It's For Your Own Good!

The linked video is the title song from the film "Thank You For Smoking."  I really like the song and that's why it's there.  I'd like to discuss the argument surrounding smoking bans especially in Kentucky for two reasons: I actually know the laws there and it is the last place the conversation is still being held.  Most states have either already placed bans in effect or it is completely out of the question.

Kentucky got a failing grade on its tobacco policies by the American Lung Association.  This has led to people suggesting a higher cigarette tax, a tighter smoking ban in some places, or a full statewide ban.  The advocates of these practices point to studies showing that smoking bans are saving lives and improving living situations, even in prisons, as proof that they are correct.  I can not argue that smoking is bad for a person's health.  I lost my grandmother to lung cancer and my father has been allergic to smoke all my life.  I am not blind to the studies that have shown how much better people's lives are because there isn't any smoke in the air around them.  Kentucky has one of the highest rates of cancer in the nation and many blame the low cigarette taxes promoting smoking as a leading cause.  In fact, the designee for the Secretary of Health and Human Services is an anti-smoking advocate.

Wow, Leviathan, you pretty much nipped smoking in the bud didn't you?  I guess so.  There's only one problem.  These bans aren't being enforced.  In fact, some disputers of the law are downright rebellious.  In most conversations about smoking bans right now I would point out that caffiene and alcohol are also bad for a person's health but they are legal.  Then my opponent points out that they don't harm others like second- and now third-hand smoke.  I have to admit, harming others around you for the sake of your own addiction is downright rude.  In fact, in other cases of such activity, it's downright illegal.  I keep ripping holes into the legality of smoking aren't I?  What's the answer then?  Stricter laws to enforce tougher penalties when the cops feel like enforcing them?

Well I have two answers.  The first is one of my old campaign strategies: let individual business owners decide.  This fallback on free market economics is sure to settle the problem once and for all.  If we let individual owners decide whether or not to allow smoking, then consumers and employees can decide if they want to accept the risks of the environment and shop/work there.  If the market doesn't like smoke in the same environment as the good or service, they'll stop shopping there and the business will either change its policies or go out of business.  With proper signs marking smoking or not smoking near entryways, consumers will be able to decide for themselves.  All without the help of the government.  Another option is to completely ban smoking outside of private areas: specifically the home and the car.  This option uses strong-arm government control, and with proper enforcement would force people to curb their addiction to tobacco to stay active members of society.  There was a map that showed that the only states to get failing grades from the ALA were the former Confederate states and Kentucky.  With the passing of the increased cigarette taxes, Kentucky and Tennessee would get D's.  Surely we don't have any reason to fear this selection of states being upset at the federal government exercising authority not given to it in the Constitution, right?

It seems pretty much inevitable that the second option I proposed will be the one that is eventually adopted.  I hope that everyone is proud of how they stomp on the rights of business owners.  Just remember that as long as the government says they are acting on your behalf, you don't have to make any decisions for yourself.  Surely you don't have any other rights that can be removed because they aren't safe.  Say, you don't own a gun do you?  Studies show...

Is it Ever Wrong to Do Right?

That is the question at the heart of the 2009 Great American Think-Off this year.  The event is held in a small town in Minnesota and asks people to send in essays of up to 750 words answering the question.

While I'm still debating writing a submission, I would like to take three stories from the news to say both yes and no.  I can say both yes and no because I am a politician and that kind of double-speak comes as second nature.  Deal with it.

December 10, 2008 was a very important day for many in the country.  Do you know why?  It was Day Without a Gay.  Advocates of homosexual marriage in California wanted to stage a national protest to Proposition 8 in CA and similar same-sex marriage bans in Florida and Arizona by showing the country just how important homosexuals are to the economy.  If they would have wanted to do this a year prior it would have been perfect, but their timing was off.  By December 08 the country was in the middle of a recession and people couldn't afford to lose their jobs.  What if Day Without A Gay, which ended up not doing very well for these very reasons, went off without a hitch and employers realized that while they were hurt by the loss of employees, they were not only still making money but they no longer had to make the painful budget cuts because they could just fire the striking workers.  Good for the businesses but detrimental to the cause of same-sex marriage, which I personally support fully (more on that on another day).  By trying to do right and improve the nature of their cause, the founders of this movement could have caused irreparable harm to the economic status of homosexuals; which in this country is almost synonomous to power.

I might touch on this at a later time but the issue is too expansive to discuss in this particular post, but the Civil Rights Act followed by Affirmative Action were started with the best of intentions.  However, at the present they are unintentionally falsely affecting the market and repressing those people they are supposed to help by widening the gap.  Read about it here.

Libertyhound and I have had many conversations about the ability of charities and coorporations to carry on just fine without the government.  This argument lies at the heart of the libertarianism v. statism debate.  One man has decided to make money by doing things that are good, taking what would otherwise be charitable and making it profitable.  Several organizations have booed him, however his tactics have brought more money to his causes than most aid organizations can dream of.  How dare he make almost $400,000 a year for helping people.  Why can baseball players, movie stars, and congressman make large sums of money doing nothing other than play silly games involving balls, imagination, and lies but one man can't make a buck helping people with cancer?

It is, I suppose, not a question of ends justifying means or intentions being good or bad.  Hitler wanted world peace and he killed countless millions of blacks, gyspies, homosexuals, and... oh yeah, Jews.  Andrew Carnegie wanted to make money and he connected the nation with railroads.  I guess sometimes you just have to hope for a little providence and luck to decide.

Global Warming

Oh gee thanks Leviathan, thanks for going from a riveting topic like national economics to an even more exciting discussion like global warming.  Well, actually you're all out of luck, as anyone who actually reads the linked articles before they read my commentary would know.  I'm actually going to talk about the changing climate of global economics.  Let's try and make this as painless as possible and get right to it.

The linked article is from last July and ponders the death of globalization.  It is from before the financial crisis got kicked off and I think it delivers an interesting perspective in lieu of current events.  Please do read it, it's worht the time.

The Economist, a weekly publication, did a series on globalization in September which I will be using to base most of my discussion.  September was right at the beginning of the housing bust but long before the banks started crashing and well before anyone thought that Detroit would need a lifeline.

In any discussion of global issues, especially economics, the two forces at hand are developed and developing countries.  Post-industrialist is now 'developed' and industrialist is 'developing' and third-world countries are either becoming 'developing' or aren't in the conversation.

That being said there are two sides to each of these coins: soveriegn-wealth and free market.  Russia and China are good examples of developed sovereign-wealth economies while the United States is the last bastion of pure free market idealism in the developed world.  Refer to the last post for why it should remain that way.  Globalization started with the developed nations exporting goods to developing countries and trading goods with each other.  Some developing nations became displeased with the amount of economic and political intervention other countries were imposing.  Many Middle Eastern countries are very angry with the United States over the Westernization process they are seeing through the importing of Coke and KFC.  They do have a good point.  We are now seeing the problems with Rusian-owned oil companies dictating whether or not Europe gets oil for political reasons.

The developing nations also have soveriegn-wealth and free market economies and they are looking at their developed brethren to see which form they should adopt.  While the United States' economy is seeing downturns in profits, many developing economies are seeing a boom due to better management and growing demand within their own countries.  Every American is already a consumer, so Ford has to sell car owners new cars.  Villagers in rural India have never owned a computer or car before, so those companies are able to tap into a consumer base that is completely new.  While developed nations tend to outsource companies and jobs to developing countries for cheaper labor, developing nations outsource companies to other developing ntions because they have a better chance of competing in the emerging markets and jobs to developed nations whose workers are slowly losing their jobs to better technology (a worse enemy to the American worker than outsourcing).

What the next step in the globalization process will either be very intriguing or very scary.  It will be frightening if developed economies turn protectionist to protect domestic companies.  Not only would this harm the developed economies who depend on developing countries for outsourced goods and services already in place, but it would also harm the developing economies who do receive a lot of money from developed consumers.  It willbe intriguing if American and Russian companies can take a page out of the management book of the developing economies to see how to make cheaper products like India, make more desirable products like Taiwan, and how to have effective governmental regulation of the economy like United Arab Emerates.

Hopefully American politicans will warm to the idea of globalization in that we are no longer the only power driving it.  We need to learn how to be diplomatic like we were when we started, otherwise we will receive the cold shoulder from the future powers of the globalized world.

Freedom Under Fire

You know those multinational coorporations that have been blamed for ruining our economy over the last few years by removing jobs from our work force and for using cheap labor across the globe?  Thank goodness they have been because otherwise the current recession would be much worse, similar to the Great Depression.  The linked article describes how current relations between countries is already making sure the problem isn't as bad as it was eighty years ago and how they could be better to prevent future dips.

There are two dialectical sides in the discussion for free trade: one is that the current downturn is proving that American-style capitalism is failing and dead, the other is that the system is fine but government is screwing everything up.

Even before most Americans knew that there was a problem with the system as a whole, many across the world were feeling the pain of globalized free markets.  Rising oil prices were raising food costs, not terribly noticeable to most Americans, but in Africa and South America the already struggling peoples were even more detrimented.  Then the market tanked due to the housing bubble bust and the shit hit the proverbial fan.  Economists started saying that there was a huge problem with the system and government needed to intervene.  The problem isn't greedy CEOs or overreaching globalization or lax regulators, the problem is the free market system.  Even Alan Greenspan, the champion of the American economy and free markets, was shocked at how badly the market fell.  He was sorry for all the pain that his principles hadcaused people and started asking governments to step in and rescue the innocent bystanders.  I won't go into the irony of who governments are actually helping today, but it is coming soon, promise.

In a week we inaugurate a new president.  He has said that he wants to roll out $800 billion in new bailout funds to jump start the economy back into shape.  Unfortunately for him, he doesn't just have to save our economy right now; he has to save our way of life.  Government spending is all well and good in small doses when it is aimed at a direct problem with strict oversight. Example: nobody has complained at the government giving everybody a $40 coupon to get the cable converter box.  This is effectively a bailout for the cable companies.  They can't afford to send out analog signals and Congress decided to help those people who receive analog cable and can't afford to buy the convertor themselves so that they can still recieve basic information like the news and Jerry Springer.  How much is that costing the government and saving the cable companies?  Nobody has asked because it makes sense to do that.  It is a relatively small dose of money given directly to people who need it.  That's what we pay taxes for right?

The system works when it is used properly.  I hate to say this, but the problem is user error.  Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were government organizations that told banks that they had to give out mortgage loans to people who could not afford houses.  Does that sound like free markets?  No.  That is government intervention.  If the banks had been left to their own devices, they wouldn't have given so many people home loans.  "But Leviathan, if they don't get loans then they can't afford homes, where will they live?"  In an apartment, a smaller house, with family, or in a box.  Housing is not a basic right of humanity.  It is a basic need.  It is why people get up in the morning and go to work.  It is why women used to marry men and have kids.

There are many lessons to learn from this crisis.  The most important lesson to take away from all of the evidence is that the government needs to remember what the United States government is supposed to do.  I am, unfortunately, not smart enough to tell anyone what the United States government should do, so I refer to the preamble of the Constitution for the answer: to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity.

Free market capitalism has ups and downs.  Bankruptcy lawyers and repo men are feeling the ups right now while everyone else is feeling the downs.  Just because you are losing money doesn't mean that the system is broken, in fact it means that the system works.  I think we have seen enough evidence to stop trusting what the Bush cabinet says and has anyone ever trusted their broker?  Stop complaining, keep working (even if it means at a job you don't like), and start putting money into savings.  We've gotten through worse and we will get through this.  We have to do it together and without government regulation.  Otherwise we will have a FEMA for the economy: badly put together, shows up too late, and led by someone who doesn't know the difference between a flood and a horse's ass.

Nanny Jersey Allowing break ins

The City of Newark, NJ has imposed a citywide ban on all barbed wire and razor wire. This includes over fencing around storage lots and businesses. Burglaries are increasing by leaps and bounds in the city. Business and home owners have been storming the city officials begging for the repeal of this ridiculous law. The city's official stance on the subject so far has been, "but, someone could get hurt if they try to climb over it." Business owners reply with, "NO SHIT!"
This kind of over protection of citizens from their own decisions is preposterous. Why should honest innocent citizens be put at risk and their property be at risk for the sake of some criminal who tries to climb over razor wire to steal from someone trying to feed their family honestly. We have to stop this kind of coddling of those who are the dark side of our society. With stupid laws like this one and the over control of guns in this country, before long it will be considered a right to take something from your neighbor. Hmmm, the fall of property rights, sounds like communism to me. Or at the least all the criminals we are protecting will kill off all the honest good poeple. This kind of government will be the downfall of America. I am going to go watch "Idiocracy" again. I am starting to think it deserves a second chance.

Hooray Beer!

Guinnes is 250 years old this year.  They are releasing a special brew, probably around St. Patrick's Day in celebration.  So everyone grab a friend, open a bottle, and remember this:

Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy! - Benjamin Franklin

The American Dream

The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Those words are etched on a plaque inside the Statue of Liberty.  Nashville, TN desires to make English the official, and therefore only allowable, language of the government.  Similar measures have been attempted across the country.  This is quite possibly the most un-American ballot issue ever proposed.  While it is true that a common language is most helpful, it is also true that in 232 years of American government we have allowed people to speak any language they so desire.  If there is a sufficient population in a city, county, state, or district to make the government think that a Spanish, Korean, Japanese, or to go so far as Ebonic version of the form would better serve the citizenry, why should we limit the future government's ability?  Just because many in the city of Nashville don't like the emergin latino population, it should not be acceptable to have this covert racism pass.  We used to have literary tests to prevent African-Americans from voting.  Key word in that sentence is 'used.'  We realized that just because a person can't read, or in this case comprehend, the local language doesn't remove that person's rights to service and representation.

WASPs aren't the only people who are guaranteed the American dream which is precisely why we are the greatest country in the world.

The Gaza issues in 2 mins

Curious about whats going on in Gaza? Take 2 minutes and watch this. Its a pretty nice summary of how we got to where we are.

Don't Be Stupid!

The linked article is far more interesting than the two I'm going to talk about, but I'm tired tonight and I want to go to bed.  Please read the article, it brings up some good points.  One of them is that Sarah Palin exemplifies the stupidity of American culture.  It's not that citizens of any other culture are necessarily smarter than Americans, it's that we put the dumbest individuals on a societal pillar.

Sarah Palin has even said that the news media is reporting about things that aren't news.  She is fed up with people following her and her family around.  Time was she couldn't get enough media attention.  Then she met with Katie Couric.  Katie didn't wear her kid gloves and her punches were dirty.  Or were they?  I thought they showed just how unqualified Mrs. Palin was at even being a Governer, much less President.  Sarah needs to go home and play with her grandbaby.

She makes the rest of us look bad because the rest of the world is watching.  Russia can see her from its house.

Defrosting the Kremlin

The linked article describes the relationship between Russia and NATO, the group designed to destroy the Soviet Union in the Cold War.  NATO is going through the process of picking their next leader and I think the article does a really good job of not only describing the dynamics of the group's members, but also naming some possible candidates for the top post.  Please do read the article, I don't intend to go any further into NATO politics right now.  With that said, let's talk about Russia!

The Cold War is over.  It's been over for 17 years.  Putin is a Cold War politician and he is very good at it.  I wrote a blog to that effect.  Fortunately for most of the world, Medvedev isn't Putin.  Putin is a very powerful man, but I think he is taking a temporary reprive from the headlines to allow the possibility of him getting back into the presidency.

Dmitri Medvedev has learned what India, Pakistan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria have also had to learn the hard way: terrorists don't have borders.  I don't intend to write two terrorism blogs in a row, but it does at least have to be mentioned as a base for foreign policy.  The new Russian president is hopeful that he and the new American president can open a new dialogue about an issue much closer to home in Russia, which shares a border with Afghanistan, than the United States, which felt the sting of terror seven and a half years ago.  Russia, and everyone that voted for Obama, is hoping that the United States makes a swift change incourse when it comes to unilateral military action.  While Russia doesn't really like NATO, it prefers a group acting to a rogue invasion.

Russia certainly needs to work on its relationship with the United States after that little incursion into Georgia.  We can certainly understand what it's like to be overextended diplomatically and militarily.  Russia was also trying to fight on two fronts.  There was the diplomatic bluster with NATO over the military incursion of Russia.  The Kremlin has also been trying, somewhat lacklusterly, to woo China.  The more times that power is divided, the more dangerous it is to start trouble.  If Russia can secure China as an ally, it would be more able to fend off NATO.  China has to be careful in this power play because they are finally cozying up to us after years of bad relations.

China and Russia have a very long history due to their shared border and communist ideology.  Even though both nations are under less strict regimes than they were during the Cold War, diplomatic ties are rarely lost because of time alone.  China wants to make peace with Russia just as badly as Russia does, because having to maintain a high defense budget due to aggressive neighbors is a waste of money.  Easier said than done.  China has its own allies to worry about and the chess game of international politics is a messy one.  China used to be able to justify the relationship because of weaponry and oil imports, but they are getting their oil from elsewhere and Russia's weapons were old.

The Georgian pickle did, however, succeed two things for Russia.  It showed NATO and the EU that Russia still has a little bite behind its bark and it showed some of the weaknesses of the military.  Necessary improvements are being made so that Russia's military is joining the 21st century.  If Medvedev is successful, their foreign relations will too.

Russia has even been fortunate enough to be given a chance not only to show off her naval prowess, but also her willingness to work with NATO and the EU.  Pirates!  The driving purpose behind America's navy is the source of Russia's diplomatic future.  If Russia fights the pirates with the United States, rather than fighting the United States, then everyone is happy, and it will be a very plesent spring after a long, Cold, winter.

Indian Reservations

About six weeks ago, on November 26, terrorists stormed the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai, India.  Since then allegations have littered the air that the perpetrators are from Pakistan, with whom India has had a long history of violence.  The Indian government has plenty of proof that the terrorists are Pakistani, but the Pakistani government is denying all claims.  The Pakistani government, now headed by Benazir Bhutto's widower Asif Zardari, is still under the surviving leadership of a military coup in 1958.  The militant government has said that they are committed to aiding the United States in the war on terror and that they are taking the fight to the terrorists in the northwest quadrant.  However, India is not very convinced of this as they are continually attacked.

Both India and Pakistan have nuclear weapons.  We just signed a nuclear arms deal with India and have been allies with Pakistan since we started the war on terror.  Our government has tried every possible way to apologize for the failures of the Pakistani government as a surrogate to apologizing for our own inability.  The United States military already tried following the insurgents from Afghanistan back to their bases in Pakistan, and were both scolded and unsuccessful.  We were told by our ally that invasions of their territory for the purposes of combating terrorism "would not be tolerated".

I guess India is on its own for this one.  India does not have the ability to idly stand by as terrorists flow across the border through the Kashmir territory.  Since both nations have been fighting for a very long time, people in both nations are agitated with the actions of the other nation.  Building armies for a war would not be difficult, they have fought several times in the last fifty years.  Also, because they are both nuclear powers, all parties involved are trying to prevent open warfare.

That leaves one course of action: diplomacy.  Many in India feel that a return to old school politics, closer to Otto Von Bismarck's realpolitik, is necessary.  Attempts at UN sanctions have been unsucessful and without proof that the government is directly involved in the attacks the world court is powerless.

With no one fully in India's corner, it is very difficult for them to be able to be strong without being belligerent.  This gives Pakistan a hand up in the diplomatic battle for the international community's support.

At least someone is trying to fight with words even though they are far more justified to try a militant course.

The Pot Called the Kettle What?

The Japanese have compared our military occupation of Afghanistan similar to the Russian military occupation of Afghanistan at the end of the Cold War.  A lot of critics of the "War on Terror" have mentioned the irony of fighting against the very eople that we armed to fight the Commies.  Funny story, the Afghanis feel the same way.  That might be why Al Qaeda and the Taleban, two separate organizations, are both doing so well at recruiting new members.  It's not even really difficult since most of them are either from or travel regularly to Pakistan, which I'll address in a different blog, and Iran.

It especially doesn't help that so many of the victims are women and children.  The problem with bombs is that they neither recognize nor care about what they destroy.  Smart bombs are only smart in that they are more accurate.  For every woman, child, or noncombatant that is killed, the Taleban are able to intelligently follow up with the family to recruit new members.  Every bomb that goes off only strengthens our enemy.

We aren't fighting a standard war any more.  Afghanistan does not have a national army that is going to meet our army on the field of battle for prearranged terms.  Hitler, Napoleon, and Genghis Khan all fought armies.  We are fighting insurgents.  We are fighting very dedicated individuals on their land under their terms.  As we saw in Vietnam, the Army is not equipped to fight against these guerilla tactics.  Terrorists do not follow the rules of engagement because they are not government-sanctioned; they don't have to follow the rules they are fighting against.  

We can not afford to go into a ninth year of pointless, and expensive, combat.  With the economy drooping its head more every day, how much longer can we afford to waste money in a country that isn't ours?  We don't even import anything from Afghanistan.  While more ground troops would be very good at going through every home and killing every person who is the least bit suspicious, that won't do anything except make the problem worse.  We must use diplomacy to achieve peace, and time to achieve progress.

If I've said it once, I've said it a million times, we can't do it alone.  Afghanistan is half a world away, we don't share any cultural background that would help us to know the best negotiation tactics.  Who does?  Iran.  Did I say Iran?  Yes.  Positively?  Yes.  Aren't they evil?  No, they are a long-standing Middle Eastern democracy whose leaders are attempting to impose Western standards.  Mahmoud Ahmadinajed has wanted to open conversation with the United States for several years now and has already tried to open talks with Barack Obama, who said he would talk with Iran during the primaries.  Iran shares a border with Afghanistan and is tired of opium and terrorists flowing freely through the borders as people flee our bombs.  George W. Bush has said that Iran is evil because they want to build nuclear weapons.  Iran wants to do anything it must to be taken seriously as a world power.  Serious talks with Iran to allow a Muslim-led force to take over anti-terrorist operations in Afghanistan would go a very long way to improve relations between Iran and every other country in the world.

Does America always have to unilaterally decide what course of action is best for everyone else?  Is the current push to universalize liberal democratic capitalism so much different than Stalin's drive to globalize communism?

It's the Economy, Stupid

I'm sorry I haven't gotten an economy post up yet.  I'm working on compliling sources for the TARP/auto bailout blogs.  I found this video from the U.S. News and Report.  It's an hour long and the figures inside show what is wrong with the economy right now.

I have been joking for years that feminism is destroying the economy and the home by taking women out of the home, depraving children of parenting, and putting them into the economy, flooding the market with workers and destroying demand.  I was only kidding because it made enough sense to tick off most of the progressive women I went to college with.  However, here are some solid facts in support of that line of thought.  Any ideas how to keep progressive women's rights while returning to family values and a better economy?

A hard transition

Today's post was more inspired by the linked article rather than in response to it. FINALLY, the economy is on every tongue in America. While it should have never left our public conversation at these levels, I will take what I can get. There is a huge part of the current economic problem that no one is mentioning. It is the element of the economic problem that will drag this problem out for quite some time and the reason that no stimulus package will truly solve the problem. There are a few necessary elements for any capitalist economy to work and prosper. One is that the economy must be savings based and the other is that it must be free. As the federal reserve and the government began to strangle the natural, free economy with regulation and the switch to fiat money we slowly slipped from a savings based economy to a debt based economy. It doesn't take Milton Freidman to see that there is a problem with this. A debt based economy can only grow as more debt is accrued. The debt pond gets fished out really quickly. The same principle can be appliet to our fiat monet system. the currency can only be inflated so much before it collapses. No matter how many 600 and 500 dollar checks you send out to the American people, the money will usually go toward payment of debt. And before Stan even says so, the government buying the nation's debt would be one of the worst things to do about it. This would not only put the final nail in the socialism coffin but further ravage the economy as well. This issue is why we are seeing the problem in the lending institutions first. The average American is now so far in debt that they cant accrue anymore. This stops any debt based economy in its tracks. We will have a rough transition back to a savings based economy, but it is on the way. Americans are becoming afraid and starting to save again. Hang in there and deregulate and this thing will pass. Okay, I will stop here before this turns into a complete rant. BTW guys sorry I havent been around a lot. Been workin on a book project. I will keep you updated over the next 20 years until its done. Thanks for reading.

War is Good for the Economy

The old adage is that war is good for the economy. I'd like to add to it: unless you are fighting it. Robert Gates sent a letter to Congress saying he'll need more money to keep up the war, and that doesn't even take into account an increase in troops in Afghanistan. Soon I'm going to be writing about how much I dislike the idea of the 17.4 billion dollar auto bailout. That's, unfortunately, chump change compared to the 136 billion dollars... that Gates wants this year. Don't even get started on the near trillion we've spent in the last five years in Iraq and Afghanistan.

I'm fairly confident that when a country's economy goes down the drain they pull out of all active military conflicts. That's what the British and French would do. They fought a near-constant war for centuries, taking breaks only when they couldn't afford to pay their armies. Maybe if we stopped shipping 200,000 of our workforce overseas and allowed them to stay home to buy cars we wouldn't have to bail out Detroit. Also, we would need more support workers for the extra workers. Tertiary in nature, if we let the Iraqis fight it out amongst themselves, then they will want to buy guns and ammo and food and vehicles from us, which is good for the economy.

Mitch McConnell is an Idiot

Sorry I haven't written anything on the bailouts (plural yes I know) yet.  I'm prepping a huge piece on it, bigger than my Russia one.  I got really behind on the news with the holidays and I don't want to miss any of the viewpoints on the issue.

Mitch McConnell helped push the first bailout because helping homeowners helped him overcome Bruce Lundsford.  Now that the elections are over he doesn't really have to worry about what the voters think.  He's got six years before he comes up again and the political memory of the nation is on average 6 weeks.  I said average in case anyone wants to get upset because they will vote against McConnell next time because of his decision to kill the auto bailout.  If that is you you should probably stop reading anything by either of the publishers of this blog.

Now that Mitch doesn't have to worry about votes he returns to the original conservative views of government that make him completely unpopular among Kentucky liberals and a leading member of the Senate Republicans.  When I write about the auto bailout I am going to herald the leadership of Mitch for killing it, but I would like to take the opportunity now to say that he is both an idiot and a very good politician.

When the voting public has a longer political memory than 6 weeks, when the people of this country hold their politicians responsible for the hypocrisy and flip-flops, when 24 (or 18 in other cases) years in office is seen as a tyranny not a legacy, then we will see a better government.

What???

North Dakota has a what?  A surplus?  How'd they manage that?  I don't know but I'd like to find out... Oil?  Huh, I thought their main export was cold, but that stuff must be a hard sell... Global warming?  Meh.  Speaking of meh, it's in the dictionary now, so eat that.  One of the cool things is that the legislators want to be cautious with the surplus money because they know that hard times are coming.  That sounds like responsibility in government to me...  The governor wants to give some property tax relief, only a quarter of the surplus mind you, and even then the legislature is unsure if he can do that ince property tax is set on the local not state level.  The legislature questioning the practices of the executive?  Absurd.  I hope nobody follows the practices of North Dakota, stupid Yankees screw everything up right?

Oy Vey!

I have been avoiding the subject of the Israeli-Paliestinian conflict for some time. It's a 4,000 year old battle that my opinions can't really impact, but now I have to say something. I think it's incredible that Israel has actually sent ground troops into Palestine. They are saying that this is the final battle and that they are in it to the end. Perhaps this time they will finally cleanse the area of the last of the peoples that God told them to kill so that they could have the promised land... though I rather doubt it. The Arab world which surrounds Israel has been rather silent on the issue (from the American point of view) as referenced by the following cartoon.

I'm sure that this newest battle will turn out similarly to the 1967 war and Israel will think it has won something when the only it has actually won is more enemies. Hopefully one of these days the United States will let go of Israel's leash and go back in the house so that we are no longer associated with them. We have no reason to be in that entangling agreement except guilt over a genocide that we didn't commit. Now look who's doing the genociding...

Bad Pledges

The linked story refers to a new study. An old study has shown that people who make a pledge to hold off sex until marriage are more likely to wait later until having premarital sex. (Still breaking the pledge, but whatever) This new study compares people who make the pledge and people who don't make the pledge but wait longer to have sex anyway. (Living up to higher standards without the fancy vanity of being a member of a club) It shows that people who make the pledge are less likely to use condoms than those who just wait of their own volition. I hope someone out there in the world of education is paying attention. Not only is abstinence-only education completely and thoroughly ineffective, but now those people who are to be held in higher esteem because they are willing to stave off temptation neither hold up their commitments nor break this vow in the safest manner possible. I hope someone is proud of this.

In the Good Old Days

There's a reason that people called them the roaring twenties. They were too drunk to see the bad old thirties coming. I don't know how we're going to refer to the nineties, but most people were too high to see the current decade coming. George W. Bush said in the liked article that he didn't want to be seen as another Herbert Hoover. I can guarantee that nobody will. Herbert Hoover was a brilliant economist who had served as Secretary of the Treasury. George W. Bush was elected Governor of Texas because his dad had been president once.

Skip ahead to their reactions to crisis. When the stock market fell to hell on Black Tuesday, Herbert Hoover said that the economy would correct itself and wanted to let the free market do its thing. When George W. Bush saw the stock market implode after September 11, 2001, he sent troops without going to war. If he would have gone to war he could have mobilized the entire economy towards the war effort like every other president has in war time so that the economy would improve during the fighting, but Georgey wouldn't know that because he's dumb. Then, seven years later, when the economy had gotten even worse, he decided to print $700 billion dollars and give it away because he doesn't know how inflation, exchange rates, or the basic principles of supply and demand work.

George W. Bush would be lucky to be remembered even close to Herbert Hoover because most people credit Herbert Hoover with getting stuck in the wrong place at the wrong time. George is just stupid.

Silence is golden

Okay guys. I know I have been away for a bit. I am coming back with a very important bang. Today I want you all to realize that whether you like it or not, the government works against you by default. I am not going to rant or put out a diatribe. I only want you to watch this and also watch the less interesting part 2. This video could possibly save your freedom or at least thousands in fines. So I wont say anything else but PLEASE WATCH THIS. Thank You.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4097602514885833865

Who Plays What?

Condaleeza Rice gave a piano recital for the Queen of England.  Did you know she could play?  I didn't.  I think it's pretty cool.  She played Brahms Op. 34.  I didn't know what it sounded like so I am posting the video so you can listen to the third movement if you don't know it and would like to hear what she played.

Look Who's Talking

 When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as  Europe . 

 The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. 

 It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world. 

  I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.

 My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government. 

 No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. 

 The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government. 

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

 To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.

'I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered..'

I received an email with the above-listed quotes.  I thought about using them in different blogs, but then I thought, "Why not just post them?"  Here is the game.  Guess who said them.  You have heard similar sayings out of many, including both of the authors of this blog.  You might be surprised who said these things.  The answer will be posted on Tuesday, December 9th.

Nuclear Winter?

Tensions are rising between India and Pakistan. Russia is sending envoys to Cuba and Venezuela. Iran has been reported to have enough enriched uranium for one nuclear weapon. China is still engaged in sovereignty struggles with Taiwan and Tibet. I don't know if you guys have heard of this little country called Israel, but they aren't doing too well internationally either.

Now North Korea is saying that they are going to turn their nuclear reactor back on. Experts agree that the main purpose for this maneuver is to try and show the United States that they won't be pushed around by any one country. Pyongyang wants to maintain the six country talks but not submit to unilateral pressure. That makes complete sense. We, most of all, should understand this. While we won't bend to the desires of Russia or Iran, we will listen to NATO or the UN. Nobody wants to be bullied.

It makes sense for us to be worried about any other nation to gain nuclear armaments. It also makes sense for other nations to be wary of our current ownership of such. What right do we have to be the sole owner of these weapons? Who gave us permission? Did we ask? Do we have to? The answers are none, nobody, no, and no. The answers for any current non-nuclear nation is sovereignty, nobody, no, and no. If a sovereign nation wants to make nuclear weapons than they can, because they are sovereign. Look up the word and realize that that means the United States cannot dictate terms to anyone else.

Notice also that North Korea is perfectly willing to do without American aid and doesn't mind being on the blacklist of terror-supporting nations. They don't need our help and don't recognize our list as anything with power. Good for them. Maybe if more countries acted this way we would stop being imperialist. I have a feeling that this won't be the last we hear about nuclear weapons because of the first pararaph of this blog. Get settled in for a long nuclear winter.

Aw, Cheese and Rice

Libertyhound has been making fun of my accent lately, and rather than saying Jesus Christ, some people say Cheese and Rice since it sounds similar. You kind of had to be there, but I laughed.

Anyway... back to the news. Apparently it is in the Kentucky Department of Homeland Security charter that they have to officially thank God for his help in maintaining the security of the Commonwealth. I have a few questions. Whose God? Even after you pick a religion, there are several different interpretations of the deity in each. So after whose god, which of their gods? Let's just go with the Christian Southern Baptist Male Father God. If the government thanks Him for His divine intervention, does that mean that the government is both supporting the belief in and invoking the name of one deity of another? I'll make it easy, yes. That breaks with the founding fathers' desire to prevent state-sponsored religion.

This country wasn't started by a bunch of Christians who wanted to get away. That's what started the colonies, sure, but they were British Christians. When we became Americans we wanted to prevent another Anglican Church and therefore allowed citizens to practice if and how they wanted and also kept it out of the government. Money says, "In God We Trust" because many of the founding fathers were deists who believed in the existence of a supreme power, but didn't label it or persecute others.

Sorry, I got off on a tangent. It comes from my actual study of American history. It is not for the government to pray for the protection of any deity. Members of the government are free to do as they please and religious organizations are formed for that very purpose. God and government do not go together like peanut butter and chocolate. God, I mean any non-specific deity, is good and government, I mean any non-specific ruling body, is not. Worshipers of gods may not be good and members of governments may be good, but that is a reflection of the duality in humanity not the nature of the groups they are in. Basically, keep your god out of my government and I'll keep my government out of your god. That's how Thomas Jefferson and a few others wanted it anyway.

Russo Sino Presto Chango

This guy in Taiwan is upset because the US is inconsistent of its treatment of Georgia with regards to Russia and its treatment of Taiwan with regards to China. I think I'm going to have to outline my personal feelings on our foreign policy if I haven't already: we shouldn't have one. I don't really want to go into it because it's pretty simple. Question 1: does the proposed policy deal with our nation or a different nation? If yes, perfect it and implement it. If no, burn the paper and fire the author.

The farthest we should go when it comes to international policy is maintaining membership in the UN to make sure that our domestic policies are protected. The Monroe Doctrine, Roosevelt Corollary, Truman Doctrine, Bush Doctrine, and our membership in NATO should be discontinued. Libertyhound does not agree with UN membership, but I think that we should support a global government (hence the moniker Leviathan, it was a book). I realize that sometimes this country doesn't treat other countries fairly or properly and there should be someone to, at the very least, slap our wrist to let us know we did wrong. Please refer to the last blog I wrote about how the World Court should shine an eye on us also.

We should treat Russia, China, Georgia, Taiwan, and any other country the same: leave them alone. If Teddy Roosevelt did one thing right, it was Big Stick Diplomacy. We should let everyone know that we are powerful enough not to be messed with, but not actually hit anybody with our stick. Sticks break, wars last longer than they are supposed to, and WMDs disappear.

The Politics of Justice?

Shouldn't our politics take into consideration everyone else as well? Sorry, I like puns. The article comes out of Egypt's equivalent to TIME magazine. It discusses why some criminals on the international stage are dealt with more severely than others.

The International Criminal Court shouldn't be concerned with the politics of nations. However, realizing that no system can ever be implemented perfectly, I'm not going to go into that argument. I also recognize that the ICC is a part of the World Court, which is a subsection of the UN, and therefore any of its actions can greatly impact the dealings of any of the member nations of the UN. The World Court has to be even more careful not to come to a quick judgment than the US Supreme Court. I think that the ICC needs to follow some advice I got when I was running for office: Either be completely clean or completely dirty.

What I mean by that is that the court can go one of two ways. If the court wants to make sure that no decision it makes ever disturbs any nation's political institutions ever, then that's fine, it can make nominal convictions and nobody will ever really care about the international court. If the court wants to make convictions of real meaning so that even governments know hat nobody is above the rule of law and that justice is universal, then they will have to start muddying the water a little bit.

The author of this article mentions George W. Bush a little bit. The court is well within its charter to investigate whether or not the United States government acted legally and if not prosecute it. They should also look into whether or not Putin and the Russian government and Saakashvili and the Georgian government acted legally last August. How about the civil wing of the World Court look into international corporation tactics and see if they are acting legally also. Just some ideas. But this line of action would piss off a lot of people and upset a lot of current political and business practices.

I guess the title should have been politics or justice...

Get 'em While You Can

With the Obama presidency only 64 days away its time to stock up on all the guns you can. Gun sales are at an all time high in this country in preparation for the coming growth of government control over gun rights. President-elect Barry has stated many times his feelings on gun rights. He supported gun bans in Chicago, Detroit, and DC which still have the highest murder rates in the country. According to the NRA, "Since D.C. imposed its 1976 laws, it has earned the unfortunate distinction, “murder capital of the United States.” D.C.’s murder rate had been declining before 1976, but it increased thereafter. Between 1976-1991, it rose 200%, while the U.S. murder rate rose only 9%. (FBI, D.C. Police)" The DC gun ban was ruled unconstitutional on March 9th, 2007, so it had to be changed. The current law is still a de facto ban which makes it nearly impossible to own a gun. There is plenty of info out there about this new ban so i wont post any particular link. Some of the problems are that the "Gun Free Zones" take up a large portion of the city. The law was specifically worded to make carry nearly impossible but if you can get a license, you can own a gun in your home. In a city where even the postal workers are armed, I would want to carry mine. Also any bottom loaded gun (which is most modern handguns) are considered machine guns and may not be owned.

Here is a thought. ANY GUN BAN IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL. I believe in militias, armed citizens, and guns for everybody. Most of these laws are no longer even argued as being for crime reduction because there is a complete lack of evidence. Violent crime goes up when gun laws go into place. Obama and his socialist friend Nancy Pelosi will quickly push for gun restrictions that ban certain types of guns. Most of the differences in "assault rifles" and hunting rifles are cosmetic. These bans do nothing but raise gun prices, which leads to more crime, and it makes it harder for honest citizens to protect themselves. Everyone go out and buy an AK-47, blast out a few rounds at the range, then shoot any hunting rifle off the Wal-Mart shelf and tell me there is a huge difference. We all must start the work now of protecting our rights. Freedom is a constant battle against those who would take it away. unfortunately that is the federal government in this country. If you want to read a bit more about gun rights read this.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul211.html

Coup Ne Pas

The United States has one government and only one president at a time.

With that President-elect Obama let the press know that even though he was elected on a basically anti-Bush platform, he respects the administration and does not intend to try to do anything presidential until he is actually president.

The speech was decent, but I thought the question and answer segment was the most interesting part of the article.

I am gunna get married and become a Christian

I saw the recent post about the pastor telling the women to have more sex and it reminded me of this wonderful gem of religion on the internet. I think the Leviathan needs to hook up with one of these girls. If he can stay of church long enough to get it on.

http://christiannymphos.org

Wood Not Linked to Fire

Oxygen and Heat also among the list of possible suspects, though local authorities are not going to say who is at the top of the list. This coming just days after Gas was fined for contempt of court for its inflammatory attitude.

This blog is a joke, but the title is the actual title of the news article out of Australia; it's linked, read it and see.

A Good Example

Here's an example of how the free market works. The Nintendo DS is not a new system. It's not even really the best handheld out there. Now the DS is coming out with new games that are focusing on trying to help people improve themselves. The game specifically mentioned in the article is My Stop Smoking Coach. A game that helps people quit smoking. Did the government tell Nintendo to do this? No. Was there a voter referendum saying that games are too pro-smoking and that a non-smoking alternative needs to be marketed? No. A private business realized that it had the potential to both help people and make money. Welcome to the invisible hand, ladies and gentleman.

Sex for Jesus

More sex is one of the best things you can do for your kids. That's what the minister of this megachurch is going to say on Sunday. I can't say I agree with his logic, but whatever. I don't know if I'm comfortable with ministers telling their congregations to get busy, but whatever. Makes me almost want to get married and move to Dallas...

Slipping into Socialism

First off, lets get one thing out there. The American people have developed this attitude that when a problem arises it is the job of the federal government to fix it immediatly. This philosophy of the cult of the omnipotent state has permeated the electorate of this nation like a plague. There was a time when this nation's policy was based on simple foundations like liberty. Now, we have moved into a method of reaction. The faith in liberty which once kept us calm in times of crisis now had been replaced by an panic and outcry to the government to fix everything for us. We beg Uncle Sam to save us from ourselves by making drugs illegal, stoppping us from smoking, and forcing us to wear our seatbelts. It is this kind of regulation in business, economy, and our personal lives that has created many of this nation's problems that we are now crying out to the government to fix for us. It seems odd to me that if a person takes their car to a mechanic over and over and the car keeps getting worse they take it to another garage, but when the government keeps dropping the ball we go right back to have them fix the problems they casued. The recent economic crisis caused by the FEDs dramatic slashing of interest rates, the debasing of the dollar, and the government proping up Freddie and Fannie for years has been "solved" by the creation of TARP. The Troubles Assets Relief Program gives Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson far more power then he was ever intended to have. Congress appropriated 700 billion dollars for this program to bail out troubled lending institutions. This program was created under the guise that the money would be used to buy up defalted mortgages. Now, Paulson says this money will be used to buy massive amounts of stock in failing companies to flood them with money. This, in effect, will make the federal government part owner of all the countries major lending institutions. There are problems with this.

As you will all learn of me, I believe in principles. There is a word for the Government owning business. That word is Socialism. Is our political memory so short that we do not remember the years our young men died fighting socialism and communism? Now we beg the government to take ove the education of our children, our medical care, our economy, and our lending institutions. Now, Dems are begging for money to bail out the auto industry! Does no one care that this is YOUR MONEY? Does no one care that a once free nation is plummeting into socialism. This nation was once the most prosperous on the planet. We became the premier superpower on this planet under the protective umbrella of liberty and a free market. Now, our freedoms are dissolved to nothing and the market is anything but free. If a business takes part in bad business practices they should fail and make way for those who have dedicated their lives and money to good business practices. When we bail out the businesses that are in trouble because of bad business practice we perpetuate these bad business practices. The government is here to protect the people. Not to give out guarentees. Freedom gives you a chance, not a guarentee. Okay, so we raised FDIC by more than double. Great! Inflation had made the $100,000 protection chump change. We cannot sit out a abide by the federal governmetn giving out billions of dillars of OUR MONEY.  We cannot abide by this nation, that was once free and prosperous, slipping into the failed system of socialism. We must begin to not only ask the question what should the government do, but we must ask should the government do anything? Markets peak and valley. It is just the way it is. When the federal government tries to control a force of nature, like an economy, the peaks and valleys only get bigger. Sorry AIG, you made your bed, and its bed time for you.   

Oceans of Eleven

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month 90 years ago, leaders of the world joined together in Paris to sign peace agreements ending the "war to end all wars." Wilson rode victoriously into Paris even though we really didn't show up until the end of the war and his attempt to have big government reign over the whole world has led to this country's current predicament. If you wish to hear people whine about US imperialism, ask Libertyhound or a million other bloggers. Back to what I was talking about. Regardless of politics or ideology, veterans are this country's second greatest resource after children. if we could get veterans to teach children lessons of service, duty, and pride who knows what could happen? I digress. If you know any veterans, please try to let them know how much you appreciate their sacrifice. My grandfather served in WWII, many of my friends have served in Iraq, and a lot of my new political contemporaries (old people) have served in Korea and Vietnam. I am pleased by how big of a turnout we had this election cycle. Many have died and struggled so that we can have the right to take power through election, and we at least owe them to use it. Please remember the 11th of November and all of our veterans.

New Writer

I hope you all enjoy the newest member of my writing team. I am changing the format of my blog slightly with this move. It is going to be, basically, a political blog. Libertyhound, who will have to reveal his own name if he wants it known, is a very good friend of mine who is strongly Libertarian and feels strongly about his views. While I don't agree with him on everything, I think his views are valid and should be heard. In Time I will try to find other writers who have other points of view so that you all can hear as many different viewpoints as possible.

I will continue to write mainly about news articles that I read, and if any of you want to get a copy of my subscription list, just ask for it. I will also continue to share articles that I think are worth reading but not really needing of comment. I'm hoping that this change won't alienate my current readers, but rather increase the reader base and improve the political conversation in our country.

7 Steps To a Better America

Over the last 232 years this nation has taken a tremendous turn. We were once a nation of ideals and personal responsibility. Freedom was the word on the lips of every citizen and liberty was the ultimate value. Now, with every passing day, we turn away from those ideals and values. We are a nation who exists only to fear, obey, and consume. The catalyst for our war for independence was essentially a 3% tax on paper goods. Now, we never even see nearly 33% of the money we earn. On top of this everything from gas to death is taxed. With our citizens being choked to death by taxes, we are still nearly 11 TRILLION dollars in debt. Our extravagant spending habits must be curtailed. We MUST get this nation back on track before we are completely owned by the Chinese. We are basically slaves for 4 months of the year to pay the bill to oppress Arabs, limit freedoms here in the US, and give your money to those who are in their 4th generation of people who have never worked.
In order to get our nation back on track there are sacrifices that must be made. ONE OF THEM IS NOT FREEDOM. If we make these changes we will see more prosperity and security than can ever be desired. WE MUST:

1. End the income tax. We must end slavery in America and choke out the spending power of the federal government.

2. Bring home our troops. Not only from Iraq, Iran and Syria but from all the 130 nations where they are currently exploited.

3. End the war on drugs. WHY THE HELL ARE THERE PEOPLE IN JAIL FOR SMOKING POT?!?! In order to be free people we must own our own bodies. I have to have the ability to abuse and poison my body to be free. Government intervention in this issue does nothing but take away your freedom and exacerbate the drug problem.

4. End social welfare. Jesus died for preaching that we should love and help each other, especially the poor. Now, we have given that responsibility away to the government and they are doing a terrible job. Welfare programs do nothing but breed crime and ignorance. If kids are working they aren't joining gangs.

5. We must never again interfere in other nations' issues. When we give large amounts of military and economic aid to other nations we hurt them far more help them. We destroy their economies and enter into entangling alliances that have never worked for us in the past.

6. We must end fiat money. We need commodity based currency so that we aren't destroyed by inflation. Currently the dollar trades internationally at record lows. This raises the price of all imported goods. Currently gas prices are so high because we have oil barons running the country and it takes far more dollars to pay the same cost internationally. If the value of the dollar is high it takes less dollars to buy oil from foreign countries and the price domestically drops.

7. Stop Public Education. When schools have to compete, educational values go up. Since the federal government put its filthy hands in the education of our children, The quality of education in this country has dropped significantly. Those who make it to college these days will see that people are functionally illiterate at best. Public education is no longer about educating the children and has become about teaching a test and portfolio so that schools can get a bigger budget and more sports arenas.

WE THE PEOPLE must stand united to fight the eternal fight for freedom. Prosperity will follow as a natural effect of liberty. Look at history. When we traded freely with all nations and kept our military here for defense our nation became a superpower. Now that the government has its hand in every aspect of society, we cannot even pay our bills and we have great enemies that threaten us at every turn. It would be great if government could make everything perfect, but we all know this isn't the case. We must take care of our own to keep Uncle Sam out of our lives and pockets.

Somebody Call Christopher Walken

Because I really need to hear him say, "Wow!" American Express wants to become a bank. I guess next week when Bush has to ask for the last $350 billion of the TARP funding American Express is going to ask for their cut. Wow! Someone over at American Express was actually thinking.

Irony Anyone?

The linked blog is titled 'Could AIG Kill GM?' How ironic would that be? An auto insurance companytaking all of the money necessary for the survival of an auto maker. I think if more cars were made the price would drop and then more people could afford cars and then the new car owners would have to buy car insurance. But for that effect to happen AIG would have to be contented to wait for up to a cuple of years for that kind of cause and effect to come through. In the world of quarter to quarter profits has anyone thought about what is best for their customers, or even the long-term survival of their company?

Racial Junction

Conjunction: a word that connects a racist attack and Barack Obama.

I think the guy has a good point but I don't really like how he says it. I do like that one line though. Classic.

Three Months?

Three months? Dude rapes his 14-year-old step-daughter and he only gets three months? Then his lawyer says the ruling is too harsh? You have got to be kidding me. I normally don't look at this news, but come on... seriously. Three years might not be enough. If I would have had consensual sex with that girl I would have gotten more than three months. I was only 20 at the time.

Slow Your Roll

The writer of this opinion needs to slow his roll. He's telling Obama to increase the size of the government and get really progressive. There's a difference between progressive and big government. This other article makes an argument that conservative isn't just the Religious Right. Same principle, other side. There are ways to make the society more progressive and socially liberal minded without increasing taxes or spending or regulation. Now that we are starting to see the major differences in party membership it is especially important for people of our generation to buck off the two-party trend of our ancestry and start fresh. There should be at least five major national parties (I'll even keep some of the common names): Democrats- big government, socially liberal; Republicans- big government, socially conservative; Libertarians- small government, socially liberal; Conservatives- small government, socially conservative; and Centrists- do I need to explain? There are a lot of people who don't really care about politics that would do well to vote for Centrist Party members. Heck, they might even have a majority in Congress. It might help avoid the dramatic swing of the two parties.

By having those five basic parties people can become more closely aligned to other members of their party. Right now I am a registered Democrat and I am grouped in with a lot of big governmment nuts. (You're not really nuts) I would convert to the Libertarian Party but third party members don't get elected right now. I think the United States and Britain are the only democracies in the world with two parties. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Knock It Out

This video is only really appropriate for 18-25 year old males. Anyone else can watch it, but don't say I didn't warn you...

An Answer to the Call

Nancy Gibbs wrote this article.

Fareed Zakaria wrote this one.

Please read them both, they don't really need a comment from me. In the new light of my recent election loss, I would like to say that I intend to do as Obama has asked me and everyone else to do. I am going to continue to try to make change and help others and make a better place for those that are coming after me. Just because I am not one of the people in official power doesn't meant that I am not a person in actual power. I have gotten the attention of the Pikeville establishment and I have 664 people who think that I know what I'm talking about. It all starts in the cities and moves up to the nation and I will do my part to help. Will you?

An Exception

I don't normally like to comment on other people's opinions, but I had to this time. Please read the article, it's really short.

There.

How dumb is this lady? Hillary Clinton is more qualified than any Bush Secretary except Condaleeza Rice and is more than capable of taking any cabinet post except Secretary of Defense (in my opinion).

Secretary of Health and Human Services... does anyone remember that whole healthcare plan that everyone loved Hillary for.

Secretary of State... she does know a lot of foreign heads of state and she was hanging around her husband an awful lot on those overseas trips.

Secretary of Education... who doesn't like helping kids learn how to read good. Even if the building is barely big enough for ants. Thanks, Derek.

Those are the three I think she'd be really good at, but she certainly has the intelligence and ability to be able to give Barack good advice in any of the others. A cabinet post is always better than a cupboard stub.

Election Blues

Hey everyone. I'm glad that Barack Obama won and sad that Bruce Lunsford lost. In other news... the terrorists haven't invaded yet. I lost. Big. I had 664 votes and the other 4 had a mean of 1500 each. It really didn't help that I was fifth on the ballot of a pick 4 vote. Meh. I had a lot of fun doing this. I can't believe I actually go that many votes. Nor can anyone else. Thanks to all my supporters and congratulations to the victors. See you again in two years :P I guess I'll have time to blog again.

Plagued by Whiners

Blizzard put out another plague in their game World of Warcraft. Read the article to find out what the plague did, I don't really care. A lot of players got upset that their characters were dying and started complaining that they thought it was unfair. Poor babies. Why play a Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game if not to see interesting changes with a large environment. You don't see rpg players sending square enix nasty letters because they just got hit with a silent spell and they thought it wasn't cool. Waah.

The Tao of Toctrine

I also could have called this the Dao of Doctrine, but it's not as much fun. So there is a Russian Orthodox Church in Cuba now. Hugo Chavez is having serious talks with the Russians for military support. I am sure that Monroe and Roosevelt are rolling over in their graves. I guess that was bound to happen though. When a person oversteps his bounds and starts telling other people how to live he is sure to find many disobey. That is the way of things.

Class Tech?

Oh sweet lord. Somebody get my protesting kit. Another teacher is trying to use technology in the classroom. This totally goes against my 29th Amendment right to not have my children influenced by the tools of the evil one... doesn't it?

They're People... and They Have No Homes

The title is the last part of one of my favorite lines in the movie Dirty Work. I can't believe it has been almost three weeks since I've blogged. Just to let you know what has been going on: I stopped hanging out at my wifi spot as much and started 'working' at a gym. I sat around all day to make sure the doors stayed open and nobody stole stuff. I've been working hard on this election and I'm feeling really confident that I'm going to do well. No matter how it turns out it has been a positive experience and I'm glad I have tried. Ok, now that we've caught up- on to the news.

The Georgia Supreme Court has said that part of the sex offender law that says that sex offenders have to register their address is unconstitutional because it is unfar to homeless people. Apparently, sex offenders started becoming homeless and since they didn't have a home to register they were getting arrested for breaking the sex offender law. I'm glad someone is making sure that all Americans' (except the fur-ih-ners) rights are being protected.

This brings me to my favorite line from Dirty Work: You know how I feel about the homeless, they're people and they have no homes.

When Unstable Markets Meet Unstable Nukes

Someone on the staff at Newsweek has been trying to let people know about Pakistan. The linked article is the most recent in a string of stories that claim that Pakistan is the most dangerous country in the Middle East, and rightly so. It's even worse now that the global economy has done this...



I'm not even really going to try to go into great detail about their problems, I'm just going to try to list them. The Taliban is gathering increasing strength in the northern hills. India just signed a nuclear trade deal with us, which puts two enemies on the United States' ally table. Pakistan's relations with us are becoming more and more strained. The last president was kicked out and the newest one is the widower of the assassinated lead candidate. The United States is continually invading their territory to hunt down terrorists. Now there is no money. Power outages are wide spread. Why do they scare me more than Iran, Syria, North Korea (not Middle Eastern but scary anyway), Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, the other Stans? Because they have nukes. Not in the way that Iran almost might have the technology to start thinking about nukes. They have nukes, in the current sense. They have a new government that is on very thin ice. Not in the way that Kim Jong Il is crazy and we don't know how to deal with him. There is no way of knowing if their government will exist in a year, in the junta sense. I am far more frightened of practiced terrorists getting their hands on nuclear weaponry in Pakistan than I am with any other situation in the Middle East. I'll bet India and Afghanistan and Saudia Arabia are too.

What is It Good For?

War? Huh? Yeah... we still aren't fighting a war. Congress is the only body with the power to declare war and they haven't done it yet. So the Bush Doctrine, as described in the linked article, is neither preemptive not preventative war: it it preventative military action. I know it doesn't seem like much of a difference and in a culture earlier described as lacking in the ability to maintain focus saying preemptive war seems easier it is still incorrect. Otherwise I agree completely with this guy's opinion.

No Company Left Behind

The newest attempt of the Bush administration to make sure that nobody feels like they are any less important than anyone else is the economic bailout. We cannot allow any student to fail because that would lower their self-esteem and make them feel like they aren't as much of a person as the one who passed. Now we cannot allow companies to fail because then the free market that we set up wouldn't be able to correct itself. Sorry Lehman Brothers, you guys flunked out before we were able to pass this landmark legislation. We are setting up a very dangerous precedent. What will stop a restaurant from asking for federal money when they start to go under. What makes the any less deserving of the money than AIG? That's the problem with federal money and federal legislation: it has to be fair for all, not the liked. An individual company can choose to loan out money to whomever they want because it's their money. But the government is not private, it's public. I wish I would have been able to vote for something this large. I also wish that we were allowed to vote on a lot of things. So much for democracy. I guess I, along with Washington, missed that day of class and was passed through to keep up federal funding.

Bad Economy

The Dow just lost more points this week than in any other week in history. The economy is falling down around us and I guess that makes Ron Paul a bit like Chicken Little. In fact, we are so poor (How poor are we?) that we are even becoming unable to pay attention. I liked the pun there, I hope you did too. The linked article is a couple months old and it describes how the internet is destroying our ability to pay attention because we skim everything. I am just as guilty of this as everyone else. Probably more. I 'read' 130 newspapers a day. I don't actually sit down with a massive stack of paper and go page by page. Instead I check my RSS reader and scroll through headlines trying to find articles that interest me enough to read. I don't remember the last book that I read from cover to cover. I have seven books with marks in them right now because I have to read each of them one chapter at a time and switch to a different book to keep my mind engaged. Fortunately I am still able to watch an entire feature-length film; but that's not exactly exemplary is it? Do any of you actually read the full article I link to? Or do you just read my opinion about the article? This hit me recently when I was talking to someone about news. If you watch CNN you do get a lot of news, but 24 hours is a long time. After a while they stop giving news and start giving opinion. Opinion is not news. I am not a journalist I am a blogger.

I have asked people to pay attention to something for even a sentence before and that much concentration was painful. To think about trying to maintain a single stream of conciousness for a couple hours is almost beyond society's grasp. Can we stop this? Sure, we could. Will we? I don't know, what's on another channel?

Photosynthetic Oil

I love the Taipei Times. They have a lot of really good research and commentary in it. The title article discusses a possible alternative fuel: algae. I don't even care if it works or not, it's good tom know that there are people out there thinking about this stuff. Developing nations are displeased with corn- and wheat-based biofuels because they drive up the cost of food. Most people are still afraid of nuclear energy. West Texans think wind towers are ugly. I just hope the algae aren't stinky otherwise we'll never find another fuel source.

Dirty Money

Massachusetts recently got some figures on how much money the state could make from allowing homosexual marriages. From hotels to restaurants to chapel rentals the income would be phenomenal. Who would have thought that allowing people to do what they want to do would make a lot of money? I know it's "icky" to think about members of the same gender being with each other, I disagree but who listens to me, but that's not really the issue at heart here. Government shouldn't issue marriage licenses, I think I've mentioned this once or twice before. It is not the government's place to interfere with a sanctified union between a man and a woman, if that is your personal belief on the matter. Likewise, the church should not tell the government who is and is not allowed to have visitation rights. Government is not supposed to be moral and church is not supposed to be egalitarian. Who was that guy that talked about this... hmmm... Oh yeah, Thomas Jefferson, one of those pilgrims who founded this country on Christian morals and values. I had forgotten.

Snack-tastic!

Parental advisory: bad language in the provided link. Once you've read the comic, go to Gamer Grub's website and click on the different varieties of the snack. It's trail mix!!! It's nothing new. It is just a different packaging for trail mix for people who don't walk on trails. They are missing the point of gamer snacking. That's why many nerds are starting to become more fit. With the rise of pc gaming (I mean mmorpg's that involve the entire keyboard) we are seeing fewer gamers who train themselves to eat and play at the same time. When I was a growing gamer, I would have a box of Cheez-its in one hand and a two liter of Mountain Dew in the other and I would proudly do my best to munch down a few carbs during a save point. I would slurp a few gulps of nectar while the announcer would count down time before the fight started. It used to be a conversation piece to describe to other nerds just how much you could do while you gamed. Even when I played an MMO, I maintained my eating regimen. Sure my keyboard got crumbs in it, that 's why they make keyboard cleaners. I'm not asking for anything much, really. I know that the business industry is trying to get as much money as they can out of nerds. Kudos to them. Unfortunately, new packaging means higher costs and nerds spend more on games than on snacks. Sorry old white guys who know nothing about gaming. We need the old nerds to teach young nerds how to effectively game and bring back the full box of Cheez-its and two liter of Mountain Dew. We need to stand up for ourselves and not be pandered to. We need to... man I'm tired, anybody got some Gamer Grub?


Tee hee! Seriously though, jerks, leave me alone. I snack just fine.

Why Can't I get Paternity Leave?

Sorry it took me so long to get to this article, dated July 14, but I've been a little busy running for office and all. All excuses aside, I have been thinking about this issue a lot now that Sarah Palin is running for Vice President. The article discusses how many of the benefits for women in Britain, such as a full paid year maternity leave, is now becoming more of a bust for women than a boon. My mother was off work for six weeks if I remember correctly when she had me. Our family happened to be in the position where Dad's job allowed him to spend more time at home. This raises my title question: why can't men get paternity leave? If a woman wants to go back to work the father should be allowed to get paid time off of work to raise the baby. Especially in an era where evidence is showing that fatherly presence is both lacking and of growing importance, this policy seems to allow the best of both worlds. Otherwise women, who have fought hard for these benefits, will find themselves jobless until 40.

If I recall correctly the purpose of the women's rights movement was equal treatment. Well, I'd like to be treated equally sometimes, too.

And the Fight Was On...

I don't think these guys have any idea what debating is. They keep talking to the moderator. The keep talking to the camera. What happened to a good old-fashioned fight? If I was one of those guys, I would call him out on every incorrect statement he puts out. How come Barack Obama doesn't bring up the $10 billion in spending every month in Iraq? 18 Billion in a year or in three years is nothing compared to the defense budget. This might be why they don't let me debate...