AssociatedContent.com has published my article on the current healthcare situation and how the problems can be solved in the free market. Check it out here.
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
US Supreme Court Kills Fourth Amendment
On May - 2 - 2008
The lawyers representing David Lee Moore, a Portsmouth, Virginia resident who was arrested five years ago and charged with the possession of cocaine, knew that text well and thought it would help Moore become a free man.
On that night Moore was stopped by Portsmouth officers for driving with a suspended license. Under Virginia law, he should have been issued a court summons and been allowed to leave. Instead, the officers decided, on a whim, to arrest Moore. They detained him for over an hour and the subsequent search revealed that Moore had cocaine in his possesion.
When asked why Moore was arrested, an officer replied, “Just our prerogative.” Translation: We just felt like arresting him. We had no real reason.
Big Government and the Oil Crisis
On April - 25 - 2008
Today I wrote a very interesting Op-Ed piece for the website digitaljournal.com exploring government subsidies in oil and ethanol along with other reasons why gas prices are so high. You can read it here.
An excerpt:
Gas prices in the United States are clearly on the rise and both short-term and long-term solutions need to be figured out. Cutting state and federal taxes, and calming tensions in the Middle East would help immediately lower the price of gasoline. At the same time, removing government subsidies on energy solutions will help bring about a permanent replacement to gasoline.
SWAT Officers Bring Children on Drug Raid
On April - 13 - 2008
Third Grade Boy Suspended For Sniffing Non-Toxic Sharpie
On April - 7 - 2008
In what seems to be another case of the “Zero Tolerance” policy going to far, an 8-year-old boy has been suspended for sniffing a Sharpie.
Ethan Harris was originally suspended from a Colorado elementary school for three days for his participation in an incident that involved the sniffing of a Sharpie. The principal of said school reduced his sentence to one day after receiving complaints from the child’s parents.
Harris used the black marker to color a small area on the sleeve of his shirt, which he then proceeded to “huff”. When a teacher noticed this action she immediately sent him the the principals office.
His motive was the enticing aroma of the marker:
“It smelled good,” Harris said. “They told me that’s wrong.”
Principal Chris Benisch believes that Harris’ suspension was the correct thing to do because it sends a message to the children about substance abuse.
The suspension, however, seems to have been made on ill informed grounds. In the letter that the Harris family received notifying them of the boy’s actions, Benisch claimed that inhaling the fumes could have caused the boy to become intoxicated.
Au contraire Mr. Benisch. Sharpies, despite their strong smell, are non-toxic making it impossible for the boy to become high.
The principal, however, seemed to be unmoved by this revelation:
“Principals make hundreds of decisions everyday based on our best judgment. And in that time, smelling that marker, I felt like, ‘Wow, that’s a very serious marker,’” Benisch said.
He has even gone to such lengths as removing all markers from the school to prevent future instances of children sniffing non-toxic things that smell good. Perhaps he should also ban flowers from the building.
After serving his time, the boy returned to school saying he was happy to be back. He did, however, reveal that he was worried that the disciplinary action might one day hurt his chances of becoming a professional football player.
Firefly Revived as Comic Book Series
On April - 4 - 2008
The series, officially titled Serenity: Better Days, takes place after the TV series Firefly and prior to the movie Serenity. There will be a total of three issues and the first is already in publication.
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Since Better Days takes place before Serenity, the whole crew is present, even those who are destined for death in the movie (no spoilers here, just to be nice to those who have not seen it).
I Want Indentured Servants
On March - 27 - 2008
I belong to that ubiquitous group of people that pay their taxes. I am, as it were, a taxpayer. And, not altogether incidentally, I am an indentured servant. I am forced, by my masters, to fill out paperwork and they do not pay me for this task. Rather, they force me to give them up to half of my earnings through their income tax, property tax, sales tax, gas tax, corporate tax, and an infinite array of other taxes, fines and fees.
A while ago I had a conversation with a friend of mine who had recently graduated from college. He was, coincidently, a Socialist who was espousing the virtues of public schools and Socialized Medicine. He was, however, unwilling to admit that those things were paid for through the threat of violence from the state. If I do not pay my taxes, I explained to him, then I will be arrested. If I do not want to be arrested and I choose to defend myself I will likely be shot and killed.
Then, just a few months ago when I was filling out the paperwork for my tax returns, a thought occurred to me: How great would it be if I had a few indentured servants of my own?
Why do I want indentured servants? Well, it’s really quite simple. I want to make money.
I want indentured servants who will accept my claim of ownership to all of the land they live on. Since I owned the land, I would charge them at least $5,000 per year for a title that granted them the privilege of living on my land. If they were to refuse to pay their tributes to me, however, I would quickly take back those titles and kick them off the land. Of course, they could never buy the land off of me and they would lease it for eternity, but they would be allowed trade the titles amongst each other, for a fee. This would give them the illusion of ownership over the land.
My indentured servants would probably not like this idea, but I would have a deceitful trick up my sleeve. I would tell them that I was taking their hard earned money to pay for the schools that I permitted their children to attend. Meanwhile, the children would perform poorly in my schools and their intelligence would be lower than the students in the neighboring schools. My indentured servants would still pay, however, because they would not want the other servants to believe that they did not care about the children.
I want indentured servants who will pay me for the right to work. Anyone on my land who had a job would have to pay me at least 20% of his or her income. I will tell them that this money is being used to pay for the roads and protection, but the roads would remain in horrible condition. The road crews would constantly be working, but nothing would ever get done. The police, whose salaries would be paid by my servants, would not protect and serve. Their only true purpose would be to fine and imprison my indentured servants when they did not obey my rules.
I want indentured servants who will automatically and blindly accept my rule of law no matter how obscene the rules become. I would be able to spy on them, claiming that I am doing it for their own protection. In reality, I would be looking for the dissenters among them who might be forming a resistance to my rule. The police would take care of these bad apples .
I would trick my indentured servants into fighting in conflicts with our neighbors. These conflicts would benefit defense and weapons corporations that I have investments in to help me pad my coffers even more.
The children of my indentured servants would inevitably pay me because that is what their parents did. Their lives would not be terrible, so they would have no reason to revolt.
I want indentured servants because I want to live like a king.
Really, it’s the perfect set up. Who wouldn’t want indentured servants?
