Specter gets it... er... half right

Senator Arlen Specter has decided he won't hold Congressional hearings regarding the NFL's Spygate Scandal. Specter originally wanted a Michell Report like investigation into the allegations of cheating in the NFL. While he hasn't completely ruled out a future investigation, he does hit one point right on the mark: "I'm not going to call for hearings because...we've got too many other bigger problems to deal with."

I'm sure members of Congress have far more important business to deal with; you know, like pushing their pork-laden bills through the legislature so they can put more of our taxpayer money into bridges that go nowhere.

Youtube videos

Um... Youtube says I need to post on my blog to be able to post Youtube videos... so yea here we go.

"Freedom is Popular"

A speech by Doctor Ron Paul, presidential candidate of 2008. Check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsLcQiHKhic

I'm almost afraid to post this...

This article and post is on a very controversial subject. Right now it's waaaay too early for me to write all I want to on this subject, especially since I have to work in 5 hours. But anyways, if you have time, read through this article. It's well written, presents a lot of viewpoints, and raises some interesting questions. I plan to write a more in depth post on this with my analysis, but I might not get to it; so just in case keep this in mind: think of how much less trouble we would have with stuff like this if the government didn't have such a tight regulatory hold on our healthcare system.

Hopefully more to come!

Lil Bush

So Comedy Central has a new show on called Lil Bush, and the other night I we just happened to have the tv on CC when the show was on and I caught part of the episode. All I can say is wow, what a funny show. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend watching it. New episodes air Wednesday nights at 9:30pm cst and shown again at 11:00pm. You can also see a good part of the series online here. It's a very funny show that makes fun of all of our political figures from Lil Cheney's rrarararrar's to Lil Condy's attempts to hook up with Bush to Lil Barrak smoking weed. Good stuff.

There is a little hint of seriousness in this post. Besides advertising Lil Bush, it does raise the point that we really do have freedom of speech in our country. Think about it: where else in the world can we so openly rip our political figures? Europe? Maybe, but probably not. We'd probably be executed for this show in the Middle East, and Asia would probably censor it as well. As bad as the US government can get, I guess sometimes we do have to step back now and then, look at things like Lil Bush openly mocking everything about American politics, and say, "wow, thank God the founders wrote the Constitution the way they did." It's a good thing that something as offensive and funny as Lil Bush can be shown in our country without retaliation from the government; and for that I am happy.

More government waste

Check this out. For all you people who like to drive fast, be careful because now it's ok for the government not only to fine and ticket you, but they can also destroy your car.

This whole thing seems like a huge waste to me. For one, the idea that the cops can just take your car and destroy it is flat out wrong. It may have illegal modifications (illegal... why is the government telling us what we can and can't put in our cars?) but seriously, the common sense thing to do is seize the illegal parts, find someone who can legally buy them, sell them off, and like the guy in the article says give the money to a charity. You could at least let the owner of the car keep part of his car. But that's government for you: no common sense, trying to make it seem like they're in control. But come on, honestly is this going to stop street racing? No. Is destroying these cars going to convince someone not to race? No. It may look good for the police to say, "Oh yea, look we're doing something about it!" But they're not. I ask you readers, is seizure and destruction of $20,000+ worth of property really a fair punishment for the crime of going fast? Ladies and gentlmen, I give you government. Enjoy.

Interesting story with a money quote

Well, I thought this headline sounded kind of interesting, so I read this story, and I found a gem of a quote in it that pretty much sums up a big part of my worldview (that is, things are best done by those closest to the situation and the smallest possible level). Talking about disciplining children:

"Patricia Mathis, assistant principal at Gardner Middle, said she supported Spann's right to discipline her child.
"My theory is this: Parents know their children far better than we do as educators," she said."

Big Brother Knows

This Friday is prom. Huzzah. In honor of this joyous day, our school administrators decided today was a good day for Big Brother to come talk to our school and bring his propaganda for show. Before I begin, let me state: I have never consumed alcohol outside of church, I do not intend to drink on Friday, and if you do drink and drive I think you're incredibly stupid. That said, on to Big Brother.
Today, instead of getting to attend choir rehersal (yea yea I'm a choir nerd I know), I was forced to be "graced" by the presence of a couple of Bellevue Police Department, Sarpy County Sheriff's Office, and (I believe) Sarpy County Attorney. They felt it necesarry to come and tell us how they KNOW. I swear they must have said, "we know," or, "we WILL know," or something to that extent at least once every 2 minutes. As we're sitting through their presentation on why drinking is bad (which isn't going to stop anyone from drinking: those who want to drink will drink, those who don't won't. In my opinion, talks like that only make minors more curious and rebellious, but that's another point for another day) all I could think of was 1984.
The presentors kept talking like they were omniscient and knew everything we do. One that really stuck out to me was, "when you drink and drive, there are consequences you can't possibly imagine, but we know." I honestly felt like I was living in a police state. Now, I know they have good intentions, but the way to gain my respect is NOT to tell me you know things that I don't. As the discussion continued, they eventually opened it up for questions, and I was curious, so I asked what constitued probable cause for searching a car; the response I got made me angry. I was told a long list of the expected things, but at the end, our sheriff added, "basically anything."
Now, I'm not a Constitutional scholar, but I do know a bit about my rights, and I know that it takes a bit more than, "anything" to search my car. Personally, if I get pulled over, I will not let an officer search my car if they ask; and if they continue to search, I will tell them I am going to file harrassment charges. I plan to let them defend their probable cause in court. But I digress. As if their talk wasn't enough, Big Brother, in his quest to always look out for us and make sure we're never being bad, decided to send his propaganda machine to our school.
The police department parked a large wrecked car outside the building all day and just let it sit there. It was supposed to remind us of the dangers of drinking and driving, but honestly, all I could think of when I looked at it was, "wow, this is government propaganda."
I sure feel safe now that I know Big Brother is looking out for me! In closing, to all you who read this; remember, Big Brother knows! You can't possibly imagine the consequences of your action, but it's ok because Big Brother knows.


"He gazed up at the enormous face. Forty years it had taken him to learn what kind of smile was hidden beneath the dark moustache. O cruel, needless misunderstanding! O stubborn, self-willed exile from the loving breast! Two gin-scented tears trickled down the sides of his nose. But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother."

A quote from my theology book

Here's an interesting quote from Pope Pius XI that I ran across while doing my homework. I really like it; it defines the Catholic principle of subsidiarity.

"Just as it is gravely wrong to take from individuals what they can accomplish by their own initiative and industry and give it to the community, so also is it an injustice and at the same time a grave evil and disturbance of right order to assign to a greater and higher association what lesser and subordinate associations can do. For every social activity ought of its very nature to furnish help to the members of the body social, and never destroy and absorb them."

Well said.

Ron Paul

Saw this video on the Liberty Papers... worth watching if you believe in human liberty! This guy certainly has my vote as of now in the upcoming election. Good luck Congressman Paul.




If you're interested, check out his website