I’m testing out a feature for a new website…

First, an excellent statement by Ron Paul in regards to the governments responsibility to not regulate moral behavior.

A core principle of the Libertarian party is the limiting the role of government in individual lives and keeping as much law-making and governance functions at the state level as is permissible. Any “good libertarian” will hold true to these core beliefs regardless of their personal issues on the matter at hand.

Case in point: I don’t believe in abortion unless it is a life threatening or rape/incest scenario. That being said, I don’t think the federal government has the right to tell you that you can’t have an abortion.

In the video above, Congressman Ron Paul says that there are many dangers associated with gambling in general and online gambling in particular, however the government has no right to regulate the moral behavior of its citizenry.

Why is it hard for rank-and-file Republicans and Democrats to understand that a Libertarian’s personal views do not trump their commitment to limiting the power of government? Simple - it’s because the media has turned the electoral process into one of “personal values”. What does the candidate stand on issue X,Y, and Z - completely ignoring the question that perhaps the government should have no role in issue X,Y, and Z. Unfortunately the argument for a smaller and more hands-off federal government has all but dissipated from our national dialog.

I fear in the years to come we have nothing to look forward to but a government that continues to assimilate individual states rights into the umbrella of “Nationalism”. Hopefully groups like the Campaign for Liberty will bring the fight for states rights back to the discussion and get our voting citizenry aware of what is going on.

Head on over to YTMND for this epic picture.

Current Mood: Angry

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080625/D91H2TT80.html

It looks like the Parliament of Whores (Congress) is about to spend $300 billion to boost up its approval rating in a lame attempt to “rescue distressed borrowers” who can’t afford the homes they bought. Sure, that sounds like a noble cause…if you’re a Marxist. Read the fine print and you’ll find the staggering fact that the bill will apply to mortgages up to anywhere from $625,000 - $730,000. Yeah, you read that right. People who bought homes worth three quarters of a million dollars will be getting bailed out from YOUR TAX DOLLARS.

Once again the US government shows us, by example, that taking money from one class and giving it to another is the best way to spend its time. You know, there is a term for that type of government. It’s called communism.

…and to those of you who bought “too much home” and can’t afford it anymore. I’m sorry but I don’t feel much sympathy for you. The rest of us bought homes (I bought mine shortly before the bubble-burst) that we could afford for 30 years rather than for the first 5 before the interest-only portion expired. You’ll excuse us if we don’t think it’s a good idea that we essentially hand over money to you so you can live in more lavish homes than the more modest ones we frugally sought out.

And for those who argue that this is in our best interest to help stabalize the home market. Sorry, but the damage is already done. Those of us who can afford our mortgage already have homes that are backwards on the home-to-loan value. So saying that handing over our tax dollars will help “ease the pain” is a like spraying perfume on a pile of crap.

This past weekend I snuck out for an early (i.e. 6 am) round of golf. My only “goal” was to be mindful of my thoughts the entire round and basically just to concentrate. Never step up and “just hit the ball”. For the first 9 holes I executed on my goal flawlessly…until the last putt on the 9th. I hurridly went to “tap in” a 6″ putt and missed. D’oh. I finished that side at +1.

Then all hell broke loose. Being an early round, I didn’t have my usual morning coffee and it was coming up on 8:30 when we made the turn. My head was starting to thump a little bit and I just couldn’t shake it. From that point on it was mistake after mistake. I couldn’t get out of the fog and as a result I ended up shooting +6 for the back 9.

What did I take away from the experience? I am *very* capable of shooting low rounds but I need to be able to “stay in the moment” and play every shot for what it is. If I’m going to get my handicap below 4 I’m going to need the ability to stay focused for all 76 shots over 5 hours.

No More Kings is a great band. A buddy of mine just told me about them yesterday. This video is 100% awesome.

Let me pre-qualify this post by starting with: As a golfer I think I have the most supportive wife on the planet. I don’t think many wives would let their husbands take a week off of work to play golf. We spent one night in the town where we went to college where my first tournament was. We got to eat at one of our favorite restaurants which was a great way to take the edge off the night before the tournament.

I shot an 80 for a net 73. I wasn’t terribly happy with the round as I made a bunch of avoidable mistakes. A win is a win though! It was awesome to have my family there when I was announced as the winner. I won $200 in pro shop credits and bough enough gear to last me the rest of the season.

The second tournament went awesome. I shot a 72 for a net 66. There were rumblings of “sandbagging” in the clubhouse but those complainers can go suck an egg: I just shot my lowest round ever! The second course was only 10 minuets from our house so my wife and son got to help me pick out some clothes from my $215 in winnings

So, with two tournaments and two wins I’m feeling pretty good about my game right now! There is still plenty of room for improvement but I’m going to take a few days off before hitting the range in preparation for my next venue this coming Saturday.

My wife and I attended an orientation, of sorts, at the school our son will be attending for kindergarten this fall. Going into the orientation I already had my preconceived notions that our countries educational system is sliding down the garbage chute because of relaxed standards.

The teachers, guidance counselor and head of the PTO all took turns speaking to us about various topics ranging from curriculum to the schools underlying philosophy. What struck me, like a bucket of cold water in the shower, was how much they emphasized “it’s ok if you kids don’t have any reading or writing skills at all coming into the program”.

If your child is 5 years old and can’t recognize some letters of the alphabet what the hell have you been teaching them for the last 2+ years?!?!?!? Furthermore, because some child has been neglected by their parents means that my son gets to “re-learn” how to count to 10 and sing the alphabet song. Great. That’s a year of so-called ‘learning’ down the drain.

Why do we need to pull our educational system down to the lowest common denominator? Wouldn’t it be great to have a primary school program that had advanced placement like most high-schools do? Let’s get our kids prepared to excel right from the start.

One of the teachers actually instructed us not to use worksheets with our kids and instead just to read to them and ask them questions like:

• What do you think the character is feeling?
• Why do you think the character acted the way they did?
• What lessons can you take away from the story?

WHAT?!?!?!? How on earth is that going to help my son learn how read and write? Sure, learning life lessons is important but that’s something that my wife and I will be teaching our child and I do not expect the school system to be doing that for me.

The school system isn’t responsible for loving our son. That’s our job. Please just teach him consonants, vowels and how to add two numbers together. We’ll handle everything else.

Well, I didn’t get a T-3 finish at my first Golf Channel Amateur tour event but at least I was only 3 shots off the lead.

My Results

Newport National was probably one of the most difficult courses I have played and if I get the chance to play it again, I’m sure I’ll do much better next time around. I was pretty damn nervous for the first 6 holes but I managed to finally calmed down for the last 12.

What I took away from the experience was that I need to work more on my pre-shot routine. Even in high-pressure (and fast-paced) situations I need to be able to go through my routine successfully. I can affirmatively say that after every bad shot I missed a part of my pre-shot routine.

The tournament directors, players, and course staff were excellent and put on a great experience for us. My next Golf Channel event is at the end of May at an equally difficult course. Before that, however, I have two state events that I’m signed up for. They’re both stroke play events that take into account your handicap. Both events will be playing from the middle tees so distance won’t really be a factor.

Now if the weather would just cooperate so I can get some range sessions in! Damn you spring!

(have your sound on for the full epic experience)

Hillary says no

The Empire says yes