Pay Your Taxes Or Expect A Raid

Ed and Elaine Brown of New Hampshire haven't paid income taxes since 1996, despite being convicted of evading taxes. The United States has between 250,000 and 500,000 tax protesters, and not one of them has ever prevailed definitively in court. Even our tax-evading friend , Tom Cryer, should expect a nasty backhanded slap from an appellate court.

Apparently it's not enough that the taxpayers of this country support those who actually need help. Those who, through social or accidental circumstance, cannot support themselves. Now we have to support greedy pricks like these as well.

Ya know, I half expect this shit from inbred half-wits in the sparsely populated regions of... oh, I don't know, pick a state (Montana, Texas, Louisiana), but New Hampshire?

If they don't want to pay their fair share of taxes, then simply revoke their citizenship and deport them. Oh, wait... Then they might become illegal aliens. Well, we have laws for that kinda shit too.

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New Law Proposed: NY State may Ban Text Messaging While Driving

This is in reaction to horrific vehicular deaths of five teens where driver was texting while driving. Recent poll of people 18-24 years old shows 2 out of 3 admit to sending text messages while they drive.

Words escape me to descibe this type of insanity. Only someone of extreme stupidity would attempt this. Unfortunately, said idiot took some of his friends with him.

You can't legislate this type of behaviour out of existence. You might as well close your eyes, make a wish, and toss a coin into the fountain for all the good it will do. Only Darwin can rid our midst of this type of plague. Teach your children well so Chuck doesn't claim your offspring next.

Oh! I'm sorry. I forgot. This is America. We can solve all our parenting woes through legislation. Carry on...

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I've been skewered

I recently found out that I've been a victim of credit card fraud. I don't know how it happened and I don't know when it happened.

Some clever, ingenious fuckwad got enough information about one of my credit cards to be able to use it to the tune of about $1450. I don't know if the person who stole the information is the same person (or persons) who used it But, I want to find out. I. Really. Want. To. Know. Who.

Granted, it's always possible that, somehow, I'm the one responsible for the information getting out. If that's true, I'll take responsibility for being stupid. Show me where I went wrong. However, at the moment, I can't imagine how my stupidity might have caused this.

I could wait for the bank to work their magic and get all the charges reversed. After all, they have a lot more leverage than I do with the merchants who accepted the charges. Therefore, they have a lot better chance of getting their money back. It is mostly their money anyway since I'm only liable for $50 worth of those charges. What do I care?

I care. I've been contacting most of the merchants myself in an effort to find out what I can do, or find out, about what happened. I want to educate myself in what is possible in this regard. If possible, I want to find out who it was. No doubt, my bank will not tell me what their investigation turns up. They'll only tell me that, after all is said and done, I owe them $50.

Even so, I want to locate the person who has so deftly bent me at the waist and had their way with me. I want to have my turn. I realize that I had the benefit of the '$50 liability limit' vaseline. If I get a hold of them... they won't.

Just execute them...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070719/ap_on_re_us/sex_offenders_1;_ylt=AjKnPuwoqBhgXPpORdqffEIE1vAI

That's what everyone wants anyway, right? That way we can all feel SAFE!

If you can't see/feel my tongue in my cheek, waving it's little middle finger in front of your face, then FUCK YOU!

Jesus Christ! It was tragic whatever happened to 'Jessica'. I don't, in any way, mean to detract from that. I don't even know what happened to her and I can get a sense that it must have been very, very bad.

The supporters of this law tried to do a very good thing... but also, a very impossible thing. It's as simple as that.

We are a society. Society, as a whole, contains people from all walks of life. Whether you like it or not. The only way you could possibly, effectively do what this law is trying to do is... Procure a little island... like Australia... and send them all there. If I remember correctly, England tried that a few years back. Hmm... How did that work out?

As much as I'd like to have a little hideway where we could send all of societies little mistakes, it ain't gonna work. First, we have to have someone we trust to decide who to send. I don't trust myself to make that decision, much less you self-righteous pricks. We're all way too self-centered these days to make those kinds of decisions. Oh, I'm sorry, I meant to say... We're all too focused on what's best for the 'children' to make rational decisions in that regard.

We're all too busy with our own lives to make sure that we actually 'raise' our children. Pay attention to what their needs are. We must have more LAWS that absolve us from some of that responsibility. Otherwise, it's just too much. It's just better that way.

I'm having this psycho mental image flashing in my brain... right out of 'Children of the Corn'. Children are running our society by mind control. Only it's better! The children can't actually control our minds, but politicians can by simply invoking the phrase 'to protect the children'.

So, in conclusion... It's probably better for all concerned, just to execute them.

Put your hands together now... Please

Have people grown immune. Have they become so self-absorbed. So self-centered... that they can't take the time to show their appreciation for a musician playing in their midst?

I'm almost certain that, if each party present and engaged in conversation tonight were to be polled, they wouldn't classify their chatter as 'important' or 'crucial to the existance of the species' (ok, a few might claim this). Meanwhile, there was a young man playing the guitar and singing on stage. No doubt he was paid by the bar to perform. I'm glad the bar saw fit to pay him, because the patrons weren't gonna give him the time of day. Ok, he wasn't great, but he wasn't that bad. He was certainly good enough, at times, to be worth taking two fucking seconds out of your worthless fucking life to put your hands together and show a little appreciation.

Tonight at the watering hole, I moved from my usual place at the bar, over to the restaurant so I could see and listen to the guy play. I sat at a table by myself and listened to the man play and sing several songs. Some songs were familiar, others were not. After the first song, I dutifully put my hands together and gave him some applause for the pleasure he provided me in listening to him play. I was the ONLY ONE who bothered to do this. I sat and listened to the next song... applauded again... same result (I guess I'm the only one listening to the music). This went on for a few more songs and our musician never failed to thank me for my applause. The thanks was personal because, after all, I was the only one applauding. After sitting there and listening to him play a dozen or more songs, and (being the only one) applauding after each one, I went and introduced myself and apologized to him saying that I hope that I embarassed the rest of the audience more than I embarassed him. He was a very gracious entertainer. I've never been an advocate of giving something for nothing, but that works both ways. I guess it's a good thing he (hopefully) had a guaranteed paycheck.

When I was young (in early grade school, 7-8 yrs old), we used to, as a class, clap after being shown a particularly moving nature film (or any film really). Our teachers rebuked us, saying that applause is reserved only for 'live' performances, and not for 'recorded' material. I've always remembered that. That's why I clap when I encounter someone talented enough to provide that 'live' experience.

To everyone there tonight... Get over yourself and put your hands together... It only takes a moment.

April Fools!

The democrats have sniffed the waters and, by God, they smell blood! Hot on the heels of the President's report that the plan we had for the Iraqi government isn't going as expected, they have now seized control of the armed forces. Bush, obviously doesn't know what he's doing, so they're doing something about it. They've done what they do best... passed a law (or is it legislation, or a resolution, or something else, I don't know?), requiring our troops to be out of Iraq by April 1st next year. Maybe they're gonna all stand up and shout "April Fools" when it gets here. At any rate, it appears that our legislature now controls the military. Hmmm.

Never mind the Constitution, and the balance of power and such... The Legislative branch of our government can control and direct our military just as efficiently as the Executive branch. I'm sure that our founding fathers meant for everyone to share. Why don't we invite the Supreme Court in and ask them what they think as well?

I'll be the last person to say that Bush has done everything right. He (oh. so. obviously) hasn't. While I'm not gonna argue whether the war is just or not, I'll say that, if we back out now, we'll end up with another Afghanistan. Possibly even creating another Bin Laden (If we haven't already). We left Afghanistan, back then, at the mercy of the USSR. The USSR was, at the very least, an enemy we (as a general population) understood. We, for the most part, understand communism and it's pros and cons. Leaving Iraq too early will drop it squarely into the hands of Iran and/or Syria. Both Islamic states. In general, I don't think Americans understand the Islamic state as well as they do the communist state. With the communist state they picture Stalin, Lenin, and that ilk. At least they picture people, and thus, some semblance of humanity. With Islamic states all they see are suicide bombers and faceless religious figures stoking the fire.

Communism=Stalin, Lenin
Islam=Bombs, innocent dead people

I'm not saying that Stalin and Lenin didn't have blood on they're hands. They most certainly did. But, at least they had stern political control of the country they led. They were held accountable to history for what they did. The terrorists performing these acts 'claim' no country (or, at least, no country in their right mind will claim them). They claim to do it all in the name of 'Islam'. That scares more people than the bombs they carry.

Bottom line. We leave to soon and we leave Iraq to be molded for the next century or more by the Iranians and the Syrians. Neither of these countries are very friendly to the West. If we stay... who knows?

We're damned if we do... damned if we don't. If we didn't in the first place... well, that's water under the bridge.

Suck on that before you go whining.

F@$k Tank Johnson

I'm sitting here watching "The Best Damn Sports Show Period" (with the sound off, which I think is the best way) and they have a banner across the bottom that says something like "Should they give Tank another chance?"... Jesus Christ on a greased up, chocolate covered, nut infused, mint flavored stick... NO!

God in heaven, have mercy on my soul... First, we tried to get athletes to behave, back in the 80's, by telling them that they're role models (whether they like it or not) and should try to remember that the children of America look up to them. They should, for heavens sake, try to set a good example for our youth. I think this was, as far as my personal memory serves me, our first collective attempt at reigning in the Prima Dona athlete. No doubt, there were those that were like that well before (Ty Cobb, for example), but they were hailed as heros and their sins forgiven.

I think the modern day, rich, spoiled athlete was spawned (I hesitate to say, born, because some of them were surely begotten in an entirely evil manner. i.e. the spawn of Satan) in the eighties. Part of the feel good Reagan years, maybe. But, I'm sure the roots go back much further (I can't be bothered to research it though, so fuck it). Fast forward to today. (Practically) Every. Single. Professional. Athlete. Is a millionaire. That means that they have the means to do pretty much anything they want to do. They also seldom have the self-control required to keep themselves out of trouble. Society has taught them that ,because they're superstar athletes, they'll be forgiven for ANY wrong they do. They're also now very, very rich. Money will buy you a LOT of forgiveness as well (at least in the court room).

Most people with common sense say, treat the bastards like any other criminal. Put them in jail just like you would "me", if I'd done the same thing. Others, the sports 'purists', say we should judge them only on their athletic prowess. What overall good would it do for society, if this athlete, or that, had to spend time behind bars? The argument is that, certainly community service serves the greater good in these cases. Right?

As a society, we still celebrate the athlete. For the most part, that's good. We should celebrate those who've strived to become the best of the best. Most of today's athlete must have been inspired by the achievements of those that came before them. There's no way to reach that ultimate goal without passion and inspiration.

What will 'inspire' tomorrow's athlete? The desire to be the best? Or the desire, simply to be rich, and by all accounts, above the law?

God help us all, I could say this about so many other professional athletes, but his name just happened to be on TV when I started writing this... So here it is... Fuck Tank Johnson. Future athletes don't need him. Let him get a real job and fade into obscurity.

Is she really that stupid... or does she think I am?

A few nights ago, my wife and I came back to the hotel around midnight (maybe later) to find that the interior door between the lobby and the elevator was closed. A bit odd. Hmmm, I thought. What's that all about? It wasn't locked, so we forged on through the door only to be met by a pungent odor (it reeked!). My first thought was that it smelled kinda like motor oil or some other type of industrial lubricant. So, rather than blindly plunging headlong into what I thought could possibly be the result of some kind of chemical spill, I decided to backtrack and ask the lady at the front desk... "What's that smell?" Her response was ... "Well, some of our guests like to cook spicy foods". I thought that was an odd response, given what the hallway smelled like but, OK... no chemical spill, let's get on to the room then.

We take the elevator up to the 3rd floor. The door opens and the smell has gotten much stronger. Definitely not the aftermath of a killer curry or anything like that. This has the odor of stale sewage and petroleum products. We round the corner to the beginning of a long hallway (total length has got to be 100 yds or more) and notice that another interior door (halfway down the hall) is closed. I'm think... Hmmm, this is very odd. Our room is on the other side of that door. Still... It's late. Time for bed, so let's move along. About half way to the door, the carpet starts squishing. Further still, each step creates a little splash. The floor is soaked! My first thought was that there's been a fire... but... wouldn't there still be firemen about? Surely, with this much water, it would've had to be a pretty good one? But no, it smells, but not like a burnt smell or anything like that. We don't see any charred walls or anything.

Anyway, we wade through the mess, past the closed door and on to our room. We try our keys and find that they've somehow been de-magnetized (more on this later). That means we have to trudge back through the flooded hallway and back to the elevator to the lobby. When we get there, we find our heroine obviously trying to find rooms for some displaced guests. Whether they were newly arrived guests for which they no longer have rooms, or guests who were in the rooms (now ruined) prior to whatever happened, I don't know. What I do know is this... her earlier explanation for the smell was complete and utter bullshit. This brings me to the realization that, either she's a complete idiot, or she thinks I am (OK, sometimes I am, but not on this occasion).

In a display of uncharacteristic diplomacy, rather than call this woman on the obvious lie she told, I decide to simply ask for our cards to be re-coded. After all, unlike the poor folks she's waiting on, we still have a habitable room. I figure we should get out of the way as quickly and as quietly as possible.

We find out later (assuming that this story is true), that someone set off a sprinkler head by hanging some clothes on it (or something like that). I guess the deluge of water re-hydrated years of freeze dried cleaning products, hair spray, coffee, tea, sweat, urine, and other bodily fluids that had collected in the carpet over the years. That reminds me... I think I need new shoes after wading through that crap.

Will hanging clothes on a sprinkler head cause it to start spewing? I don't know, but I'm not going to experiment with the one's in my room.