Dobber's World

Hiatus, and move to different location

2006-06-04T03:48:00.000-04:00

Travelling travelling and more travelling has caused the long hiatus of posting. However, I am back in one place, and since i injured my leg and am on crutches for a few weeks, i shouldn't be going anywhere for a while. I have been invited to join a Thinktank of sorts, called Neoperspectives, and will be posting daily there, while the owner is on a hiatus of his own. Check it out:

www.neoperspectives.com

Taxes suck

2006-03-05T19:23:00.000-05:00

I hate them. So I love hearing about ways to make them lower. If you haven't heard about Fair Tax, you should educate yourself. This website has a list of video clips with different people discussing the Fair Tax Book, and ideas around it. (Best way to view the videos is right-click and then choose "save target as", to download the clip to your computer, then open the file when it is done downloading.) Obviously, reading the book would be the best way to find out about it, which I plan to do, but check out the videos, it's a pretty exciting idea.

Atlanta students follow law, risk lives

2006-03-05T19:11:00.000-05:00

This is hilarious. Civil OBEDIENCE, priceless!

A bunch of students decided to drive 55 on I285 in Atlanta Georgia, and film the experience. Watch it on Google Video (which I never heard of until today)here.

Traveling...will be back in a couple weeks

2006-02-26T21:55:00.000-05:00

I am currently unable to post on a regular basis due to living circumstances (read - no internet at my temporary lodging quarters)

Will be back in March to keep you updated on governement checking our freedoms!

Until then,

- Dobber

Democrats, Republicans what's the difference?

2006-02-16T21:33:00.000-05:00

When the masses go to the polls and pull the lever...what happens. Well, lately, (the last 40 years) what happens is more of our tax money gets wasted, they request more of our tax money, and more people are taught to depend on the government for help; not their friends or family or self. (Yeah, that sentence was a run-on)

Terrence Jeffrey at Townhall.com wrote an interesting article about how very similar the parties are. Recently George Bush and Nancy Pelosi gave speeches outlining problems we Americans have, and how to solve them. Guess how they BOTH say the exact same problems should be solved......Give up? PUT MORE OF YOUR TAX MONEY TOWARDS THE "PROBLEMS"!!!

Wal-Mart being told how to do business, again!

2006-02-14T22:40:00.000-05:00

This is so ridiculous. Sometimes I read the news, and then I have to go get my military ID to make sure I am serving in the UNITED STATES, sworn to support the CONSTITUTION!

The state of Massachusetts, has told Wal-Mart that it MUST carry the infamous "morning after pill". What? A private company, selling products to willing customers, is being told what it may, or may not offer for sale on its own property! What if you started a slush puppy stand outside a little leage baseball park and the government told you that you must carry black licorice flavored slush puppies!

A Wal-Mart spokesman made this completely reasonable statement:
"Fogleman has said the company "chooses not to carry many products for business reasons," giving low demand as one. If customers seek a product that a Wal-Mart pharmacy does not carry, they are referred to another that does.."

Massachusetts lawmakers (or breakers, depending on your point of view) said the decision was "based on state pharmacy regulations requiring pharmacies to stock and dispense "commonly prescribed medications in accordance with the usual needs of the community.""

The law is based on state pharmacy regulations.....

Regulations, regulations, regulations, O my

New Hampshire sets the pace again

2006-02-07T09:11:00.000-05:00

New Hampshire lawmakers passed house bill 76, which does the unthinkable! It passes state money straight to Charter Schools, rather than sending it to local school districts to pass on to local charter schools. This basically eliminates the middle man, which is good. The funny thing about this law, is WHY WAS IT THE WAY IT WAS????? Prior to house bill 76, area Charter Schools had to depend on their COMPETITION to fund them!

Imagine being 9 years old and opening up a lemonade stand using a government grant. But, you have to depend on the 12 year old who lives on the next block to apply for the money and then give it to you in order to buy the mix and sugar! I know, I know, 9 year olds running lemonade stands shouldn't get government money to open up their own business...but should pea-brained burecrats attempting to run schools get millions of dollars?

Pandora

2006-02-07T09:07:00.000-05:00

I try to keep this blog all politics all the time, but you gotta check this site out. Just give it a few bands and songs you like and it creates a personalized streaming internet radio station for you:
http://www.pandora.com/

My colleague, Bangert, alerted me to this great site.

Studies show I'm not crazy

2006-02-07T08:50:00.000-05:00

This is a refreshing article. It talks about a recent Gallup poll on goverment, which is unfortunately available to subscribers only...

The survey asked people questions about the functions government should play in our lives. Results show that 27% are "conservatve", 24% are "liberal", and 20% are "libertarian". The libertarian grouping believes that government should not "promote traditional values". Also, the libertarian group believes that government should not "do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses."

We're out there...and as government continues its trend towards getting bigger with every vote and every slam of the gavel, maybe more people will get fed up! Like I am.

STEELERS BACK ON TOP

2006-02-05T23:33:00.000-05:00

http://www.steelers.com/

ahhhhh life is good in Yinzerland!!!!

In huge reversal, Maryland lawmakers make good decision!

2006-02-02T23:33:00.000-05:00

I recently posted about Maryland legislators passing a ridiculous law prohibiting Wal-Mart to decide for itself how to spend its own money!

In a stunning turn of events, a good decision was made in that great state where I used to call home! The Baltimore Sun reports that Maryland has repealed a law regulating the price that private companies could sell gas for. This, of course, is based on the faulty premise that two human beings could not come to an economic decision without the intrusion of government.

Free markets (aka capitalism, aka freedom, aka the opposite of communism) have scored a nice victory today in the beautiful state of Maryland! Great quote from the Sun:

"Proponents of the repeal said in a hearing yesterday that the government shouldn't regulate prices, and that free-market competition will benefit consumers."

Does a logical argument against School Choice exist?

2006-02-01T20:54:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I wonder if I should just turn this blog into a school choice blog...hmm...maybe I'll start a new one for just that purpose; because as I scour the news-o-sphere I come across article after article about the School Choice debate. And I love it!

The more we argue, the more people will come to see how ridiculous this argument is! School choice is good....Big Brother controlling schools is bad.

I came across the Educational State of the Union, which is bleek, as long as big government (feds) control our schools... This article outlines all of the major, nearly un-arguable, points about how much better school choice is for our children.

Here are my favorites:

1. "Powers not accorded to Congress by the Constitution are reserved, by the 10th Amendment, to the states and the people. As it happens, the U.S. Constitution mentions neither the word education nor the word school. Doesn't even allude to them."

2. (the President should:)"repeal of his own No Child Left Behind law that unconstitutionally substitutes the judgment of federal officials for that of parents and state legislators."

3. "Nor has our increasingly centralized approach to schooling served the interests of the poor. Though many inner city public school districts from Detroit to DC spend $12,000 to $16,000 per pupil annually, their performance is often abysmal."

4. "low income families make better educational decisions for their own children than state-appointed bureaucrats make on their behalf."

If I see one thing happen in the next ten years, I want it to be a Steelers Super Bowl victory. If two, then repealment of the federal department of education.

Two more arguments against Universal Health Care

2006-01-30T16:11:00.000-05:00

Universal Health Care...
Ahhhh....just think of how great that would be. Everyone receiving top-rate care for all types of ailments and illnesses. Everyone's right to be cared for being being properly righted, bleeding hearts all over the country are being properly inoculated by Big Brother...

So romantic.

But is the warm fuzzy picture in your head still warm and fuzzy if your heard-earned tax dollars were paying for a mentally ill patient's right to sex through legal prostitution?

I'm not joking, but it sure is funny!
from TimeLeader.com

"Denmark’s government ruled in 2001 that institutionalized citizens have the right to have sex and that caregivers must even take them to visit prostitutes. (Prostitution is legal in Denmark.) According to a January dispatch from Aarhus, Denmark, in London’s Observer, Mr. Torben Vegener Hansen, 59, who has cerebral palsy and lives at home on government assistance, is challenging the government also to pay for prostitutes to make house calls, claiming that he is unable to have sex manually because of his illness and must be accorded this “human right” by a service similar to the government’s meals-on-wheels program."

And all that is possible through the beauty of Universal Health Care

Another article came across my desk. This one discusses the complexities involved with booming biotechnology and how it puts some poor souls in the precarious position of having to make a decision between doing their job and standing up for their beliefs.

Two points:
1. Why is the government involved? To me this issue is very simple. Person A owns Material X, which Person B would like to have. Person B buys Material X from Person A on a mutually acceptable price. If both parties are happy, than why is government needed? In a real life example how about this:
CVS owns Morning After Pill. John wants to buy Morning After Pill. John buys Morning After Pill from CVS.
Pretty simple to me.....

Ok, let's make it complicated!

CVS owns Morning After Pill. Frank is a CVS pharmacist. John wants to buy Morning After Pill. Frank thinks Morning After Pill is evil. Frank can either a) sell Morning After Pill to John, b)look for a new job where he does not have to make such hard decisions or c) ask CVS if he could work there but not sell Morning After Pill. Then, it would simply be CVS owner/managemnt to decide the policy to set for employees like Frank.

Where is government needed in that example?
What if CVS (gulp) fires Frank who is just trying to live his life and make a living and put his beliefs into his career? O well, good luck with a new career Frank!

But shouldn't Big Brother step in and force these companies and people to do what's right?
NO!!!!!!!!!!!!
Because they can make that decision on their own! And if you think that CVS is wrong for firing Frank, then DON'T SPEND MONEY THERE!

2) Why is the government involved?

Simple Wal-Mart economics

2006-01-27T21:44:00.000-05:00

This is a follow-up to my two recent posts about states creating laws forcing large private companies to spend an arbitrary amount of money on healthcare. The entire idea is based on the extremely faulty premise that politcians know how to run businesses better than businesses. Before I even begin let me state this simple fact:
Wal-Mart is a private business that people CHOOSE to spend money at where workers CHOOSE to work.

Steven Hanke wrote an interesting article about how this law will HURT low-income workers.

Basically, the law will force Wal-Mart to reconsider its plans to build a distribution center in the poorest area of Maryland, Somerset County, that would have provided 800 jobs. So, 800 people that do not have jobs will continue to not have jobs because of this law that is aimed at "helping" low-income workers.

What does this mean for Somerset's local economy?
(from the article)

"The center's 800 employees would have created an additional 282 jobs among "upstream" suppliers and "downstream" retailers and service establishments; all told, the center would have boosted county employment by 14% and private-sector employment by 20%.
Total annual employee compensation in Somerset would have risen by $46.5 million, or 19%.
Annual output (or "gross county product") would have risen by $128.3 million, or 19%.
State and local tax receipts would have increased by $19.2 million annually; this would include $8.5 million in property taxes, $5.6 million in sales taxes, and $1.4 million in personal income taxes. "

And those numbers do not even take into consideration all of the businesses that could have profited from the building of the enormous center! Contractors, builders, lumber, elcictricians, plumbers, land surveyors, window installers, etc etc etc.

And what happens when a business moves in providing a spike in the economy? Other businesses do business there, property values increase, jobs are created....and the cycle repeats and repeats..

That is until big government steps in to get a chunk of the action!

BB&T stands up for private property owners

2006-01-26T21:03:00.000-05:00

Are you as troubled with the increase of eminent domain rulings? Governments all over the country have ceased private property and given it to OTHER PEOPLE!
http://www.boonvilledailynews.com/articles/2006/01/25/news/news1.txt
http://rismedia.com/index.php/article/articleview/13218/1/1/
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/13689307.htm
etc
etc

Finally a large bank is standing up for the property oweners by refusing to issue financing on property purchases bought through unconstitutional seizures by big government.

Great quote by BB&T CEO John Allison:

"The idea that a citizen's property can be taken by the government solely for private use is extremely misguided; in fact it's just plain wrong,"

My Steelers Prophecy

2006-01-25T22:10:00.000-05:00

I was just looking through archives of my blog, wondeing if any of my opinions have changed over the course of the past year, and I came across this prophetic blog!:

Monday April 25, 2005
Steelers Draft Picks
The Steelers will be back in the AFC Championship for sure. This draft was pure brillance by Bill Cowher and company! We added two big targets for Big Ben:6'5" 255 pound Tight End Heath Miller and 6'4" 202 pound WR Fred Gibson. Heath Miller was regarded by many as having the best hands in the draft, and Fred Gibson provides decent speed with his big frame at 4.55 second 40 yard dash.We filled the only void I was worried about. Ben has two big targets to throw to, the rest of the drast was a waste of time for the Steelers, because we have the best players in the league at pretty much every other position...including wide receiver. I'm just glad we have 2 more target for our young QB.Super Bowl party will be at my house next year.
posted by DOBBER at 2:01 AM 4 comments

Yes the Steelers are back and PAST the AFC Championship...but the Super Bowl Party will not be at my house since I live in Officer's Temporary Lodging Quarters on Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery Alabama!

When government fails, get rid of it!

2006-01-25T21:35:00.000-05:00

I'm beyond tired of hearing about the failure of government in its preparation and response to Hurricance Katrina. First of all, where in the Bill of Rights does it make reference to government's role in the event of high wind and rain? I simply don't see the need for FEMA at all. I would argue against funding of any type of federal emergency services. (However, I will argue for all sorts of LOCAL emergency services)

Why do I argue against federal emergency services? Because they will fail every time! And even if all of the thousands of employees end up doing a great job....there will still be people and organizations that claim it did a bad job for some self-serving reason.

So Hurricane Katrina wreaks havoc on Louisiana, and in comes FEMA....

Now what's the consensus? If you judge by the news reports and talking heads condemning FEMA, I would say the agency failed. Now, the logical thing to do when something fails, is to cut it off, quit it, get rid of it.

BUT NEARLY EVERYONE WHO SAYS IT FAILED THINKS WE SHOULD SPEND MORE MONEY AND INCREASE THE SIZE OF GOVERNMENT TO MAKE THIS SUPPOSED PROBLEM BETTER!

Finally, I come across an article that makes sense.

Bridge over troubled money

2006-01-24T22:22:00.000-05:00

If you haven't heard about the bridge to nowhere, you should read about it. But Republicans from Alaska would rather you didn't know about it, since your federal tax money will help build it. Most interesting in this article, which names Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski (R) as Porker of the Month, is this little tidbit:

"Last week, Gov. Murkowski announced a $1.2 billion state budget surplus. He proposed spending part of that windfall to hire a public relations firm to counter the perception that Alaska politicians milk taxpayers."

HAHA! How about this idea: give them the money back!

And give me my money back while you're at it!

End Career Politicians' Careers!

2006-01-24T13:02:00.000-05:00

All over the news is blah blah blah corruption in politics blah blah blah....

The OBVIOUS answer to that problem is make the government smaller, and don't allow them to have so much control over OUR money. That probably won't happen anytime soon....in the meantime...

This article by Thomas Sowell gives an interesting idea regarding a way to crack down on corruption in politics: Create a one term limit for all levels of office, with a minimum waiting period before politician can run for office again.

Fred Barnes, WTF?

2006-01-23T23:18:00.000-05:00

I read about politics a lot, that's why I was super confused tonight while watching The Daily Show and hearing from Fred Barnes about his new book. The book sounds like a bore...President Bush is a renegade politician, he does stuff differently...yawn....

Here's why I was confused: Fred throws around labels like "Republican" and "Conservative" while talking about the current administration, when they are anything but. These days, with the current Republican agendas, if you vote straight Republican ticket, you basically believe in wealth redistribution and big government.

Frightening statistics from this Christian Science Monitor article:

"During the first five years of President Bush's presidency, nondefense discretionary spending (i.e., spending decided on an annual basis) rose 27.9 percent, far more than the 1.9 percent growth during President Clinton's first five years"

"the number of congressional "pork barrel" projects under Republican leadership during fiscal 2005 was 13,997, more than 10 times that of 1994"

"Certain trends have been favoring the left for the past several decades. In the early 1960s, transfer payments (entitlements and welfare) constituted less than a third of the federal government's budget. Now they constitute almost 60 percent of the budget, or about $1.4 trillion per year."

The Club for Growth

2006-01-20T00:53:00.000-05:00

I constantly complain about the lack of guts in most of politics. Too many people/parties/groups/pundits etc etc just tow the party line. What I am constantly searching for, is a some type of club that (like me) does not care about parties and who is paying off who... just cares about limited government and growth. My colleague Travis tipped me off to the Club for Growth a while back and the more I read about them the more I like them. Recently, the Club for Growth endorsed a democrat in a state election. This "Democrat" is pro-education reform, supports the Central American Free Trade Agreement, and wants to repeal the estate tax... which makes me wonder what it is that makes him a Democrat...

Anywhoo, the Club for Growth proves that they do not represent a party by endorsing a democrat that is actually pusing an agenda of limited government, tax cuts, and free markets.

Check them out.

Victory for freedom!

2006-01-19T00:35:00.000-05:00

In this day and age we must cheer every time the government gives up some power and we gain some freedoms, even when it is a touchy subject like physician assisted suicide. I believe the Court ruled wisely in allowing suicide assisting doctors to keep their licenses. Terminally ill patients are exercising their free will of a peaceful death before the painful torments of a disease take over their bodies.

If it worked in Maryland, let's try New Hampshire!

2006-01-18T17:34:00.000-05:00

This article article is simply amazing! Before I joined the military, I flirted with moving to New Hampshire because of the free state project. I hear New England is a beautiful place to live. I'd been to Conway New Hampshire; and they do have a nice beach town in Portsmouth. Maybe I'll retire there to pursue the excitement of liberty and limited government. But I'm severely disappointed with New Hampshire, and it will go on my list of states that I'm currently mad at.

It seems New Hampshire lawmakers are threatening a lawsuit forcing all companies sized 1500 or greater (aka Wal-Mart) to pay an amount in health care benefits equal to 10.5% of payroll costs. This is 2.5% higher than Maryland. Does the simple fact that the numbers are different strike anyone as fishy? Hmm....why 8%? Why 10.5%? If this policy would be so good for workers, why not make it 13%? Or 55%?

BECAUSE POLICIES LIKE THIS ARE NOT GOOD FOR WORKERS!

Because if states enacted policies like these, companies would be forced to FIRE people! And firing people is bad for workers! Would you rather have a job, but no healthcare benefits, or no job and no healthcare benefits?

I know what you are thinking....You would rather have a job AND healthcare benefits. And since it would be better if all people had a job and healthcare benefits, then the government should just make it so! But when we rely on government, stuff fails. When we rely on us, we succeed.

The case of Liberals Versus Wal-Mart in Maryland

2006-01-17T18:49:00.000-05:00

I was browsing random sites and blogs when I came across a great post at Neal Boortz's site. A law was passed in Maryland last week that says if a private company employs over 10,000 people, then it must spend at least 8% of its payroll on medical benefits! It seems that Wal-Mart, one of the most successful companies in the history of the world, and its employees cannot figure out how to run a business! Lucky for them they have the Maryland state legislature, which, of course, understands business much better!

Seriously though, why does the state have to step in? The interesting part of this debacle, is that Wal-Mart is the only business in the state that employees over 10,000 people! What a joke! This law, which is clearly un-constitutional, has been passed, in the meantime wasting taxpayer money, which only applies to one company in the entire state!

UGGHHH

People too stupid so Big Government passes law

2006-01-17T00:28:00.000-05:00

I wonder what would happen to society if not for Big Government passing laws to protect us from us. I remember the wild wild days of the early 1980s, before the seat belt laws when all the dumb people kept flying through their windshields because they couldn't figure out that the nylon and metal belt shaped object hanging next to their seat would save their life! Thankfully, our elected lawmakers stepped in and signed seat belt laws so they would be forced to protect themselves from their own stupidity/forgetfulness.

Now it's 2006 and people keep on forgetting that smoking small objects filled with tobacco and poisons will kill them. Even worse, other people are killing themselves by the scores because they keep forgetting that standing near these people is hazardous! Even worse than worse, business owners keep forgetting to tell people that have come into their establishments of their own free will and spending their own hard earned money to stop this ridiculous hazardous smoking!

Well, laws are popping up all over the place to help the stupid populace from killing themselves and others, like this one in colorado. Basically it is just like all the other trendy smoking ban laws that are affecting something the government has no business being involved with: private establishments where people enter of their own free will!

On Saturday I was hanging out with a bunch of my buds in a sports bar in Atlanta called the The Pigeon Stool watching the NFL Playoffs. It was about 5 PM, and we were eating, drinking, debating politics, quizzing each other on Sports Trivia, etc, when I noticed that nobody in the joint was smoking. So I asked the waitress about that and she told me that the local law banned smoking in indoor bar/grills until 8 PM!

HHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

What? Where do they come up with this? 8 PM? How arbitrary! Why not 8:15? or 12:37 AM? Obviously you can see how ludicrous these arbitrary numbers are that Big Government comes up with!

Please, someone comment that believes that lawmakers should decide whether or not people should be allowed to walk into an establishment and sit down and order a sandwich and a beer and enjoy a smoke. If the owner of that private company is okay with it, what is the big freaking deal?

In the words of Dave Chappelle, "Bloomburg made cigarettes $8 a pack! That's crack prices!"

And no, I dont smoke. Well, sometimes I'm intoxicated and i bum one...

At least we're arguing!

2006-01-12T19:53:00.000-05:00

At least the argument exists. Even though public education is an Orwellian nightmare, at least some people believe that the average Joe could solve this problem better than Big Brother!
I was pleased to see this leading article at Reason online magazine today:

http://www.reason.com/hod/js011306.shtml

And the debate over at three legged stool is heating up!

http://threeleggedstool.blogspot.com/2006/01/compelling-interest.html

I SERIOUSLY hope that by the time my grandkids (kids would be way too optimistic) go to school, there are some well performing schools out there for my kids to CHOOSE from! I know, I know, highly unlikely....

Making fun of Pat Robertson is fun

2006-01-11T18:10:00.000-05:00

One of my political advisors, Trista, from Chapel Hill NC, sent me some great links from www.PatRobertson.com

It seems that Pat gets all caught up in the moment and says silly things like"

(talking about Hugo Chavez)
"I don’t know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we’re trying to assassinate him, I think we really ought to go ahead and do it."

and then he has to post statements apologizing and explaining his very umm....UN-CHRISTIANLIKE statements!:
"Is it right to call for assassination? No, and I apologize for that statement."

(and regarding Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon)
"Sharon was personally a very likeable person and I am sad to see him in this condition. But I think we need to look at the Bible and the book of Joel. The prophet Joel makes it very clear that God has enmity against those who “divide my land.” God considers this land to be His . . . Now Ariel Sharon who again was a very likeable person, a delightful person to be with, I prayed with him personally, but here he’s at the point of death. He was dividing God’s land and I would say woe unto any Prime Minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the EU, the United Nations, or the United States of America. God says “this land belongs to me. You’d better leave it alone.”

and he then makes this outrageous claim regarding people misunderstanding the previous statement:
"It is just remarkable how we get misquoted. You know you try to be rational in what you have to say but last night I was given editorials from the New York Times, Washington Post, the [Los Angeles]Times and assorted liberal newspapers that were just scathing in their denunciation of yours truly, and it was just amazing, based on what? False information. Things that I didn’t say."

And a newly discovered fantastic political website has a great satirical column regarding Mr. Robertson:
http://www.scrappleface.com/?p=2129

Pro-government schools/Teachers' Unions respond

2006-01-07T17:08:00.000-05:00

If you have an opinion on School Choice, ESPECIALLY if you think education should be completely government run...plese commment here:

http://threeleggedstool.blogspot.com/2006/01/compelling-interest.html

Our rights to cable and internet

2006-01-06T22:52:00.000-05:00

We Americans enjoy many rights. Our right arm. The right of way if your turning right and the opposition is turning left....etc etc

Apparently, we also have rights to cable TV and wireless internet!
Our friends in the House of Represntatives figured out an ingenious way to make about 5 or 10 billion more per year. Currently TV is beamed out magically to the populace via analog signals. These analog signals, air waves, are owned by the public (fed govmt). So they auction out bandwidth to for profit stations, non profit stations, emergency services, the liberal media, etc etc

But if all of those airwaves were instantly freed up, thats like 10 billion more dollars the feds can spend on wasteful projects! Of course, Congress claims the proceeds will go towards deficit reduction, which i think is highly unlikely no matter if the "tax and spend" democrats or the "don't tax and spend more" republicans take control after the 2006 elections.

So the House passed a bill mandating all TV stations to beam out their signals digitally by the end of 2008. But what will Grandma do with her 13 inch black and white set? No problem. Our always looking out for the little guy representatives thought of that. They set aside about a billion dollars of coupons for families that cant afford to buy digital to analog converter box from an electronics store. Like Mike Reagan (whom I first heard about this amazing story from) says: "are there really people who can't afford to set aside about $7 a year for the next three years so they'll have the money to pay their share of the subsidized price of a $60 converter box by December 2008?"
Those people certainly have worse problems than missing Survivor Season 26!

In similar Marxian logic, my colleague Travis notes the wonderful news from San Francisco where wireless internet seems to be a right to Americans! (See Jan 5th post)

Update in education reform battles

2006-01-06T22:34:00.000-05:00

The washington post reports:

"The Florida Supreme Court yesterday struck down a statewide education voucher system that uses taxpayer money to fund children attending private schools, energizing the national debate once more."

A few years ago, Florida created a scholarship type program that allowed students at "failing" schools to attend either a higher performing public school or a private school of their choice. I am a huge fan of any voucher program, and as much school choice as possible. More choice equals more innovation in education; and more importantly more accountability for the schools. Yesterday the Florida Supreme Court deemed this program unconstitutional. I read the ruling, and it is!

The problem is this language residing in the Florida constitution:
"The Legislature recognizes that the
voters of the State of Florida, in the November 1998 general election,
amended s. 1, Art. IX of the Florida Constitution so as to make
education a paramount duty of the state."

Almost anything that becomes a paramount duty of the state will almost suredly be un-paramount in performance!

Well, back to the drawing board for us proponents of school choice...aka freedom.

I'm BACK!!

2006-01-06T22:08:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone! I am back to the blogosphere after a seven month hiatus of living with no internet in ocean city maryland and montgomery alabama.

Are you a libservative coneral?

2005-05-12T10:54:00.000-04:00

Take this quiz and find out.

Take a guess where I ended up, based on that quiz.

Liservatives and Conberals

2005-05-12T09:50:00.000-04:00

As far as I'm concerned, the terms liberal and conservative have almost no meaning any more. Especially for the latter. I've been harping on this since before the election, with all of my friends that said they want a conservative in the White House. I said, okay, vote for this guy then. Finally, I'm coming across articles written by more successful bloggers than I, better writers than I, and much smarter people than I.

The collective point of all those references is the fact that the Republicans in power are not doing anything to make government smaller....a classic conservative mantra.

Regarding Charter School

2005-05-11T14:28:00.000-04:00

Charter Schools give parents more educational choices. A friend of mine (Travis) wrote a tale about two fictional parents discussing where to send their children to school. Us Gen Xers can only dream that this will someday be reality...

I give a guest commentary after the tale's conclusion.

When all else fails, change the law!

2005-05-11T10:26:00.000-04:00

The US House decided that the total amount of allowable debt for the United States (us taxpayers) should be raised. Rather than reign in ridiculous wasteful spending, we should just increase our credit limit!

Unbelievable!

PORK ALERT

2005-05-10T10:59:00.000-04:00

The pork advisory system level has risen!

Check out CAGW website to learn about our elected leaders wasting tax money!

More education bickering

2005-05-09T14:51:00.000-04:00

The department of education is expensive. I'm not talking martini at a trendy club expensive, I'm talking REALLY expensive. The budget is tens of billions. And it goes up every year.

What does that money do for students and teachers, other than make their lives more miserable? I have not been able to answer that question. Hence, the recent posts about School Choice.

I came across yet another article about arguments over education and funding and what not. It seems some states want to make decisions about their schools. Not listen to what the feds say is the best educational practices. The question I ask is this: Would your school district be better off with more or less control of your child's education? The more control the federal government has over your child's education, the less control your state has, the less control your county has, the less control the school district has, and the less control YOU have.

Fun Language Test

2005-05-05T16:08:00.000-04:00

http://www.blogthings.com/amenglishdialecttest/

how do yinzers do on it?

my results:

65% General American English
15% Dixie
10% Yankee
5% Midwestern
5% Upper Midwestern

I was laughing so hard I forgot to finish reading

2005-05-05T14:43:00.000-04:00

the article. There is yet another great quote:

"But Edwards noted "nothing of what we do here is more important than to protect our young children," who, he argued, are being sent the wrong message by suggestive dance routines. "

Once again, over and over...whether it's passing laws about dance team routines or wasting taxpayer money "reforming" Major League Baseball, I hear about how it's about the children. We're doing it for the children.

Is that the purpose of government? To raise our children? I thought that's what parents did!

No more "sexy" cheerleading moves in Texas

2005-05-05T14:33:00.000-04:00

For the past few days Google News has been feeding me information for my stance on privatizing school. Today it's this ridiculous article. This bill:

"Already lawmakers in the Texas House have approved a bill to ban sexually suggestive dance moves "

Hahahahahahahaah! Who the heck decides what moves are too "sexually suggestive"???????!!!!!

Also, quoting from the article:

"The bill's author, Rep. Al Edwards, also a Democrat from Houston, responded by noting that the activity that would be banned "is like sex -- you'll know it when you see it." "

hhahhhahahahaahhaahhaahahah

That is just too funny! Imagine sitting in a gym between quarters in a basketball game. The cheerleaders run out to the gym smiling, but making sure there smiles aren't too sexy. Then they do their routine, making sure that any hip movements are very modest in nature. And I guess there will be sexually suggestive police standing on the sideline, taking notes!

Wow. Well, chalk up another point to the privatize side of the argument. Because then, school management and the PTA will decide what is overtly sexual, not legislators hundreds of miles away!

Bravo Mr. President

2005-05-05T14:31:00.000-04:00

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4984982,00.html

School officials blush at mention of ....uhh....

2005-05-04T13:49:00.000-04:00

vagina. A few students were suspended from school for wearing pins and t-shirts that mentioned the word. I'm not going to argue whether or not students can wear shirts that say offensive things. What I will argue for is school choice.

If school were privatized, it would be up to the individual school's management whether or not a button that says "i heart vagina" or a t-shirt that calls President Bush an international terrorist is acceptable dress. Then the school would be accountable. How? Parents can choose whether or not to send their child to that school! The great thing about that idea is, though I may have an opinion on the matter, I can only have a voice if I am part of that school (as faculty, student, parent, etc). What I think about a dress code may be vastly different than what someone in North Dakota thinks, and so be it.

Studies Show We're Fat

2005-05-03T11:16:00.000-04:00

another study tells us the obvious. We're fat and getting fatter. Do we care?

Best Social Security Fix I've come across

2005-05-03T11:01:00.000-04:00

Written by policy examiners at the Cato Institute, it's the 6.2 percent solution to the looming social security problem. I've read it, and I like it. In the words of Lloyd Christmas from Dumb and Dumber: "I like you....I like you a lot."

My take is this. First of all, there does exist a problem. Therefore, we need to fix it. I will reject any plan that proposes to raise taxes in any way. Yinz in DC already got enough of my money! So this plan solves the problem by allowing people the choice....hold on. Let me re-emphasize that: CHOICE. It gives people the choice to divert their half of the payroll tax (6.2 percent) to private investments: 60 percent stocks and 40 percent bonds. Read the proposal, tell me what you think.

Are there any other proposals out there?

Lawmakers decide how you should live,

2005-04-28T14:52:00.000-04:00

all the time. But why?

Radley Balko of the Cato Institute can't understand it either:
http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=3747

There are plenty of laws that protect me from...well, me. It makes no sense. But I guess that's why I need other people telling me how to live. For instance: seat belt laws. Huh? That makes as much sense to me as writing a law that says no jumping out of trees headfirst.

Just an old school book burning!

2005-04-28T14:15:00.000-04:00

You have to be kidding me! I cannot believe...hold on let me check. Yeah, I just checked and it is 2005. Okay, I'm going to close the browser and pretend I didn't just read that. Okay, I'm going to open a new browser, go to google news and search for "Alabama ban gay books". Hopefully nothing will come up, because, this is America and there is ....uhhh....Free Speech?

39 news articles come up! This is the leading article:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/26/eveningnews/main691106.shtml

Alabama bill targets gay authors! Do I even have to write how ridiculous that is?

Well, let me at least ask the obvious question: Is that censorship?

"I don't look at it as censorship," says State Representative Gerald Allen.

Oh, I guess it's not then.

Daily Show Re-cap

2005-04-27T23:38:00.000-04:00

1. Samantha Bee was on location interviewing two women who were fired for being cigarette smokers. What's their beef? No one is forcing them to work there. This is a private company hiring people based on a contract agreed upon by two parties, employee and employer. The interesting thing was, they were only complaining, and not actually proposing solutions.

2. Jon Stewart's guest was Christina Hoff who recently wrote a book called: One Nation Under Therapy: How the Helping Culture is Eroding Self-Reliance. It's about how always being overly sensitive to kids' feelings is actually hurting them in the long run. She points out recent trends like not keeping score at Little League games, and eliminating Dodge Ball from gym class. ELIMNATE DODGE BALL FROM GYM CLASS?!?!?!?!! I freaking lived for that while attending Jay Neff Middle School! But seriously, I definitely agree with her.

As always, if you don't see it at air-time, you can catch a lot of the episode here:
http://www.comedycentral.com/tv_shows/thedailyshowwithjonstewart/

Old people dont understand us gen-Xers... man

2005-04-27T22:55:00.000-04:00

We download. Generation Y is WAY WORSE! Downloading will go on. Fact. No matter how many lawsuits are pursued, downloading will go on. I anticipate the free market to open up and businesses to get wise to the fact that they should be cashing in on downloads. There was an article about a company offering fairly cheap downloads here:
http://itvibe.com/news/3494/

I wrote some comments there. (I am anonymous#1...because i didnt feel like signin in)

The fact of the matter is, ITunes could offer downloads for like....hmmm... a nickel! and still make money, all they are doing is allowing a file download. Think about it. If MP3s were a nickel, how many would you buy? I would definitely buy like 10 per day! I honestly bet Hundreds of millions of gen x and gen y kids would buy ten or twenty per day....thats like a badillion dollars per day!@!#$**(#$(#$(&*#&(#

Congress must have a lot of time on their hands!

2005-04-27T22:30:00.000-04:00

Because they are working on solving problems that I sure as hell don't care about!
Here is a quote from Representative Tom Davis - (R) Virginia:

“How is the average American supposed to look at the size, strength and speed of today's NFL linebackers and not conclude that they might be taking performance-enhancing drugs? ”

Tom, how about this question, from me:
"How is the average American supposed to look at the size, strength, and slowness of today's federal government and not conclude that they might be taking appropriation-enhancing, out of control spending, over taxing, corporate hand-outs?"

Solve that one for me, then you can worry about Donovan McNabb spiking his Chunky Soup!

Like, how about trim this list for me:
http://www.cagw.org/site/PageServer?pagename=reports_pigbook2005

rather than trimming the bench press poundage from NFL Linemen!

Best Bagger Competition

2005-04-27T22:26:00.000-04:00

Life is all about competition.
This is awesome...a grocery store worker bagging competition!
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05117/494904.stm
Check out how pumped up the dude in the picture is!

Reason Magazine backs me up!

2005-04-27T01:27:00.000-04:00

This article is equally as frustrated as I was with Justice Sunday.
Written by the always reason-able Cathy Young

http://www.reason.com/cy/cy042605.shtml

quote from the article that i was talking about in my blog yesterday:
"If there's anything good to be said of this grotesque religio-political circus, it's that the right is open to learning strategy lessons from the left. In this case, how to score political points and rally the troops by crying bigotry. "

Crime statistics help both sides of the argument!

2005-04-26T01:43:00.000-04:00

This is an interesting article by Steeve Sailer analyzing different data that is (possibly) related to the legalization of abortion in the early 70's.
http://www.amconmag.com/2005_05_09/feature.html

This caught my attention because I wrote a paper in a Bioethics class while a senior at St Vincent College that argued for legalization of abortion because it limited the number of unwanted children in the world. I wrote the paper not because I felt strongly about the issue, but because we had to write something somewhat radical, so I thought my position would be pretty radical and generate some good arguments during class discussions.

I have been a fence sitter my entire life on this issue. Usually I think: let the woman decide, what do I care? Lately I've been leaning more toward the pro-life side of the arguement and the last graph that Mr. Sailer provides basically sums up the argument that I have been more inclined to agree with. And honestly, I have only recently begun to think about this very valid point. That is, quoting Steve:
"The sheer waste of it all is staggering. And the impact on the overall morality of our society of this Supreme Court-condoned carelessness over life is incalculable. "

Has the world become less concerned in the value of all life since Roe v Wade?

Justice Sunday

2005-04-26T01:27:00.000-04:00

Read the first sentence of this website headline and tell me you're not disgusted.
http://www.frc.org/
"Justice Sunday - Stopping the Filibuster Against People of Faith"

HUH? The filibuster against people of faith? That's what the Democrats are: "against people of faith." Come on. People of faith are christians. The politicians that are doing the fillibustering are anti-Christians? MOST OF THEM ARE CHRISTIANS!

It angers me when we make political debates into religous debates. It is just not healthy debate. Do NOT get me wrong. Every group of people in America has the right to be heard. Every person and group has an opinion that counts. But, to call your opponent out like they are against God or something...that's like a blow below the toga!

Look at this promotional poster:
http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=AD05D01&f=PG03I03

"Public Service?.....Faith in Christ?...We Should not have to choose."

What? What does that even mean? Are Peace Corps volunteers immoral heathens or something? I signed up on the email list to receive notification when the simulcast will be available for download. This I have to hear!

A good friend of mine sent me this quote not long ago when I was debating him on a completely seperate issue. How true this is today:
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quotes.nsf/quotes5/ffcc042fbd8c52708525698100716fcc

Sex-industry insider is fed up!

2005-04-26T01:08:00.000-04:00

Here's an article I came across about a book written by a former Sex-Industry worker. (He was..maybe still is...not sure...a writer for Penthouse and Maxim.) The author's named Gil Reavill and his book is titled - Smut: A sex-industry Insider (and Concerned Father) Says Enough is Engouh. The book was released for sale today. Hopefully I'll stop by a bookstore this week to skim it, but I'm sure it probably calls for government intervention in one way or another to reign in the evil TV, Hollywood, MTV, Magazines, etc etc. What I can't understand every time I read about something like this is: WE (the consumer) HAVE THE POWER TO STOP IT! But, obviously we don't want to. If we truly wanted a change, we would simply stop supporting the products, and then the industry would change. As far as Gil's fed uppedness is concerned, I'm right with him. The average American child is inundated with brainless TV, sexual music, and the constant education of what it means to be cool from Billboards, music, TV, etc etc etc etc. I often say MTV is probably the worst thing in the world for 14 year old girls. But, guess what - They continue to make billions of dollas!

So, Gil, and all other concerned parents, call the cable company, tomorrow and cancel your subscription. If I were a father I would surely be facing this dilemma myself, and probably either 1. not buying cable TV (although I can't imagine life without the Daily Show) or 2. buying one of those high tech TVs with mad parent controls.

http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/reavill200504250746.asp

Religous drugs

2005-04-25T02:59:00.000-04:00

This is a great article regarding wether religous groups should be allowed to toke up, drink up, or shoot up ....for religous reasons, man....

http://www.reason.com/sullum/042205.shtml

Of course, religous groups should not be allowed to break the law, for religous reasons, but Jacob Sullum makes a great ponit when he says:
"A good rule of thumb might be that when a religious group can reasonably demand an exemption from a law, it's the law rather than the group that deserves scrutiny. "

Ill drink to that.

Outsourcing outsourcing outsourcing O MY

2005-04-25T02:29:00.000-04:00

I cam across this article:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7613914/
which talks about outsourcing the work of medical technicians reading medical charts to advise doctors. Outsourcing making shoes or calling the IBM helpdesk is one thing...but medical charts is crossing into a realm most people will probably take pause with. That's because, when medical information goes out of the hospital it becomes insecure. Legislation is already being proposed to limit this practice because of the privacy issues.

Steelers Draft Picks

2005-04-25T02:01:00.000-04:00

The Steelers will be back in the AFC Championship for sure. This draft was pure brillance by Bill Cowher and company! We added two big targets for Big Ben:
6'5" 255 pound Tight End Heath Miller and 6'4" 202 pound WR Fred Gibson. Heath Miller was regarded by many as having the best hands in the draft, and Fred Gibson provides decent speed with his big frame at 4.55 second 40 yard dash.

We filled the only void I was worried about. Ben has two big targets to throw to, the rest of the drast was a waste of time for the Steelers, because we have the best players in the league at pretty much every other position...including wide receiver. I'm just glad we have 2 more target for our young QB.

Super Bowl party will be at my house next year.

Japan and China argue

2005-04-23T15:27:00.000-04:00

The headline news on google is about Japan and China bickering. I guess it's mostly about Chinese people being pissed about some lessons in Japanese textbooks. Leaders of the countries are trying to kiss and make-up.

"It was the first top-level discussion since huge anti-Japanese protests erupted earlier this month in major Chinese cities over Tokyo's approval of school textbooks that China claims play down such wartime atrocities as mass sex slavery and germ warfare. "

source:
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=696671

I don't know what the textbooks actually say. But are they really pissed because twelve year olds aren't learning about the sex slave trade? In the nuclear age, it is disheartening to hear about powerful nations arguing over school books. A great documentary about that issue is here:
http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/end.php

Daily Show Re-cap

2005-04-22T02:54:00.000-04:00

Well, tonight wasn't nearly as funny as last night with Dennis Miller, but the guest was one REZA ASLAN, author of "No god but God". He was born in Iran, and now lives in the United States where he is a PHD candidate in History of Religions at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The most recent article he has writtne is this one:
http://thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20050228&s=aslan

Crips founder finds purpose on Death Row!

2005-04-22T00:06:00.000-04:00

This is a great story, that you can listen to:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4608950

Turns out the dude that started the Crips (they wore blue) is on death row for a crime he claims he is innocent. I konw nothing about the evidence of that, it was just a good story to listen to. The interesting thing is, once he went to jail he began reading and praying. Now he is repentant for his ways and he frequently writes and speaks out against gangs and violence to young kids in the inner-cities.

I am against the death penalty, and I present my logic to you here:
1. Humans are fallible.
2. Death penalties are brought by human juries that create a verdict based on evidence presented by other humans.
3. Therefore, the verdicts are fallible.
4. Based on 3 - we cannot morally allow ourselves to sentence others to death.

So, I am against Tookie being on death row, out of principle. But listen to what he is doing nowadays, for the good of society and ask yourself if we should execute this man?

USDA explains how we should eat

2005-04-21T23:52:00.000-04:00

Thanks USDA! If not for the brand new website about the food pyramid:
http://www.mypyramid.gov/ , i would not know things like:
"look for the word 'whole' before the grain name on the list of ingredients"

I joke, of course. People, come on, who could possibly think this is a good use of taxpayer money? Not me. I do not believe it is the job of the federal government to explain to me that (based on my personal profile...using the 'My Pyramid Plan' link) I need to eat 7 ounces of meat and beans per day!

I was alerted to this by a google news headline that led me to this article by AnneMarie Knepper of the Oregon Daily Emerald:
http://www.dailyemerald.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2005/04/21/42674ebc4cf4d
*(notice my comments at the bottom)

Steelers

2005-04-21T21:39:00.000-04:00

Who will the Steelers pick? Will Bill Cowher prove his draft-day genius once again? This is the last time we can talk about the Steelers til August!

BOOK REVIEW

2005-04-21T21:24:00.000-04:00

I just finished Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Great read. If you like science fiction and/or social commentary, give it a try, because that is exactly how I would describe it: science fiction meets social commentary. It's about a guy that goes looking for the relatives of one of the scientists that built the atomic bomb. He finds them, and talks to them, and then ends up on a fun adventure....

dennis miller on daily show

2005-04-21T02:39:00.000-04:00

damn. props to dennis miller (who hails from my hometown of Dormont, PA!) i just watched the daily show and he was freaking hilarious! jon didnt even really get a word in. he mentioned one thing and dennis started on that, made a joke, it led to another joke, which led to another joke, etc, etc until the end of his spot.

i just found this link to watch the first half of his interview with jon:
http://www.comedycentral.com/tv_shows/thedailyshowwithjonstewart/
although, i was somewhat disappointed because the second part was much funnier.

bankruptcy law signed today

2005-04-20T23:43:00.000-04:00

president bush signed into law a bankruptcy bill today. according to http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/20/politics/main689741.shtml, it is the "biggest rewrite of U.S. bankruptcy law in a quarter century".

i am a bit uneasy with this for two reasons. one, i have heard little to no debate on this bill. of course, i've heard opponents lambaste the bill, but i've heard little from the members of congress that have supported it. secondly, i dont understand why this is a pressing issue. what problem is this solving? i am by no means an expert on bankruptcy laws, but since the beginning of the united states, they have existed. in fact, chapter 25 verse 10 of leviticus is transcribed in the liberty bell in philadelphia. this chapter from the old testament describes the law of jubilee. quoting a more knowledgable person than myself, seth grossman informed me -
"an idea that every 50 years there is a Jubilee, where the deck is reshuffled, and everyone gets a new chance"

this is exactly what the bankruptcy laws are about. bankruptcy laws exist for those of us that come onto hard times. those of us that are struggling to get by, and then BOOM, disaster hits. from http://www.bankruptcyinformation.com/personal-bankruptcy.htm :
"The primary reasons for filing personal bankruptcy are unforeseen medical expenses, excessive credit card debt, loss of employment, and divorce".

bankruptcy is not an easy out. the average joe does not want to declare bankruptcy. when you declare bankruptcy, your credit is ruined, and you are broke!

but what gets me is this: why was the law rewritten? credit card companies charge interest rates because of the fact that some people will default, or claim bankruptcy. they charge high interest rates on people that have bad credit. are credit card companies not making money?

i emailed rep mike doyle of the 14th district of pa. maybe he can explain it to me.