Infographic and Depth of Deepwater Horizon's Oil Spill

I'm a sucker for graphics, especially when they display cool information. I work with a lot of dashboards at work, and they're fine and dandy, but boooring. Check this graphic out from 35,000ft (11km) up to 35,000ft (11km) down!

OurAmazingPlanet via Gizmodo

More Badassery!! The Iron(ing) Man

You just have to watch in awe at people who are good at their jobs.



Via Gizmodo.

Fixing the Tax System In Order to Fix Illegal Immigration

Did I say the double-I word? Yup. Are you offended? I don't care.

Joe Wurzelbacher over at stimulatedyet.com wrote this article. He's opposed to the current tax system and believes that fixing it to a Fair Tax system would solve our illegal immigration problem.  It's a good read and logically connects the dots.

I've mentioned  fixing our broken tax system before. The current system favors special interests and double taxes law abiding people. It's immoral and must go.

The Philosophy of Liberty

This video via Beyond the Broken Spectrum makes a lot of my points in a nice visual format.



Now that you've seen it, ask yourself what your government (Korean, US, doesn't matter) does that regularly infringes upon your or a class of citizens' rights (think the wealthy).  I know Korea is different than the US, but it's good food for thought and perhaps real change.

Ask yourself this...If Democrats support liberty why do they take the fruits of your labor to support others that don't work (Obamacare and welfare). If Republicans support liberty, why do they support taking of life and liberty when it comes to your personal choices. If you like life, liberty and property, then I humbly suggest a third alternative...the Libertarian Party.

Speed Camera Activitist PWNS Cop's Website

Over at Beyond the Broken Spectrum comes a tale of humorous payback...

Brian McCrary is a computer network designer from Gray, TN who is a anti-speed camera activist. After receiving a $90 ticket from the Bluff City Police Department he went to their website and noticed it was about to expire. What he did next had us laughing our asses off. He waited for the site to expire and then bought the domain name from GoDaddy.com and made it into a Anti-speed cam info site!

Read the rest on your own.  It's refreshing and nice to see someone sticking it to the man!

TSA - What A Farce!

The purpose of the TSA, according to their website is, "...to strengthen the security of the nation’s transportation systems while ensuring the freedom of movement for people and commerce.



Great! Just F'n great!  Just what we need, another agency to spend more tax money and inconvenience us. I know what you're going to say, you'll use the "9/11 card," and hope that will end the argument. Yes, 9/11 happened, and it was tragic, but if TSA had existed at that time, they still would have let those terrorists on-board because box cutters were not considered a weapon.

Oh, but they make it harder for the terrorists to hijack a plane. No they don't. While all the focus is on passengers, airport staff and cargo areas are poorly monitored and lightly controlled. Think about this - if liquids are such a threat, then, what does TSA do when they ask you to throw away your liquids. Yup, they ask you to throw them in the trash can, at the screening areas. So there you have a can full of potential explosives with a bunch of people standing around. LIES!



But there hasn't been a terrorist bombing or attack since they've began working. Really? We implement tighter procedures, then the shoe-bomber gets through. We start screening shoes, then the liquid-threat is identified. We "get rid" of liquids, but someone get through with a bomb in their underwear. We have body scanners now, imagine if someone tries to smuggle a bomb in their butt. All the things that TSA does NOW, works against previous threats. It's a theatrical show.

But I don't mind the inconvenience if I'm secure, I've got nothing to hide. I do. To those that have nothing to hide, let's put security cameras in your house to make sure you're secure, that you're not doing anything unsavory or perhaps giving too much trans-fats to your children. It's called dignity and privacy and when they're given up in the name of security, it had better be effective. Taking off my shoes -- doesn't increase security.



Well, what should we do? We can't just do nothing, we have to do something. I agree. The two most effective things that have increased security of air travel are (1) hardened cockpit doors on planes and (2) passengers willing to kick the shit out of anyone that acts up. Remember what we were told prior to 9/11? Don't get involved with someone trying to hijack the plane, stay in your seats, let the experts handle it...yeah, no.

But we're at war. These are the times we live in and we have to make sacrifices. No. We haven't declared war since WWII and we shouldn't have to make sacrifices like these. The most dangerous form of transportation is automobiles, why haven't we declared war on something that kills more Americans weekly than all of airline history? We spend billions of dollars on farcical airport security, while statistically consider the following, odds of dying in a terrorist related airline attack: 1 in 25,000,000; odds of dying from a lighting strike: 1 in 500,000. America is a country of 310 million people, in which thousands of horrible things happen every single day; and the chances that one of those horrible things will be that you're subjected to a terrorist attack can, for all practical purposes, be calculated as zero. Why haven't we declared war on lightning? Are we missing the cost/benefit analysis here?!



The best things we can do to make ourselves safer while flying is to pull our troops out of nations that don't want us there, especially the middle east. 9/11 was the effect, the blowback from the cause, infidels on/near their holy land. Our continued unconstitutional  presence only engenders greater hostility and future blowback. We are our own worst enemy. We could use the troops that we bring home and the money saved to patrol our leaky borders and seaports where there are so many more points of entry.



We could also turn security over to private companies and/or airlines. When TSA employees screw up, they may be fired, but the organization doesn't really suffer, so there really isn't any incentive to be effective. In fact, when they DO screw up, they argue that they need even MORE devices and training and employees. If this show were run privately, any screw up would cost jobs and money. When they succeed, the private organization can use that as bragging right to win more contracts, an incentive.

Finally, TSA not only is a burden, but they are incompetent, ineffective, and punish the good people. It is uncontitutional because this is not a federal duty, it's a private one. It erodes our liberties and makes us less safe and creates a social acceptance of submission to government authority. More freedom and REAL security measures makes us more safe, everything else is just show.

Black Founders - A Research Topic

This is something I suppose I didn't really give much thought to, black founders. When I say founders, I mean founding fathers of America. Most of my generation went to school learning about certain historical figures, such as Paul Revere or Thomas Jefferson. I remember reading that there was a black patriot that was killed at Lexington, where the opening shots started the Revolutionary War. Besides that one mention, there was never any other mention of African-Americans during that war and never again until about the time of the Civil War and Fredrick Douglas.  Apparently there is much more to the story...

***DISCLAIMER*** This is shown on Glenn Beck's show, but without his usual hype. Give it a try.

 Give it watch here

This is something I'm going to have to do more research on. This means that a lot of blacks/minorities were empowered in the past and it reduces the credibility of those that play the "victim card."  Time to hit the books.

A Moment of Awwwwww.

Ok, Iron Man...cool guy, cool suit. What could be better? Well, as it turns out, anything that you make with men a superheroes works twice as well with a baby thrown in.

For your viewing pleasure... Iron Baby vis Gizmodo.



I bet you smiled! Don't deny it!

Gov. Christie Takes On The Unions

I really like this guy. He's a no nonsense do-er. I mean, why haven't we, as people, picked up on the double-talk and hypocrisies of our political representatives? Why do they try to have their staff write laws in legalese so that you and I can't understand it without paying a retainer fee?  Sheesh!

It's no great surprise where I stand on unions. It's also no surprise that I'm especially against teachers' unions. Governor Christie is trying to fix a problem, but the problem refuses to get fixed because unions don't want that. When unions get too big, they are as dangerous and corporations, and either ones, when lobbying to governments creates an atmosphere which is always opposed to general good. Why? Because the corporations and unions exist to serve themselves.

Judge for yourself.



It's time to end their power and bring about performance based pay.

F'n Bureaucrats Are Consuming Our Taxes

Ahhhh, government bureaucrats! In Korea it is considered a desirable and prestigious job. It has job security and there is a career path and they get to flex what little power they have. Muaahahahahahaha!  Sounds similar to US government jobs. I should know; I used to be one. In fact, it was unusual when I quit government service for a corporate job, a lot of my friends couldn't understand. There's a saying in America about governement jobs and IT professionals like me: Government service jobs are where good IT folks go to die.  Hehe.

I suppose there are a lot of similarities in every bureaucracies. There are cogs and managers and leaders. There's corruption and red tape and kick-backs and quid-pro-quo. One day I went to the local Korean government office because I had to do something. While I was waiting I noticed that in addition to paperwork, there was a lot of internet surfing and delivery guys dropping off internet purchases. It was like I was back home in GS world! Needless to say there will always be minor ethical violations no matter where you go.

The Center for Freedom and Prosperity made this video concerning Those That Consume Our Taxes. Notice that it is very difficult to fire a GS worker if they perform poorly. Notice that when they retire we (taxpayers) must continue to pay for their retirements. Notice that during this recession, as private sector jobs and pay have decreased, their's have increased.  I think its time to make some cuts and put that saved tax money back into our small businesses.

What Happens When You're Improperly Jailed?

This question comes to me once in a while. I wonder how society would take care of me if I was wrongly accused and jailed. What if, in spite of knowing that the judgement was wrong, the court goes ahead and either refuses to let me go (because it would set a precedent that would force the court to re-try thousands of cases), still holds me liable when found not guilty (money owed to the state), or interprets the law so dishonestly as to fly in the face of common sense (several Supreme Court decisions). What would society do?

Nothing.

Of course because the plight of one man is infinitesimal. But that doesn't make it right or just. Suppose I was accused and convicted of a crime and then ten years later I were to be exonerated because DNA evidence proves that I wasn't the criminal. Then what? How will society compensate all that I've lost?

I read this article over at Beyond the Broken Spectrum. Money shot:

A Georgia man spent more than a year behind bars for failing to pay child support for a child that wasn’t his, but he was released after DNA tests showed he wasn’t the father. Frank Hatley, 50, had been jailed since June 2008 for not making payments...

Although Hatley was freed from making future payments after a 2001 hearing, Superior Court Judge Dan Perkins had ordered him to continue making $16,000 in back payments.

 HOLY CRAP!

Let's think about this for a second. An innocent man was deprived of liberty, property, and a period of life based on society's judgement of him. If we as society have the power to deprive our peers of these things, then when we're wrong, we should compensate that person justly. It should also act as a cautionary tale because it could happen to any one of us.

How do we compensate the time lost? Money based on average income? Or the accused potential income based his prior job and adjusted for inflation? Or a lifetime compensation package (house, car, everything) based on the median income of the state?

How do we compensate broken relationships?  Or how do we say, "I'm sorry for the prison lifestyle that was forced upon you and I hope you aren't too mentally or emotionally scarred."

Look, I'm not saying that we shouldn't punish criminals in case we accidentally convict an innocent man. BUT, the cornerstone of our justice system can be condensed into the famous line, "Better ten guilty men go free than to convict one innocent man." And if we find that innocent man, then we need to lavish upon him as much, or more, as we have punished him. We must equal the scales.

If it were found that the prosecution was withholding or tampering evidence, then the prosecution needs to face some harsh penalties.  But aside from that, I think that we, as a society and as the state, need to be generous with the compensations. A conservative might say that that's too bad...tough luck...our imperfect justice system sometimes incarcerates innocent men. I don't know what a liberal would say. I say we need to take care of these broken human beings because we created them accidentally. Currently most states have minimal or non-existant compensation for such cases, but there needs to be more.

The Right to Discriminate

Yes, I know. Just like the word "welfare," the word "discriminate." has negative connotations. So what. I'm talking about broader definitions and meanings before these negative connotations were assigned.

Do you discriminate?  I do...all the time. You do too.

Whenever we make decisions we discriminate. I discriminate against American or German cars because I prefer Japanese ones. I discriminate against hiring people that I perceive to be lazy or unable to perform a job. It happens all the time and the freedom or right to do so makes our lives richer.

The reason I'm bringing this topic up is because of Rand Paul's comments and the media spinning his comments waaaaaaay out of context. This is what the liberal media likes to do. It's their forte. Have you hear much about Obama's inept handling of the oil spill? Nope, at least, not in comparison to a right wing / libertarian saying that "..yeah, I'm not in favor of any discrimination in any form."

Walter Williams, a professor at George Mason University, spoke up in defense of Rand and of discrimination. Why? Because the federal government, really, doesn't have the power to tell someone what they can or can't do in a privately owned residence or business.

It's a short read and well worth it.

Oh, and if you're thinking to yourself that Mr. Williams is probably a white supremacist, you'll be pleasantly surprised to know that he's black. I personally wouldn't have cared either way, but I wanted to preempt a pre-judgment, just in case.

Obamacare - EXPOSED!!! And Ron Paul's Solution

Kevin Floyd over at HCTP put up this awesome page concerning Obamacare.

Read and be appalled...


Truth about Obamacare:
- A $500 billion cut in Medicare (Source)
- 30 million new patients with no new doctors (Source)
- Health care rationing (Source)
- Require the uninsured to pay $8500 to buy policies (Source)
- Fine them 2.5% of their income if they don't (Source)
- And send them to jail if they don't pay (Source)
- Tax medical devices like pacemakers and automated wheelchairs (Source)
- Force up premiums for all Americans by $2,000 a year (Source)
- Add $500 billion to the federal deficit (by 2024) (Source)
- Raise income taxes 2.5% (Source)
- Raise capital gains taxes 2.5% (Source)
- Cut reimbursement to doctors who order too many tests for patients
- "Death Panels" (Source)
- Doctors and Specialist salaries are capped (Source)
- Pedophiles, Rapists, and Sexual Predators are given FREE Viagra (Source)
- Doctors must get Govt approval before surgery or "expensive" care (Source)
- Obamacare would raise taxes by 50%-60% (Source)

Now that we're all informed about the idiocy that corporatism (government and big business working together) and  pork and non-solutions rendered by politicians who are exempt from their own laws, let's move on to a statesman of integrity...Ron Paul. He has proposed a health care bill that is probably less than 20 pages (double spaced), compared to the bible-sized Obamacare 2000+ pages.

Here is his statement of introduction for introducing his version of health care. Notice it does not empower the government but empowers individuals via Campaign for Liberty...

Statement of Congressman Ron Paul

United States House of Representatives

Statement Introducing the Private Option Health Care Act

May 27, 2010

Madam Speaker, I rise to introduce the Private Option Health Care Act. This bill places individuals back in control of health care by replacing the recently passed tax-spend-and-regulate health care law with reforms designed to restore a free market health care system.
The major problems with American health care are rooted in government policies that encourage excessive reliance on third-party payers. The excessive reliance on third-party payers removes incentives for individual patients to concern themselves with health care costs. Laws and policies promoting Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) resulted from a desperate attempt to control spiraling costs. However, instead of promoting an efficient health care system, HMOs further took control over health care away from patients and physicians. Furthermore, the third-party payer system creates a two-tier health care system where people whose employers can afford to offer "Cadillac" plans have access to top quality health care, while people unable to obtain health insurance from their employers face obstacles in obtaining quality health care.
The Private Option Health Care Act gives control of health care back into the hands of individuals through tax credits and tax deductions, improving Health Savings Accounts and Flexible Savings Accounts. Specifically, the bill:

A. Provides all Americans with a tax credit for 100% of health care expenses. The tax credit is fully refundable against both income and payroll taxes;

B. Allows individuals to roll over unused amounts in cafeteria plans and Flexible Savings Accounts (FSA);

C. Provides a tax credit for premiums for high-deductible insurance policies connected with a Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and allows seniors to use funds in HSAs to pay for medigap policies;

D. Repeals the 7.5% threshold for the deduction of medical expenses, thus making all medical expenses tax deductible.

This bill also creates a competitive market in heath insurance. It achieves this goal by exercising Congress's authority under the Commerce Clause to allow individuals to purchase health insurance across state lines. The near-monopoly position many health insurers have in many states and the high prices and inefficiencies that result, is a direct result of state laws limiting people's ability to buy health insurance that meets their needs, instead of a health insurance plan that meets what state legislators, special interests, and health insurance lobbyists think they should have. Ending this ban will create a truly competitive marketplace in health insurance and give insurance companies more incentive to offer quality insurance at affordable prices.

The Private Option Health Care Act also provides an effective means of ensuring that people harmed during medical treatment receive fair compensation while reducing the burden of costly malpractice litigation on the health care system. The bill achieves this goal by providing a tax credit for negative outcomes insurance purchased before medical treatment. The insurance will provide compensation for any negative outcomes of the medical treatment. Patients can receive this insurance without having to go through lengthy litigation and without having to give away a large portion of their awards to trial lawyers.

Finally, the Private Option Health Care Act also lowers the prices of prescription drugs by reducing barriers to the importation of Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved pharmaceuticals. Under my bill, anyone wishing to import a drug simply submits an application to the FDA, which then must approve the drug unless the FDA finds the drug is either not approved for use in the United States or is adulterated or misbranded. This process will make safe and available imported medicines affordable to millions of Americans. Letting the free market work is the best means of lowering the cost of prescription drugs.

Madam Speaker, the Private Option Health Care Act allows Congress to correct the mistake it made last month by replacing the new health care law with health care measures that give control to health care to individuals, instead of the federal government and politically-influential corporations. I urge my colleagues to support this bill.

 Freaking elegant!

I Respond To A Floridian's Stance on Homosexuality / Military / Society

A gentleman over at HCTP made his opinion known about gays in the military and society.  It is well thought out and reasoned. He's an intelligent person so there were no flames necessary.

Head on over before you read my reply, or not.

Hi Scott,

You've obviously given a lot of thought to this topic and your well thought out and well written article is proof of your convictions. It's articulate and assertive without being pushy.  In spite of this, I must respectfully disagree with your stance on homosexuality in relation to the military and our society.

In the military, gays are already serving (generally) quietly. The most discriminated group is not gays, but overweight people. They are routinely chapter-ed out for failing to meet physical standards. The problem that we face in the military is not openly serving gays receiving equal treatment, but gays asking for special privileges. Creating a new class of service member and giving them preferred treatments will make other service members resent them.

As a Libertarian, I try to follow a principle of live and let live. If my neighbor is gay but doesn't infringe on my liberties, who cares? What's wrong with tolerance? As a Christian, I don't wear my religion on my sleeve, but I try to be a good neighbor. The old testament spoke against homosexuality, but Jesus never said anything about that topic. The old testament also said that we should stone adulterers. Should we gather stones or are we without sin to cast the first stone? To me, this sounds like a strong case for tolerance.

If homosexuality is a choice, then it is between two consenting adults. So why should we care? A tattoo or piercing runs contrary to logic or reason, yet in many cultures it is acceptable. If it is not a choice and some people are born like this, then do you propose that we keep them segregated?  I use this word also, because if we replaced 'homosexuality' with 'colored folks.' The results are eerie. (I hate to pull the race card, but similar arguments were made prior to de-segregation.)

Also, under the 14th Amendment, we have equal protection. So if we deny gays the opportunity to adopt or have children, that's discrimination against a class of citizen. Do we want to infringe upon the rights of a class of citizen, again?

Let me ask you a question concerning marriage. Do you know where marriage licenses came from? Why would the state need to be party to a spiritual union between two people? Let's put aside legal contracts and estates and taxes (whole other debate :D ). After the civil war, the state wanted to be able to prevent inter-racial marriages. It's not a just a formality. A magistrate in Louisiana did deny an inter-racial couple marriage just last year. If two adults want to form a common law union, again, why should we care?

Debra, Scott, we don't have to like gays or talk to them. We just have to tolerate them. My instinct and emotional response may be to abhor them, but I use my logic and intellect to be tolerant, just, and polite to my neighbor because he/she pays taxes and schleps to work just like I do. Do they care what I do inside my house, probably not, so I should offer them the same courtesy. My logic and reason overcomes any "ism". My faith gives me strength when reason and logic fail.

Is homosexuality unholy? I can't say. Is it natural? Not for the purposes of reproduction. But bonobos and dolphins have been found to have homosexual relations, so there may be something in nature that allows for homosexuality.

The way I see it. If we deny a class of citizen privileges or rights that we claim, then we infringe upon their rights. To grant them their rights and privileges cost us nothing but a bit of tolerance. You both are passionate and intelligent folks as evidenced by your reasoning and education. I may not have won you over, but I hope I have given you something to consider.

Teachers' Unions Have Outlived Their Usefulness

Check out this video about a teachers' strike...



This is one of those things that I don't like as a parent and Libertarian. Ever since 1983 when A Nation At Risk came out, we started throwing money at teachers to improve our educational system. Teachers' Unions became powerful lobbies and have since bullied local governments and badgered taxpayers with their pay hikes. Has yearly increases in pay improved our children's scores? No. We constantly read about other nations, South Korea recently, outperforming our students in tests every year.

This goes back to free-market principles. If teachers do poorly in public schools, they continue to get paid, but in a private or charter school system that teacher would be replaced very quickly because they have to please the parents (customers) lest they lose the parents to another school. Sure, poorly performing teachers are pulled out and put on administrative duties which can entail sitting in a room doing nothing for up to three years!! That's our tax money being wasted for three years! In a privatized school -- no way. Do the job or take a hike.

As you can see in the video, the teachers refuse a pay cut. They have their jobs, the district is hurting for funds, and 85% of the educational funding is for teachers' pay! I think the only solution left, then, is to fire some of them. How short-sighted those teachers are.

Another Candidate I'd Support - Jason Sager

A fellow Floridian Jason Sager is running for Florida's 5th Congressional District. He too supports a Constitutional Republic and strict interpretation of the Constitution.  Jeez people, have we become so pacified that we accept whatever these bullies in Washington throw at us? I hope my state's legislature takes a stand and starts flexing its own rights and authorities against the feds.

 

Go Jason!

Another Candidate I'd Support - Les Phillip

People like Ron Paul and similar like minded people are few and have very little influence in Congress, currently. However, the message is getting out. The message that our federal government is out of control and the Constitution is the restraining mechanism. We've got Rand Paul with a great chance for a senate seat in Kentucky. There's Peter Schiff in Connecticut also running for Senate. Here is Les Phillip; he's running for Alabama's 5th Congressional District. If I lived there, I'd vote for him.



and anther one... The money shot, "...and they're not going to call me a racist." Booyah!



Let's send a bunch of them to congress in 2010! Then we'll send some more in 2012! THIS is the CHANGE that should have happened.

Light + Video + Art = ZOMG!

When I watched this video, I caught myself smiling. There are some really creative people out there!


ENVISION : Step into the sensory box from SUPERBIEN on Vimeo.

Malicious Cops - St. George, Missouri

Heaven forbid you, as a sovereign citizen refuse to answer a question that the cops really don't have a need to know. It's one thing if the cop asks to see your driver's license and registration. There might be a state law that forbids you from denying it, so you should hand it over. It's another thing if the cop ask you where you're going or what you're doing, if you've done nothing wrong. Of course you really shouldn't say, "It's none of your business." That could be rude and end up getting you a ticket. Perhaps, you could say that you don't want to talk about personal business with the officer.

Could this kid handled thing differently? Sure. Did this cop exceed his duties? Judge for yourself.

New Topic - Malicious Cops

I'm going to begin posting all the negative news and negative videos and pushing sites that talk about bad cops. If there is something good to publish about them I might. Why the bias? Because it seems that good cops are being outnumbered by the bad cops and the "blue line" or blue wall of silence makes them all look bad. One of my childhood friend's dad was a cop. He walked his beat and didn't have to really mess with anyone. He told me that often times, he didn't need to bring a lot of misguided people. He rarely gave out tickets. He only pulled them in or ticketed them when the offender became violent or rude. I can agree with that. I mean, if you're in a bar fight perhaps you need to be hauled in to cool off. Is it really necessary to ticket every jaywalker and sidewalk spitter that a cop sees? That kind of policing behavior is pedantic, doesn't do any good for the public, and is often viewed as a money making scheme for the city/county/state. It's crap and so are quotas and unnecessary force. One of these days when I go back to the states, I'm going to work on getting on the review board for police officers. I'm going to track these complaints and do my best to make sure no bad cops go unnoticed.

This is my site, this is my bias, so take it with whatever amount of salt you'd like.

In the meantime here is a video of cops shooting a dog while serving a search warrant. Judge for yourself.