Category Archives: Politics

Liberty, Thomas Jefferson, Ron Paul

Movies, Politics, TV

have you seen Ken Burns documentary on Thomas Jefferson? I just watched it last week and I’ve got to say it was extremely impressive. my intrique with Liberty has been re-energized. however, i’ve got to thank Ron Paul for this. if i hadn’t heard his political views in last year i don’t know when i would’ve taken the time to dig a little deeper into our country’s founding on the principals of Liberty. as an American it’s easy to take our privledges for granted; from here on out i refuse to do so.

in the upcoming elections there a 3 primary political philosophies that are battling for the acceptance of the American people. they are Federalism, Anti-Federalism and Socialism. i’m not going to spoon feed you my beliefs on these matters, but i do think you should take the time to research these political philosophies for yourself… start with Wikipedia… that’s easy enough right?

Democracy is young and because it affords more personal liberties than any other form of government it allows the few ‘representatives’ put into power the ability to take legislate away Liberty itself.

2008 Presidential Election Candidates

Politics

Take an anonomous and very quick quiz that will show you which 2008 presidential candidate would be a good representative for you! I was skeptical of the quiz, but it validated my thoughts that Ron Paul is the presidential candidate that best represents me and my ideals on the issues of the day.

If you already have a presidential candidate you believe in, just take a minute to see if this quiz agrees that your candidate is the best fit for you.

If you don’t know who to vote for President of the United States in 2008, take the quiz to at least get a general idea (if not discover precisely) which candidate is your man… or woman.

>> http://glassbooth.org/

~thanks to tim for the link!

Republican Debates on YouTube

Politics, TV, Video

dunno if you watched the Republican Party Presidential debates on YouTube and CNN… but i did. i’m not a party member.. in fact i’m not a huge fan of ‘political parties’ in general. btw, i also watched most of the last Democrat YouTube/CNN debate (i forgot to DVR it, so i didn’t catch it all).

anyhow, i figured i would give you my synopsis… remember these are my personal opinions (it’s cool if you don’t agree)

Mike Huckabee: used his Southern Babtist charm to come across a humbled yet driven man of virtue. who’s goal it seems is to be President regardless of what group of people will vote for him… even though he might openly disagree on moral and ethical issues… cause he’s ‘gonna do whats right’ instead of ‘represent the majority of Americans’. this guy seems very nice, but i fear that he has that ‘God tells me what to do… not you the American People’ philosphy GW subscribes to. ~kinda scary

Rudy Giuliani: the guy did a lot for NYC… he didn’t fold under the serious pressures and turmoils after 9/11… but this guys closet has waaaaay too many skeletons that haven’t been dealt with. Bill Clinton looks square compared to the stories that come out about this guy. after all his talk… the only thing i get from this guy is that if elected we’ll get a lower crime rate. but, he’s not convincing me on any specific policies. ~this is the guy the Dems want to race against

John McCain: wow this debate openend my eyes a little on this guy. pure politician. thanks McCain for your military service, but did i hear you imply that we should’ve stayed in Vietnam??? maybe he’s had that opinion all along and i’m too out of the loop to have known that… but yuck. he absolutely detests torture… no surprise there. ~becoming scary

Mitt Romney: flip flopper? well… he saw the light… can a Republican trust him??? i dunno, but he’s the ‘slick willy’ of the Republican Party. ~slick willy

Fred Thompson: this guy would play a great President on a made for TV movie… jk… but i’m thinking i’ll pass on this guy… he’s already running dirty ads against his fellow party members… canibalization begins. ~not a bad guy, just too vanilla

Ron Paul: this guy is the ‘real’ Republican.. even though the watered down lobby’d to the brim party shuns him. RP is the kind of no BS representative that the others on the stage should hope to emulate… regardless their personal political views. ~rocky

the other guys: ho humm… great guys i’m sure… but if you missed it… then you missed it.

there ya go… you made it this far… wish i had a cookie for ya! just remember to VOTE!!

Pandora & Internet Radio Petition

Apps, Music, Politics

from pandora:

Hi, it’s Tim from Pandora,

I’m writing today to ask for your help. The survival of Pandora and all of Internet radio is in jeopardy because of a recent decision by the Copyright Royalty Board in Washington, DC to almost triple the licensing fees for Internet radio sites like Pandora. The new royalty rates are irrationally high, more than four times what satellite radio pays, and broadcast radio doesn’t pay these at all. Left unchanged, these new royalties will kill every Internet radio site, including Pandora.

In response to these new and unfair fees, we have formed the SaveNetRadio Coalition, a group that includes listeners, artists, labels and webcasters. I hope that you will consider joining us.

Please sign our petition urging your Congressional representative to act to save Internet radio: http://capwiz.com/saveinternetradio/issues/alert/?alertid=9631541

Please feel free to forward this link/email to your friends – the more petitioners we can get, the better.

Understand that we are fully supportive of paying royalties to the artists whose music we play, and have done so since our inception. As a former touring musician myself, I’m no stranger to the challenges facing working musicians. The issue we have with the recent ruling is that it puts the cost of streaming far out of the range of ANY webcaster’s business potential.

I hope you’ll take just a few minutes to sign our petition – it WILL make a difference. As a young industry, we do not have the lobbying power of the RIAA. You, our listeners, are by far our biggest and most influential allies.

As always, and now more than ever, thank you for your support.

-Tim Westergren
(Pandora founder)

Global Warming – Fact or Fiction (Unbiased Blog)

Movies, Politics

is global warming real? if global warming is real will it affect my generation or the next generation?

silly questions huh… if you’ve read this far you’re either bored or you know me personally and you’re wondering when i might inject “who cares” or just maybe you’re like me and don’t really know the answers and are at least a little bit curious as to the answers.

i’m by no means a “tree hugger” nor do i have anything against free enterprise and capitalism (i’m a 51% owner of a software corporation… and love it!) but lately im not so proud how we as Americans are dismissing so easily the claims that environmental scientist keep making in regards to global warming.

i consider myself very open-minded and i actually listen to the ideas of those i might disagree with in various areas… because you never know when you wil find common ground… or learn something that changes your mind (by the way… changing your mind about something isn’t the worst thing that could happen… it might just make you a better person sometimes!).

that being said… i saw the Al Gore movie “An Inconvenient Truth” the other day… it’s very fascinating. in fact i completely recommend that anybody who has read this far into this blog rent it and check it out. it starts slow and you think it’s going to be typical… but before you know it… you see the Planet Earth “breathe” you see how it is indeed as alive as all the creatures who inhabit it… its hard to describe. then you see/hear what scientist have been trying to get across for the last couple of decades. it’s not a doomsday movie, it’s not an anti-capitalism movie, it’s simply a movie with information that in my opinion is worth considering.

here is some info from the movie

Q. FACT OR FICTION?
A. i dunno… but for the first time in my life im ‘begining’ to think that there might very well be some serious merit to the claims… and it may affect our children (well yours… cause i don’t have any) and that is enough to raise my eyebrows!

Arnold’s Latest Movie

Funny, Politics

i had to blog this… on Conan O’Brien he had a skit where he showed pics of celebs and had their answers to various questions… and here was one that cracked me up:

Question > What do you desire the end of more than anything?

Tim Robbins Answer > The end of the war in Iraq.

Whoopi Goldberg Answer > The end of all prejudices.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Answer > The end of this Governor movie I’m making!

lol.. o it cracked me up.