Blog Comment Of The Decade

I'm sick and tired of messing with bureacracies. 

I'm tired of the "city" of Richland Hills.  I'm tired of their code enforcement Nazis, and their chief, a little guy who is surfing the First Baptist Church Of Euless website every time I've walked past his office. 

I'm tired of the Department Of Transportation making up arbitrary rules about how far my guys can travel, how long they have to rest, what kind of paperwork they have to have on board, and blah, blah, blah.  Look up CSA 2010 when time permits. 
I'm tired of getting emails from online Sherpas who promise to help me navigate all the CSA 2010 bullshit. 

The government digs a ditch, and then those who dug the ditch go into the private sector and set up shops to help you navigate the ditch. 

I'm tired of The Federal Reserve printing money so George Bush, Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and John Boehner can pay their bills without passing legislation or tax increases.  I'm disgusted by the (recent) revelation that The Fed has an entire "education" wing that goes out to propagandize school kids, but can't debate or even discuss their policies with a political party. 

I'm sick of Barack Cokehead Obama carrying out raids on medical marijuana dispensaries. 

I'm p.o.'d about all the highway patrolmen suddenly pulling over people around Loop 820, a stretch of interstate where I've seen very few accidents.  This has nothing to do with safety, and everything to do with revenue.  Between my workplace on the northside and my meeting area on the west side, I typically see 4 revenue generators with radar guns.  It's nuts, nuts, nuts. 

Glenn Reynolds recently linked to a Reason magazine blog comment that I think is freakin' brilliant.  Here goes: 

It's not a coincidence. Politicians, pundits, and professional, revolving-door bureacrats are 100% revenge of the f***ing nerds. Every loser in high school or college that just knew he was smarter and better than everyone else is in DC pacticing politics, writing about politics, and arbitrarily f***ing up the lives of everyone else with regulations just because they can.


Yep.  And we're going to keep putting up with it for how much longer? 

The picture of bureaucratic hell came from here. 

In defense of Trolls

From Gizmodo:

Trolling could get you 25 years in jail in Arizona

One of the Internet's basic tenets—the right to be as much of a myopic, infantile asshat as humanly possible—is currently under attack in Arizona. A sweeping update to the state's telecommunications harrasment bill could make naughty, angry words a Class 1 misdemeanor. Or worse.

They just don't get it, do they?  Can you imagine how many lawyers, judges, counselors, central planners, nanny state gremlins, and other parasites it would take to enforce this?  Never mind.  Maybe they do get it.  That's probably the point.  Jobs, jobs, jobs. 

It's a dangerous precedent, yet another bill written and supported by legislators who fundamentally don't understand the nature of the internet. And I'm not just being a, well, you know.
Arizona House Bill 2549 passed both legislative houses last Thursday and is now awaiting approval from Arizona's governor Brewer. The statute states that:

"It is unlawful for any person, with intent to terrify, intimidate, threaten, harass, annoy or offend, to use a ANY ELECTRONIC OR DIGITAL DEVICE and use any obscene, lewd or profane language or suggest any lewd or lascivious act, or threaten to inflict physical harm to the person or property of any person."

Emphasis added. If the electronic devices and means are employed to stalk a victim, the penalty bumps up to a Class 3 felony.

You do not have a right to be free from annoyances.  And just because you're offended doesn't mean you are right.  Hell, in the Starbucks where I'm sitting right now, I'm annoyed by the music, and I'm offended by the ear disc-thingys that the barista is using to deform his lobes.  Yeah, I'm equivocating between different meanings of those words, but plaintiffs and their lawyers will do the exact same thing.  Get ready for it if this thing passes. 

For those not intimately familiar with Arizona penal law, a Class 1 misdemeanor is punishable by a $2,500 fine and up to six months in jail (it's the most aggressive misdemeanor charge the state can bring). A Class 3 felony, meanwhile, carries a minimum sentence of 2.5 years for non-dangerous offenders with no prior record. And a max of 25 years in jail.

Opponents of the bill argue that the wording is overly broad and could easily be interpreted to include not just one-on-one communications but public forums like 4Chan, Reddit, and anywhere else that allows commenting. You thought the banhammer was bad? Try handcuffs.

Anyone who doesn't want to encounter Annoying Offensiveness in all its forms can stay off of Facebook, websites, Reddit, and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram's comment fields.  The only other options are 1) go along with the Central Planners, or 2) prepare to be annoyed and offended, or in the case of proprietary sites 3) turn off your comment option.  Who knows best how to handle this?  Each site owner, or the Central Planners of The Peoples' Republic of Arizona?   
I think the best option is this...."My site, my rules." 

It could also have a chilling effect on free speech by prohibiting shocking or "profane" language online. And since the bill stipulates that the offense only has to occur on Arizona soil (since a Facebook comment is definitely a geographic place, right?) that basically puts the entire Internet on notice.

Yep. 

The bill's supporters argue that the steps are necessary to prevent online bullying. Despite the public outcry, the bill has seen very little resistance from elected officials. However, given how well Arizona's other recent, short-lived, and generally draconian propositions—-including its racial profiling, anti-gay adoption, and anti-immigration bills—-have fared, House Bill 2549 might not be a law for long, assuming Governor Brewer even signs it.

This is nothing but grandstanding for the voters who don't consider unintended consequences.  Nobody likes being annoyed or offended.  Most people know that there's nothing that the Arizona legislature can do about it. 

In the mean time, feel free to leave your thoughts on the matter on Brewer's Facebook page. You know, while it's still legal. 

The internet can be a wide-open, freewheeling place.  Or the Central Planners can inflict their vision on it.  Pick a side. 

From a northern neighbor

I found this comment under a brilliant Fisking of a New York Times non-story about government giveaways:

Most Americans don't see where this is going. Here in Canada we have universal health care, which is just another way of saying that you're forbidden to use a private doctor.

After a decade or two, society loses all memory of private care and starts to see the govt as the only source of comfort. The choices in elections come down between more spending on govt health care and a lot more.

Usually it's a lot more because Canadians are waiting several months to see specialists, wait over a year for surgeries and are sometimes lucky to have a GP.

But we don't remember what private health care can do, and besides, the care is free at point of use, so most Canadians think it's just free, even as health care costs are rising just as fast as in the US and health spending now eats up half of our provincial budgets. (Ontario, our biggest province btw, has a per capita deficit and debt larger than California's).

So big govt is now like cancer of the brain stem. It's attached at the cellular level can cannot be removed. It can only grow and that unrestrained growth will eventually kill us. But that's okay, because there are no other choices.

The chart of Canadian Waiting Room Times came from here.  (I love this guy, BTW.  The tagline to his blog is "Think Globally, Act Locally, Demand Handouts.")  Here's the video that always comes to mind when the issue of total dependency arises. 

Fester's Den

Uncle Fester, Colorado Libertarian and long-time commenter on these pages, now has his own blog.

Go here. Bookmark it for future edification.

And now, compliments of Uncle Fester, here's something completely different.....




Its gettin thicker than dreadlocks
they treat us like we're dread scot
don't wanna see the feds pop
or be the one that they'd stopped
or get in trouble cause I talked shit to their mascot
frickin' busybodies need to go and buy an ascot
tellin' me you own me then makin sho' i'm taxed out
maxed out, deep in-debted from the easy credit
that the fed imbedded then they betted it all be copacetic
if they were the medic but forget it
the people are gettin' pissed
blowin up like some unleaded
they want control unfettered
but ya'll know that smells fetid
like the craphole that we're headed
to if they don't let me do me
and you do you
and all the guns in the gunverment
won't amount to a twenty-two
if they keep on stompin' on amendment number two
and we don't even need you
take your welfare and your brainwashing free-school
and ya'll are so see through; easy to see you is evil

chorus:
Nobody owns me
ya'll haters don't
I own me
so back the f*** off
(x 2)
I make my own rules
take my own tools
you ain't in my shoes
no you ain't get to choose
I ain't pay you dues.
I pay 'em for my self
don't expect shit from me
and I ain't need your help

and in case you didn't know
this song is for the parasites
the feeders that bleed us and treat us
like they're the hand and we're the dice
no utopian paradise to be had from any plan
the world's too complex for any man to comprehend
all the supply and again all the demand
when the few control the view
their mistakes are multiplied
the decisions should be ours
like our bodies. Let's take back our lives
Only a slave if you submit
and ya'll know I got some fight!
and this ain't racist
its for blacks, whites and asians
middle eastern people, latinos
and everyone who wants to be free, so
we'll even let it slide if you're emo
I never signed no social contract
I'm about to have to repo
myself, for my health
and my wealth
put your bills back on the shelf
capitol hill can go to hell
we should put them punks in jail
we could live our lives ourselves....

chorus

So who's to say Barack Hussein
knows what's best for me?
I knock the man and not the name
cause in my family tree
could be husseins so I take aim
at tyranny times three
branches that act just
like geriatric babysitters
poonannies.
but really you'll get beat-up
if you don't follow their edicts
there's a law against living
year its worse than shariah.
but where can I go if this
whole world is socialist
though we know that it failed for the soviets.
Its 1984 people please notice this.
F*** a tax feeder time to overthrow them tics
its in the declaration Jefferson wrote the shit
So choose to be a free man
governments we're over it
governments we're over it!

Dallas Cowboys Stadium, Arlington Texas, George Strait Concert, June 6, 2009

George Strait, Reba McIntyre, Blake Shelton (The Aggie's fave), and LeeAnn Womack opened up the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington last night.

I've written a lot of posts about the thefts required to build the new stadium. A few months ago, this comment appeared beneath one of them:

Hi Allen,

I'm not angry or offended, just curious :)
I came across your page while Googling images of the new stadium.
I'm curious as to why you seem so angry about the stadium.
I know people had to move from their homes, but this new stadium is for a lot more than just football.
We will have concerts there which will bring in money for the city and the stadium has created a TON of new jobs.
I also noticed your profile states you live in Ft. Worth, and not 5 miles away from it like I do. So the traffic probably won't even effect you.
I look at the stadium as an investment in Arlington's future, a way to keep our city "alive".Email me back ok?

amy@removed to protect her privacy.com

Sincerely,
Amy

Here's one of the more popular images in question that Amy found on her Googling expedition. It won't hurt my feelings at all if you right-click on it and email it to everyone you know.

My friend Dr. Ralph, who sees attacking my worldview as his job, came to my defense:

Amy Anonymous - that's not anger, that's righteous anger.

The Whited Sepulchre takes great pride in his righteous anger and never misses a chance to spew a little.

Trust me -- he's much nicer in person, and thankfully not near so righteous.

So.... in honor of the 1.15 billion dollar stadium that you've all paid for, here is my response to Amy's comment and email. Perhaps slightly edited for clarity, and with the beer goggles removed.

1) "I'm curious as to why you seem so angry about the stadium."

I don't just seem angry over the new stadium, I am angry.

2) "I know people had to move from their homes...."

Yes, and think of the outrage that would've gone down had the city taken the homes to put up a Wal-Mart, a business that would return far more tax dollars per theft dollar to Arlington.

One of the things that has made America great, and a safe investment for people all over the world, is a concept known as property rights. If you own something here, the government can't take it away from you except in truly extraordinary circumstances. Unfortunately for us, Big Business has ridden roughshod over property rights for the last 20 years, and our reputation is declining.

3) "....but this new stadium is for a lot more than just football. We will have concerts there which will bring in money for the city...."

I heard Van Halen and Tom Petty at Reunion Arena. I heard The Dixie Chicks at American Airlines Center. The Beach Boys at the old Arlington Stadium. Now, close your eyes and think of all the economic development that sprang up around those venues after they were built. Having difficulty? It's because the development hasn't happened. The Ballpark in Arlington had the most development, but even those retail strips have struggled (I used to manage retail there. Look at the vacancies at Lincoln Square, I-30 and Collins.)

5) "....and the stadium has created a TON of new jobs...."

To use an analogy that is about to become tiresome on these pages, if someone breaks a window in your house, it creates a two hour job for somebody. If someone breaks all the windows, it creates a couple of jobs for an entire day. If someone breaks every window in the City of Arlington, it creates a TON of jobs. That doesn't mean that the jobs are worth more than the activity they are replacing.

Money has been moved, thanks to the vandal, from your wallet to the repair man's wallet.

In the stadium example, assets have simply been moved from the Taxpayers' wallet to the City's wallet to then be given to contractors and Jerry Jones.

5) .... "I also noticed your profile states you live in Ft. Worth, and not 5 miles away from it like I do. So the traffic probably won't even effect you...."

I'm not concerned about the traffic. But if you get a chance, check out David Cay Johnston's book "Free Lunch", which covers this topic at great length. The Chapter titled "Pride and Profits" explains why most sports stadiums are surrounded by economic dead zones. Ask a restaurant owner around the new stadium if the traffic around their business hurt or helped on Saturday night. Regular traffic = good. Erratic killer traffic 30 times a year = bad.

6) ...."I look at the stadium as an investment in Arlington's future, a way to keep our city alive."

Lemmee tell you a story, Amy. Waaaay back when George W. Bush was just a pup, he was the front man for a group that bought The Texas Rangers baseball team. Bush brought a 2% share of the team using borrowed money. ($600,000.00) They wanted a new ballpark. Bush's buddies could've built a new ballpark themselves, but why should they? You were there for them. Bush threatened to move the Rangers out of Arlington. His cartel spent about $125,000.00 campaigning for a 1/2% increase in the Arlington sales tax. The voters approved it. Bush and Company then trampled property rights, seizing land via Eminent Domain.

All in all, the Bush gang profited from a total subsidy of $205 million dollars. (Did he send you a thank-you note? Me neither.) They had paid $86 million for the Rangers. They sold The Rangers nine years later for $250 million. The team still stunk. So what was different? Why the added value? It was all in the stadium that YOU bought for them. The $164 million dollar profit was $38 million dollars less than the money that we put into the team ! ! !

Your fellow commenter Dr. Ralph likes to refer to the Iraq war as one of history's worst "bait-and-switch" deals.

Well, the following is also from Johnston's "Free Lunch", pg 79: "What followed (after the Rangers purchase) was an early indicator of Bush's extraordinary success at marketing. Bush is arguably the greatest salesman of our time, having sold not just friends but political opponents on a war costing more than a trillion dollars and thousands of lives with the kind of pay-no-attention-to-that-pool-oil-under-the-engine polish that used car salesmen only dream about."

Guess which city should have, and could have sounded some warnings ahead of time about Bush and his buddies, but didn't?

Arlington, Texas.

Why didn't they? Embarrasment? Shame? Didn't feel truly humble enough? Not enough righteous anger? We'll never know.

But that's why I get angry over the City of Arlington taking away peoples' homes and giving the land to Jerry Jones.

Verbosity - An Example, and A Test

Sometimes I get long-winded.
This is because I truly believe that if you disagree with me, it's because you're not aware of all of the facts.

But I'm an amateur.

Click HERE to see the longest comment in the history of the internet. I gotta admit, I'm proud to host it. I can't even walk onto the same verbosity playing field with this guy.

I Googled some of the phrases used, and found that he (why do I just know that it's a He?) has copied the same comment onto more than 900 websites and blogs. You have to admire that kind of commitment and stamina.

While looking for a picture to illustrate this post, I discovered somthing called the Blog Verbosity Test, which should probably be taken with not a mere grain, but an extremely large shaker of salt.
They claim that my average post is 67 words in length. That's 87% fewer words than other bloggers who took the test.



So take that, YOU and YOU.

I've been out of town

I was unexpectedly sent out of town on Monday; hence the lack of posts.

Fortunately, the general "tone" of this site was elevated in my absence. On the previous post, NickM and Dr. Ralph and Tarrant Liberty Guy engaged in a spirited (yet polite and scholarly) debate on the merits of government-funded artwork. (Dr. Liz and the Lazy Slacker chimed in on other issues.)



In appreciation to everyone who read the whole thing, I'd like to offer up this desecration of a Thomas Kinkade painting. Compliments of Democratic Underground. For more of the same, click here. (If you're a Kinkade anti-fan, it's worth it !)

A moment of silence, please....

Please take a break from your normal activities to mourn the absence of The Dreaded Fembuttx from our lives.
She has been an unrestrained Serial Commenter on these pages from the beginning. For examples of her handiwork, check out my two previous posts. Banish small children from the room.
She is the only Caption Contest competitor to ever be banished to the next league.
She is leaving my employer to work in the Customer Service department of another company, one that manufactures Ventilation Hoods for kitchens.

Considering her skills at Blowing Smoke, she should do well there.