Gun-Toting Atheist

No gun? No problem!

2012-01-23T23:12:00.000-05:00

Leave it to this ingenious Goonies fan to craft a concealable, retractable knife out of random pieces of hardware.

Needless to say, this is probably 100% illegal in both California and the People's Republic of New York. Oh... that reminds me. Let me tell you something. On a recent trip to the State of New York, I needed a few tools I did not have with me, so I went to a Sears store to procure them, and attempted to purchase a box cutter so I could open up the clampacks (those impossible-to-open plastic packages). Well, the salesman, though very helpful and courteous (probably a gentleman born out of state), told me he couldn't sell me a box cutter because according to New York State law, those are considered 'concealable weapons', and they were not in stock at the moment, as they were in the process of resupplying with shorter-blade alternatives.

You have to be kidding. A god-damned box cutter is illegal in New York State? Mind you, the Sears store was located near a gun shop, so I went there, and after drooling over some sweet AR-15 rifles, picked up some really cool hunting knives. Seriously, I can buy a semi-automatic rifle, a pistol and a machete at the same shopping plaza, and you can't sell me a box cutter? Isn't it a bit inconsistent?

What's going on with New York lawmakers? Next thing you know, based on their infinite wisdom, having intercourse with a member of your own species will be illegal, but if you are into sheep, no worries there. (Apologies for the distasteful analogy). The good legislators in the New York legislature work in mysterious ways indeed. Or maybe it's just that the box cutter lobby isn't as well funded as the gun lobby. Who knows.

The Problem with Anarchy

2012-01-21T23:20:00.003-05:00

Anarchy is the philosophical rejection of authority and power. The word literally means 'no power', which is complete baloney because there is always power, and there is always authority. Someone or something will always be dominant over someone, or over something else.

The true reason why anarchy cannot work is that anarchy does not exist.

Homicide no longer in the list of top 15 causes of death in US

2012-01-12T20:53:00.001-05:00

Leave the bulletproof vest at home, a bottle of aspirin is more likely to save your life.

The CDC's annual report on the top 15 causes of death in the US was released this past Wednesday, and surprise!: homicide is no longer on the list, this in spite of the expiration of the 1994 'Assault' Weapons Ban in 2004. A gun-control supporter would probably be shocked to notice that the increase in availability of firearms has not caused the homicide rate to increase.

Guns do not cause murders, because guns are simply inanimate objects. The average American is more likely to die as a result of suicide than at the hands of a murderer.

The top 15 causes of death in the US are:

1 Diseases of heart
2 Malignant neoplasms
3 Chronic lower respiratory diseases
4 Cerebrovascular diseases
5 Accidents (unintentional injuries)
6 Alzheimer’s disease
7 Diabetes mellitus
8 Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome and nephrosis
9 Influenza and pneumonia
10 Intentional self-harm (suicide)
11 Septicemia
12 Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis
13 Essential hypertension and hypertensive renal disease
14 Parkinson’s disease
15 Pneumonitis due to solids and liquid

So Americans are either increasingly safer from accidents and crime... or they are just increasingly unhealthier, which would not be surprising given their poor eating habits and lazy lifestyle. It is worth noting that as life expectancy increases, age-related diseases become more prevalent causes of death than accidents or violence.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr60/nvsr60_04.pdf

Can the media still ignore Ron Paul?

2012-01-10T22:40:00.000-05:00

"Ron who? No, never heard of him. "

"It's obvious that after tonight's primary election results in New Hampshire that it's a three way race beween Romney, Santorum, and Gingrich."

Of course the preceding two statements are meant as jokes. Ron Paul has won second place in New Hampshire. He can no longer be ignored by 'mainstream' news organizations. As Jon Stewart would probably say, he is no longer the 13th floor in a hotel.

The following headline from the CS Monitor made me chuckle:

"Is Ron Paul getting too much media attention?"

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Elections/Vox-News/2012/0110/Is-Ron-Paul-getting-too-much-media-attention

Here is more coverage of Dr Paul's 2nd place victory:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/11/us/politics/ron-paul-finishes-second-in-new-hampshire-republican-primary.html?_r=1

http://www.boston.com/Boston/politicalintelligence/2012/01/paul-claims-second-place-says-nibbling-romney-heels/viyMAcgZOa5Wn6m6v8x1uJ/index.html

So what if Iran had a nuclear weapon?

2012-01-05T23:33:00.001-05:00

The United States is the only country that has ever used nuclear weapons against another country. The year was 1945, and that other country was Japan.

According to the ican website:

"Between the 1960s and 1980s, an intensive arms race took place between the United States and Soviet Union. In 1986 the arms race reached its peak. At that time the two superpowers together had 70 500 nuclear weapons in their arsenals. The total explosive power of these weapons would have been enough to annihilate the world and all its living creatures approximately 25 times."

http://www.icanw.org/history

The USA and the Soviet Union collectively had the firepower to ELIMINATE ALL LIFE ON EARTH, yet no such thing took place. As a matter of fact, NOT A SINGLE nuclear weapon has been used in war since the US attack on Japan, in August 1945.

The US is THE force to fear. It is the only country with a documented track record of nuclear aggression.

Take a look at that number again: 70,500. 70,500 nuclear weapons, and not a single one of those was used in war.

It is estimated that the United States still has between 1,950 and 8,500 nuclear weapons. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_with_nuclear_weapons) And yet, we are supposed to be afraid of "big bad" Iran having ONE?

Do you even realize how astronomically enormous of a crater the USA could create in that part of the middle east if Iran dared to use that fictitious weapon and the USA decided to retaliate with just 1,950 of its own? Do you realize how much devastation that represents? That would represent the end of 6000 years of Persian civilization, and probably a 100-year nuclear winter that would usher in a new Ice Age and make us all wish we lived right on top of the Yellowstone supervolcano for a reliable source of heat.

And you propaganda-swallowing fools are afraid of IRAN? Iran is the least of our concerns. Even if they did acquire a nuclear weapon, it would be SUICIDE for them to use it. For that very reason, I am confident that they would never use such a weapon. It's common sense.

Ignore the scare tactics of Washington war-mongering fools. With or without a nuclear weapon, Iran is powerless against the imperial military machine of the USA, in spite of the USA's imminent bankruptcy. Do as Ron Paul says; just leave them alone and they will leave you alone. Live and let live.

Wait! Does Iran have oil? What's that? They produce 4.1 million barrels of it per day? Well that changes everything now, doesn't it? Let's jump onto the warmongering propaganda train and eat up the lies and live in irrational fear so that one day their oil can end up making oil company shareholders filthy rich after we have invaded them and occupied them for 10 years looking for non-existent WMDs at the cost of a trillion dollars. Learn your history, damn it! Do you not remember the Iraq war, or were you born yesterday? It's the same lies over and over again. "Some unscrupulous non-Christian enemy is trying to acquire WMDs, OH NO!" It's always the same story, just a different boogeyman every time. And every time, you silly fools fall for it.

I do not live in fear. I live free.

Identity Crisis

2012-01-04T23:00:00.000-05:00

I decided to drop the 'His Lordship' prefix of my online pseudonym, partly because I am fundamentally against the idea of nobility, even given my blood ties to actual nobility.

I originally picked the pseudonym of 'His Lordship' while going through a phase of exaggerated pride and ambition. I was so full of myself, and genuinely thought myself superior to the rest of humanity. I chose the title 'Gun-Toting Atheist' for my blog because it marries two concepts normally not unified. You have 'Gun-Toting' which is normally more of a 'conservative' idea, and 'Atheist' which is typically more 'liberal'. The idea was to show that liberalism and conservatism are just meaningless labels that fail to illustrate the myriad of ideological flavors that exist in the real world.

Then, since my blog was called 'Gun-Toting Atheist', I figured I'd add that to my pseudonym as a way to indicate that 'His Lordship' wasn't referring in any shape or form to the biblical 'Lord', and also to promote the blog through that 'brand'.

Speaking of brand, somebody registered guntotingatheist.com, but it is NOT me. I should probably have snagged it while it was available. Whoever owns the domain name never really did anything with it as of this writing, but still. I am not affiliated with the owners of that domain name.

I mentioned I liked to call myself 'Lord' because it inflated my ego. I still feel superior, but I'm a bit older and a lot more humble. Life experience does that to oneself sometimes. I realized that like so many others, I was just a peasant. It was time to no longer call myself 'Lord', so I switched to calling myself just 'Gun-Toting Atheist'. There's also the clown factor; calling myself 'His Lordship the Gun-Toting Atheist' and commenting on serious articles and blogs is a bit ridiculous and does not inspire more serious bloggers to visit my blog. Perhaps even 'Gun-Toting Atheist' is a bit scary for some, and I should perhaps pick a more benign name, such as 'John Smith' for instance, but then I would lose the 'brand image' that through hard work and hours of writing has earned me upwards of 2 regular readers.

I'm not really trying to become a major website or anything like that, but I want to clean up my language a bit and be a tad more respectable. I'm done arguing with apologetics, I realize now that it's a dead end hobby, and besides, If I want to be taken more seriously by readers, I have to become more serious myself.

10 New Year Resolutions

10. No more use of the F word, even with the u replaced with an asterisk.
9. No more insults: even f*ing idiots need to be treated with respect from now on. (Last one, I promise... could not resist making one last joke)
8. No more posting of material not relevant to the nature and purpose of this blog.
7. No more borrowing of photographs without posting image credits, when they are available.
6. No more negative commentary aimed at specific individuals, except when they are already in prison.
5. No more unsubstantiated claims.
4. No more negative commentary aimed at specific religions.
3. No more posting of material I would not want my mother to read.
2. No more angry rants.

And the most important one of all:

1. No more drinking and blogging.

Free-market capitalism is at risk

2012-01-02T22:30:00.000-05:00

In a Forbes article titled "The Dumbest Idea In The World: Maximizing Shareholder Value", Steve Denning argues that when the management of a company stops caring about its customers and its employees in order to please investors at any cost (what I call corporate whoring), the long-term sustainability of the company is at risk.

If you work in the corporate world and are baffled by dumb decisions by accountants who understand nothing about your work and treat you like a disposable diaper, this article is for you. Actually, I would argue it's not for you. It's for your manager. It's for your regional director. It's for your CEO. Forward this to them.

What I learned in 2011

2011-12-31T23:43:00.001-05:00

You are not getting younger and you can't postpone your dreams anymore.

Dictators need their people more than their people need them.

Deadlifts are good for you.

Always triple-check before you place an order.

If you have health insurance, use it. Some things can't wait.

Millions of years of evolution mean that you should trust your instincts.

There are a lot of sharks out there.

Sometimes, low-tech is better.

Your corporate overlords will only do so much for you. You have to look out for your own interests.

Get a Mac.

Invented People

2011-12-10T20:14:00.001-05:00

GOP amphibian Newt (pictured on the left), recently offended Palestinians by calling them 'an invented people'. In his own words: "Remember, there was no Palestine as a state — (it was) part of the Ottoman Empire. I think we have an invented Palestinian people who are in fact Arabs and historically part of the Arab community [..]". Well ain't that a funny observation. Perhaps someone with knowledge of U.S. history should educate Newt about how Americans are themselves an invented people. Yeah, that's right. Remember, there was no America as a state, it was part of the British Empire. I think we have an invented American people who are in fact British and historically part of the British community. You can quote me on that, you silly invented Americans!

Disclaimer: I wrote this after 2 glasses of Sauvignon Blanc and 2 shots of cheap vodka, so go easy on me in terms of retaliation. My inhibitions are lessened and as I write this, I honestly don't give a damn.

On Zombie Movies

2011-12-02T22:52:00.001-05:00

I will knock down the Gates of the Netherworld,

I will smash the door posts, and leave the doors flat down,

and will let the dead go up to eat the living!

And the dead will outnumber the living!

Such are the words spoken by the goddess Ishtar, in the Epic of Gilgamesh, an ancient Mesopotamian poem, and one of the earliest works of literature in human history. The idea of the zombie, being a walking corpse hungry for human flesh, is indeed as ancient as civilization itself. In recent years, there has been a vampire craze in popular culture, but this is about to be overshadowed by the zombie craze. Vampires, in folklore, used to be possessed cadavers that would leave their grave at night, cast evil spells on women and children, and return to their graves before dawn, from which they would remotely drain their victims from their life-force. Those were stories meant to scare the bejeezus out of simple-minded folk who also believed in witches and werewolves.

However, with the advent of cinematography and modern book publishing, beginning with Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula and Murnau's 1922 classic Nosferatu (full movie at the link), vampires became part of modern popular culture and this paved the way for a modern transformation of the myth. Nowadays, the vampire is no longer a horrible walking corpse, but a suave romantic don juan ready to sweep teenage girls off their feet and offer them hope of immortality and preternatural powers, and a promise of a new beginning. Indeed, the myth has evolved to the point of ridiculous Hollywood cliché, that is no say, not scary at all.

We humans love to be afraid. Fear gives us a chance to reconnect with our ancestral past and put the bill-paying-cubicle-dwelling concerns that plague our modern lives into perspective. So we are seeing a resurgence of interest in the visceral, un-romantic, scary-as-hell stories of the undead. It is no wonder that in recent years there has been a steady explosion of zombie movies and television shows. The appeal is curious, but understandable. In zombie stories, there is complete anarchy, a full collapse of governments and social structures. The lucky uninfected protagonists are free to loot and scavenge for supplies. No longer do they have to pay the cable bill, no longer to they have to mail their rent check or file their tax return. Now they are free to carry a shotgun and a machete and kill any undead creatures they encounter. Perhaps it is a desire to escape from the mental trappings of our mind-numbing reality that makes this an attractive proposition. Now the viewer is brought into an apocalyptic world where his greatest concern is not to figure out how to finish 12 projects before the contractual deadline, but to avoid being eaten alive by flesh-hungry necrotic freaks.

Perhaps we are the zombies, the braindead/brainwashed masses, toiling away incessantly, with no hope and no future. Or perhaps we are the survivors, faster, smarter, more agile, hoping to get away.

In any case, I recommend watching the Walking Dead, season 1 is now available in the US on Netflix. I also recommend The Zombie Survival Guide for your survival library. While this book is intended as humor, it does contain good survival tips, with the benefit of being thoroughly entertaining.

Knowledge and Freedom

2011-11-19T23:31:00.000-05:00

A democracy cannot be both ignorant and free. --Thomas Jefferson

In the hands of a people whose education has been willfully neglected, the ballot is a cunning swindle benefitting only the united barons of industry, trade and property. --Daniel Guérin

Quote of the day

2011-11-17T22:16:00.001-05:00

From James Cameron's cave-diving film Sanctum:

"Assumption is the mother of all f*-ups".

On Electoral Campaign Donations and Corporate Marketing Spending

2011-11-17T19:21:00.003-05:00

No matter how much money is donated to a political candidate, it will not influence my vote, because I thoroughly research the candidates and their ideas, and I have radically different viewpoints than the majority of the candidates. For those reasons, it is not easy to sway me one way or another. However, less investigative voters may be swayed more easily by the propaganda paid for by the candidate's marketing spending. But successful marketing campaigns are expensive. In short, successful propaganda campaigns cost a lot of money, and this is where the amount of money a candidate can raise can have an influence. I say influence, not mind control, because no money in the world can make an idiot look like a Nobel Prize winner, but it can help make him look smarter.

However, propaganda - either political or corporate - does not always bear an official stamp. Propaganda operatives will sometimes work for years in the shadows, anonymously originating spam email chains, starting a blog under a pseudonym (!), secretly sponsoring newspaper columns, paying off television news producers to air specific stories that reinforce their concepts, planting the seeds of ideas in the media, even in movies and works of art. Propaganda takes time to sink in, and repetitive exposure over extended periods of time is the key. It can take the obvious form of a billboard ad on the side of a busy road, or it can take the subtle form of a scary news story in the local newspaper.

The truth is, propaganda does not necessarily consist of lies, and need not contain factual errors. It's all in the choice of what is presented to the viewer or the reader; picking ideas that support your goals, and omitting opposing ideas. By carefully selecting the viewpoints presented to the audience, one can influence the audience's perceptions.

An anti-gun group may pay journalists to focus on emotionally-charged gun crime news stories (i.e. "Local Teenager shoots cat with father's BB gun.") instead of focusing on a foreign genocide against unarmed civilians (i.e. "915 Tutsis Found Decapitated in mass grave"). A pro-gun group may pay a film maker to show the hero using a firearm to defend his family against a chainsaw-wielding maniac. A church group may start an email chain about how Stalin was an atheist, and an oil company may pay people to go to blue-collar dive bars and rant against Greenpeace over a few brewskis.

The art of propaganda does not consist of shoving a fabricated lie down someone's throat, but rather to use deceitful psychology to progressively bring someone to believe the lie of his own accord over an extended period of time.

P.S. Oh and never believe anything you read either.

God's power on the decline. Getting too old, perhaps?

2011-11-17T17:26:00.000-05:00

http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2011/11/15/nietzsche-was-close/seonw/

Reflections on the "F" word

2011-11-06T16:48:00.001-05:00

Why is the so-called "F" word so bad? Why must it be bleeped out in songs playing on the radio? Why must it not be printed in respectable newspapers? Why can't it be uttered in certain company? Generally, I try to avoid using this expletive. There are more eloquent ways to express surprise or anger. Plus, the more one uses that word, the more one is likely to slip and say it at the wrong place at the wrong time, and for a professional, it can be a bad habit. Even though I am writing a semi-anonymous blog, I try not to use that word, but sometimes I think to myself 'oh what the f*' and I go ahead and use it. I probably shouldn't.

Why are people so horrified of a mere word? Is is because of the sexual nature of the word when used in the literal sense? Most of the time, the word is not even meant in the literal sense. It is usually just a word of anger that sounds better than a caveman-like grunt. If the sexual meaning of 'f*ing' is a real problem, then why not bleep out other similar words, such as 'intercourse' and 'coitus'? Why are those words ok to say, when they mean the exact same thing? And why is sex such a taboo topic anyway? How were you born, did you come out of a magic egg delivered by a stork?

I agree that saying 'f*' in every f*ing sentence makes one appear uneducated and unprofessional. But why is it so? When I was a kid, we could say 'f*' out loud in school all day long without fear of reprimand because english was not our native language; and teachers didn't give a flying f* that we did, because 'f*' doesn't mean anything outside of the boundaries of the english-speaking world.

So please, educate me. Why is 'f*' a bad word and would it be such a big f*ing deal if, for instance, the President said it out loud during a live press conference? Would the f*ing world come to an end?

It's just a f*ing word, get over it.

Dairy Reflections - UPDATED

2011-11-04T23:20:00.001-04:00

So you drink cow milk, don't you? You like to put it in your coffee and soak your breakfast cereal in it. You like your greek yogurt and your cottage cheese. You like your whey protein powder. Admit it, you even enjoy drinking a large cold glass of milk. It's okay, it's delicious and full of protein. I indulge too.

Would you drink human breast milk? No? Why? You are more grossed out by the milk of a member of your own species, than you are by the milk of a different species that lives in a barn and trots around in its own manure?

Who was the first weirdo who saw a big fat cattle's udders and thought "Man, I gotta get me some of that"? Granted, I find it hard to envision barns filled with row upon row of women hooked up to milking machines, and then to have that milk shipped to milk distributors and cheese makers. I also find it hard to imagine rows of refrigerated breast milk at the grocery store, neatly lined up in gallon and half gallon containers, with photographs of large-breasted women on the labels instead of the more traditional holsteins. Similarly, I can't imagine bringing human infants to a dairy barn and just letting them suckle directly at the cow's udder. Interspecies milk drinking is just gross. We are biologically meant to drink the milk of our own species, yet we don't do that.

Think about it; you are drinking the milk of an animal. You are a freak.

2011-11-19 UPDATE: Found this old article from April about chinese scientists genetically engineering cows that can produce human milk...: http://www.newser.com/story/115574/new-source-of-human-breast-milk-cows.html and this BBC article about ice cream made from human breast milk for sale in the UK quote:"Mrs Hiley's donation was expressed on site and pasteurised before being churned with Madagascan vanilla pods and lemon zest.
" : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-12569011

Don't ask how I find this stuff.

In God We Rust Part III

2011-11-04T22:52:00.003-04:00

Just a few more things about the recent "In God We Trust" resolution. First, Ron Paul opposed that vote. Which makes him even more interesting to me as a presidential candidate. But on to what I really want to bring up:

Representative Jerrold Nadler said "No one is threatening the national motto". He is wrong. I am threatening it. In God We Don't Trust, damn it.

Representative Trent Franks said if we do not believe in God "we should just let anarchy prevail because, after all, we are just worm food." Well... anarchy it is then!

No gods, no masters.

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2011/1103/In-God-We-Trust-Why-Congress-reaffirmed-the-US-motto

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-god-we-trust-house-re-affirms-national-motto--yet-again/2011/11/02/gIQAiZRWfM_story.html

The Nein! Nein! Nein! plan

2011-11-04T22:32:00.000-04:00

You are being monitored

2011-11-04T22:30:00.000-04:00

In God We Rust Part II

2011-11-01T22:28:00.001-04:00

Today, the US House of Representatives voted to approve a resolution to take a huge stinky dump on the principle of separation of Church and State.

In a 369-9 vote, the House reaffirmed that the national motto of the United States is 'In God we trust', which is utter bullcrap if you ask me, and my Congressman is NOT going to get my vote at the next election, I can tell you that.

The national motto of the United States is featured on the Seal of the United States as NOVUS ORDO SECLORUM: A New Secular Order. The Founders of this country firmly believed in separation of church and state, and the approval of this garbage resolution is akin to dumping septic tank contents into the Founders' tombs. It is extremely insulting that our elected representatives are taking such an ideological stand against secularism.

It is becoming apparent that we are no longer governed by 'Representatives', but are now ruled by a corrupt theocracy bent on granting political favors to equally corrupt Wall Street while keeping the obese masses poor, uneducated, and brainwashed into believing in bronze-age superstitions and in a false middle-eastern deity. The future is bleak; our government is a circus filled with silly, malevolent clowns.

We need way more than 'Occupy Wall Street'. We need to 'Occupy Congress'. Where are the atheist politicians? Who will be the first atheist President? I know you are out there. COME OUT OF THE CLOSET. It is not political suicide to do so. WE ARE STANDING BEHIND YOU... as long as you keep your hand off the Second Amendment.

http://www.politico.com/blogs/glennthrush/1111/House_affirms_In_God_We_Trust_.html

Children and Guns

2011-10-31T23:52:00.002-04:00

I just finished watching the comedy super-hero movie Kick-Ass, where one of the main characters, 11-year-old Hit Girl, kills dozens of mobsters with guns and knives.

Of course, this reminded me of another assassin little girl, Hanna, a 16-year old girl trained by her father in the backwoods of Finland to become the world's most dangerous assassin. Within the first 20 minutes of the movie, Hanna manages to kill half a dozen CIA agents with her bare hands, and a reindeer.

Let's not forget schoolgirl Ami from The Machine Girl, who, after having her arm amputated by the yakuza, receives a prosthetic machine gun attachment for her stump, and then goes on a murder spree where thousands of gallons of ninja blood are spilled.

Now our list would not be complete without teenage Baby Doll from the movie Sucker Punch, who, after killing her own sister, retreats into a dark messed-up fantasy world in which she kills giant samurai, steam-powered zombie german soldiers and orcs using everything from M-4 automatic rifles and razor-sharp katanas, and let's not forget slitting the throat of a baby dragon, all the while attempting to escape from a Vermont mental institution where she is scheduled to have a lobotomy. Heavy stuff, and super cool.

I have to say it is pretty mind-boggling to see the complete anti-thesis of the male action hero perform such feats. Nothing could be more defenseless than a young girl... except when this young girl is a trigger-happy martial arts expert. And everyone likes to see an underdog triumph against insurmountable odds.

However, these are merely movies, and the defensive use of firearms is never as cool as portrayed in fiction. Using lethal force in self-defense is a serious matter that requires serious training. And the glorification of weapon use in movies and videogames gives children the wrong attitude towards firearms, especially when the shooting sprees are performed by teenage girls. A weapon must always be approached with respect, for its use is always fraught with potential dangers. For this reason, I do not believe that children should be given toy guns and left to their own devices. "What possible harm could come from a toy gun?" the layman asks. Well for one, it trivializes weapon ownership and impairs upon children the wrong attitude to have towards it.

Even a toy gun should be treated with the same safety rules as a real weapon. According to the NRA, these rules are:

1. ALWAYS keep the gun pointed in a safe direction.
2. ALWAYS keep the finger off the trigger until ready to shoot.
3. ALWAYS keep the gun unloaded until ready to use.

From the very first day a child is given a toy gun, he must learn that even a toy gun is not a toy. While this seems contradictory on the surface, it is not. A 'toy gun', you see, is a teaching aid. The toy gun should be kept in a gun safe under combination lock or key, which only a responsible adult has the ability to unlock. When requesting the toy gun, the child must explain his intention for checking the toy gun out. The child should then fill out a form detailing for what duration of time the toy gun will be needed, and then he or she must return it on time. During play, the child should never be allowed to point it at a person or animal, or any object not to be shot at. The only acceptable thing the toy gun can be pointed at is a paper target. That's it. While it may seem to take the whole fun out of the experience, that is part of the point. Guns are not toys. Period. Children must be made to understand this at an early age so that they know it instinctively.

Once the child is of age and he has shown responsible behavior with the toy gun, then perhaps he is ready for his first pellet or BB gun. Again, the same rules for handling and safe storage apply. Marksmanship is a martial art, not a game. Shielding children from violent movies and video games, and hiding the reality of self-defense from them does them a disservice. Sooner or later, the child will not be under your direct supervision, and the child may come into contact with a real firearm. But if you have diligently trained the child to have the proper attitude towards firearms, the child will translate his knowledge of proper safe handling and apply it directly to a real firearm, and there need not be an accident.

We adults know that Kick-Ass and Sucker Punch are just movies, and that weapons are not toys. If you have instructed your children as I describe, they will know it too, and they will be safe.

Time for Change

2011-10-24T22:12:00.002-04:00

Was it right to kill Gaddafi?

2011-10-24T22:09:00.000-04:00

I am not a fan of dictators, but after watching a brutal video in which Muammar Gaddafi is being beaten up by a bloodthirsty crowd, I can't help but feel sorry for the suffering of another human being, however cruel he allegedly was. I'm not going to repost this video here, if you really want to see a lot of real blood, go ahead and google it yourselves. Yes, he was a tyrant who did terrible things to the people of his country. But according to the Geneva convention, prisoners of war (yes, it was a war) are not to be mistreated in such a way. Even Saddam Hussein and Slobodan Milosevic were appointed legal counsel and tried in courts of law.

Capturing a man and brutalizing him is an even worse fate than what cattle experience at a slaughterhouse (though Peta may respectfully disagree). At least cattle are granted a quick death. In fact, any moderately decent man would have simply shot Gaddafi to put him out of his misery, but the melee that can be seen in the video of his capture demonstrates that no decent men were present. And a really decent man would have followed due process of law.

Any prisoner or any person deprived of his freedom is to be granted a trial. That principle is a basic building block of civilization. A trial must be based on factual evidence, and must allow the defendant the opportunity to challenge the accusations. This is what civilized people do.

Also, civilized people do not kill other human beings out of hatred. They place them under arrest, and they bring the suspects to justice. Call me a liberal hippie if you so desire. If you seriously believe that Gaddafi, or any other human being, deserved to be tortured by a frenzied mob, then you are as vile and despicable as Gaddafi himself.

The only situation where it is acceptable to take another human life is in an act of legitimate self-defense against a clear and direct threat. Period. The people in the video were clearly under no threat from the suspect. Their lives and properties were not being threatened.

Unfortunately, this is a barbaric world filled with barbaric people, and I cannot expect illiterate masses to abide by higher moral standards. Yes, morality is relative. Yes, morality does not exist in nature. We come together as human beings, and call upon our natural-born sense of empathy and reason to build our own code of morality, so that we may live in a moral world where justice prevails and all are treated equally in the eyes of the law.

I need to take a break, have a beer and calm down. I need to get these horrible images out of my mind, or I'm going to have nightmares, that for once do not involve missing final boarding call.

Do yourselves a favor: Do not vote into office any politician who supports the death penalty. These men and women are no more than Gaddafi wannabes, and we do not need to have such morally corrupted pigs ruling over us.

DHS Now Going After Innocent Citizens Just Because It Can

2011-10-20T07:13:00.000-04:00

Imagine that you are standing on a sidewalk outside a building where you have been invited. Wouldn't you say you have a right to be there?

The Department of Homeland Insecurity seems to think that you are national security threat.

http://www.newser.com/story/131444/naomi-wolf-i-was-busted-in-evening-gown-for-using-sidewalk.html

Ask your presidential candidates what they want to do about this, and pay close attention to their answers.

We are living in a dictatorship.

British: Declaration of Independence was Illegal

2011-10-20T07:04:00.000-04:00

This is funny. A group of British lawyers are arguing that the US Declaration of Independence was illegal. According to them, Americans did not have the right to secede and establish their own laws.

Geez, I wonder how they can live with the fact that Britain technically seceded from the Roman Empire in 410 CE after the Roman Army packed up and left.

By that logic, Rome is still the Capital of the World and we are all its citizens. Does anyone want to pay tribute to Ceasar? I didn't think so.

http://www.newser.com/story/131447/declaration-of-independence-was-illegal.html

Harold Camping: Doomsday Definitely Next Friday

2011-10-14T20:52:00.000-04:00

Ah, dang. I was all psyched for the upcoming snowboarding season. Apparently I will have to change my plans, because Harold Camping says the end of the world will take place next Friday. Wait... wasn't it supposed to be last May?

http://www.newser.com/story/131020/harold-camping-doomsday-definitely-next-friday-october-21-2011.html

Hungarian police is overreacting

2011-10-11T21:00:00.000-04:00

The film set of World War Z, an apocalyptic zombie movie based on a Max Brooks novel, was raided by the Hungarian police SWAT team, where they discovered 85 'illegal' firearms. I understand that it's their country and their laws, but frankly, what are they afraid of? That movie star Brad Pitt is going to go crazy and shoot up real zombies? Firearms on movie sets are not used in crime; They are used to make movies. It is a silly distraction that the weapons were functional. If this is how you treat film companies that come to your country to spend millions of dollars, how will you treat your own citizens when they are in need to defend their own lives?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/10/world-war-z-set-raided-by_n_1003770.html

Funny image of the day

2011-10-09T20:04:00.000-04:00

What justifies taxability?

2011-10-07T23:17:00.000-04:00

Most of us reluctantly agree that taxation is a necessary evil to "establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity", but we all disagree about how this is to happen.

Without revenue, a government cannot operate. So a government has a few options to obtain revenue:

-accumulate spoils of war by conquering other nations
-operate revenue-generating businesses
-gather fees for services
-ask for donations
-tax the people

Generally, relying on the spoils of war is dangerous. It means the nation must be in a constant state of expansionist wars. The problem is, you make a lot of enemies by doing that. And when you stop expanding, you implode under your own weight. It's called imperial overstretch. This is what killed Rome. Operating businesses is viewed as an unfair competitive advantage against private businesses who do not have access to the same resources. Fees make government services less accessible to the less financially fortunate. As far as donations are concerned, they are rare and far between, and taxation is just universally reviled.

But still, taxation is the primary means by which governments earn revenue.

So what can government tax, and what justifies taxability?

-Income? -> you've earned it, shouldn't you keep it? The less you earn the less you can spend. The less you can spend, the less businesses you deal with can profit.
-Assets? -> you own them, why does the government deserve a cut of them? What if your assets are not liquid and you have insufficient income to pay the tax? Why should you liquidate your assets?
-Consumption? -> why make every good and service more expensive? What's the reasoning? Who seriously thinks that taxing transactions is a good idea? Following that logic, why not tax lawn sales and kid's lemonade stands too? Why not tax gifts made among friends and family members too?
-Vices? -> who's to say that your booze or tobacco is to be discouraged? Who's got the moral high ground to be able to tell you what you can and cannot do with your own health? Why not tax random crap for no reason... let's say chairs, because sitting for 8 hours per day increases your chances to die of a stroke. "My goodness!? can you imagine a world where chairs are not taxed? Preposterous!"

Never forget that consumer spending is the backbone of the economy. Taking money away from consumers just makes the economy worse. The only thing that makes sense to tax at all, the only thing that is justifiably taxable, is wealth. Yes, wealth. [insert sounds of conservatives collapsing from heart attacks]. Who seriously cares about billionaires? Who seriously feels sorry for them? WHO THE F*CK CARES ABOUT BILLIONAIRES??? They were once called 'nobility'. How 'noble' to profit off your serfs, good Sir. How 'noble' of you to allow me the privilege of toiling away in your fields while you enrich yourself by the sweat of MY brow. You sit on your ass in your fancy office all day while I do the actual grunt work that pays for your kid's third Jaguar. Oh my, what if you couldn't afford the 40-meter yacht and had to settle for the 35-meter one because your tax rate went up a bit? Oh no! Disaster!

It is those that have WAY more than they really need that should bear the entirety of the tax burden, not the poor little bastards already struggling to pay off their f*cking credit cards. Taxing the wealth of the well-heeled would leave more money in the pockets of ordinary people, money that they could use to live better lives, start their OWN businesses and be independent citizens themselves.

Mind Reading Coming Soon to a Police Station Near You.

2011-09-26T23:09:00.000-04:00

It appears as if neuroscientists are on the verge of being able to reconstruct images from the human brain. In real time.

There soon will be an app for that, and it will automatically update your Facebook status with images pulled from your thoughts, in real time. Your most private perverted thoughts will be recorded for all to see.

Welcome to your worse nightmare.

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2011-09/mind-reading-tech-reconstructs-videos-brain-images

New word

2011-09-26T21:56:00.004-04:00

F*ckocracy [fuhk-uh-k-ruh-see]

noun

A form of government in which the people are getting abused, screwed, and generally taken advantage of by a ruling elite called the f*ckocrats.

*This new word is my intellectual property, and I expect credit for it. © 2011 by guntotingatheist.blogspot.com

UPDATE: It hasn't been 10 minutes yet, and already I've been emailed that I wasn't the first one to come up with this word. Dang. I thought I had something original. Disregard the above copyright notice, keep calm, and carry on.

Nationalism

2011-09-18T22:57:00.002-04:00

Nationalism [nash-uh-nl-iz-uh'm]

noun

The sheep mentality that causes individuals to stop using their brains for independent thought in favor of adopting blind faith in the imperialist propaganda of corrupt and malevolent politicians.

HP Touchpad Review

2011-08-25T23:42:00.001-04:00

IT'S AWESOME GO BUY ONE TODAY!!!!

Okay, there is more to the review than that emotionally-charged imperative statement. At $99 for the 16GB version and $149 for the 32GB version, this is a deal that you CANNOT pass up. While it does not support as many apps as Apple's iPad™, it is pretty much the same thing, at a fraction of the cost. I sure hope the WebOS operating system survives either as a licensed OS or under the stewardship of a new owner. Myriads of industry analysts have commented on HP's decision to kill the product line, and I am not going to comment further on their strategic decision to follow IBM's example (6 years later).

In any case, I found out about the fire sale late Friday night, and I was up early the next morning and picked up the last one at Staples. I am still having a hard time finding accessories (such as the WebOS bluetooth keyboard and the Touchstone docking station), but I think I am going to bite the bullet and order that stuff from Amazon before it sells out. If I wait until accessory prices drop, I may never get a hold of them until they are way overpriced on eBay.

Since owning this awesome piece of technology, I can honestly say that it is completely worth the original price of $500. Too bad it took the termination of the WebOS hardware team to make this the runaway success that it has become over the past 6 days. Hopefully, the WebOS source code will survive under the wing of HTC or Samsung, because it is a truly superior OS to Android.

I love my HTC EVO 4G, and love the number of apps available for it, but Android is Klunky with a kapital K, and I miss WebOS's smooth operation and well-engineered user interface. I fell in love with WebOS after owning a Palm Pre, and I am glad to own a brand new WebOS device.

The advantage of software over hardware, is that hardware is easy to kill. Hardware can break and become outdated. But software is immortal. Software can survive in cyberspace and evolve, and that I hope will be WebOS's saving grace.

I have to say, my Mac is feeling lonely lately, because I've been using the Touchpad almost exclusively for the past week.

In other news, did you hear about the iPhone 5 coming to Sprint in October?

For the time being, iOS and Android will be the dominant players in the mobile OS field, with Windows Phone 7 a distant third. But do not write off WebOS as dead... it will rise from the dead, in one form or another. With Google now owning Motorola Mobility, and rumors of Microsoft acquiring Nokia, it seems as if the future is in vertical integration of software and hardware, so let's see where this leads...

2012-01-04 UPDATE: It was not the iPhone 5, but the iPhone 4S. Also, WebOS is now going to be open-source, and will not be bought by any company.

The Adventures of Touché LeDouche

2011-08-21T20:05:00.000-04:00

I just made my official debut as a cartoon character, thanks to Ginx, and face off against free speech prize fighter Touché LeDouche. What can I say... I am touched.

Dennis "David Mabus" Markuze behind bars

2011-08-18T23:20:00.003-04:00

This is a sad week. Internet troll extraordinaire Dennis Markuze, who has been haunting scientific forums and atheist blogs for nearly 20 years, and who has previously commented on this blog (see links below), has been arrested by the Montreal Police. No more death threats and hate mail directed towards me. I feel so alone now. Somebody hug me.

News stories about the arrest:

http://skeptools.wordpress.com/2011/08/17/case-study-notorious-spammer-brought-down-twitter-tumblr-social-media-mabus/

http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20110818/mtl_mabus_110818/20110818/?hub=MontrealHome

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/18/prolific-web-troll-arrested-with-help-from-atheists-on-twitter/

http://www.cyberpresse.ca/actualites/quebec-canada/justice-et-faits-divers/201108/17/01-4426721-menaces-sur-internet-mabus-arrete.php

Some samples of DM's garbage:

http://guntotingatheist.blogspot.com/2010/07/ruger-lcr-now-available-in-357-caliber.html?showComment=1278858292126#c1074227166545934280

http://guntotingatheist.blogspot.com/2010/06/why-is-there-something-rather-than.html?showComment=1277995366016#c5937205860022234798

http://guntotingatheist.blogspot.com/2011/04/sometimes-low-tech-is-better-ii.html?showComment=1301808693778#c8412644735391823281

Is HP scared of the Google Acquisition of Motorola Mobility?

2011-08-18T22:00:00.001-04:00

Monday: Google announces acquisition of Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion

Wednesday: HP Pre 3 Smartphone goes on sale in Europe

Thursday morning: HP announces the new 64GB Touchpad for the EU market

Thursday afternoon: HP announces it is axing its WebOS product line

So what happened? My guess is HP panicked after the Google/Moto deal. Google now controls both the software and the hardware for its Android operating system. HP immediately saw this as a serious threat. What's more, Apple's iPad tablet has been eating into its laptop sales, and HP also announced that they were exiting the PC business.

I love the WebOS operating system, but unfortunately, better technologies do not always come to dominate markets. Android is not as polished, but it does have the advantage of a strong app developer community, which means there is no shortage of useful applications for the platform. Still, WebOS is a very well engineered system and I wonder what will become of it.

The same can be said of good ideas; they are not always widespread. Do not disregard unpopular ideas because they are unpopular. That unpopular idea may sometimes be better.

Do not disregard the fringe candidate because of a poor showing in a poll. That candidate may actually be a better choice.

The moral of the story is you can't be a sheep and buy something or do something or vote for someone just because everybody is doing the same.

Ron Paul should dump the GOP and go Independent

2011-08-16T22:27:00.000-04:00

The GOP seems to pretend that Ron Paul is the disembodied voice haunting their schizophrenic delusions. What's more, the mass media also seems to ignore that Ron Paul came in SECOND in the Ames Straw Poll.

It is FEAR. They know that Ron Paul can beat all the GOP clowns. He is a serious candidate to consider.

The Daily Show
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Christians: take note, there ARE gay animals

2011-08-16T21:45:00.000-04:00

To those Christians who believe that homosexuality is a 'lifestyle choice', I would recommend that you read the linked news story below.

As it turns out, homosexuality exists in nature and same-sex pair bonding seems to offer the same survival advantages to individuals as opposite-sex pair bonding.

http://www.newser.com/story/125914/gay-birds-just-as-faithful-as-straight-pairs.html

NO to the 'war tax'

2011-08-16T21:39:00.001-04:00

Some people have figured out how to pay for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars: Raise taxes!!

Apparently, they want to add a 10% tax surcharge to pay for it, and bring in an additional $116 billion in revenue, which would cover the wars' projected 2012 cost.

The Gun-Toting Atheist has a much better idea: END THE WARS.

If the rich want war so much, get THEIR sons and daughters fitted with combat boots and ship'em off to Kabul tomorrow, and have THEM pay for it.

No one has ever intelligently demonstrated how these wars benefit average Americans in any way. Or any average person anywhere in the world, for that matter.

Imperialist wars of aggression must stop. The idea of increasing taxes to pay for those useless conflicts is stupid beyond belief.

http://www.newser.com/story/125934/walter-pincus-we-need-a-war-tax.html

Why the gas tax needs to be abolished

2011-08-16T21:30:00.000-04:00

No, I am not in love with the oil companies.

But the gasoline tax of 18.4 cents per gallon (~4 liters) is not a progressive tax by nature (it's a flat excise tax), and it hurts cash-strapped consumers who are simply trying to commute to and from work. If you want to pay for roads and bridges, tax the rich.

http://www.newser.com/story/125949/new-york-times-editors-why-the-gas-tax-is-essential.html

Abolish the Penny

2011-08-16T21:24:00.000-04:00

In 2010, a penny cost $0.0176 to manufacture, yet, to this day, is worth only $0.01. If you understand math, you understand that is a waste of money for the US Mint to keep manufacturing it.

When was the last time you paid cash for something that cost only one penny?

Merchants can simply round their prices to the nearest nickel. You will never need a penny. Use your debit card more and you'll never have to carry cash at all. Actually, to find ways to use pennies, you have to be very creative.

Creative ways you can use pennies:

-Pay FCC indecency fines
-Pay your young nieces and nephews 1 penny per hour to do gardening work
-Give a bad tip at a bad restaurant
-Make bail
-Stuff them in an old sock to make a blunt instrument
-Recycle them to make bronze armor and weapons

http://www.newser.com/story/125938/amid-debt-mess-renewed-calls-to-kill-the-lowly-penny.html

Michele Bachmann Demonstrates How Women Can Submit to their Husbands

2011-08-14T12:34:00.003-04:00

After claiming that women must submit to their husbands, presidential hopeful* Michele Bachmann demonstrates how to do it at the Iowa State Fair by eating a corn dog. Is this what America needs?

I am sorry for all women who find this offensive. Don't blame me, but make sure not to vote for Bachmann. She wants to keep you at home cooking, submitting to your husbands by making babies and doing laundry.

*Presidential I-hope-not

What was that Johnny Depp movie where he plays a murderous barber?

2011-08-14T12:20:00.000-04:00

Cone-ing

2011-08-13T23:56:00.000-04:00

Are Libertarianism and Progressive tax systems mutually Incompatible?

2011-08-12T00:21:00.002-04:00

How can I possibly be a libertarian and support progressive tax rates at the same time?

I suppose that when it comes to personal liberty and the preservation of my rights, I am a libertarian. When it comes to my attitude towards taxation policy, I support progressive income tax rates.

I believe that social order is necessary and that anarchy is an unrealistic utopia that cannot function properly in practice. Therefore I believe that people must come together and establish rules for the benefit of society.

In the absence of rules and authority, the balance of force is destabilized and a power vacuum emerges, sucking in the biggest dog in the pack. Among animal populations, humans included, there are always individuals with a stronger desire for power, and they invariably find their way to the event horizon of power vacuums.

This is exactly what happened during the French Revolution. The old social order was destroyed, and an absolutist monarch beheaded. And everyone wanted a piece of the new Republic. Cue in Robespierre and the Jacobins and their Reign of Terror. It became a bloodbath. Soon, people were clamoring for a new order. People wanted a dictator to come in and restore a semblance of civilization. Who better to answer the call than Napoleon Bonaparte. After a decapitated monarchy and a failed democracy, France was now an Empire ruled by a tyrant. A tyrant so power-hungry, that he remade the European geopolitical landscape, and set the stage for the system of alliances that ultimately led to nationalism and militarism that eventually exploded into the first World War. But of course, the German defeat of 1918 and the extremely punitive war reparations imposed by the Treaty of Versailles only served to destroy the Weimar Republic, which re-emerged as the Third Reich, which prompted the emergence of two superpowers that would wage a cold war for the next four decades.

It is then easy to understand that this endless cycle of wars and violence is nature's way to seek to restore balance.

Is it possible to have balance without the need for all these bloody wars?

I believe so, but it is not easy to achieve in practice.

To secure our rights and our property, we come together as citizens and establish amongst ourselves governments. But as we must divide labor and specialize as cooks, engineers, farmers, teachers, writers etc., so must choose representatives to run the day-to-day affairs of our governments.

The danger here is that since the primary purpose of government is to serve the people and protect their rights, we must take care not to build within government power structures that can be misused against us, and we must be vigilant in making sure that the individuals in government work with our best interest in mind. We do not want a government that will confiscate our guns or enslave us. We do not want a government that will be filled with corrupt bureaucrats. We do not want a judicial branch that has the power to execute people.

I do not believe that a nationalized health care system would be a threat to our liberty. I do not believe that a progressive tax system where the rich pay a higher percentage would be a threat to our liberty. For to prevent the birth of a new monarchy, we must make sure that no one appropriates too much wealth, lest we see the emergence of a ruling elite class.

Yes, people should be able to profit and benefit from the fruit of their labor, but I also realize that to allow government to operate and build schools and bridges and nursing homes, taxation is a necessary evil, as few people will subscribe to a system of voluntary donations. Who can then afford to pay taxes the most? The wealthy of course. It is not to say that no one should be allowed to be rich, of course not. But simply that the tax burden should be born by those who have more to spare.

For example, suppose that the basic necessities of life (food, housing, transportation) in a town cost a thousand dollars per month, and that the town government needs 1100 dollars per month to operate. A 10% flat tax would take 100 dollars from Grandma who only earns 1000 dollars per month, and leave her with insufficient funds to pay for basic necessities. On the other hand, a wealthy individual - named Bob - who earns 10,000 dollars per month, but who lives frugally, paying only for necessities, would pay 1000 dollars in taxes, but still be left with 8,100 dollars when all is said and done. Would that be fair? What if the Grandma, earning only 1000 dollars owed 0%, and Bob, who earns 10,000 dollars owed 11%? Then Grandma would be able to afford basic necessities without suffering, and Bob would still be left with 8000 dollars, after paying 1100 dollars in taxes.

That is why I support a progressive taxation system instead of a flat tax.

Now of course, this scenario only assumes 2 tax payers. Let's complicate it a bit and add a third taxpayer, named Arthur, who earns 5000 dollars per month.

Grandma pays 0% = $0, Arthur pays 5% = $250, Bob pays 8.5% = $850

Why should Arthur pay only 5% while Bob pays 10%? Because if the difference between paying 0% and paying 10% was 1 dollar of income, and the 0% upper limit was 4999$, and Agnes earned 4999$, Agnes would be paying $0 and be left with $4999 after taxes, while Arthur would be paying $250 and be left with $4750 after taxes. So because Arthur would be penalized by $250 for earning just $1 more than Agnes. But if Arthur owed 10%, he would pay $500 and be left with $4500, which would be an even worse penalty. That is why a progressive tax system is comprised of many small incremental jumps in tax rates, to limit the unfairness of falling into a higher tax bracket.

So let's make the brackets narrower, so that no bracket should be more than 1% than the bracket below it to improve this situation.

For example;
$[0 , 1000] : 0%
$[1001, 2000] : 1%
$[2001, 3000] : 2%
$[3001, 4000] : 3%
$[4001, 5000] : 4%
etc.

In this theoretical system, the first $1000 that you earn is tax free. Then the next $1000 is taxed at 1%, the next $1000 at 2%, and so on and so forth.

So if you earned $3000 per month, you would owe $30. If you earned $3500, you would owe $45. If you earned $4000, you would owe $70. And if you earned $4001, you would owe $110. As you can see, there is still a $40 penalty for earning just $1 over the previous tax bracket upper limit, but it is better than the original $250 penalty that Arthur had.

The bottom line: the more brackets the taxation system has, and the smaller they are, the fairer this tax system is for everyone.

Ideally, we would come up with a mathematical curve formula instead of rigid brackets, which would be even better as it would practically eliminate these 'bracket jump' penalties. But in any form, it is still fairer than a flat 10% tax on everyone.

The numbers in these tax brackets are not a formal proposal, they are simply meant as a basic example to illustrate the mechanism and compare its fairness to the 'flat-tax'.

A flat tax is not fair. A truly progressive tax is.

A progressive tax system is compatible with the ideals of a just libertarian society.

New Comment Policy

2011-08-07T22:35:00.001-04:00

I've decided to open up this blog to anonymous comments. Let the hate mail pour in, for all to see.

Spam will be deleted.

Stupid email chain of the day - Part 3

2011-08-07T22:25:00.000-04:00

Well, I just got another stupid one. You know the drill; first the text of the email, then my line-by-line criticism. Here it goes:

DIVORCE AGREEMENT
Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists and Obama supporters, et al:We have stuck together since the late 1950's for the sake of the kids, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has clearly run its course.

Our two ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is right for us all, so let's just end it on friendly terms. We can smile and chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and go our own way.
Here is a model separation agreement:--Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by landmass each taking a similar portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that, it should be relatively easy! Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and disparate tastes.
--We don't like redistributive taxes so you can keep them.--You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU.
--Since you hate guns and war, we'll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA and the military.--We'll take the nasty, smelly oil industry and you can go with wind, solar and bio diesel.
--You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore and Rosie O'Donnell. You are, however, responsible for finding a bio diesel vehicle big enough to move all three of them.
--We'll keep capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wal-Mart and Wall Street.
--You can have your beloved lifelong welfare dwellers, food stamps, homeless, home boys, hippies, druggies and illegal aliens.--We'll keep the hot Alaskan hockey moms, greedy CEO's and rednecks.
--We'll keep the Bibles and give you NBC and Hollywood .

--You can make nice with Iran and Palestine and we'll retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us.
--You can have the peaceniks and war protesters. When our allies or our way of life are under assault, we'll help provide them security.

--We'll keep our Judeo-Christian values.
--You are welcome to Islam, Scientology, Humanism, political correctness and Shirley McLane. You can also have the U.N. but we will no longer be paying the bill.

--We'll keep the SUV's, pickup trucks and oversized luxury cars. You can take every Volt and Leaf you can find.--You can give everyone health care if you can find any practicing doctors.
--We'll continue to believe health care is a luxury and not a right.
--We'll keep "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "The National Anthem."
--I'm sure you'll be happy to substitute "Imagine", "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing", "Kum Ba Ya" or "We Are the World".

--We'll practice trickle down economics and you can continue to give trickle up poverty your best shot.
--Since it often so offends you, we'll keep our history, our name and our flag.
Would you agree to this? If so, please pass it along to other like-minded liberal and conservative patriots and if you do not agree, just hit delete. In the spirit of friendly parting, I'll bet you answer which one of us will need whose help in 15 years.

Sincerely,John J. WallLaw Student and an American
P.S. Also, please take Ted Turner, Sean Penn, Martin Sheen, Barbara Streisand, & Jane Fonda with you.
P.S.S. And you won't have to press 1 for English when you call our country.
Forward This Every Time You Get It ! Let's Keep This Going, Maybe Some Of It Will Start Sinking In.

Ugh. What a stupid piece of crap. And you wonder why I think conservatives lack a few braincells? This is what the modern conservative movement has come to: Stupid propaganda email chains. This does nothing to promote the cause of conservativism. Instead, it shows the world how narrow-minded and logically flawed that ideology is. By its own merit, this forwarded trash is destroying any credibility the conservative movement might have had. Here's the line-by-line criticism:

DIVORCE AGREEMENT

Boy, I wonder what this is about.

Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists and Obama supporters, et al:

I don't see how Obama is a Marxist. He's in bed with big business, same as you are, dear Republicans. Like you, he is a corporatist.

We have stuck together since the late 1950's for the sake of the kids, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has clearly run its course.

Okay, I can't disagree here. Let's see where you're going with this.

Our two ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is right for us all, so let's just end it on friendly terms. We can smile and chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and go our own way.

Yes! Yes! Let's get a divorce!!! I told you marriage was a bad idea in the first place. Single again! Yay!

Here is a model separation agreement:

--Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by landmass each taking a similar portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that, it should be relatively easy! Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and disparate tastes.

Alright, cut to the chase, I don't have all night.

--We don't like redistributive taxes so you can keep them.

I'm a libertarian, so I hate all taxes so what's your point? Keep all dang taxes for all I care.

--You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU.

Ok. The ACLU fights for everyone's civil rights. What is your problem with that? Are you still pissed off over the fact that black people have the right to vote? Are you pissed off that gay people can't get fired from their jobs for being gay? This proves that conservatives are nothing but bigots.

--Since you hate guns and war, we'll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA and the military.

Nah, you keep the cops and the military, but we keep ALL the guns for ourselves. If you don't like it, go make yourself bows and arrows. We will not be disarmed.

--We'll take the nasty, smelly oil industry and you can go with wind, solar and bio diesel.

Okay. Pollute yourselves into extinction. Fine by me.

--You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore and Rosie O'Donnell. You are, however, responsible for finding a bio diesel vehicle big enough to move all three of them.

Nah, you can keep all of them.

--We'll keep capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wal-Mart and Wall Street.

We keep the pharmaceutical companies, because we're the ones with the college degrees in biochemistry. You go do your silly voodoo faith healing when you have a booboo.

--You can have your beloved lifelong welfare dwellers, food stamps, homeless, home boys, hippies, druggies and illegal aliens.

Nah, why don't you keep them and enslave them in your cotton plantations? Think about it; their cheap labor is going to make your greedy corporations wealthier. Maybe your corporate overlords should enslave you too, while they're at it.

--We'll keep the hot Alaskan hockey moms, greedy CEO's and rednecks.

Take them. Take them all please.

--We'll keep the Bibles and give you NBC and Hollywood .

Alright. Enjoy reading the same fantasy book over and over again. I know how it ends, because Hollywood made it into a movie already. Spoiler alert: it's pretty boring.

--You can make nice with Iran and Palestine and we'll retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us.

No, you can't invade anyone, because we kept all the guns, remember? Sheesh...

--You can have the peaceniks and war protesters. When our allies or our way of life are under assault, we'll help provide them security.

Again, you forget that we have all the guns. We have so many guns, it's not even funny. We loooooove guns. We don't need allies, because we have ALL the guns, so we are pretty secure. No one is invading us, not even you.

--We'll keep our Judeo-Christian values.

Take Islam too.

--You are welcome to Islam, Scientology, Humanism, political correctness and Shirley McLane. You can also have the U.N. but we will no longer be paying the bill.

We'll take humanism, you can have the rest of that crap. Who the heck is Shirley McLane? Friend of yours?

--We'll keep the SUV's, pickup trucks and oversized luxury cars. You can take every Volt and Leaf you can find.

Nah, we like SUVs. We can mount gun turrets on top of them. Because we kept all the guns, remember? You are really stupid if you can't remember that.

--You can give everyone health care if you can find any practicing doctors.

Not a problem.

--We'll continue to believe health care is a luxury and not a right.

Good luck with your social darwinism.

--We'll keep "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "The National Anthem."

We'll keep punk rock and speed metal.

--I'm sure you'll be happy to substitute "Imagine", "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing", "Kum Ba Ya" or "We Are the World".

Nah, more like "Anarchy in the UK", "Master of Puppets" and "The Power of Thy Steel"

--We'll practice trickle down economics and you can continue to give trickle up poverty your best shot.

If you are debating the teachings of the Austrian School vs. Keynesianism, I guess both theories have their virtues and their flaws. Take both, we'll come up with something better, because we have all the brain power and the 'liberal colleges' where real science happens.

--Since it often so offends you, we'll keep our history, our name and our flag.

You don't even understand history. Don't play with stuff you don't understand. We'll take care of preserving history, we don't want you to rewrite it, you greedy corporate bastards.

Would you agree to this? If so, please pass it along to other like-minded liberal and conservative patriots and if you do not agree, just hit delete. In the spirit of friendly parting, I'll bet you answer which one of us will need whose help in 15 years.

We'll see how it turns out.

Sincerely,

John J. Wall

Law Student and an American

Well, Mr. John J. Wall, if that is your real name, if you are a law student, you are pretty biased ideologically so I don't want you as my attorney.

P.S. Also, please take Ted Turner, Sean Penn, Martin Sheen, Barbara Streisand, & Jane Fonda with you.

Why do you want to give us all these people I've never heard of before?

P.S.S. And you won't have to press 1 for English when you call our country.

Boo-hoo! Poor conservatives too scared of learning a foreign language! Cry, cry, cry! "And then, he spoke to me in spanish!!!! Boo-hoo-hoo!!!!" Grow a pair of balls and learn a few languages so you can at least do business with other countries. Stupid xenophobic dumb-ass. As if mexican immigrants would ever be so numerous as to be able to send white trash like you to concentration camps to force them to learn spanish; you are not at risk of getting assimilated, so globalize yourself culturally.

Forward This Every Time You Get It ! Let's Keep This Going, Maybe Some Of It Will Start Sinking In.

What has sunk in, is that this is spam, and spam pisses me off, and if you forward crap like this just because some stupid email tells you to, you are still a spammer, and spamming should be illegal. I don't like conservatives, but I really, really hate spammers. Why don't you take all the spammers to form your own stupid corporatist republic?

This my friends, is the extent of the intellectual capacity of the modern conservative. He is an uneducated bigot who mindlessly supports greedy corporations that care not one bit about his long-term well-being. He is a slave to his corporate overlords, and is beyond redemption. I hope you will find it in your heart to treat him with the compassion he would not show you.

Pun intended

2011-08-04T21:25:00.000-04:00

If you intentionally or unintentionally use a pun in spoken or written form, do NOT ever say 'pun not intended' or 'pardon the pun' or any statement of that nature. Just go with it. If someone is too dumb to get the joke, too bad for them, don't waste your time pointing out the pun. And if someone is too stuck up or serious to appreciate a pun, screw them.

So the economy is bad... but do we even need an economy?

2011-08-04T17:04:00.001-04:00

No matter how bad the stock market or the economy gets, we will not go back to the middle ages.

Sure, if we look back to the Great Depression, things were bad, but let's compare even that with an even worse period, say, the Dark Ages.

Even at the height of the Great Depression, people were better fed, clothed and housed than during most of human history. It seemed bad only relatively speaking. It is psychologically difficult to adapt to a more precarious financial situation and to a more frugal standard of living. But when one considers the bare essentials of human life, such as oxygen, warmth, water, carbohydrates and protein, a more optimistic outlook emerges.

Try the following experiment. Go to your local outdoor gear store, and have yourself fitted with good boots and hiking gear, pack up some food, and go for a three-day trek through the wilderness.* Turn off your cellphone, hunt/fish your own food, cook it over a camp fire, poop in a hole in the ground and sleep outdoors. You will find that all your needs are met by very simple equipment. As long as you are warm, dry and fed, you can be happy. You don't need a house, or a car, or a cell phone, or a computer. Quite certainly, these things make your life easier and more enjoyable, but by experiencing more primitive living conditions, you will gain a more optimistic perspective over your own life.

Out there, toilet paper is often referred to as 'camp money'. Because money is useless in the wild. A flint, a knife, and a water bottle are much more valuable.

Don't invest in gold. Several financial experts, including Dave Ramsey, will gladly advise you against doing this. The high price of gold is a merely a bubble. Invest in gold at your own risk. Out in the wild, gold is useless. A good steel blade is more valuable. Fresh, clean drinking water even more.

If the economy really tanks and America becomes the new Somalia, you don't want gold. No one is going to take it. You want usable items to trade. Water, food, tools, antibiotics, guns and ammo. Those things will be worth a lot and will make a difference between who is wealthy and who is not.

So take a step back and consider the basics. Hike more, camp more. It will reset your psyche. Your financial situation will seem much more manageable, and give you a more grounded perspective.

Happy trails.

* I know hiking boots are expensive, and are made by large manufacturers with a large distribution infrastructure, but that is not the point I am trying to make. The point is if you go on a three-day hike with bad shoes, you will regret it and your feet will be a mess.

Stupid email chain of the day - Part 2 - UPDATED

2011-08-03T00:16:00.004-04:00

I received yet another stupid email chain.

Why do people bother forwarding this Grand Old Propaganda?

As I did last time, I will reproduce the whole text of this mental retardation example, then analyze it line by line.

Here it goes:

THE FENCEYou can’t get any more accurate than this!
Which Side of the fence?If You ever wondered which side of the fence you sit on, this is a great test!If a Republican doesn't like guns, he doesn’t buy one.
If a Democrat doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.
If a Republican is a vegetarian, he doesn’t eat meat.If a Democrat is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.

If a Republican is homosexual, he quietly leads his life.
If a Democrat is homosexual, he demands legislated respect.

If a Republican is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation.A Democrat wonders who is going to take care of him.

If a Republican doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels.Democrats demand that those they don't like be shut down.

If a Republican is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church.
A Democrat non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced.
If a Republican decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it..A Democrat demands that the rest of us pay for his.

If a Republican reads this, he'll forward it to his friends.
A Democrat will delete it because he's "offended".

Well, I forwarded it.

<VOMIT OUT LOUD>

Ok, pardon my bodily function comedy, but this makes me wanna lick a subway car window. It's that mind-numbing. Now my line-by-line criticism of this atrocious piece of Republicrap:

THE FENCE

Considering the source, at first I thought this was some xenophobic rag about building a fence between Texas and Mexico, and I was shocked that it's actually about a stupid imaginary fence.

You can’t get any more accurate than this!

Hum, yeah, I can. You are a bigot. Do you need me to be more accurate?

Which Side of the fence?
If You ever wondered which side of the fence you sit on, this is a great test!

If this is a test, you failed. You followed the instructions to the letter and you forwarded this to 17 contacts. The test was designed to see who would be sufficiently cognitively challenged to actually forward the email. Grade = F.

If a Republican doesn't like guns, he doesn’t buy one.

And if an anarchist doesn't like guns, he obtains one anyway because he knows it's an essential item to have in a survival kit.

If a Democrat doesn't like guns, he wants all guns outlawed.

Nowadays, few democrats would risk their political careers over that...

If a Republican is a vegetarian, he doesn’t eat meat.

Come on dude... there is no such thing as a vegetarian republican. They are all cannibals.

If a Democrat is a vegetarian, he wants all meat products banned for everyone.

I think you are talking about vegans, but not all vegans are democrats, and not all democrats are vegans. But you are retarded, so I'll cut you some slack. Venn diagrams are too complicated for your tiny minuscule cerebral cortex.

If a Republican is homosexual, he quietly leads his life.

And then he has sex with other men in airport restrooms, and tries to deny it after it goes public.

If a Democrat is homosexual, he demands legislated respect.

So not only are you racist, you are also an anti-gay bigot. Textbook definition of a Republican.

If a Republican is down-and-out, he thinks about how to better his situation.

Actually I thought a republican would try to find a way to blame his predicament on blacks and gays. (And mexicans). Oh and blame it on malevolent 'liberals'.

A Democrat wonders who is going to take care of him.

I wonder if you sniffed to much glue as a kid.

If a Republican doesn't like a talk show host, he switches channels.

Of course, back to Faux News, right?

Democrats demand that those they don't like be shut down.

Ah crap, still claiming that hate speech should be legal, huh?

If a Republican is a non-believer, he doesn't go to church.

Yeah right, a republican non-believer. I'll believe it when I see it.

A Democrat non-believer wants any mention of God and religion silenced.

Religion is poison for the mind. God is dead.

If a Republican decides he needs health care, he goes about shopping for it, or may choose a job that provides it..

Or he buys crappy discount insurance only to find out that it doesn't cover cancer treatment. Oops! At least once he croaks he won't start complaining about how he had a change of heart and he now thinks that the free market should be regulated.

A Democrat demands that the rest of us pay for his.

No, not the rest of 'us', just greedy rich bastards who don't want to pay their fair share of taxes, but don't mind having the middle class pay to invade Oilinthegroundistan. Why is it that poor republicans insist on protecting rich pigs who really couldn't care less about their well-being?

If a Republican reads this, he'll forward it to his friends.

Translation: if you forward it to 17 friends within 17 minutes of reading this, your three dearest wishes will come true! It's true! Baby Jesus told me!

A Democrat will delete it because he's "offended".

Maybe, but an anarchist might post it on a blog to make fun of every single line of it.

Well, I forwarded it.

Well, f*ck you.

I'm sorry for my harsh language concerning republicans (I shouldn't generalize, many of my close relatives are republicans), but stupid email chains like this one really get my blood boiling. The ignorance and bigotry that permeates this garbage really pisses me off. Do not forward stupid email crap because an email tells you to do so, you stupid computer illiterate son of a b*tch.

___________________________________________

EDIT 2011-AUG-04 : I want to apologize for the condescending tone of this post. The truth is, not all Republicans are bigots, and not all of them are closed-minded partisans. My issue here is that some of my close relatives are exemplary in their embrace of stereotypical Republican rhetoric and propagandist mantras, and we often clash over politics, which has caused some strained family relations. Also, I have myself voted for some Republican electoral candidates before (Ron Paul being one of them) and even contributed money to a local candidate's campaign, so really I shouldn't post angry remarks like the above, but when the same relatives email me this garbage, I can't help but ridicule this partisan baloney.

Is Facebook a CIA data-mining operation?

2011-08-02T20:13:00.004-04:00

It is August 2011, and I still don't have a silly Face-Book account, and before you dismiss me as some computer illiterate backwoods hillbilly, consider that I wrote this POS blog post you are now reading.

According to blogger Eric Dubay of the Atlantean Conspiracy;

"Facebook is a CIA data-mining operation used to gather and store massive amounts of valuable information about hundreds of millions of people. All this info is then used by governments and corporations to target individuals or demographics they're interested in exploiting. "

I'm not quite certain of where Mr. Dubay is getting this information, but I share a similar feeling of unease regarding the data-mining potential of this 'social network'. Face-Book is a database system that holds the personal data of millions of individuals. That should be enough to be cause for concern.

What does the Book of Faces know about you? Let's make a list:

-Your name

-Your age

-What you look like

-What your dog looks like

-The name of your favorite pet

-Your mother's maiden name

-Who your friends are

-The subject and content of the conversations you are having with your friends

-Your sexual disorientation

-etc. who knows what else, the more you share, the more they know.

Don't think for one minute that deleting your profile is going to solve anything. They make backups.

So don't heed my warning. Keep using it. Share everything about your life with that website. What harm could come of that?

If you pursue this naive information-sharing endeavor, and eventually start seeing the light of day fade under big brother's overbearing shadow, don't email me, and don't ask for help. I warned you.

TSA has a sense of humor

2011-07-28T21:45:00.000-04:00

I went through a TSA checkpoint last night, and to my pleasant surprise, the TSA staff was actually very courteous, and exhibited a genuine sense of humor by cracking subtle jokes.

I think one of the female agents was actually hitting on me.

The muslims in front of me did not have such a good time. While I walked through the regular metal detector, they were forced to go through the so-called full-body scanners, and their foreign passports were being thoroughly inspected by several agents and their apparent supervisors.

I can guess they used some profiling methodology to decide who got through easy, and who needed the anal probe.

But then I thought about that Breivik nut in Norway. Is profiling going to change now to include blond-hair, blue-eyed Scandinavians?

NRA's Wayne Lapierre speaks at the United Nations

2011-07-19T21:59:00.001-04:00

A matter of context

2011-07-17T21:51:00.000-04:00

GOOD : Sarah's surgery went without a hitch.

AMBIGUOUS : John and Sarah got hitched without a hitch.

BAD : The truck driver left the hitch installation appointment without a hitch.

MIRACULOUS : The truck driver pulled his boat out of the lake without a hitch.

5 Ridiculous Gun Myths

2011-07-15T23:54:00.001-04:00

Hollywood is a myth-perpetuating machine, and any anti-gun advocates who obtain their gun-related information from Hollywood movies are severely misguided.

Follow the link for a humorous exposé of why magical automatic death machines and super-silent silencers are made-up Hollywood folklore.

http://www.cracked.com/article_18576_5-ridiculous-gun-myths-everyone-believes-thanks-to-movies.html

NBC omits 'under God' from Pledge of Allegiance

2011-07-12T20:14:00.000-04:00

NBC has issued an apology to 107 cry-baby members of Congress who got pissed off that an NBC broadcast had been edited to remove the controversial words 'under God' from the Pledge of Allegiance.

NBC should not apologize. The staff who made the edit did the right thing. 'Under God' has no place in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I would like to publicly criticize NBC for reprimanding the heroic staff members who took an ideological stance against theocracy.

This is not a nation under God, because there is no evidence whatsoever that such a deity even exists.

This is a nation defined by a Constitution written by men, because of their will to break away from an authoritarian empire. Not a nation under control of any kind of imaginary supernatural entity.

Forcing people to pledge allegiance to a 'nation under God' is forcing people to pledge an allegiance to a false idol. This should not be tolerated in a secular society such as ours, and NBC should instead be rewarding the employees involved.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/12/nbc-pledge-under-god_n_896476.html

Naked, Gun-Toting Woman

2011-07-12T20:03:00.000-04:00

In Vacaville, California, police arrested 32-year-old Patricia Wright for storming a motel lobby in the nude with a loaded handgun.

I would like to let my readers know that I do not endorse this behavior (brandishing a firearm in a public place, I mean).

http://blogs.sacbee.com/crime/archives/2011/07/naked-woman-wit.html#ixzz1RoWFYNK9

Abolish sales taxes

2011-07-09T18:23:00.001-04:00

Sales taxes hurt consumers by reducing their purchasing power. When their purchasing power goes down, they end up purchasing less, and this in turns hurts merchants. This in turn forces merchants to lay off workers and place fewer orders, which has the dual effect of increasing unemployment and hurting manufacturers and importers.

As you have guessed it, this does not end there. When manufacturers receive fewer orders, they produce less, lay off workers, and order fewer raw materials. This in turns increases yet again unemployment and as manufacturers order fewer raw materials, natural resource extractors get hurt, and again, they lay off more workers.

Now, with all this unemployment, consumer spending takes a nosedive, which aggravates the situation further, and reduces revenues from sales taxes as a result. What do the States typically do when revenues go down? That's right, they increase the sales tax and make their predicament worse in the long run.

If States want to increase revenues, consumption taxes are the wrong way to go.

http://www.edmondsun.com/opinion/x814634218/Sales-tax-hurts-economy-too

http://www.khi.org/news/2010/jan/26/business-groups-say-sales-tax-increase-would-hurt-/

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/01/24/japan-economy-tax-idUSTOE70N02W20110124

Texas illegally executes Mexican Citizen

2011-07-08T22:17:00.001-04:00

The State of Texas violated international law by executing a Mexican national without granting him consular access. This was in violation of Article 36 of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations.

But a deeper problem exists. Governments should not be in the business of killing people. Capital punishment is a tool of tyrants, and a civilized democracy such as ours should not execute people, no matter how heinous their alleged crimes were. Testimonies can be bought. Evidence can be falsified. Confessions can be obtained under torture.

I am of the opinion that Mr. Leal Garcia was guilty, but as my non-existent regular readers know, my opinion is worth jack sh*t. How will anyone know for sure now that the accused is dead?

I can understand your feelings of anger if your 16 year-old daughter is raped and killed by a dirtbag, and I can't blame you for wanting the alleged perpetrator hung, drawn, and quartered. But what if you find yourself wrongfully accused of a crime you did not commit because you happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time? How would you like to have the tables turned? Wouldn't you want the death penalty to be outlawed then?

Let's imagine a fictitious scenario for a moment. What if a religious fundamentalist is elected President and orders Homeland Security to put together a blacklist of anyone who has accessed an atheist blog, let's say for example, http://guntotingatheist.blogspot.com, and you end up on that blacklist for reading this very post. And what if the fundamentalist tyrant then orders that all the people on that blacklist get arrested and executed for 'conspiracy to commit blasphemy' (or some stupid thing of that nature)? How would you like it if the death penalty was legal then? The death penalty is something people like Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin and Saddam Hussein used all the time to eliminate their political enemies, because it worked. Let us not make life easier for future dictators by handing them this inhumane tool on a silver platter.

It is better to let a hundred vicious serial serial killers spend the rest of their life in prison than risk wrongfully executing just one innocent person. The death penalty only sounds good if you are on the good side of it.

The death penalty is uncivilized and should be abolished.

Use of lethal force in self-defense -or in the defense of another- against a direct threat is a completely different story.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/07/08/mexico.execution.un/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Government Industry vs Private Industry

2011-07-06T22:56:00.001-04:00

Which is better? Government-run organizations, or private organizations? Let's look at some pros and cons of each.

Government industry pros:

Not-for-profit -> lower cost.*
Bureaucrats too lazy and unmotivated to bother trying to screw you.

Government industry cons:

Lazy-ass incompetent employees -> less efficient -> higher cost.*
Incompetent or corrupt employees have too much job security.
Less competition -> higher cost
Increases size of budget -> Justifies higher taxes and more data mining -> leads to an even bigger and more powerful government.
Lack of internal auditing. Money disappears into a black hole. Poorly managed.

Private industry pros:

More competent employees.
Incompetent of corrupt employees easily terminated - > lower cost**
Separation of powers -> less money and data going to the government
More competition -> lower cost.
Very efficiently managed -> lower cost

Private industry cons:

For profit -> often out to screw you -> higher cost**

Sacrifice the long-term welfare of their employees and clients for short-term profitability.

Sacrifice environmental sustainability for short-term profitability.

Very efficiently managed + Lack of government oversight + lax regulations = very effective at profiting off your back.

Private industry in cahoots with the government:

You are screwed and on your own.

The verdict: Either way we are screwed. Pick your poison.

Possible alternative: A member-run cooperative organization?

* Notice the theoretical contradiction.

** Notice yet another theoretical contradiction.

New England Trivia

2011-07-04T23:28:00.001-04:00

What are people from Massachussetts called?

a) Massachussettians

b) Massachussetters

c) Bay Staters

d) Massholes

What are people from Maine called?

a) Mainers

b) Mainians

c) Down Easters

d) Mainiacs

What are people from Vermont called?

a) Hippies

b) Vermonsters

c) Not Flatlanders

d) People live there?

What are people from New Hampshire called?

a) New Hampshirites

b) Libertarians

c) People who don't pave their f*cking roads because they don't like to pay taxes

d) Get the f*ck off my property, you and your f*cking survey.

The Declaration of Independence (Atheist version)

2011-07-04T21:13:00.003-04:00

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature ~~and of Nature's God~~ entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men & women are ~~created~~ born equal, that they are endowed ~~by their Creator~~ at birth with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men & Women, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the ~~merciless Indian Savages~~ indigenous tribes, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Georgia:
Button Gwinnett
Lyman Hall
George Walton

North Carolina:
William Hooper
Joseph Hewes
John Penn
South Carolina:
Edward Rutledge
Thomas Heyward, Jr.
Thomas Lynch, Jr.
Arthur Middleton

Massachusetts:
John Hancock
Maryland:
Samuel Chase
William Paca
Thomas Stone
Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia:
George Wythe
Richard Henry Lee
Thomas Jefferson
Benjamin Harrison
Thomas Nelson, Jr.
Francis Lightfoot Lee
Carter Braxton

Pennsylvania:
Robert Morris
Benjamin Rush
Benjamin Franklin
John Morton
George Clymer
James Smith
George Taylor
James Wilson
George Ross
Delaware:
Caesar Rodney
George Read
Thomas McKean

New York:
William Floyd
Philip Livingston
Francis Lewis
Lewis Morris
New Jersey:
Richard Stockton
John Witherspoon
Francis Hopkinson
John Hart
Abraham Clark

New Hampshire:
Josiah Bartlett
William Whipple
Massachusetts:
Samuel Adams
John Adams
Robert Treat Paine
Elbridge Gerry
Rhode Island:
Stephen Hopkins
William Ellery
Connecticut:
Roger Sherman
Samuel Huntington
William Williams
Oliver Wolcott
New Hampshire:
Matthew Thornton

So you are now hiking in grizzly country

2011-06-28T19:59:00.001-04:00

A few years ago, I was hiking in the northwestern US, during huckleberry season, and found myself, well, in the middle of a huckleberry patch. Lo and behold, there before me, a fresh, steamy pile of grizzly excrement. The bear could not have been far away, and was perhaps even watching me. I did not want to find out the hard way if it was a mother and her cubs, so I hauled ass out of there as fast as I could, and made it back safely to my car after an hour.

I was not carrying any bear defense spray, and my only weapon was a crappy folding knife purchased at an equally crappy Ames store - clearly, no match for an adult grizzly.

I then went on an information gathering quest to identify the best possible bear defense weapon for use by hikers and campers.

I've read several article from so-called 'experts' (just google them, they seem to abound), and the most sensible information I can gather seems to indicate that the best choices are:

1. Don't hike alone in bear country. Stay in large groups. (duh!)
2. Canisters of bear defense pepper spray. (They have a range of up to 30 feet, but cannot be reloaded once discharged. Don't miss! Also, hope you don't meet a second bear on the way out!).
3. A rifle (although not necessarily practical when hiking).
4. A very, very large magnum caliber revolver. (So large, you might as well just carry a rifle.)

What are your opinions on the matter?

The Law is the Law

2011-06-27T22:43:00.001-04:00

Some in the anarchist blogosphere harbor such contempt for authority, that they resort to making veiled threats against authority figures.

Well, you are now on a list. Congratulations. You are now making yourselves legitimate targets for agents of the police state you fear so much. Your free speech must be tempered by reason. Speech is powerful, and with power comes responsibility. Having the right to say something does not mean it is in your best interest to say it.

In life as in quantum physics, the observer often ends up altering the phenomenon he is trying to observe, by the sheer act of observing it. If mere observation can do that, imagine what speech can do. Often people tend to attract into their lives the things they fear the most by their very words and actions. This is not superstitious hocus-pocus. You will find out the hard way when you are denied boarding at your gate.

The State is not an enemy. The State is us. Ours is a government OF the people, BY the people. Therefore, WE are the State. The law is merely an extension of the public will. The best way to bring about change is through peaceful democratic means. Anything else undermines the legitimacy of your position.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed"

Though you may disagree with certain laws, the laws are in effect and they must be obeyed. You may work peacefully to have the laws changed, but advocating willful disobedience of the law will only bring you misery.

Supreme court says violent video games OK for children

2011-06-27T22:17:00.000-04:00

Apparently, it is OK for American children to purchase and play violent video games, because the Supreme Court just said it is protected free speech.

How odd that it is OK for children to be exposed to violent content, but not nudity. As if a 16-year old purchasing a copy of Playboy was worse than him playing a video game in which he can virtually decapitate or dismember other human beings.

In your mind, which one is worse for young people?

Which type of media content is less harmful to children and teenagers? Nudity or violence?

Or are both harmful?

Or are both harmless?

If violent content is constitutionally protected free speech, isn't nudity also free speech?

Why are Americans so addicted to graphic violence, but repulsed by titties?*

Is it hypocrisy?

*Apologies to those who find this word offensive. Get a life.

Predictions for the next decade

2011-06-24T23:09:00.000-04:00

I may be proven wrong, but by June 2021, based on current trends, I predict the following:

1. One or more U.S. states will have some form of single-payer healthcare system supported by taxes.
2. Income taxes on the top 1% of earners will be at a higher rate.
3. Half the cars on the road will be either electric or hybrids.
4. We will have an HIV vaccine.
5. We will have the ability to repair cartilage and ligaments using stem cells.
6. We will have made-to-order replacement organs.
7. Marijuana will be decriminalized at a federal level.
8. We will have found a cure for cancer.
9. Cars that can drive themselves will come to market.
10. We will have smartphones that can last more than one day on a charge.

How marijuana legalization will help the gun rights movement.

2011-06-24T15:32:00.001-04:00

A new bill, co-authored by Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass) and Ron Paul (R-Texas) would virtually legalize the production, sale, distribution and possession of marijuana in individual states by limiting the federal government's law enforcement role to international and interstate trafficking.

According to Jeffrey A. Miron and Katherine Waldock of the Cato Institute, authors of The Budgetary Impact of Ending Drug Prohibition, the U.S. federal government could save $41.3 billion dollars annually by legalizing drugs.

Drug legalization, or at least marijuana legalization, I posit, would help protect gun rights.

1. Drug legalization would help protect gun rights by removing an incentive for police to search homes, cars and persons and curtail civil liberties. With fewer laws justifying the ransacking of homes and the patting down of citizens, fewer citizens would have their guns stolen from them by police.

2. Drug legalization would reduce the incidence of drug-related crime such (as turf wars), therefore reducing violence involving firearms overall. With fewer violent incidents, a strong incentive for gun control will fall apart.

3. Drug legalization would keep thousands of people out of jail, and therefore keeping them and their families out of poverty. With less poverty, there will be less crime. With less crime, again there will be weaker support for gun control.

Drug legalization will save the government and the taxpayers money, provide a form of revenue if it is taxed at the same rates as alcohol and tobacco, and protect the civil rights of citizens.

For these reasons, supporters of fiscal responsibility and second amendment rights should consider supporting the legalization of marijuana.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_18331456?nclick_check=1

http://www.cato.org/pubs/wtpapers/DrugProhibitionWP.pdf

Rapture today!

2011-05-21T10:16:00.002-04:00

If Harold Camping is correct, today is the day of the rapture.

Stay tuned for details throughout the day, we will give you regular updates as we obtain more information.

8:03 AM : I woke up and my wife is not in bed. Looked around the house, and she is nowhere to be seen. Her truck is still here though.

8:57 AM: There is no one at the neighbor's house. My dogs are pooping all over his yard, undisturbed.

9:03 AM: Tuned in to FOX News. No sign of intelligent life there.

9:06 AM: I begin to worry that my Christian tenants will not be able to pay the rent anymore. They are not answering the phone. If they broke their lease agreement by leaving for Heaven, I swear there will be Hell to pay.

9:48 AM: I am beginning to calm down. I get the car ready to go do some looting.

10:08 AM: I bring my toolbox in case the car breaks down; Maybe my mechanic's been raptured away too...

10:10 AM: Texting and driving right now. No cops around. The word on the street is that Macho Man Randy Savage did not die yesterday, as evidenced by the government's refusal to release photos of the body. Conspiracy theorists make the bold claim that the rapture actually started yesterday with Macho Man, and the government has been trying to cover it up.

Imagine a world without guns - PART II

2011-05-13T20:52:00.003-04:00

Today, in a Canary Islands supermarket, a man stole a knife and decapitated a random woman with it, and escaped with her head.

Yet somehow, anti-gun propagandists want us to believe that psychopaths need guns to fulfill their depraved murder fantasies. The truth is, psychopaths will kill no matter what weapons are available to them. They will not be stopped by a gun ban.

Read about it here:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/05/13/canary.islands.supermarket.beheading/index.html?iref=obnetwork

Why was bin Laden buried at sea?

2011-05-13T18:38:00.001-04:00

In a recent Time magazine article, it is mentioned that bin Laden's body was buried at sea*, because a land burial site would have been turned into a shrine that would have attracted terrorists.

"But the lingering question is, Why at sea? The official said that finding a country willing to accept the remains of the world's most wanted terrorist would have been difficult, so the decision was made to bury bin Laden at sea. Furthermore, one suspects that the U.S. would not have wanted there to be a grave site for fear of it turning into a place of worship for bin Laden's followers."

Link: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/05/02/why-was-bin-laden-buried-at-sea-so-quickly/#ixzz1MH2vPfPE

This is a stupid reason.

Had bin Laden's burial place been turned into a shrine by his followers, we could have known exactly where to find them. Now, instead, we have no fraking clue where they are. They missed their chance to take the needle out of the haystack, and they blew it (when they could have blown up his followers instead).

Really fraking brilliant. They flushed a really good booby trap lure down a toilet.

*side note; people aren't technically "buried" at sea, they're actually just dumped overboard. The English language is silly like that.

The Interview

2011-05-10T21:04:00.000-04:00

I was recently interviewed by Bret "Ginx" Alan, author of the Anything But Theist blog. Occasionally Ginx and I will have an argument about crap we disagree about, generally about how awesome I think guns are, although we kept it civil for the interview.

Go out there and check out his blog.

Is student financial aid enabling rising tuition costs?

2011-05-09T21:14:00.000-04:00

Financial aid helps many students afford a college education. And with astronomical costs, it's the only way many Americans can ever hope to attend a University.

The problem with it, is that because colleges know that financial aid is available, they can raise their tuition and fees and maintain enrollment levels. In effect, the wide availability of financial aid is contributing to the rise of tuition.

Without financial aid, I theorize, colleges would have to lower their tuition costs in order to maintain enrollment.

Thoughts?

Do you agree that college is too expensive?

Do you think the 'college business' is a scam and that most people never use anything they learn there?

Note to self #678*

2011-05-09T21:05:00.000-04:00

*Ok, 678 is a random number. Who cares?

Tonight on my way home from work, I stopped by the Red Cross to make a blood donation.

The problem is, I had a vigorous weight lifting session at lunch time, and as a result, I was slightly dehydrated. Apparently, the exertion draws all the blood to the muscles, and no matter how much water you drink afterwards, you are still slightly dehydrated for the next 24 hours. Anyway. I got dizzy.

No, I didn't look at the bag of blood this time. (Never do that, FYI... "That all came out of my body???")

They didn't even have free pizza tonight. Usually they do. I had to settle for a nasty dry donut. Well, maybe not nasty, but it wasn't pizza, that's for sure.

I don't know why I'm always in there giving blood. There is zero benefit to me. (Other than free food and raffle tickets.) Maybe it's because once in a while I dare answering the phone when they call, and then I don't want to say no.

So the moral of the story is, if you want to save a life, give blood. Just make sure to skip the gym on that day. And never look at the bag of blood.

Kalam Gun-Toting Argument

2011-05-03T22:58:00.002-04:00

(1) Self-defense is a human right.
(2) Guns allow for self-defense.
Therefore:
(3) Gun possession is a human right.

No body, no murder?

2011-05-03T20:37:00.001-04:00

According to Wikipedia, "Conviction for murder in the absence of a body is possible; although historically, cases of this type have been hard to prove, the prosecution must rely on other evidence, usually circumstantial."

Imagine a fictitious murder trial, where a zealous Attorney General is bringing murder charges against the man who shot Osama bin Laden.

In the absence of Osama bin Laden's body, can the shooter be convicted?

There may be blood, there may be shell casings, but without a body, can the prosecution prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there was in fact murder?

To obtain a conviction in this fictitious trial, the prosecution would have to bring convincing circumstantial evidence, such as, for instance, blood matching bin Laden's DNA, or a tooth matching his dental records, a video of his brains being blown out, or a pile of equally convincing corroborating evidence.

Then there is always the matter to independently verify that the evidence gathered by the prosecution was not falsified.

Notice that I am not proposing any conspiracy theory. I am simply highlighting different types of evidence that a court of law may require for a conviction.

Royal Atheists?

2011-04-29T09:21:00.002-04:00

Is it just me or did it seem as if Princess Kate Middleton almost rolled her eyes whenever the ~~reverend~~ Bishop of London said the words "Jesus Christ"?

And did it seem as if HRH William was biting his lower lip at the same time, almost as if he was trying not to laugh?

Of course it's probably my overactive imagination, after all, Prince William's own grandmother, her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is the head of the Church of England... maybe everybody in the house of Windsor is simply trying to keep up appearances.

Reverse Kalam Cosmological Argument -UPDATED

2011-04-28T23:33:00.003-04:00

Theists often use the Kalam Cosmological Argument in an attempt to confuse atheists.

They state:

(1) Everything that began to exist has a cause.

(2) The universe has a beginning.

Therefore:
(3) The universe has a cause.

(4) If the universe has a cause, we call that cause God.

Therefore:

(5) God exists.

Then, when atheists ask: "What is the cause of God?" Theists will answer : "God does not have a cause because God is eternal and timeless, and existed prior to the existence of time, therefore God is not limited by time" ... which is pretty much nonsense, because 'prior to the existence of time' is a chronological statement in and of itself.

Therefore, I propose the "Reverse Kalam Cosmological Argument":

(1)Everything that began to exist has a cause.

(2)God, being eternal, does not have a beginning.

Therefore:

(3) God does not have a cause.

(4) If God does not have a cause, then God never began to exist.

Therefore:

(5) God does not exist.

*UPDATE (2011-05-03): reworded the statements to be less convoluted.

In a fiat money system... are taxes needed?

2011-04-27T23:45:00.000-04:00

I want to hear from "experts" who really understand how fiat monetary systems work.

I get the idea that money is not backed by anything other than 'trust'.

I get that money is 'loaned into existence' out of thin air.

I get that a debt-based monetary system is a great tool to keep people working and producing, aka keeping people enslaved without their awareness (how clever!). Without debt, economic growth would slow down.

I get that this injection of phony money into an economic system drives inflation, and that this is why deficit spending accelerates inflation; because governments have to borrow into existence phony money that never ever existed.

And I get that when a government pays its debts back to a central bank, that the money just 'disappears' back into oblivion.

What I don't get is why do governments still need to raise taxes if the central banks can just wave a magic wand to wish more money into existence?

If the value of money is literally based on nothing, then why does it matter?

I'm really trying to understand how this mess works.

Does anyone actually understand this hocus-pocus anyway? I like to think that if I figured out the mechanism by which ion channels operate, that I could understand this fiat money stuff... but I still can't wrap my mind around it, which makes me think that it's either way simpler than I imagine, or it's a big scam by central bankers to print themselves a bunch of counterfeit bank notes while we perform slave labor paying interest charges and taxes to a bunch of pigs.

Someone please explain. If they (ah! the elusive 'they') can print phony fiat money, why are we still being taxed?

Surprise Quiz

2011-04-25T23:39:00.000-04:00

Quick! Without googling it, (or yahooing it, or binging it either), name one modern, civilized country that has NO TAXES. Yes, no property tax, no sales tax, no income tax, no tolls, no tariffs, no duties. NO TAXES whatsoever.

Think you know the answer?

No cheating! Do not use search engines to find the answer!

How my car saved the life of a mouse

2011-04-24T12:04:00.001-04:00

Late last night as I was driving home, I saw some movement up ahead. Some animal was running in circles and figure eights on the road. As I got closer, I realized it was a domestic cat chasing a mouse. The cat was so absorbed by the chase, that it ignored the car until the last moment. Then he jumped off to the right side of the road, and the mouse scurried away to safety on the left side of the road. Of course, the cat probably went hunting for the mouse again as soon as I was gone, but I did buy some time for the rodent.

So the moral of the story is that when everything seems lost, not everything is lost. Events completely out of your control could change your fortunes.

So hope for the best, and prepare for the worst.

I'm not trying to blame the victim but...

2011-04-20T23:07:00.000-04:00

Holly Bobo, the missing college student from Tennessee, has now been missing for over a week. Allegedly, a man dressed in camouflage garb dragged her from her carport to the woods behind her house.

And that's about all I know about the case, from the 2 news articles I've read about it. So I don't know much about her or about the circumstances of her disappearance, other than what has been relayed via the media.

But this I do know; and I know I am going to get a lot of hate mail for writing this, but I have to say it anyway: Had she been armed, she would have had a fighting chance to resist. There is no evidence that she made any attempt to shoot her abductor, which probably means she was not armed, or if she was, she was not trained to, or prepared to use her weapon.

If you are abducted, RESIST AT ANY COST. Do not comply with the assailant's request, do not negotiate, do not get in the car, do not stop striking; if the kidnapper has demonstrated that he/she is not interested in your money or your property, you can assume that they are after YOUR LIFE. This means that you are involved in a critical dynamic incident, and in such an incident, you must KILL or GET KILLED. Make it as difficult for the kidnapper(s) as possible. Become more trouble than you are worth.

Location "A" is where the abduction takes place. Location "B" is where you are being taken to, and is where you are going to be KILLED. If you allow your abductor to relocate you to location "B", you are royally screwed. Your best chance of escape is while you are still in transit. The closer to location "B" you get, the smaller your chances of survival are. Yes, I will not lie to you, there is a good chance you might get injured or killed while attempting to resist or attempting to escape. But it is you best chance of survival. Because if you find yourself at location "B", the game is over and you are already dead; you might as well just slit your own throat at that point. Millions of years of evolution have hard-wired a fight or flight response into your nervous system, because it worked for your ancestors, going back millions of years, it kept them alive. Discover the learned evolutionary lessons programmed into your genetic code. Do not go gentle. Run, and if you cannot run, fight. And if you cannot fight, SHOOT. And if you cannot shoot... buy a gun in your next life.

"Before all else, be armed" ~ Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (3 May 1469 – 21 June 1527)

On the importance of tipping your bartender

2011-04-09T22:33:00.001-04:00

Today was a slow day on the slopes.

Slow because the warm spring weather is melting the snow base into a heavy, sticky slush that creates a lot of friction under snowboards (or skis, if you prefer that more traditional sport), and causes the rider to lose a lot of momentum really quickly. Imagine skiing in ice cream. That was the consistency today. Each turn today required some serious muscle to cut into the dense snow, and by the fourth run, I could barely move my quadriceps. The advantage of this extra friction meant that I was able to tackle really, really steep terrain, without fear of picking up too much momentum, but it exhausted me.

So eventually, with the heat and the exertion, I become physically tired, (though not tired of looking at the girls skiing in bikini tops), and I decide to go into the pub for a slice of cheese pizza and a few beers. The patio door was wide open, and out on the deck, a bearded dude in sandals was playing some Jimmy Buffet songs on his guitar. I ask the bartender for a pint of a local beer, and so does my significant other.

The bartender serves us two plastic cups filled with ale, and says "That will be 10 dollars please." Mind you, this was a delicious, hoppy brew, one that was in fact worth 5 dollars per pint. Not some piss-yellow watery beverage that some unscrupulous mega-breweries market as 'beer'. I hand the bartender a ten-dollar bill, and two singles, which she thanks me for.

As I lift my wobbly, thin plastic cup from the bar, I accidentally spill a few drops. I then reach quickly for a paper napkin.... and accidentally knock down my significant other's cup, and out comes splashing all that good beer on our ski pants and all over the bar stool. 'Crap!', I thought. I stand there for a minute, trying to attract the barmaid's attention. Finally I ask her for a towel, and I wipe off the mess. As I look up to hand the towel back to her, she presents me with a replacement pint, free of charge.

I am guessing that if I hadn't tipped her, I would have had to pay for it.

Tip your bartender well, it will pay off.

Bye, Bye Mr Beck

2011-04-08T20:23:00.000-04:00

Republicans are smarter than I thought.

I mean it.

They have wised up to the fact that entertainers like Beck and Palin are too extreme and are giving them a bad name.

Now that Beck is no longer employed at Fox News, and that Gov. Palin's ratings are tanking in the polls, it seems apparent that the GOP establishment is realizing that a more reasonable approach is more likely to attract voters. A recent poll indicates that the percentage of Republicans who hold a non-favorable view of the Tea Party has increased. Perhaps republican voters themselves are growing wiser. Could this be true?

If the answer is yes, then Democrats need to get their act together, because a more moderate GOP is a much bigger threat to them, one that could siphon votes away from them.

However, let's keep in mind that neither Republicans nor Democrats have any idea what really needs to happen to fix this country. I think we should all write-in 'None of the Above'.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-glenn-beck-lost-it/2011/04/06/AFNEgnqC_story.html

Sometimes low-tech is better II

2011-04-02T21:07:00.002-04:00

When you increase the number of moving parts in a machine, you also increase the number of ways in which the machine can fail. As a rule of thumb, simple designs are more reliable than complex ones.

Our modern microprocessors are fast and powerful, but unlike older transistor-based designs, they are extremely susceptible to electromagnetic interference. Electromagnetic pulses (EMP) caused by nuclear explosions can cause destructive voltage surges that could ruin most electronics.

Our over-reliance on technology is a liability, and our culture of mass consumption complicates matters even more. Several industries, such as the consumer electronics industry and the automotive industry are built on the principle of planned product obsolescence. Products are not made to last for decades. They are made to break or become antequated after a number of years, so they can be replaced by the consumer. Many products are not even made to be repaired. If products lasted forever, manufacturers would go out of business and lay off all their workers.

It is said that Henry Ford once visited a junk yard filled with rusty old Model T's, and took a long look at one of them. He observed that the axles were still good; the axles had outlasted every other part of the car. He then decided not to make every other part of the car as sturdy as the axles, but instead, to put less steel in the axles, so that they would fail at the same rate as the rest of the parts. So we get a new car every few years, because of planned obsolescence.

In the Soviet Union, where corporate profits were not the goal, they would build things to last for a long time. Manufacturers would come up with a good reliable design, and stick with it for years. The goal was to ship units to far-flung corners of the country and make sure that Siberian farm boys would be able to fix them with rudimentary hand tools. So they made their designs simple and reliable. One such example was the AK-47 rifle. You can drive a car over one, bury it in the mud, throw if off a cliff, and then pick it up, and it still fires. In the words of a former special forces soldier (sorry I don't remember his name, only that it was during a TV show on the Military Channel), "If you want to maroon me on a desert island away from civilization, and I can have only one firearm with me, I'm picking an AK."

During World War II, a remarkable vehicle called the General Purpose Vehicle, also known as the GP or Jeep for short, was designed for the US military. Again, the emphasis was on reliability and ease of repair. Soldiers stuck in some muddy battlefield somewhere had to be able to fix it and replace pretty much any part on it using just tire irons. How easy was it? Just watch this demonstration by a Canadian Armed Forces unit during a parade in Halifax, Nova Scotia:

Sometimes low-tech is better

2011-03-31T22:12:00.001-04:00

I like technology. I use it, I study it, and I rely on it.

As humanity becomes ever more reliant on technology for employment, agriculture, communications, transportation, healthcare, finance, government, and many other facets of modern life, I believe that those who understand the inner workings of technology will eventually hold the world by the balls, figuratively speaking, and dominate the future.

Progressively, we are forgetting how to grow our own grain and produce, how to hunt and butcher our own meat, how to cut down trees for lumber and firewood. We are forgetting how to make our own cooking vessels out of clay. We are forgetting how to forge and cast our own iron, and how to do make our own gunpowder from scratch.

If the recent 8.9 magnitude Japanese earthquake and resulting tsunami has taught me anything, is that nature can and will destroy anything in its path. When I saw images of entire towns being swept away by the waves, empty supermarket shelves, and scenes of devastation in towns where thousands of people went missing in the span of a few minutes, I began to think about the element of environmental risk in my own life.

Tough I am fortunate to live in an area where earthquakes and tornadoes are rare events, I do realize that I am completely dependent on food grown hundreds of miles from my home, and products manufactured on the other side of the world. For the past few days, I have been obsessing over the idea of stockpiling rice, beans, flour, quinoa, sugar, salt, and purified drinking water. I am also thinking about starting live batches of yeast (both baker's and brewer's yeast strains), and planting vegetable seeds in indoor planters (well out of reach of hungry dogs and curious cats).

I am considering clearing some trees off my land and planting a small field where I could grow wheat, barley and oats. I don't think quinoa would grow well in my climate, but I would be willing to try that as well.

And last but not least, I should probably replace my propane boiler with an outdoor wood boiler to supply heat and hot water to my home. I already own several acres of woodland, so I know I can grow my own firewood sustainably, and a wind turbine with a few solar panels would be a nice addition.

My bookshelf is filling up with wilderness medicine books, and my first aid kit weighs as much as a grown adult.

Perhaps I am over-prepared. But tell that to the unfortunate residents of Kesennuma, Japan.

Pay your taxes

2011-03-31T20:31:00.001-04:00

As a person with libertarian inclinations, I do see taxation as the forceful act, performed by a state, of appropriating the fruits of a citizen's labor. In short, due to its mandatory nature, I perceive it as theft and extortion, especially when the money is spent on things I disagree with. As we approach the end of another fiscal year here in North America, it is easy to get upset at the amount of money our governments force us to turn over.

However, it is the law. And in our dealings with the state, we must always obey the law. Even if we disagree with the law, it is our obligation as citizens to abide by it. So I implore my readers to be honest in their tax filings. Please understand this does not mean that I agree with current tax policies. What I suggest is a perfectly legal form of protest: at the next elections, vote for candidates who vow to cut taxes and cut spending all the while balancing the budget, and NEVER re-elect a candidate who did not abide by that promise.

I am not against all taxes, as there are things I am indeed willing to pay for. But when too much of my tax dollars are being foolishly wasted, I make note of my elected representatives' voting records, and I keep it in mind at the ballot box.

But whatever you do, pay your taxes. Auditors do not have a sense of humor.

Atlas will shrug on Tax Day

2011-03-28T21:19:00.002-04:00

The independent film "Atlas Shrugged", based on the Ayn Rand novel by the same title, will be released on April 15th, which in the USA is the due date for Federal tax returns. How appropriate.

The story explores what would happen if producers and innovators refused to go on being exploited by society and moved away. What it would result in, as Ayn Rand imagines, is the collapse of civilization as we know it. For producers and innovators are the driving force behind progress and growth, and in their absence, productivity becomes a distant memory.

Mark your calendars.

http://www.atlasshruggedpart1.com/?gclid=COWh0pLL8qcCFUx95QodXBrOag

Gingrich afraid of the big bad "secular atheists"

2011-03-28T20:56:00.003-04:00

Newt Gingrich was either confused about the difference between atheists and radical islamists, or was trying to deliberately mislead a gullible audience when he said yesterday at Cornerstone Church in Texas:

“I am convinced that if we do not decisively win the struggle over the nature of America, by the time they’re my age they will be in a secular atheist country, potentially one dominated by radical Islamists,”

First of all, why the HELL would secular atheists allow radical islamists to dominate them? Doesn't make any damned sense. As a matter of fact, it is completely incoherent. I wonder if Mr. Gingrich was inebriated when he made that irrational statement? Too much church wine, perhaps?

Radical Islamists believe in God. Christians believe in God. But atheists know that God does not exist. Therefore, Christians have more in common with radical islamists than with atheists.

That's right, Christians and and radical Islamists, go have a church picnic together while we atheists are busy turning your homeland into a secular libertarian republic.

http://www.thestatecolumn.com/articles/newt-gingrich-warns-of-a-secular-atheist-country/

Tired of paying for pointless foreign wars of aggression

2011-03-25T23:26:00.001-04:00

After paying my income tax bill earlier this week, a yearly ritual that I am required by law to engage in, I am left to ponder the significance of US foreign military involvement.

What it signifies is that I am required by law to pay for it. And it upsets me.

Libya? What's over there? Does anything even grow out there? I thought it was just a barren desert. Do they have oil? OH!..... That's why... Big Oil is in bed with the Military-Industrial Complex of course... and they got the puppet master strings hooked up to Obama's limbs, making him dance like a marionette, the same way they made Bush dance.

We hear "Oh we have to rescue these people, their government is oppressing them". You know this is just a convenient excuse. This is all about the oil. Not that Libya has a lot of oil. But they have an evil dictator, so they want that oil now.

Meanwhile we pay these high taxes to fund the military operations so they can go pump the oil.

Then we pay an arm and a leg for the gasoline they will refine from that oil.

Then we will pay sales tax on that gasoline.

We the morons of America are paying for all that. It's called vertical integration. We are vertically-integrated cash cows, bred for one purpose only: to produce revenue for the feudal pigs whose fiefdom we inhabit.

We are slaves with modern illusions of freedom.

This system is pretty depressing. We complacently participate in it, and we pay, and then we pay again, and our elected leaders just waste every single penny we pay, and still manage to run a f*cking budgetary deficit and rack up $#!+ loads of debt. "Just one more country to invade, I promise! It's only going to cost a few billions!"

Who cares about these distant sand dune countries that got along just fine before imperialist western pigs screwed everything up. Leave them alone and undo the damage imperialism has done. It is not the responsibility of tax payers to fix the problems of the world. DO YOU THINK WE ARE STUPID?

There is a glimmer of hope.

We can stockpile food to last a few months, and then stop producing and stop consuming. Sit on our fat high-fructose corn syrup-fed asses just long enough for the whole system to run out of money and come to a screeching halt. We have fat reserves, we can last a while. Just sit on our asses and do nothing. Don't need a million dollars to do that. Actually sounds quite relaxing. Just sit on our fat behinds and give the word sloth a new meaning while watching the pigs starve of money. A strike. A nation-wide walkout.

Just one and a half year until the next elections. It's time we elect a libertarian government. Republicrats and Demoblicans be warned: Get your resumes up-to-date, because your jobs are on the line. Enough of this two-party dictatorship already.

Stupid email chain of the day

2011-03-23T20:17:00.009-04:00

Some people wonder why I get so worked up about the things conservatives say. It's mainly because one of my close relatives got totally brainwashed into believing this crap.

Last night, that said relative forwarded me a stupid email chain that reeked of typical American social conservativism. Here is the contents of it, followed by my commentary:

THE DIFFERENCE IN LIFE - IS YOU!
Dreams.......We all have 'em ....
Here's mine...

[picture of Sarah Palin in a soccer uniform kicking President Obama in the rear end (which I think is so childish that I will not reproduce it here and participate in its distribution)]

***************************
Borders ..... Closed ....
Language .... English .....
Culture ..... Constitution ....
Bill of Rights and the BIBLE!
"CHANGE" IS COMING
We the people are coming!

68% will send this on...
Should be 100%

BET YOU'LL SEND IT!!

[Picture of eagles with American flags]

Okay... let's take a look piece by piece at this garbage.

The photoshopped picture of Palin getting ready to kick Obama in the butt is childish. I didn't even vote for Obama, and I think it's in poor taste.

"Borders ... Closed "

That has to be the stupidest part, especially given that the relative who forwarded this to me WAS NOT EVEN BORN IN THE USA.

"Language ... English"

This has to be the second most stupid part of it, given that that same relative who forwarded the email to me HAS A WICKED FOREIGN ACCENT AND CAN'T FORMULATE GRAMMATICALLY-CORRECT ENGLISH SENTENCES.

"Culture ... Constitution"

The US constitution is a well crafted document, no problems there, but it's not really culture. Culture is something completely different.

"Bill of Rights and the BIBLE!"

You have got to be kidding me. The bill of rights gives you the right of habeas corpus, among other good things. The Bible gives you false beliefs in bronze-age myths. Not exactly two documents that I would even put on the same footing. The Bible is NOT one of the founding legal documents of this country, period. It's a religious text that you are free to read if you want to, but to elevate it to the level of importance of the Bill of Rights, that is absurd.

" 'CHANGE' IS COMING We the people are coming!"

Too much information... Just clean up your mess afterwards, please.

"68% will send this on ... should be 100% BET YOU'LL SEND IT!!"

So are you pulling statistics out of your butt or did you actually do a statistical analysis? Are you forwarding this to me just because some email dared you to? Do you even have any spark of independent thought and critical analysis left in you?

How do you feel about gay marriage?

2011-03-22T22:42:00.000-04:00

In recent times, there has been a lot of emotionally-charged discourse over whether or not gay marriage should be allowed. Liberals clamor for it, and conservatives have heart attacks thinking about it.

So you probably wonder what the Gun-Toting Atheist's position is on this topic, since you saw the headline and are now reading this.

First of all, let me begin by taking a big step back and ask a really simple question, because I think a lot of people are completely oblivious to the obvious. Why would anyone ever want to get married in the first place?

Marriage is the primary cause of several horrible things:

- Expensive engagement rings
- Expensive wedding dresses
- Expensive weddings
- Divorce settlements
- Alimony payments
- Spousal abuse
- Spousal infidelity
- etc.

Marriage is not a civil right, it is a life sentence. Back when the tradition of marriage started, people only lived into their thirties and then croaked - and there were no dentists. In this day and age however, people routinely live into their seventies and eighties, with some lucky people actually reaching their nineties, and some ticking on even past the century mark. Now imagine you have good genes and a healthy lifestyle and are going to live to 97 years of age. Would you want to be tied at the hip with the same person for all that time?

Don't do it! 100% of divorced people wish they had never gotten married at all! Learn from their mistakes! If you are already married... well good luck to you, that's all I can say. I really hope for you things are going well.

Don't waste cruise missiles on Gaddafi... sell them to his enemies! Ka-ching!$$

2011-03-21T20:04:00.002-04:00

Just a thought... cruise missiles are really expensive. So using them in a non-self-defense scenario is wasteful. A waste of tax payer money.

But if those same missiles were sold to Gaddafi's enemies, that waste of money would be eliminated and become a source of profit.

Of course, you want to make sure whoever you sell them to doesn't turn around and use them against you, or use them against you allies, so maybe that is not such a safe idea after all.

Or we could do the just and moral thing; and not get involved in a foreign civil war at all.

As the Libertarian Party advocates: "the purpose of an American military is the defense of American soil, period."

http://www.lp.org/news/press-releases/they-hate-us-because-we-bomb-them-says-libertarian-chair

You are being watched.... trim those nose hairs.

2011-03-19T18:17:00.001-04:00

If you live pretty much anywhere on planet Earth where there are other human beings around, most likely you also live within range of a camera lens.

A little over a decade ago, I owned one 35mm film camera. Posting a digital picture of myself for an online dating profile was quite an undertaking. I had to have the film developed. Then I had to bring one of the prints to someone who owned a digital scanner. Then I had to put the picture on a floppy disk, go home, boot up my 386 desktop computer, and try to dial into my ISP, hoping that no one in my household was using the phone line at the same time.

Today, I own 6 camera phones, 5 digital cameras, 4 digital camcorders, 3 webcams, and even then, I'm sure I'm forgetting something. Bottom line is, in the past decade, the number of cameras in our society has exploded, and the ease of publishing or sharing pictures has also improved. I can catch my dog in a cute pose, and within seconds, email 12 copies of it.

Today on top the mountain I was strapping my foot onto my snowboard, and then noticed that a group of about a dozen skiers were just standing around in front of me - my regular readers know how much I despise people who just stand in the middle of a ski trail. I turned around and noticed that some dude behind me was trying to snap a picture of these people. I was just trying to have fun on the slopes, and I almost ended up on Flickr.

Last Friday night, driving home from work, some tourist in front of a Holiday Inn was taking random pictures of cars passing by, and my gaze crossed the gaze of her camera lens.

Our company Halloween party? Forget it. My over-the-top costume made quite a sensation, and within the hour, I was a Facebook celebrity. And I don't even f*king have a Facebook profile!

Holiday shopping two years ago wasn't much better. I was at a mall to buy an iPod, and I see these cute kittens and puppies in a storefront window. OMG! I love puppies! So I walk into the store, and walked right back out when I ended up face-to-face with a local TV camera crew doing a story about pet adoptions.

Of course, the moment you enter a store, you are being recorded by security cameras. Pulled over for a burned-out tail light? Your encounter with the policeman is recorded.

The bottom line is, it is almost impossible not to end up within the focus range of a camera nowadays. Sure you can always wear sunglasses, a hat and a ski mask, but then you would be known to everybody as that 'freak in a ski mask'.

But pictures or videos are only one part of the story. Anything you write, anything you say can end up published, copied, broadcast etc. Politician sex scandals indicate stupidity; if you hold any kind of public office, those pictures of you performing a sex act with a "dancer" in a "gentlemen's club" will end up online, guaranteed. Those skeletons in your closet? Dust 'em off! They're going live in 5... 4... 3...

So you say you weren't speeding sir? Wait, is that a GPS-enabled phone in your pocket, or do you have a thing for men in uniform? Oh and that black box in your car that collects crash data? Yep, it's got a GPS tracker too.

You want to log on to your favorite anti-government right-wing church website? Yep, Time Warner Cable is recording your IP address.

People who make stupid mistakes, or commit intentional mischief, and expect to not get caught, are delusional. In this day and age, one cannot hide. We live in a zero-privacy era. So groom yourself. Behave properly. Obey the law. Pay your bills on time. Be squeaky clean. Dress well. Trim those nose hairs. Get rid of that mole on your chin. Get those dentures you always wanted, and smile! Because you are on camera!

The worse critic is oneself

2011-03-14T22:24:00.000-04:00

Last night I started reading a 233-page novel that I wrote as a teenager. After so many years, it felt like reading someone else's book. Here's my unbiased review of it.

1- The author is trying to be overly wordy, and also trying to cram too much crap into the book - crap that has nothing to do with the story, and actually distracts from it.

2- The author introduces unexpected and unnecessary plot points and characters that come out of nowhere and go nowhere. Makes ABC's "Lost" look almost coherent.

3- Character development is virtually non-existent, with the notable exception that the main character just gets more pissed off as the story progresses.

4- Dialogue sucks. Characters say things out of context. They say things that no one would never, ever say in real life. They draw conclusions from non-existent facts that are not even part of the story. They all sound like people who sniffed too much glue while watching the "Neverending Story".

5- Too much deja vu. A particular incident happens to the main character several times in the story, and all those instances could easily have been combined into a single one and still gotten the point across.

6- The author is clearly too young to drink.

7- The author also clearly has never kissed a girl.

8- The author also probably doesn't know any girls except his own sister.

9- The author makes up names that have no basis in any language spoken on planet Earth.

10- The story is full of disjoined parallel plots.

11- The author manages to make a 233-page novel feel longer than the entire 2000-page "Lord of The Rings" trilogy.

12- The ending doesn't make any damned sense.

Maybe I'm being too hard on my former self. But if I ever build a time machine, I vow to go back in time with a baseball bat and beat some sense into myself. I can't believe I actually wrote that rag. I can't believe other people actually read it. Blows my mind.

No, I am not telling you the title. Don't want any of you to read it. Reading my crappy blog is probably torture enough for you.

Lead, follow, or get out of the way!

2011-03-13T19:28:00.000-04:00

When coming off a ski lift, certain rules of etiquette apply.

The most important one is to get out of the way so the people coming off the chairlift behind you do not slam into you. This holds especially true when a snowboarder is in the chair behind you, as the snowboarder, being secured to his board by a single binding, cannot steer or stop as effectively as a skier until he has had a chance to secure the second binding, and will usually come off the ramp in a straight line.

Therefore, do not congregate at the bottom of the ramp. Do not hold a conclave. Do not wait for your friends. If you have kids, you are responsible for making sure they do not stay at the bottom of the ramp. MOVE.

If you are a snowboarder, go ahead and slam into these stupid skiers. They shouldn't be assembling at the bottom of the ramp. It's their fault, you have right of way. Slide on top of their skis if you can, and scratch the finish. They should know better. Besides, if skiers had any brains, they would be snowboarders.

What is the difference between a bucket of KFC chicken and a ski instructor? The bucket of KFC chicken can feed a family of four.

Libertarian Party says War on Drugs leads to gun smuggling nightmare

2011-03-09T21:54:00.003-05:00

Today, the Libertarian Party issued a statement in regards to the recent controversy surrounding allegations that federal agents were willfully involved in smuggling weapons into Mexico, as part of the infamous 'War on Drugs' (how about a war on High Fructose Corn Syrup instead of a War on Drugs? Diabetes kills more people than any drug, but then the corn industry would probably be driven underground, and local dealers would start violent street gangs to control their turf, so it may not solve any problems in the long run, but as I often do, I disgress).

In the statement, the party claims that: "It's becoming more and more unclear whether the U.S. government even wants the violence to decrease. More drug violence means more jobs for federal drug agents. More drug arrests mean more jobs for prison construction and management contractors. There are a lot of people whose income depends on a big, thriving, unsuccessful War on Drugs."

One thing I would add, is that the federal gun grabbers probably routinely smuggle guns into Mexico for the sole purpose of justifying their intentions to impose more gun control here in the US. These are probably the same people who claim that most guns used by Mexican drug cartels come from the USA. Well duh!, if the US government is smuggling weapons into Mexico, that make perfect sense. If true, this suggests that the US goverment doesn't give a flying crap about preventing drug violence or gun smuggling, but is more interested in actually CAUSING more violence in order to justify the disarmament of American citizens.

If this sounds like a conspiracy theory, that is because I watched Revenge of the Sith, and this totally the kind of scheme Chancellor Palpatine would have conconcted if he had been trying to disarm the Republic, only he would have shipped blasters to Endor to trigger a full-on Ewok civil war in order to justify funding for a new fleet of Star Destroyers.

Read the Libertarian Party statement here:

http://www.lp.org/news/press-releases/war-on-drugs-leads-to-gun-smuggling-nightmare

Disclaimer: I am not a member of the Libertarian Party, nor am I affiliated with any political party. The only party I am involved with is an occasional wine tasting party, because I am a snob with friends in high places.

My propane dealer is a scammer

2011-03-03T23:14:00.000-05:00

My propane dealer is trying to charge me over a dollar per gallon above the national average price. I tried to negotiate and they won't budge. Screw'em, I'm getting an electric water heater and come the spring thaw, they can come and get their goddamn fuel tank and shove it in someone else's backyard. Gratuitous pun intended.

Seriously... how do they even stay in business, given how they treat their customers? Do they not think that people shop around? Do they really think I am a dumbf*k when they try to convince me that the median residential prices listed on the US Department of Energy website are BS? I know what my friends are paying through their dealers, and surprise! surprise! it's in line with the national average. My dealer? A big scam.

Fossil fuels are not getting any cheaper. The prices are going only one way: UP. At least electricity prices are more stable, as a lot of electricity comes from wind, hydro or nuclear sources that do not fluctuate as much as other energy sources.

This whole Middle-Eastern-crap-hitting-the-fan-mess is doing wonders to accelerate the rise of the electric car. And the conversion from propane water heater to electric water heater.

I will not list the name of this company, but will only tell you this: Stay away from propane. It's a rip-off.

From The Halls Of Montezuma, To The House of Gaddafi...

2011-03-03T22:53:00.000-05:00

From the Halls of Montezuma to the House of Gaddafi.... Should those be the new opening words of the Marine Corps hymn? I sure hope not. I wouldn't want to live in Libya, but I don't think it's the US's responsibility to play policeman of the world and start another absurdly expensive middle eastern war of imperialist expansion.

My question is... how does a man who looks like an ugly drag queen hold on to power for 30 years? Look at his picture up above... with all his billions of dollars, this man can't afford a decent plastic surgeon? How about paying Bravo for a bit part on What Not to Wear? And this guy ruled a whole country for 3 decades? It almost sounds like a bad GEICO commercial. "Ruling Libya for 30 years is so easy, even a caveman could do it!"

It's interesting to see how three adjacent countries are all going through a revolution at the same time. Is the CIA funding uprisings or something? It wouldn't be the first time the US did such a thing (in 1953, the CIA put the Shah back in power by bankrolling an uprising in Iran). If they did it before, well maybe they are doing it again now. Hey, CIA, if you have money you don't know what to do with, how about funding my heli skiing adventures? Sounds much more important (at least to me) than overthrowing some ugly dude in a clown costume.

R.I.P. , you piece of crap

2011-02-14T22:10:00.002-05:00

My slow-as-continental-drift home desktop PC finally kicked the bucket tonight. The autopsy revealed a hard drive aneurysm.

I could play Dr. Frankenstein and bring it back to life by transplanting a fresh young hard drive into it, but we're talking about the cadaver of a geriatric 7-year old eMachines here (bought refurbished to begin with) (and 7 years is almost jurassic in the realm of consumer electronics), and even if I carried out the surgery, I'm not sure that it would operate at speeds on par with minimum modern standards.

It's not that I'm poor or that I've never built a PC from spare parts before, on the contrary. It's just that I really don't give a damn about dealing with computer problems when I come home from work.

So I am stuck doing what I've been doing for a while anyway: use my smartphone. It does 99% of everything I need to do online.

The PC is dead. Long live WebOS!

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Passworditis

2011-02-07T14:23:00.002-05:00

I suffer from a self-diagnosed condition that I call passworditis, which is inflammation of the part of the mind responsible for signing up for a new website/system and remembering hundreds of different user IDs and passwords. This is made worse by the fact that in order to do my job I must regularly log into dozens of different systems at the same time, and every one of them has different rules for password formatting.

So if you expect me to sign up for a stupid Facebook account just so that I can look at your stupid pictures, you are seriously mistaken.

I'm fed up with all these bloody passwords and security questions. The sad part is that there is no other option.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre