Wow, what a morning

I was pretty tired this morning and had a hard time waking up as my brain was still walking in mud.  I flipped on the radio and heard that the Supreme Court had ruled that the 2nd Amendment is an individual right and doesn't have to be exercised within the limitations of a state militia.  Then I took a quick shower.

Turning the water off I stepped out onto the now wet floor and began drying my bits and pieces.  With my body reasonably clean and getting dryer with each stroke of the towel I began to feel more clear headed.  I lumbered over to the walk-in closet and realized that I felt some relief that the handguns I had in the house were really the tools with which I needed to exercise my rights.  These guns will now act in the same manner that my computer does as it assists me in exercising my 1st Amendment right to blog.

The only reasonable thing I could do on this morning was to holster up after slipping on some pants and throwing over a shirt.  I could feel with nervous anticipation that this was going to be a special morning.

After grabbing a bite out the door I had to make a stop on the way to work and get gas.  $56 was the damage to fill up my small economical sedan.  "I never believed my car would ever hold $56 dollars worth of gas."  I said out loud.

Within earshot another gas customer driving a Mercedes agreed with me.  From her appearance and ample jewelry, that also included a canary diamond ring on her fat finger, I decided that her empathy was good, but her financial assistance would be better.  After all if John McCain can take $1 from every American to pay someone for making a super-battery, why can't I take a few bucks from someone to help fill my tank?

I took out my Colt .38 Special snub-nose and pointed it right at her face.  I was so jazzed about the court ruling this morning I couldn't remember if I had loaded the gun or not.  "I need $60 for the gas and to buy myself some lunch later today."  I figured an even number would be better than asking for just $56.

The woman nervously put up her hands and said she wasn't carrying any cash.  I was so pissed because I didn't have time to follow her to an ATM or I would be late for work.  So I did what the Supreme Court and our founding fathers wanted me to do.  I fired.

Click.  I pulled the double-action trigger several times until all six cylinders of the revolver told me the same thing.  No bullets.

I was angry at myself and angry with this woman.  I could've pistol whipped her and believe me, I wanted to.  But the 2nd Amendment was not about the simple assault of hitting someone repeatedly with a blunt object and slipping the precious stone from one of her plump meat sticks.  It was not about merely carrying the weapon it was about discharging it.

I told her to just forget it.  I returned the gas cap and closed the small access door and got back into my car.  I was glad I didn't lose my cool and strike her with the gun.  After all, I'm not a thug.  I'm a patriot.

John McCain - You're a twit

John McCain thinks that someone should get rich if they invent a car battery that lasts for a long time without a charge.  Like they wouldn't get rich already?  Anyway the Senator from Arizona thinks that about $300 million dollars should be enough to work as an incentive.  Isn't that generous?  It's amazing how politicians can be so generous when it ISN'T THEIR MONEY THEY ARE SPENDING.  If the economy is the #1 issue going into the general election then we're pretty screwed when it comes to our current choice of candidates.

George Carlin died.  This video is an example of what I believe to be commonly true.  That comedians understand our culture and society better than anyone.  (Contains explicit language)

Oklahoma -- Okay!

Stephan Kinsella at Lew Rockwell reported on a recent Oklahoma Joint Resolution of their state assembly reclaiming their proper state rights under the 10th Amendment:

STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2nd Session of the 51st Legislature (2008)
HOUSE JOINT
RESOLUTION 1089 By: Key
AS INTRODUCED
A Joint Resolution claiming sovereignty under the
Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United
States over certain powers; serving notice to the
federal government to cease and desist certain
mandates; and directing distribution.

The Feds will fight back with threats of cutting off funding which is the only leverage they have aside from outright force. I'd love it if one state just told the feds that they could keep the money and waste it any way they wanted but no more bullying would be tolerated.

Okay, fun over

I enjoyed blogging about things that only I cared about so I appreciate your patience. The last blog was a sucker punch waiting to happen and no one bit...and you should be glad you didn't because it was a setup that would only result in getting your nads kicked in.

For the past 10 years I've been getting my hair cut pretty regularly. As seen in the unibomber photo on the page I do have a moderate amount of facial hair. So far through this entire Spring I've avoided haircuts and have let my goatee just grow. Why? I have no idea...just feel like it.

I've lost 17 pounds this year. I've been eating more sensibly and the only fluids I consume are water and an occasional adult beverage (St. Peter's English Ale specifically) But the real trick to weight loss has been stomach viruses. I've had 3 this year. Excellent weight loss program that the liberal media won't tell you about.

Last Sunday I went and saw Paul Allen's (co-founder of Microsoft) personal airplane collection which is called the Flying Heritage Collection. The Seattle Aquarium can take a few cues from this exhibit as it does what it promises: Shows you airplanes.

Esther (your fellow blog reader) is now a homeowner and I'm pretty excited for her. Everyone help me think of a housewarming gift to send her.

Another reader asked me if I'm Anglican in an email. No, I'm not. My father and Grandmother were both Anglican and I have two half-sisters who are practicing Episcopalians. I did go to Christ Church Cathedral in Victoria, BC last Fall (Anglican Church of Canada) and had a wonderful time experiencing what I think is the most beautiful liturgy going (since I don't understand Latin) but it was my first time in an Anglican church since I was a kid...and that was for a funeral.

Lastly, I have a series of vacations lined up for this summer and I plan to continue the blog while on vacation though it will not be super active blogging. I'm also unsure of how or if I'll handle photographs. Maybe if I can get an efficient system by then.

Now feel free to comment your brains out.

President of Iran states the obvious

Think about the following statement and explain to me why John McCain or Barack Obama will be a good choice for president.

Ahmadinejad:

"I again repeat my previous proposal; we should have a basket of different international hard currencies as the basis or the member countries should come up and produce a new hard currency for petroleum contracts...they get our oil and give us a worthless piece of paper."

Iran is speaking to all of the oil producing nations and asking them to rethink accepting the US Dollar in reserve currency in exchange for oil.  For their long term interest and wealth they are beginning to see the US Dollar for what it truly is...a worthless piece of paper.

If you support John McCain or Barack Obama then explain to me how their thin economic proposals will restore not only confidence in the dollar but true, honest value.

We'll see how long this one sits at zero comments.

The late great Anglican Church

An Anglican church just performed its first homosexual wedding. This shouldn't be such a shock to those who have watched the Anglican church bury itself in irrelevence with each passing year since the late 16th Century but the details of this wedding were even surprising to me.

So who got married? Lifelong partners finally lifting the veil of obscurity and exchanging vows of their lifetime love? Well, no. The first homosexual wedding was a marriage between two male priests. This had people on both sides of the "liberal and traditional" fence feeling a bit squeamish.

The participants, Rev Peter Cowell and Rev Dr David Lord were joined together in a service that used the traditional Anglican rite including full liturgy and eucharist. While sanctioned (at least temporarily) by the Church of England they are still not joined in full lawful matrimony.

Many are surprised by this but I can't help but think that it is fully appropriate. Perhaps this is the rock bottom of a 400 year old slippery slope beginning with a King starting his very own church inspired by his customized definition of marriage.

I must say this wedding was probably strategically a poor choice for forwarding the cause of same-sex marriage. Marrying two male priests may be the final straw for many in the Anglican Union.

I understand that most of you don't really understand the fuss since America's Episcopal Church has already long since retreated from the position of being socially relevant. Gay marriage or not.

I'm not against gay marriage from the standpoint of it being lawful and I think in many ways this is a decent example of how it should be managed...by a church between people who enter into it voluntarily. I do see this though as trouble for a church that simply hasn't found its identity since the beginning of the Reformation...and 400 years later still has people scratching their heads.

Ron Paul ends candidacy

What a great run! I never would've dreamed that the cause of liberty would've advanced this far in the last year. Thanks again for running Congressman Paul.

I was not elected to the Republican National Convention and therefore my participation in the nomination process is done. I'm back to being just a good ol' fashioned small 'L' libertarian...

...and with that...

...I endorse Bob Barr for president.

Bob Barr - Former Drug Warrior

Libertarian Candidate Bob Barr's campaign just released a statement on the drug war:

Today, I can reflect on my efforts and see no progress in stopping the widespread use of drugs. I’ll even argue that America’s drug problem is larger today than it was when Richard Nixon first coined the phrase, “War on Drugs,” in 1972.

I remember when the Libertarian Party ran ads against Bob Barr when he was running for reelection after his congressional district was redistricted. I was glad that the party played a role in Barr getting a private job. I'm even more glad to hear that Barr has since learned valuable lessons on how freedom works.

Voting for Barr seems more and more likely all the time.

Who would win in a fight? - #3

Fonzie	James Dean

The battle of the leather jacketed stars which includes Wisconsin native and high school dropout Fonzie (Arthur Fonzarelli) and the Rebel Without a Cause Jim Stark (played by James Dean.)

Don't expect any knives or heat to be present at this fight as they're both troubled young men who can get a girl but typically shy away from a fight.  I'd expect some creative tough talk from these two guys that will end in an eventual marshmallow fight.

Comments are open now...declare your winner!

GOP Convention redux

I've received alot of emails about convention cheating and I simply will have to disagree. Parliamentary procedure has tons of strategies that while they may be unsavory are simply not cheating.

The GOP did not cheat and the McCain campaign didn't cheat. They had a numerical advantage and were well organized. There is very little you can do but obstruct when you are in the minority. That's all there is to say about it. No one likes to lose, least of all me, but you have to realize when you've done all you can.

The Ron Paul campaign had about 45% of the delegates and the rest of the delegates were sort of under a Thompson, McCain, Romney, Huckabee umbrella. They were not a monolith as their block was broken many times. The fact that in one year the Ron Paul campaign was able to get this far is truly a story in itself...and not a consolation prize if the r3VOLution continues.

Pictures later if I get a chance to get them off the camera.

Going to be on the Dave and Steve Show tonight so look for it tomorrow maybe.

More from Spokane

Yesterday the McCain campaign organized a walkout of the convention when they began losing on parliamentary procedures on the floor. Toward the end of the convention they no longer had any functional majority or coalition so they walked out. This was also organized by many GOP leaders as my own county chairperson was involved as she was heard clearly telling people in the row in front of me to get people to walk out. We began recording the events on video and a sergeant of arms tried to stop us saying it was against the rules. We quickly got a ruling from the chair that there was no such rule and I informed the man he would be on YouTube. The McCain campaign and delegates didn't leave the convention facility mind you...just the room. They wanted to end the convention by breaking the quorum.

We had a count of the remaining delegates that included the organized Ron Paul campaign that stayed and the meeting was allowed to continue as a quorum was achieved. Once this was ruled the McCain campaign began spilling back into the convention room. While they were scrambling to their seats we quickly passed an anti-war resolution. TAKE THAT ASSHOLES!

The Washington State delegation will have about 4 delegates and 11 alternates to the national convention. Again, TAKE THAT ASSHOLES.

More stuff later including pictures and junk. I went to Silverwood Amusement Park today in Northern Idaho and rode rollercoasters all day. I'm fully amused.

Hello from lovely Spokane

What a busy couple of days. I'll give you a summary of what has gone on.

1. Had a strategy meeting with the Ron Paul delegation (about 600+) and we discussed our strategy for communication on the convention floor. During one of the the speeches there was a huge applause and a guy sitting three people to my left sat down and his sidearm (looked like a Glock 21) fell onto the floor and spun around about 5 feet from chair. You'd think panic would ensue but at a Ron Paul rally everyone just laughed and said, "secure your firearm dumbass!" I also laughed. If this had happened at a Democrat convention much pants wetting would have taken place.

2. The convention floor today showed that we didn't have a majority until alternates were seated. They hurried through much of the business before we were able to seat our alternate delegates. The end result of several closes losses on rules, and credentials. While our numbers were large the Ron Paul delegation did not capture a single victory. Oh well.

3. I spent some lengthy time with a congressional candidate from my district talking to him about free trade. I asked him if he was for free trade or if he believed in a protectionist policy. He immediately shot back an answer of "free trade! free trade!" So I asked him how he interpreted free trade. He said he was willing to have free trade with any nation as long as it went both ways and that he would not be willing to trade with non-market economies to protect our industries. He must have thought I was stupid since he just told me he was a protectionist after all. I can assure you he doesn't think I'm stupid now.

4. I was almost on TV but a vote to end debate had passed just as I was at a microphone. I'm sure both people watching the proceedings on TV were cheated.

5. I was not elected delegate to the national convention.

Somehow God sits a religious right whacko next to me every time at these conventions. This morning I spent 3 hours sitting next to the most obnoxious, argumentative, and hateful person I've sat next to since the last time I was at Mr. Evil's house. (ha ha)

I've found a few rogue libertarians in my discussions with many delegates and candidates at the convention so far. It's refreshing to talk to other libertarians and they agree with me in that we don't know how much more of this GOP stuff we can take.

Will post again and will have photos of me in a shirt and tie even politicking with right wingers.

I'm heading outside now...it's warm and pleasant here in Spokane.

Tah!

Dumb Republicans

Redundant you say?

One irony that was missed on several in attendance at my county GOP convention was that it was held at Henry M. (Scoop) Jackson High School.  Jackson of course was a Democrat US Senator from the state of Washington for many years and ran for president in 1976.

I was sitting at a table full of Republicans at our lunch break and I mentioned how funny it was that Republicans were meeting at a high school named for a Democrat.  Three of them I was sitting with all said the same thing:  "He was really a conservative though."

My heart sank a bit because these delegates and Republican activists have truly forgotten what a conservative is.  I asked them, "In what way was Scoop Jackson conservative?" and their reply was again in unison:  "He supported the military!" they all said.

That's it?  That's all there is to being a Republican anymore is just supporting troops, wearing flag lapel pins and putting a yellow ribbon magnet on your car?  That's it?

I asked them what they thought about his protectionist trade policies and his backing of LBJ's "Great Society" legislation.  All of them looked at me blankly.

I remember reading in a biography of Barry Goldwater how infuriated the Arizona senator was at how Jackson would make speeches mocking Goldwater for his claims that government intervention made the lives of Americans worse, not better.   That's conservative?

Jackson was a warmonger, a trade protectionist, voted to restrict trade to non-market economies, pro entitlement, and pro foreign aid.  He represents much of what is wrong with the Bush administration as many of Jackson's acolytes have been involved in the  Bush administration including former Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz.

Truth be told that over the years the terms liberal and conservative have come to mean different thing.  Now, liberal means socialist and conservative means to conserve your own power.  Neither means to protect freedom anymore.

A note about this week

I'll be heading to the Washington State GOP Convention in lovely Spokane this week.  I will be in Spokane for pre-convention junk including getting my credentials...hoping they aren't challenged.

I've heard rumors that John McCain is going to be at our state convention and if I get a chance to meet him I'll pass what happened...maybe even a photograph...who knows.  He'll likely charge me for the picture since his campaign is pretty much bust.

Anyway, I'm taking my laptop and I've called ahead to make sure Spokane has access to the Internet and I've been told they do.  I will do my darndest to blog on the junk going on there as I get the opportunity.

Also, I was put on a slate of delegates for my congressional district as an alternate by the Ron Paul delegation.   My further involvement in the GOP afterward will be determined greatly on what happens this weekend.

On a side note I was asked where I disagreed with Bob Barr and why I would not right now give an unqualified endorsement...so here it goes:

• I'm not for securing the border, I'm for enforcing laws and making immigration easier...not harder.
• I'm against the Fair Tax (national sales tax) as a solution.
• Marriage should not be a Federal or State issue and to hide behind federalism is not an answer. 
• I'm for an immediate pullout of troops from Iraq and a signal of foreign policy change to the world that if you step in it...you get a stick and scrape your own shoes...we're done.
• I'm for a hard asset based competing currency where citizens could hold in their hand something of value to protect their savings from debt-based monetary inflation. 
• I will not endorse another candidate besides Ron Paul until my involvement in the nominating process is over.  I have signed a pledge to do just that.

Stay tuned, will have more this week.

Barr - Root

I watched the LP Convention over the weekend and witnessed a pretty fun convention and heard several great speeches. Mary Ruwart remained my favorite through and was near victory but lost to Barr on the 6th ballot. Apparently Wayne Allyn Root's delegates (who were released after the 5th ballot) supported Bob Barr 2 to 1 over Ruwart giving Barr the eventual nomination.

In a surprise however Root was nominated for VP and won on the 2nd ballot. You see in the LP the presidential candidate does not pick his runningmate, the convention does. The nominee does however get to give a preference if he wishes to address the subject but traditionally this is not done.

The combination of Bob Barr and Wayne Allyn Root may produce the wealthiest and most well connected campaign since Ed Clark's 1980 run. Root is well established with the media and is connected to several insiders on both parties. Barr is well connected in Washington DC and is also connected to the beltway. Barr and Root will have access to the media that Michael Badnarik only dreamed of.

Congratulations to the LP for selecting a couple of strong freedom lovers...even if they aren't purists.

Colorblindness - Racial and otherwise

I am colorblind.

Ever since the moment when I explained to my parents that I understood traffic lights I have known that I was colorblind.  My explanation contained what I had observed:  That you stop on red and go on white.  White?  The fact that anyone considers a green light green is still puzzling to me.

Throughout life I have stopped paying attention to color as a distinguishable feature.  I do not shop for clothes without help and I do not wear anything that I'm not already sure goes together.  I do not see in black and white.  I'm not completely colorblind as I see all primary colors clearly, but secondary colors and muted tones are not describable.  Like the chart below, I have no way to identify or give a name to what I see.

 

Colorblindness is how many describe an ideal society when it comes to racial identity but I should warn you in advance.  Like any disability you have other senses that become more sensitive.  If you strive for colorblindness then your other senses of bias and unfair discrimination will become stronger.

My mind has given up long ago thinking of color as anything important.  When I see clothes, product labels, signs and yes...people, my mind pays very little attention to this detail.  As if through my inability to make it useful my brain has completely stopped using it as a factor. 

Instead, culture becomes my dividing line.  Where colors may be a factor of choice for some I would rather divide people along other lines.  Pick-up truck driving people, Country Music listeners, introverts, extroverts, quiet people, rednecks, poor, privileged, spoiled, victim-minded, loud people, time wasters, selfishly driven, and the list goes on and on.  My senses along these dividing lines are very strong and my mind begins sorting people out before I've been with them very long at all.

None of these distinctions have necessarily divided people according to good and bad, but rather into safe bins where later I can sort them even further.  It occurred to me that there is some inherent human need to divide people according to convenience and race is probably the easiest and laziest way to do it...though thankfully I am not afforded that luxury. 

Libertarian Party Convention - May 22-26

Do you want to see a real nominating convention?

There are about a dozen (big L) Libertarians that read this blog and this is for them...the rest of you pay close attention.

The LP has a choice this year.  To nominate a Conservative that believes in Federalism (Barr) a media savvy outsider that is really a Reagan Conservative (Root) or an actual libertarian. (Smith, Ruwart, Kubby)

The choice to outsiders always seems obvious.  You pick the guy with the greatest name recognition but as Michael Badnarik proved four years ago, you don't need name recognition to get as many votes as Ralph Nader.  What you need is a fairly organized 50 state party.

I'm fulfilling my ethical obligation to not be involved in the nominating process of the LP because I am a delegate for the GOP.  My involvement as a Republican is simply to promote liberty and the vehicle matters less to me than the principles I care very deeply about.

If I was involved this is how I would break down the field.

Mike Gravel - polite applause and then escort him out of the convention hall.

Bob Barr - To his credit he has worked in the LP for about 3 years and has grown to love liberty.  I like him but his old drug warrior ways make me uneasy.

Wayne Allyn Root - He makes me want to initiate force.  (A few Libertarians reading this are laughing at this inside joke)  If Root is nominated I will likely write-in Ron Paul.

Steven Kubby - I like him though he is too much of a Marijuana candidate.  Kubby is an American hero for civil liberties and I admire him greatly.  He is also perhaps uglier than Gary Nolan.

Dr. Mary Ruwart - Mary is a libertarian in the mold of Harry Browne.  In the convention I would vote for her on as many ballots as her name appears.

Daniel Imperato - Not exactly a libertarian.  He's a wealthy international businessman who would get the endorsement of Bloomberg if he were to be nominated.  I can't see that nomination happening.

There you go...where else are you going to get this kind of coverage on a convention that hardly anyone is going to watch on TV?

More stuff later...including another podcast with a prize inside.  Stay tuned!

Medicated Blog Post #8

Jenna Bush got married.  I know about her dress, the song she and her father danced to and about the band that played at the reception...too bad the news services couldn't get me reliable updates on the earthquake in China.

I blow holes through Kleenex.  Don't like using paper towels.  New solution:  Bath Towel.  Ew.

Bob Barr sort of reminded me of Ed Clark in his speech announcing his candidacy...though Barr is no 'low tax liberal."  I recognize fully that none of you understand that reference.

Prince Caspian comes out this week.  I always liked this particular book in the Narnia series.  These short books were really made for the 1 hour and 40 minute movie.

I found a 24 hour pharmacy where I can get sudafed as it is required to sign for it here...you're never out of sudafed until after 8pm...it's how it works.

People have asked me to blog on Obama's pastor but I have little to say about it really.  Most people I know don't agree with their pastor 100% but still support them.  It's normal.  Obama attends that church for political reasons...the same reason McCain (who is an Episcopalian) attends North Phoenix Baptist Church.  He attends there because it's a big church and he can be seen among many evangelicals to make him look more conservative.  It's politics people...remember that.

None of you bit on me stating that Hillary and Obama will not bring the troops home.  Which is why all those of you who email me encouraging me to vote for Obama should shut up about it.

LP Prediction - Bob Barr, Wayne Allyn Root and Mary Ruwart in three ballots...again many of you don't know what I'm talking about.

I had a dream I was on a boat with a friend.  The boat was rented.  I hate boating.

Ugh.  I'm going to go blow my nose.

Aid to Natural Disasters

Seen the news?

It's terrible!  Thousands of people trapped by flooding without clean water or food.  Their leaders had warning but did very little to help their people prepare and now these same leaders are standing in the way of help arriving.  Absolutely unacceptable.  Am I talking about New Orleans or Myanmar?

The government of Myanmar has seized shipments coming into the nation and has decided to distribute the relief themselves (feed their police and military) even though they lack the experience to work with water and sanitation.

Here is the score:

Governments take tax dollars from their citizens and force them to donate to a military dictatorship that is doing little to prevent their own citizens from dying.

Libertarian lesson: 

Governments are not capable of charity because they are instruments of force.

I would even add the example of the greatest humanitarian relief project in the history of the world was done to project political will rather than humanitarian need...which was of course the 1948 Berlin Airlift.  Myanmar is neither strategic nor important to enough international governments to motivate a general political will to help them.  The government aid will only go to their corrupt government while scores of private charitable organizations and their armies of volunteers struggle on the ground to help the people.

Remember the ozone?

Remember that thing?

That thing that mysteriously surrounds our globe and protects us from the sun?  That thing...do you remember that thing?

When I was in elementary school I went through Jimmy Carter's then new ecology indoctrination and learned about how the lifestyle of my selfish parents was going to destroy the world because they were destroying the ozone layer.

Everything contributed to the demise of the layer.  You name it.  Spray-on Deodorant, shaving cream, the production of normal household items, dog farts, and whatever else you can think of.  I'd come home so mad at my parents for living the way they did.  Sure they loved me but not enough to keep the ozone layer and prevent our world from entering into another ice age.

Scientists were wrong.

People tell me this in response:  The science is so much better now.

Many scientists have come forward and said they were caught in a craze and they had the evidence to understand that industrialization was a blip on the screen compared to the real main culprit of ozone depletion...volcanoes. 

So Al Gore says that the last Cyclone that killed at least 50,000 people was the result of global warming and I can imagine all the kids rushing home to dispense some bullshit accusing statement on their parents for killing people in 3rd world nations.  Now who will make their running shoes?

By the way...Chile has had some huge volcanic activity lately so don't be surprised to hear about some more ozone depletion in the future...but it won't be linked to the volcano...like someone with really bad gas they'll blame it on you or the dog.

And don't worry...when I'm proven right I'll be happy to remind you of this post.