike

Whoa!

via Slashdot by CmdrTaco on 10/26/10

An anonymous reader writes "While there's lots of talk of 'three strikes' laws in places like France, it may be worth looking over at South Korea, which put in place a strict new copyright law, required by a 'free trade' agreement with the US (which was the basis for ACTA). It went into effect in the middle of 2009, and now there's some data about how the program is going. What's most troubling is that the Copyright Commission appears to be using its powers to 'recommend' ISPs suspend user accounts based on just one strike, with no notice and no warning. The system lets the Commission make recommendations, but in well over 99% of the cases, the ISPs follow the recommendations, and they've never refused to suspend a user's account."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Mimic Octopus = Badassery

Awesome! Boom-dee-ata! Boom-dee-ata! Boom-dee-ata!

Media Hypes Scary Stories

Say it ain't so!

It appears American journalists are no worse than their Korean counterparts when it comes to scare tactics and misinterpreting data. Scary is sexy!

Let's hear it from John Stossel:

We Cannot Quietly Submit

Well spoken sir.

via Tenth Amendment Center by Tenth Amendment on 11/1/10

 

by Michael Rozeff, LewRockwell.com

I've been thinking about the horrid situation at airports for weeks, and before that for even more months

Flyers now have the option enforced against them of either being scanned or groped. What a choice!

I haven't flown in an airplane for years now. The last time was when I attended a conference at the Mises Institute in Alabama. I have been lucky. I didn't need to fly or want to fly, but I still may feel I have to, and I am still deeply troubled by the scanning and groping. Both are despicable.
What I wish is that all flyers would organize and boycott all flying, or organize sit-down strikes at all the airports on a given day and hour, or organize some sort of widespread protest action or actions at specific times so as to make known their true inner feelings.

This hope banks on the notion that people now put up with the scanning and groping because they feel they have no alternative as individuals. I may be wrong. They may support it or feel it's in their safety interest. I don't know, but I can only express my own personal distaste for what air travel has come to and hope that someone better equipped to organize protests than I will do so. Such protests should be accompanied by publicized demands to end this travesty.

Stop it! Stop it now! Stop searching every traveler! Stop searching innocent people!

Stop searches that have no reasonable basis. Stop searches that are based only on one criterion: that the person is a traveler. What kind of reasonable basis for a search is that? None whatsoever! It is totally unreasonable to suspect everyone! It is totally unreasonable to suspect everyone who is a traveler. It's unreasonable for the obvious reason that we all know that not one person in sixty million is a terrorist, and not one in six hundred million is at the point of trying to board a plane with an explosive device hidden on his person.

Read the rest here.

Why Chuck Can’t Start a Business

What's wrong with us?

Seriously!

These laws that were put in place had good intentions, but as usual, they've had unintended consequences. I think I'll start advocating sunsets on all laws so that if a law is unpopular, then it can just fade into the night. Look, we're supposed to be about freedoms and competition and capitalism. With our unemployment rate at around 18% (U-6 not the media's parroting U-3 number) it makes sense to let people create the jobs necessary.

Just get the government out of the way!

via The Agitator by Radley Balko on 10/27/10

If This House is Rockin’ Don’t come a-knockin’

This guy speaks volumes, especially at the end. He's right. While most tea partiers dislike taxes and love the constitution, some, perhaps most want medicare and social security. This is incompatible with the Constitution. Be consistent.

via Undoctrination.org on 11/1/10

I’m writing this on November 1^st, 2010 – the eve before the 2010 mid-term elections. We’ve seen one of the most contentious and outrageous “election seasons” possibly ever in the history of our country.

Have you ever stopped to wonder “why” these elections get so dirty?  Have you ever wondered why a person would spend millions of dollars (in many cases, much of that is their own money) to get elected to a government job that pays a base salary of $174,000 (plus bennies – many, many bennies …)?

... It requires a tough decision for some. Don’t vote for either major party candidate. Vote for the Libertarian. Or the Constitutionalist.  I voted last week, and I clicked on a goodly number of Libertarian candidates – it was refreshing to have so many on the ballot. I don’t vote a straight ticket – and all three parties actually received at least one vote from me this year. But I dare say the bulk of my clicks went to Libertarians.

Before you start – NO, I don’t feel like I wasted my votes. Perhaps YOU did … And NO – I don’t agree that my voting for the Libertarian was helping the liberal Democrat win. My vote for the Libertarian was helping the LIBERTARIAN win. And if enough people voted like they truly THOUGHT or FELT, we’d see a real onslaught of victorious Libertarian candidates from the local level all the way to Washington. I can safely say – even though the election isn’t until tomorrow – that this Libertarian sweep won’t happen this election cycle.

Why? Because “we, the people” aren’t quite ready to start recognizing the harsh realities of failed entitlement programs, that’s why. OH, we want to wave our cool flags with cool mottos on them in public, and we want to gather in groups of several thousand to listen to some great motivational speakers, listen to some music, and chant anti-statist slogans while holding up copies of the US Constitution. But most of us aren’t quite ready to give up the Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, and other welfare entitlements just ….yet.

Read the rest here.

Superman's Fortress of Solitude in Mexico

I thought this was pretty cool!

Superman's Fortress of Solitude in Mexico

via MAKE Magazine by Goli Mohammadi on 10/14/10

Photograph by Javier Trueba

This is certainly old news to the geologists in our midst, but I couldn't believe my eyes watching this BBC video clip of Professor Iain Stewart exploring the amazing Cueva de los Cristales (Cave of Crystals) in Naica, Mexico. The cave is home to crystal beams as long as 36 feet long. Looks an awful lot like Superman's Fortress of Solitude!



Here's the BBC clip:

Darwin Awards - Wheelchair Access

A handicapped man, annoyed that an elevator closed and departed without him, thinks it over before ramming his wheelchair into the doors not once, but twice--only to plunge down the elevator...





Really? Come on!

I'm not laughing at this guy. I want to treat disabled people the same as non-disabled people, so if he can't wait, then he got what he asked for. I hope you, my good reader, aren't thinking, "Oh, poor disabled guy!" Don't because I'm sure you wouldn't say that if he wasn't disabled.

Post-Election - I'm Happy

I am rather happy about what happened, although I do think something is amiss in Nevada.

Ultimately, IF the Tea Party Republicans hold true to what their platforms, then at least we can hope for no further damage. I say, "IF," because Washington has a way of corrupting good people. The GOP will control the house in January, but until then I am wary of the lame ducks that will push anything through. After January, I hope the the House will not push anything through that isn't constitutional and prevents the Senate from doing likewise. Essentially, they just have to hold the line until more like-minded people come into Congress.

Also as far as voter initiatives, Marijuana legalization is still relatively unpopular.  Perhaps in a couple more years. CNN is showing other issues such as "Right to Hunt" and "Health Care Systems." I didn't know the right to hunt was in dispute, but it's nice to know that the issues are being fixed. As far as health care systems, I think we're seeing nullification in action. Arizona and Oklahoma are example where the people have decided to protect people's right not to purchase health care and not be penalized. Awesome!

Just for added oomph, I'll throw in Peter Schiff...

Election Day!

November 2nd is Election Day back in the US. Since I support the Tea Parties back there, this election cycle will determine how far we've come and have yet to go.  I wonder if we'll be vindicated or if we're really just a small subset of Americans that want government support and intervention.

I really hope we choose the Constitution, individual liberties, personal responsibility, and a non-interventionist attitude over entitlement, corporatism, and interference in internal affairs of other countries.