I know this is going to get me excommunicated from the church of Rand, but I have to say this: RUSH SUCKS (musically speaking). The lead singer is like finger nails on a chalk board and the music is simplistic and not very melodic. …but you can write me off as having bad taste in music if that makes you feel better.

HOWEVER, I really like the lyrics. I don’t usually enjoy poetry, but I found Rush’s lyrics to be the most meaningful poetry I have read. I found this over at Stotts’ blog and had to re-post it here.

There is unrest in the forest,
There is trouble with the trees,
For the maples want more sunlight
And the oaks ignore their pleas.

The trouble with the maples,
(And they’re quite convinced they’re right)
They say the oaks are just too lofty
And they grab up all the light.
But the oaks can’t help their feelings
If they like the way they’re made.
And they wonder why the maples
Can’t be happy in their shade?

There is trouble in the Forest
And the creatures all have fled
As the Maples scream ‘Oppression!’
And the Oaks, just shake their heads

So the maples formed a union
And demanded equal rights.
‘These oaks are just too greedy;
We will make them give us light.’
Now there’s no more oak oppression,
For they passed a noble law,
And the trees are all kept equal
By hatchet,
Ax,
And saw.

Rush - The Trees

I read this on Drudge today:

Presidential hopeful Hillary Rodham Clinton outlined a broad economic vision Tuesday, saying it’s time to replace an “on your own” society with one based on shared responsibility and prosperity.

If you think this rhetoric is right, you are a collectivist.  Just come out and say it.  Stop hiding behind “American Ideals” and be honest about what you are.  Hillary is.  Why can’t you?

Oh, and don’t get me started on Obama:

That would mean limiting the amount of profit health care businesses could make and prosecuting companies that monopolize the insurance industry, Obama and his campaign staff said. The extra costs would be paid by not renewing tax breaks enacted by congressional lawmakers in 2001 for families with higher levels of incomes, mostly over $250,000.

I am blocked by China’s firewall! Is your website? Click on the image above to find out.

Also, have a listen to this Skeptics Guide to the Universe Podcast. Half way through they interview a business consultant about China. It’s an interesting listen. China is not what we are told, according to him.

I revamped. Nice, no? If you see anything strange, report here. Also, if I missed any cool features, let me know and I will add them.

Cappy, sorry that I did not make the little green checkbox light up. You’re better at that than I am.

*EDIT* My RSS Feed is dead for some reason. It is putting <link>/?p=123</link> instead of <link>http://www.miniatureamericanflags.com/?p=123</link> . I read around and it looks like it has something to do with my hosts GOD DAMNED MOD REWRITE PROBLEMS. That’s it. I am canceling this host as soon as I have enough time to transfer all of my sites off of it.

*EDIT AGAIN* My site was down for 14 HOURS!  Yep, this host is toast.

As a business and retail consumer, I have to say AT&T, their phone service, website domain services and Yellow Pages sucks. I encourage that you think twice before ever using any of their services. Why? Poor, rude, slow customer support. I do not use any of their services any longer and have encouraged all of my clients to cancel their service with them. I would go on, but that’s all of the energy that I am going to put towards this. I have already wasted countless hours with AT&T and this will be the last minute I waste regarding them.

I usually don’t find Colbert funny, but I found this to be funny and somewhat relevant:

I was shocked this morning when I opened up Drudge.

The house approved a bill to make price gouging illegal. Why is this bad you ask? Well, let’s start with how this effects gas stations and then you’ll start to see what this is going to create. Also, I am sure they left the definition of the phrase “price gouging” broad enough that this expands the powers of our government to control the oil industry.

This is very bad folks. Very bad. Not convinced, go do some homework.

I saw this on the Penn Fans board and thought it would be a good filler topic here while I (once again) revamp the layout of this website.

Lets say that a large tropical island (about the size of Cuba) formed overnight in the middle of international waters. You were the first person there and you claimed it as your own. Your claim is uncontested, so now you have your very own country that is completely independent from any government. At this time you are the only person who lives on the island, but many people want to move there because it is a tropical paradise. You now have the opportunity to establish your own set of laws prior to anyone immigrating to your new country. Assuming you WANT people to EVENTUALLY move to your island nation - what laws would you establish and why? For example:

1. What would you make the legal drinking age?
2. Driving age?
3. Age of sexual consent?
4. Voting age?
5. At what age would someone become an adult (free from parental control)?
6. What types of recreational drugs (if any) would be legal?
   1. Pot
   2. Tobacco
   3. Cocaine
   4. Alcohol
   5. LSD
   6. Caffeine
   7. Heroin
   8. Other?
7. Can people have guns? (if so - who and what kind?)
8. What would be the name of your country?
9. Would you have the death penalty?
10. What would be the speed limit?
11. What types of religions would be permitted or restricted?
12. Which of the following would be legal:
    Porn?
13. Prostitution?
14. Polygamy?
15. Homosexuality?
16. Stem cell research?
17. Human Cloning?
18. Cock Fighting?
19. Slavery?
20. Hunting?
21. Fishing?
22. Eating meat?
23. Littering?
24. Unisex bathrooms?
25. Suicide?
26. Gay marriage?
27. Abortion?
28. What types of sexual activity (if any) would be illegal?
29. Would your county be clothing optional or clothing mandatory?
30. Would you have obscenity laws? If so - how would you define “obscene”.
31. What system would you set up for collecting taxes?
    1. Income tax? (how much?)
    2. Sales tax? (how much?)
    3. Import/Export tax? (how much?)
32. What criteria would someone need to pass to become a citizen?
33. What types of people would you allow (or not allow) into your country?
34. What type of government would you establish?
35. To what degree would your government be allowed to censor or restrict the media?
36. Aside from laws - what sort of unofficial (and unenforced) cultural rules and traditions would you like to establish? For example - taking shoes off before entering someone’s home. Or not eating with the left hand.

I turned the last post as a “members only” post because it was just encouraging the same idiot to come back to the site and try to comment over and over again. My spam filter automatically caught and deleted his comments, so I have no idea what he had to say. All I know is that he is now obsessed with this site and I am keeping close tabs on his hit record because it is frighteningly obsessive.

So, the point of this post will be to inform passers-by of this site how things work around here with comments:

1. I censor all of my comments, especially those who have never commented on my blog before.
2. Respect begets respect. If you start off with an (but not limited to) emotional, idiotic, attacking, irrational or any comment that does not contribute to the discussion, you will be banned and my spam filters will delete any further comments from you.
3. Want me to approve your comment? Form a logical, well thought out argument, without attacking my character (or using any sort of logical fallacy) and you will most likely be approved.
4. Finally any most importantly: This is my blog. I can censor whatever I want, for whatever reason I want. If you don’t like it, I don’t care. Go bitch about it on your own blog.
5. “But I want a second chance to redeem myself!” Too bad. Forgiveness is earned and you are in debt.

I have no problem with publishing dissenting comments on my blog, as long as the comment is rational.  Otherwise, I don’t have time to deal with you.

I have been letting Internet idiots get to me again.  This happens periodically to me and always catches me off guard.  I started a video log that was just full of hate filled clips of me getting pissed about different subjects.  My girlfriend pointed out that I am a much more intelligent, happy human being and I realized that my video blog was not reflecting who I really am.  Also, it was not expressing my ideas effectively.  A lot of my writing is anger filled as well (and not well thought out sometimes) and I hate it when I get like that. I let other people get to me to the point where I start acting like the people I hate and there’s nothing more self-destructive than acting like your enemy.

So, I am making a vow to think a little more, shrug off those who I hate more, get angry a lot less and spread my ideas in a more rational manner.  Let’s hope it sticks a little longer this time around.

p.s.  I made a new video blog which is available in the members only post above if you really want to hear and see who I am.