"The true patriot challenges the state when the state embarks on enhancing its power at the expense of the individual."
--Ron Paul

Ron Paul's Success In His Own Words

"Some of the opposition claims that I am not a "real Republican," whereas I am the only one in the race. And our campaign is registering new Republican voters by the boatload. None of my opponents is doing anything approaching that.

Of course, they pooh-pooh our success. "He's just registering Democrats and Independents and people who have never voted before." Well, yes. It's called growth. We are laying the groundwork for the primaries."

 

-Ron Paul, October 18th message to supporters

The Road To Hell

The road looks innocent enough. Encourage biofueld usage by giving money to companies, save children, free a Middle Eastern nation, things like that. All of these activities (plus millions more) cost the United States billions upon trillions of dollars, so much so that we are in debt to countries like China (what's in YOUR wallet?).

Not only is this country in debt, but the debt is getting higher. The only way to pay the interest on the debt is to raise taxes higher and higher. When's the last time the government admitted that one of its organizations (like the DEA) was a complete and utter failure, and offered to shut it down and refund some tax money with the proceeds from selling all of the assets. Try never.

We are going down the road to hell. Taxes increase, and increase. Right now a middle-income person gets robbed of over 35% of his or her income between federal income tax and FICA. This number will likely only get higher and higher. When will it stop? What if in 100 years America started taxing 95% of your money but you got free government food, a free government car, free government clothing, and all of this came with whether we worked or not.

What would we be then? Something we've tried to defeat many times, only to see it swallow us whole. So next time you hear a politician talk about giving children free healthcare, or giving idiots who took teaser mortgages a bailout, or winning the "war" on terror, just think about the road to hell

A bat outta hell

Alex Roy has repeatedly attempted a record that almost no one would ever consider. NYC to LA in less than 32 hours, which would break a record set over 20 years ago. Avoiding cops, traffic, and using the latest technology to get as many miles under the BMW M5 as quickly as possible is just part of the world of outlaw racing.

I read about Alex in Esquire last week, he has a new book coming out, The Driver, which I plan on purchasing as soon as I can. His pursuit for speed across America was inspired by movies such as Vanishing Point and the real life Cannonball Run of the 70s.

Alex doesn't only race in the US, he also races in the Gumball 3000, a rally that takes place all over the world for the last half dozen years or so. Unlike his dash across the USA, this race (or rally) features many other exotic cars.

For those of you who are interested in hearing more about this modern day daredevil, and quite possibly the purest racer in the US, here are some more links:


Wired article, very detailed and well written, is HERE
youtube copy of the video that inspired Alex, is HERE

Another reason to own a gun

For those of you who still doubt the wisdom of owning a gun, here's another reason.  This story illustrates why the 2nd Amendment was formed: to protect yourself from those in power.

 

 

Hope For America

I haven't posted in a long time and don't have too much to talk about right now. 

 

However I want to tell my readers about a movement that is very important to the survival of our country, it is called Liberty.  And the candidate who most embodies that movement is Ron Paul. 

 

Please help Ron out and donate to his campaign.  www.ronpaul2008.com

 

 

756

Only an hour ago, I saw Barry Bonds hit his 756th homerun off Nat's pitcher Mike Bacsik in the bottom of the 5th inning to pass Hank Aaron as the all time leader.

I have to say, all those involved (Bonds, Aaron, and Bacsik) gave classy statements on the historical homer. Bonds was near tears, the others congratulated him and Bacsik almost seemed happy that the HR was hit off him, since it will probably be the thing for which he is most remembered. The Nats also won the game, and Chad got his 100th save.

I think that its always good when a record is broken, as it shows a continuous improvement in a sport, and gives the fans something to look forward to.

And for all you "fans" who think that this is some type of illegitimate record, remember that when Hank Aaron broke the record many said he was not as great as Babe Ruth. Only time will tell what history says of Bonds.

I salute Barry Bonds on this achievement.

Drink Up On Amtrak

I'm not a big fan of government transportation, especially trains. One of the least efficient modes of long distance travel, for every $50, the government sometimes kicks in double that in subsidies, a complete waste of taxpayers money.

However, I must say I am pleased with the new booze choo-choo. $100 in free alcohol for buying a special ticket on an overnight train.

Now Amtrak is a quasi private enterprise, its just injected with plenty of money from Uncle Sam. I wonder how the same government that rams the whole bullshit responsible drinking campaign down people's throats thinks about this.

Lighters OK

The TSA announced today that lighters will once again be allowed on planes. You may remember my previous post concerning this topic. This change in policy may be the smartest decision TSA has ever made. They even cited cost concerns, apparently it costs them $4 million to dispose of these things.

For all of those that missed the link, this page is worth reading: http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/sop/index.shtm

It seems the TSA is actually making fun of its own policy. Showing how many lighters confiscated per day in height compared to the Empire State building. Also saying "the United States became the only nation to ban lights as carry on baggage."

Bad Newz Kennels

Mike Vick's second favorite sport seems to have gotten him in a bit of trouble. We've seen a lot of cases of athletes acting badly. Obviously Vick (and his brother) has embraced the "Thug Culture" and has no place in professional football. I think the Falcons should cut him immediately and the Commish should suspend him.

What really irks me is that everyone goes on and on about Barry Bonds. Barry Bonds is not a thug like this. I'm happy that Barry is about to break the HR record, its nice to see things like that happen and in less than 10 years, A-Rod will probably break it again. The blame should go to the athletes who actually commit bad acts, like Vick.

Also, if you are going to choose a bloodsport, pick Cockfighting. We eat chickens anyway, so its not that big of a deal and nobody keeps them as companion pets.

VA Violates The Constitution Again

Less than a year after Virginia violated the equal protection clause of the Constitution by banning recognition of gay marriages, it has done so again, this time with traffic fines.

 

Virginia residents convicted of misdemeanor or felonies while driving (reckless, DUI, etc.) will now face "civil remidial" fines of $1,050.

 

Reckless driving in VA can be as simple as driving 80 MPH on any road, or going 20 MPH over the speed limit.  It can also include failure to signal and a bunch of other "minor" offenses.

 

Note that these fines will only apply to Virginia residents meaning that the thousands of Marylanders who work here would be treated as a different class in terms of fines. 

Bad Call

Today the Supreme Court ruled that it was OK for a school to suspend a student who held up a banner that said "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" while off school property.  They ruled that schools are allowed to regulate students speech concerning illegal drugs.

 

There are two things wrong with this:

1. The kid was just trying to proclaim free speech and this had nothing to do with drugs.

2. Saying that speaking freely about certain things is prohibited in certain contexts a is very, very bad precedent to set.  This ruling could mean that students could not talk about the pros and cons of medical marijuana in classes, something that should be debated.  It could also be expanded to include political speech.  Maybe next they will not allow students to talk about any current events at all.

3. The student was not on school property.  This fact is probably the worst part of it.  If a school says you can't say something within its classrooms, that's one thing.  Maybe its a private school, so private property, etc.  However, the school has no right to punish someone for saying anything while off of the property.

 

I'm sure the school would have responded similarly if it had been alcohol or tobacco related.  This incident is really not about drugs, but the Supreme Court thinks it is, so here's my 2 cents.  If all drugs are so bad and that one puff of a joint would kill someone, they wouldn't need to regulate speech.  The truth is, puffing on the joint is probably safer than puffing on a cigar. 

 

Lastly, if Jesus was alive today I'm almost certain that he would be hittin' that bong.

 

Ancient Car Security System

In yet another reason to drive a stick (on top of MPG, better control, better acceleration, less maintenance, cost, and fun), it seems that some car thieves have trouble stealing a car with a manual transmission.

 

Recently on FJcruiserforums.com, someone asked why the FJ is not available in California with a stick.  The best answer: "I'm sure this is because 90% of people who drive in California don't have testicles."

 

 

Tony Lives?

Update: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19236576/
Maybe he didn't live afterall. I think it was deliberately a vague ending, I can see the argument either way.

In a very brilliant season finale, not so many loose ends were tied up, but the star of the Sopranos and his family lived on. The 86th episode of the Sopranos was not the best episode of the series, but it was pretty good. I will miss Tony and his family, looking forward to new episodes. A great show has ended.

Monday Dover 400

I skipped work today to go to the "Autism Speaks 400 Presented by VISA", the 400 mile/lap June NASCAR race at Dover International Speedway.

Originally we were going to go on Sunday but tropical storm Barry was in the area. A quick check of the weather forecast made our decision for us. They postponed the race that afternoon. After vacillating on whether to go to the race or work on Monday (even if it meant going by myself to the race), the decision ended up not being very difficult. The day I let work get in the way of an event I've looked forward to for almost a year is not something that would fill me with pride or happiness.

I ended up finding someone to go to the race with, we left at 8am and got home about 12 hours, 250 miles, and 14 gallons later. Rain threatened the race, we were in a downpour on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.

The picture you see here was taken shortly before the race began. Almost on cue, after the invocation/prayer, and the national anthem (there was no fly by), it was almost as if the hand of God parted the clouds, because sunshine spilled across the track as soon as the green flag waved. I must say, if God was to choose a sport to watch, it would probably be NASCAR ;-)

#12 (my personal favorite, Ryan Newman) made a strong run all day, never getting much lower than fourth and settling for a second place finish. Martin Truex, Jr. the savior of DEI, ended up winning his first race, by many, many car lengths. And this is saying a lot, because Newman was pretty far ahead in the second spot.

Kurt Busch also re-ignited his villain image by almost running over one of Tony Stewart's crew while crashing into Smoke on pit road to tell him off. He was not allowed to complete the race.

The sad news for the sport today is that Bill France Jr. the man who made NASCAR what it is today, has died. Had it not been for him there would definitely be less fans of the sport and I probably would never get to see it on TV.