Land Conservation Bill Passes

Senate passes bill to designate 2 million acres of public land as wilderness areas.

This means the land in the act can only be used for non-mechanized recreation. Many will argue that this is a tremendous waste of land that could otherwise be used for logging or gas/oil exploration.

First, public land is rarely logged. Most logging now takes place on tree farms and on private land. Also, there is no scarcity of timber so preserving some natural treasures that actually benefit humans economically, culturally, and physically is not going to hurt us. Second, most of the oil/gas deposits left to drill are out in the ocean. After a few years of Bush selling off public land, it is nice to see some land being preserved for the good of society.

The Cuban Trade Embargo Lives On

You'll never get our ShamWows Cuba, NEVER!!!!

When asked if the Obama Administration would re-think the Cuban Trade Embargo, put in place almost 50 years ago, Vice President Biden said, "No". That will teach those communists.

If we were serious about really changing the economic and political situation in Cuba, we would trade with them. Trading with the Cubans would help their economy, cause more social mobility in the totalitarian country, and therefore put more pressure on the government to adopt a democratic society. But hey, if it ain't broke, then don't fix it right?

New York Relaxes Harsh Drug Sentences

Blind Governor Sees Through Mandatory Sentencing Bullshit

New York Governor David Patterson and the New York General Assembly have have agreed to relax harsh sentences for nonviolent drug offenders. It is estimated that it will save the state $250 million a year.

Drug War Has Failed...Officially

Secretary of State Clinton declares "We fucked up"

This is really refreshing. Let's just hope that the federal government does the right thing now and decriminalizes most drugs.

Lockhead-Martin: Promoting Jobs Through War

It's about time somebody stood up to the defense industry.

If we really want to reduce government spending, lets start with ending the two on-going wars.

See Ya Later Death Penalty, Kind Of

From the Baltimore Sun:

A House of Delegates committee Friday approved the Senate's plan to restrict capital punishment to cases with specific kinds of evidence, a major step toward added limitations on Maryland's death penalty that could receive final legislative approval as soon as next week.

The bill would allow the death penalty in cases where there is video proof, a confession by the accused, or DNA evidence. It is hoped that as a result, less innocent people would be put to death by the state. The bill is a compromise between anti and pro death penalty advocates.

Killing less innocent people is great but the death penalty is not wrong because it kills innocent people. It is wrong because it kills people in general. Politicians on both sides of the aisle give the argument that the death penalty deters murders. If this is true, then it doesn't say a lot about the character of Americans. The United States has roughly the same murder rate as Albania and Georgia in Eastern Europe at about 5.6 murders per 100,000 people. Compared to other Western Industrialized countries, it is crazy:

Canada - 1.85 murders per 100,000 people
France - 1.64
England - 1.37
Germany - 0.98

And guess what? Each of these countries have abolished the death penalty at least 28 years ago. It is quite obvious you do not have to kill criminals to deter murders. To say that it deters murders is to say that murderers are critically thinking about the murder, weighing pros and cons. When in fact most murders are the result of emotional and irrational thinking. It is flawed logic. Add to it that it costs more money to kill prisoners than to hand out a life sentence and you have a very logical reason why we need to abolish it, at least at a state level.

So why are so many Americans so eager to kill criminals? Is it a primal instinct? A cultural difference? Or is it that it based on an antiquated belief that is rarely questioned by the majority? I believe the latter.

By the way, 14 states have abolished the death penalty:
Alaska, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin

Foreign Aid is Really Paying Off ... Not

Aid to Africa Ineffective in Solving Continent's Poverty

So as a result, the United States digs itself deeper into debt, Africa actually becomes poorer, and by encouraging Western Capitalism we destroy their culture. Awesome. No politician has the balls to question foreign aid. It is almost as equal to questioning Welfare or Social Security.

N.H. allows medical marijuana to be distributed

One more state moves towards decriminalizing marijuana

On the downside, majority of N.H. Republicans voted against the bill. If marijuana is ever going to be decriminalized on a federal level, Republicans are going to have to support it. A study needs to come out showing that marijuana prevents gay marriage.

Ass Clowns of the Week

Senator Chris Dodd (CT-D) and Representative Barney Frank (MA-D) are clearly ass clowns for letting AIG use bailout money to pay bonuses to executives.

Dodd: Administration pushed for language protecting bonuses

Dodd claims that the Obama Administration pushed him to put language into the bailout bill that protected previous promises for bonuses in fear that lawsuits would result. Dodd, suspicious of the new language, did nothing and believed it was completely harmless. Senator, you are writing laws you don't even understand. It is your primary objective to write laws. If you were suspicious of the new language, why didn't you say something. You failed, congratulations!

Co-Ass Clown of the Week goes to Representative Frank. Rep. Frank, who urged Congress and the American people to support the bailout immediately, is now saying the bailout was poorly written. In leading up to the bailout, Frank made the cable news circuit to tell us that if Congress didn't pass the bailout, the American economy would fail. Really? And now you want to backtrack and say the bailout was written wrong. That's why a lot of people complained that the bailout was never effectively debated in Congress. Way to criticize your own bill without criticizing yourself. Awesome job Barney.

A Reminder from Thomas Jefferson

In an attempt to remind us all what this country was founded on, I will occasionally posts quotes from our Founders that apply to modern America. Not everything the Founders said was right but they were way smarter than most people.

So here is a quote from Thomas Jefferson that applies to the series of disastrous bailouts that we all paid for.

"I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country."

Let's not forget that corporations have one objective in mind, which is to make money. Most will do whatever it takes to make profit, including abusing our government and people. The idea that what is good for business is good for Americans is a total lie. I think that is quite evident from what has happened in the past year. What is good for AIG, Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, and GM is not always good for you. Justice, fairness, and equality are what is good for Americans.

I've Given In

In searching for a way to get my thoughts out while being totally trendy, I figured I would start a weblog, or a blog as I believe the kids call it. Since most of my thoughts are on the absurdity of politics, I figured I would just focus on those.

Each day I watch TV or read articles about the happenings in Washington and each day I am infuriated by how much bullshit spews out of the mouths of politicians. (Ask my family, it's all I talk about.) For example, politicians who state that gay marriage or civil unions will ruin society. Or that no one knew the two years that the housing market was going to collapse. Or that legalizing marijuana will cause us all to eventually shoot heroin. I could go on but I'll save it for later blog entries. So each week I hope to share with you my thoughts on subjects like these and hopefully expose how asinine the people running this country really are.

About Me:
Since this is a political blog I feel it is necessary to clear the air on my political beliefs and affliations. I am neither a Republican nor Democrat because both are total jackasses. Rather, I am registered in Maryland as unaffiliated. Each party is full of self-righteous, ego-maniacal idiots who are more interested in preserving their party then preserving America. I refuse to be a part of such nonsense. I hope to dive into this subject matter more throughout my blog entries.

My ideas are more in line with left-libertarianism. To get an idea about what left-libertarians believe in, visit here ...

Left Libertarianism

My beliefs include.....
Giving states back more powers ensured by the Constitution
Decriminalizing things like drugs, gambling, and prostitution
Stopping foreign intervention
Focusing on national security at home without intervening abroad
Protecting natural resources
Preserving the rights given to us by our Founders

There are many more but I don't want to make this first blog any longer than is has to be. Look out for another post in the near future.