Utah v That Team Down South

From the Salt Lake Tribune (paragraphs rearranged):

It appears as if BYU quarterback Max Hall will get a public reprimand for saying he hates everything about Utah and calling the university, its fans and football program "classless" after the Cougars defeated the Utes 26-23 in overtime on Saturday.

Asked if he felt any personal redemption for avenging that loss, Hall went on a rant about how much he hates Utah because of the way some of its fans acted last year during that game.

He said Utah fans threw beer on his family "and they did a whole bunch of nasty things, and I don't respect them, and they deserved to lose." According to several of Hall's teammates, at last year's Utah game in Salt Lake City, the crowd passed around a blowup sex doll with a sign on its back that read, "Max Hall's mom."

And then:

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham's wife, Jamie, was struck in the face while on the field and suffered a cut lip.

So if I understand this correctly Utah fans are classless because we picked on Max last year and we don't punch middle aged women in the face.

It aint rocket science.. or is it?

I hate to complain about this, after all a good portion of what I do is help keep people in compliance with tax codes. But...

Wired News: You and your son built your rocket in your garage with your own cash?
Paul Breed: Correct. It’s basically been a father-son effort, and we’ve done 98 percent of the work ourselves. We got some help from local rocket fans, and hired someone with help with the FAA regulations.

THEY BUILT A FREAKING ROCKET THAT CAN REACH SPACE IN THEIR GARAGE, but they cant figure out FAA regulations. Perhaps we need a little less regulation

Snubbed by the Russkies

I found this to be hilarious.

Good to know the Russians take him seriously.

Arrrrrgggghhh

Douglas A. McIntyre has a great article about the costs of pirating. It reminds me of the next book on my amazon wish list.

Stupid Safety Laws

Stupid laws always irritate me. I mean seriously if I am dumb enough to drive without a seat belt why not let darwinism do its work. Anyways check out other dumb laws here.

Random Thoughts

1. If government is merely an extension of our personal rights why do they suppose that they have the power to limit immigration? The constitution wasn't written to grant us our rights but rather to limit the governments powers. Therefore do I have the right to tell someone where to live or where to search for work. I would argue no.
2. Could education be improved the most and quickest by making it private? After all a command and control economy doesn't work so why would we expect a command and control education system with no competition to work.

Populist Pep Rally

I know this is a few months late but with an opening line calling a presidential speech a populist pep rally I couldnt resist.

AIG Contracts

I have found the uproar over AIG bonuses very ironic. On the one hand the government handed AIG billions of dollars to honor its contracts. Then on the other hand they get all bent out of shape when AIG honors contracts with their employees. The NY Times had a pretty interesting letter from one of those employees.

Dear IRS

I saw this letter the other day. I don't know if its real or not. It would be funny if it were not true.

Dear IRS,

I am sorry to inform you that I will not be able to pay taxes owed April 15, but all is not lost.

I have paid these taxes: accounts receivable tax, building permit tax, CDL tax, cigarette tax, corporate income tax, dog license tax, federal income tax, unemployment tax, gasoline tax, hunting license tax, fishing license tax, waterfowl stamp tax, inheritance tax, inventory tax, liquor tax, luxury tax, medicare tax, city, school and county property tax (up 33 percent last 4 years), real estate tax, social security tax, road usage tax, toll road tax, state and city sales tax, recreational vehicle tax, state franchise tax, state unemployment tax, telephone federal excise tax, telephone federal state and local surcharge tax, telephone minimum usage surcharge tax, telephone state and local tax, utility tax, vehicle license registration tax, capitol gains tax, lease severance tax, oil and gas
assessment tax, Colorado property tax, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Oklahoma and New Mexico sales tax, and many more that I can't recall but I have run out of space and money.

When you do not receive my check April 15, just know that it is an honest mistake. Please treat me the same way you treated Congressmen
Charles Rangle, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank and ex-Congressman Tom Dashelle and, of course, your boss Timothy Geithner. No penalties and no interest.

P.S. I will make at least a partial payment as soon as I get my stimulus check.

Ed Barnett

Wichita Falls

Caboose for President

Some people wonder about my political ideas, so in order to help clarify where I stand I’m going to take a page out of the politicians book and write a few thoughts on some issues I feel are important.

1. Immigration

I would allow open immigration. I would require a quick background check against whatever databases we have access to and if they have not commited any serious crime by all means come on in. This would stem the flow of illegal immigrants to almost nothing. The only ones trying to come in illegally would be criminals and so I would patrol the border with the unmanned predator drones which would be armed with some sort of gatlin cannon for pedestrians and hellfire missiles for drivers and sailors. The rules of engagement would be some sort of warning and if they didn’t turn around within 30 seconds we teach them about the rockets red glare / the bombs bursting in air.

2. Gay marriage

As I’ve posted before I’m against gay marriage. But more fundamentally I’m against needing a license from a government to get married. To be perfectly honest I could care less what the government thinks of my marital status. I got married to please God not Obama.

3. Building Permits

I believe a person has the right to provide shelter for themselves and their loved ones however they see fit. Building permits are an infringement on this God given right.

4. Bear arms

I believe that the right to bear arms was not written to ensure that we could go hunting. It was written to ensure that the citizens of this nation could overthrow, by force if necessary, an oppressive government.

5. Education

Education is the right and responsibility of parents. For quite some time education was provided by parents or churches. This is the way it should be. I cant believe more people don’t see the danger in having their children educated by the state. Also state education is one of the planks of the communist manifesto which ought to give one pause as to the dangers of this institution.

6. Welfare

I would end all forms of transfer payments. Compulsed charity is no charity at all. Let people give as they wish, let churches provide for their members. I believe that the governments concern for the “welfare” of others is more of a power grab than anything else. If they fund the charity they own the charity and those receiving charity.

7. Healthcare

This one pretty much falls under #6 above. If you need any more convincing just imagine going to the DMV for healthcare. Can you imagine “Oh your having a heart attack. Fill out this form, have it notarized, and come back in 3 to 6 weeks”.

8. Abortion

Abortion reminds me of the Old Testament. The only difference is in the names. In the Old Testament they sacrificed children to the false god Moloch. Today these same type of idiots want to sacrifice to the false god of Convenience. It was murder then and it is now.

9. Trade

I would allow fully open trade. If China wants to subsidize our consumers with cheaper products why not. I could get behind some blanket tariffs as a way to get rid of income taxes.

10. Taxes

I would get rid of payroll taxes altogether. I could probably be persuaded to keep the income tax but it would be a flat tax with only a standard deduction. During the transition period as I closed down all welfare payment programs I think I could still give a deduction for charitable giving to make sure that churches and charitable organizations could care for the poor under their care.

Hopefully this helps you to understand how I think. Any comments or questions are welcome.

Very Romantic Valentine Traditions

From History.com

While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial — which probably occurred around 270 A.D — others claim that the Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to 'christianize' celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival. In ancient Rome, February was the official beginning of spring and was considered a time for purification. Houses were ritually cleansed by sweeping them out and then sprinkling salt and a type of wheat called spelt throughout their interiors. Lupercalia, which began at the ides of February, February 15, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.

To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at the sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would then sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification.

The boys then sliced the goat's hide into strips, dipped them in the sacrificial blood and took to the streets, gently slapping both women and fields of crops with the goathide strips. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed being touched with the hides because it was believed the strips would make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city's bachelors would then each choose a name out of the urn and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage. Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine's Day around 498 A.D. The Roman 'lottery' system for romantic pairing was deemed un-Christian and outlawed. Later, during the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds' mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of February — Valentine's Day — should be a day for romance.

Are we there yet?

It really is amazing how close we are to communism here. I don't imagine the next four years are going to help any.

10 Planks of the Communist Manifesto

1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
3. Abolition of all right of inheritance.
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
5. Centralisation of credit in the hands of the State, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.
6. Centralisation of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State.
7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State; the bringing into cultivation of waste-lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.
8. Equal liability of all to labour. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a more equal distribution of the population over the country.
10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production,