As a Libertarian, I'm committed to the principles that founded our country such as the right of people to choose their own government in their own way. Our government has interfered in other peoples', other country's affairs far too often with disastrous results. Look at Iran, Vietnam, Iraq and more.
I recently received an email from Libertarian Party Chair, Mark Hinkle. What he's stated, I agree:
"Media reports tell us that the Obama administration is heavily involved in the current crisis in Egypt. It shouldn't be.
"Personally, my sympathies are with the Egyptian protesters. Our very
own Declaration of Independence said that government exists to secure
people's rights, and 'whenever any form of government becomes
destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to
abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on
such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall
seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.'
"However, it would be wrong for me to force all Americans to adopt my
point of view and support my choice in this crisis. But that's exactly
what the Obama administration is doing, by interfering in the crisis and
inevitably taking sides.
"The instances of U.S. foreign meddling over the last hundred years are
too numerous to list here. But in almost every case, U.S. intervention
has made American taxpayers poorer, and it has usually served to
entrench corrupt authoritarian rulers. In the worst cases, like Vietnam,
Iraq, and Afghanistan, military intervention has caused the deaths of
many Americans and far more foreigners.
"This includes all types of intervention: military intervention, foreign
aid, and 'behind-the-scenes' intervention using diplomacy and
espionage.
"Libertarians call for the U.S. government to stop interfering in the
Egyptian crisis, and to end foreign aid to all nations, including Egypt.
"American interventionism also gives foreign governments an excuse to
copy us. Instead of respecting their neighbors' sovereignty and
independence, foreign governments often interfere with each other, and
they often use examples of American intervention as a justification.
"Unfortunately, powerful politicians in Washington can't seem to resist
the temptation to meddle in foreign countries' affairs. This tendency is
made worse by self-serving bureaucracies like the CIA, which rely on
foreign meddling to keep their workers employed.
"Our government should leave other nations alone. The future of Egypt is
for the Egyptian people to decide, not Washington politicians."
The Libertarian Party platform plank on international affairs states:
"American foreign policy should seek an America at peace with the world.
Our foreign policy should emphasize defense against attack from abroad
and enhance the likelihood of peace by avoiding foreign entanglements.
We would end the current U.S. government policy of foreign intervention,
including military and economic aid. We recognize the right of all
people to resist tyranny and defend themselves and their rights. We
condemn the use of force, and especially the use of terrorism, against
the innocent, regardless of whether such acts are committed by
governments or by political or revolutionary groups."
Libertarians are the third largest party. Why continue the insanity, choose Libertarians.
A movie can measure how successful it is by how soon and how many porn movie parodies are made of it. I'm not going to even attempt to look for all of the possibilities, but here is a SFW Tron Jeremy.
I'm not going to go into the plot and spoil it for you. I enjoyed it and I would see it again! If you're a constant reader at Floridaegu, you'll know that I've mentioned my Tron-chubby on more than one occasion. There seems to be a split on how some people viewed this movie. It's a cult revival for some and a WTF for others. I'm in the prior camp. I saw 1982 Tron with a child's eye and imagination. To see the second movie pick up where it left off and in the way they did it so that it could stand alone, just made me want to jump around the movie theater. On more than one occasion I did throw my hands in the air and yell-out to myself.
The visuals were badass, I want to do more naughty things with Olivia Wilde AKA "13" (House), and the story was decent. I admit there were some holes in the story that were glossed over. I admit the character Tron could have shown his face, but if I let some of those minor details slide, and just enjoy the movie, then good friends, Tron: Legacy is worth watching!
The nice folks at Injustice Everywhere grabbed a bunch of police misconduct videos and put them up for a vote. The poll is closed now, but this is just a few of the hundreds (possibly thousands this year?) of videos for this year alone that show just how much the police detest the public.
There is a saying about Libertarians. A Libertarian is either a Democrat with a conservative financial sense or a Republican that was beaten by a police officer.
Cute, but this is a serious matter. Injustice Everywhere is showing only 27 videos. I know there are much more out there. This can't be just another isolated incident. This is a common occurrence. It's frightening that the people we pay to protect and defend us are intimidating and beating us. In some of the videos there are cops trying to cover up other cops. In many videos this year, we see cops beating or arresting people for videotaping, not interfering, just video taping. The unlisted crime of Contempt of Cop is being used against law abiding citizens that demand accountability.
When I look at this problem from a free-market standpoint, I think state-paid police could be done away with. I think privatized security could be a better way. You'd have increased customer service and lower crime. It would be in a company's interest to keep their customers (citizens) happy by catching the bad guys and leaving citizens who ask questions, or videotape them, alone.
As a father of two charming girls, I'm often at a loss at how to handle the situation. Should I be a tough daddy or easy-going? Usually the answer's somewhere in the middle. I thought it would be similar to basic training. I'd break them in and make 'em do push-ups. HA! Often times, they're the ones calling the shots. They cry, I respond.
Anyway, here's a couple from TED that describe four taboos about parenting. It's humorous and refreshing.
I thought I'd hang this video here for you to enjoy. I've previously described Libertarianism in the past but this video might be able to give more information. In it Judge Napolitano (no relation to Janet "Big Sister" Napolitano) has guests from Reason magazine. They are some of the more popular Libertarians and they give their responses to the judge.
Recently I needed to get some work done, but I didn't have the expertise nor the time to do this. Basically, I had to photoshop tens of pictures for distribution. Now this is not my trade. I CAN do this, but it would take me hours, that I wasn't willing to give up, sooooooo I hired a virtual assistant or VA.
I was a bit apprehensive because this could be one of those deals where you get some shoddy work back or you pay and the guy never does the job. Well, it didn't work out that way. I went to freelanceswitch.com and posted a job for hire. Within a couple of days I had several offers. Some offered samples of their work, some were very advanced, and some, it seemed were stay-at-home entrepreneurs. In the end I think I picked a guy looking to make a little extra scratch, in India! I thought that was pretty cool. I outsourced my work! hehehe
We talked about price, how much I was willing to pay and how he'd get paid. Once that was settled, it's been back and forth with getting these jobs done. You have to remember that you're the boss, and you have to communicate clearly about what you want. You have to be able to delegate tasks. This is good practice if you ever would like to become a leader or manager one day.
I'm not sure about becoming a manager. I like where I am and what I'm doing. My point of view has changed on the subject of VA's. I kind of like them. It's similar to hiring an accountant to do your taxes, but difference is, is that you may not know if he's doing a good job. You just have to review his work and hope the IRS doesn't get picky. With a VA, you work in a truly free-market. You negotiate price and pay what you both think the labor is worth. Truly, it was worth the money.
I don't get it, do you? Perhaps there were good intentions when the FDA was started. Every path to hell is led with them. Thalidomide was a total fuck-up, but does that mean that they get to tell everyone what they can or can't eat? I saw a survivor man show where he ate raw [insert unusually nauseous animal/animal part]. I didn't see the FDA protecting him.
The point is, if I want to eat/smoke/inhale/inject/drink something, then why can't I? So long as I'm not harming or forcing it on others, then there really isn't any crime. Yes, if I decide to eat poison to kill myself then why is it a crime? Also, this swat/gestapo tactic of forced entry to stop someone from drinking unpasteurized milk is horseshit. Did they think the suspects had weapons and were going to go out in a blaze of glory? Sheesh!
The federal government should stay out of people's lives and get back to protecting the freedoms it was created to protect.
This guy is inspiring! I've watched this video several times and every time I feel like I want to learn and work in the ocean.
He mentions that there are commercial grade precious metals down there. It's an economic incentive to go down there and mine those materials. Maybe if the price of precious metals keep going up, there'll be enough incentive to invest in the technology required to do the work. I know there are a few companies out there that have started, but you just don't see the rush to get going, yet.
I woke up this morning, next to my baby daughter. Recently Mrs. Floridaegu has been placing her next to me in the morning so that I can help her out. That's fine with me. She deals with both children most of the day and if that means I have to give up a few hours of sleep so that she can get a few herself, well, that's fine by me.
So I pick up second daughter, put her in her bouncer and go make coffee. I take my vitamins and Omega-3 and carry her to my office. I go through the mundane stuff and I look over at the stock ticker and precious metals index and I notice that gold is currently $1414.50 and ounce! Silver is at $29.38 an ounce! These are not new highs, but they are highs for the week. This is good.
In my email I found a video blog entry by my broker, Peter Schiff:
Yeah, he's pushing precious metals. He's said over half his portfolio is in precious metals, and I've been moving mine in that direction. I agree that QE II is causing a lot of problems. This is basic economics. Inflation robs the poor by making everything more expensive, and the last thing to catch up are wages. The rich can afford to pay more, obviously, so it doesn't affect them as much.
When I see what direction my country's been going, and how it runs counter to good reasoning, I have a constant fear for my family. I'm ok if I can't retire. I get it. Retirement's not a right and it's only a recent concept. When I see the country run unconstitutionally, run counter to common sense, I have to do what I have to do to save my family. Today that means buying more gold and silver.
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....
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.
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...
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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...
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 »
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.
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.
, Vietnam
, Iraq
and more.
I recently received an email from Libertarian Party Chair, Mark Hinkle. What he's stated, I agree:
are the third largest party. Why continue the insanity, choose Libertarians.
AKA "13" (House), and the story was decent. I admit there were some holes in the story that were glossed over. I admit the character 
could have shown his face, but if I let some of those minor details slide, and just enjoy the movie, then good friends, Tron: Legacy is worth watching!
could be a better way. You'd have increased customer service and lower crime. It would be in a company's interest to keep their customers (citizens) happy by catching the bad guys and leaving citizens who ask questions, or videotape them, alone.
. I'd break them in and make 'em do push-ups. HA! Often times, they're the ones calling the shots. They cry, I respond.
(no relation to Janet "Big Sister" Napolitano) has guests from 
or VA.
! I thought that was pretty cool. I outsourced my work! hehehe
about what you want. You have to be able to delegate tasks. This is good practice if you ever would like to become a leader or manager one day.
doesn't get picky. With a VA, you work in a truly free-market. You negotiate price and pay what you both think the labor is worth. Truly, it was worth the money.
. 
was started. Every path to hell is led with them. 
was a total fuck-up, but does that mean that they get to tell everyone what they can or can't eat? I saw a survivor man show where he ate raw [insert unusually nauseous animal/animal part]. I didn't see the 
protecting him.
tactic of forced entry to stop someone from drinking 
is horseshit. Did they think the suspects had weapons and were going to go out in a blaze of glory? Sheesh!
down there. It's an economic incentive to go down there and mine those materials. Maybe if the price of precious metals keep going up, there'll be enough incentive to invest in the technology required to do the work. I know there are a few companies out there that have started, but you just don't see the rush to get going, yet.
and carry her to my office. I go through the mundane stuff and I look over at the stock ticker and precious metals index and I notice that 
is currently $1414.50 and ounce! 
is at $29.38 an ounce! These are not new highs, but they are highs for the week. This is good.
:
robs the poor by making everything more expensive, and the last thing to catch up are wages. The rich can afford to pay more, obviously, so it doesn't affect them as much.
, I have a constant fear for my family. I'm ok if I can't retire. I get it. Retirement's not a right and it's only a recent concept. When I see the country run 
, run counter to common sense, I have to do what I have to do to save my family. Today that means buying more gold and silver.
, our "shot heard 'round the world." Will we have the courage and determination to fight on to win total victory?
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 
. Armed with massive funding from their puppet masters, they will use misdirection and prevarication to convince the American people that....
or 
is on, but we don't get to see something of substance, like this, unless you're watching the Discovery channel.
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?
