War Is Over! Just Kidding

At 5pm today, the combat mission in Iraq was officially declared over. This is great news, right? Actually, not really. We'll still have 50,000 American troops staying in the country until the end of 2011, or at least that's the current plan, so it's not really over.

To me, this is nothing but a sick PR stunt to make the Democrats look good for elections. As long as we got guys over in Iraq, the Iraq War is not over and combat sure as hell ain't over. We might have less troops in Iraq than when Bush was president, but just saying they are no longer combat troops doesn't change the fact that the remaining troops there aren't in harms way, or won't be used for combat. You can call an apple and orange, but it's still an apple. I would be somewhat happy if a lot did get to come home and stayed out of harms way, but I bet most will probably be used to fight in Afghanistan. Which in case you missed it, more U.S. soldiers have now died in the War in Afghanistan under Obama so far than during all of Bush's presidency.

The Democrats said they were all for ending the war when George Bush was in office (despite many of them actually voting for it) and they conned people into thinking they were the anti-war party. However, I knew that once they got into power, they wouldn't really end the wars in Iraq, or Afghanistan. I wish now I had bet all the Democrats I knew that by the end of Obama's second year, we'd still have troops in Iraq. It would have been a sick thing to bet on, but I really could have made a fortune off of all the gullible people who voted for him thinking he was going to end the wars. We'll probably have guys there for the rest of the century, just like we got in Germany, Japan, and Korea. Do they still look like the anti-war party? I guess the fact that you never see any huge anti-war rallies anymore since Obama become president says it all.

The Democrats were out marching on the streets, yelling all the time how we needed to bring the troops home and how Bush was a war criminal, but now that they got their guys in there, they're silent. They aren't telling Obama to bring all the troops home. They aren't calling Obama a war criminal. Are the Democrats all pro war now? I don't think so. I think the real problem with them is that they know it's wrong, but they stay silent about it. They think if they speak up against their own side, it'll make their side look weak and they're willing to sacrifice soldiers if they think it'll help them stay in power. Republicans are just as much to blame for these wars, but they aren't in power anymore. It's the Democrats turn and they have nobody to blame, but themselves at this point.

The main reason you have more and more people like me who are becoming either libertarians, independents, siding with some other third party, or don't even bother voting is because the two main parties in this country are neck deep in hypocrisy. There's no principle behind either one besides lie as much as you can to get more power. They'll whisper sweet things in your ear around election time, but when they get into power they'll do the exact opposite of what they promised. That's the only thing you can really trust them on.

More Arkansas Liquor Laws...Really?

City politicians in Little Rock, AR are currently contemplating putting more limits on what size liquor can be sold and what hours liquor stores can be open. You can read more about it here. Unfortunately, this is another case of the politicians wanting to look like they're doing some good, but actually doing more harm.

I don't want people getting on the road drunk, but if people want to buy alcohol and enjoy it at home, they should be able to buy it anywhere that wants to sell it, any time of the week. I live in Yell County, which is a dry county. For those lucky souls who don't know what a dry county is, it's a county where it's illegal to sell liquor (you can still drink it here though). However, it doesn't stop people in this county from getting liquor. They just burn a bunch of gas and take their money to other counties, or out of the state, where it is legal to buy it. Liquor stores in the state are also now allowed to sell alcohol on Sundays. These religious blue laws, first off, shouldn't be allowed since they're RELIGIOUS LAWS! Besides that, they aren't really stopping people from getting drunk on Sundays. None of these laws are going to make people who drink stop drinking, or drinking and driving.

Not only do these laws not prevent drinking and drunk driving, but they can actually make it worse. Dry counties make drunk drivers drive further to get more liquor, increasing the risk of an accident. I'm not defending people who drink and drive and there's no safe distance to drive while drunk. However, some people are going to be stupid enough to do it and the longer they are at the wheel, the higher the odds get that they're gonna get in an accident. While the stores in LR might close down, stores outside the city will still be open, making people drive further to get their liquor. Instead of staggering down the sidewalk to the store, they'll get in a car, drunk, and try to drive to another county.

It's time Arkansas wakes up to reality and start saving some lives instead of living in a fantasy world. If you're an Arkie like me, ask yourself the following questions. How many of our friends and neighbors have been killed because some drunk guy had to drive 30 miles to get more liquor when he could have just walked to the store to get it, if it were legal to buy it there at that time? Are the current laws really stopping people who want to drink, or get drunk?

And with that, I give you one of the greatest songs ever wrote...

The Place where RFK And Public Education Died

Los Angeles has just spent $578 million on the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools, which is really just one big honkin' public school. It's the most expensive public school in the nation. This isn't a school for 50,000 students. Oh no, only about 4,200 students will be able to go there, which means it will cost about $135,000 per student for the first year alone. At that rate, they could have provided a regular education to these kids, paid for their college, and probably got them a down payment on a house. The voters voted on it before the economic collapse, but even in regular times, this was an insane waste of money. The money isn't going to get better teachers, or books. No, the main cost is on architectural features. As you can see in the video on this page (sorry, I tried to find a YouTube video), the inside is pretty damn snazzy.

This was once the location of the The Ambassador Hotel, the hostel where Robert F. Kennedy was shot in (hence the name). They designed it based on the old hotel, but does the environment really matter for teaching kids? Will this school produce doctors and scientists that will cure cancer and other diseases? It damn well better! Of course anyone with half a brain can see that's not going to be the case. If you stick a kid in a barn with a good teacher and access to good books and the internet, you're going to end up with a better educated kid than one who goes to a school with magnificent architectural details and swimming pools and lacks good teachers. When you have dropout rates like this, it's hard to imagine the thinking behind funding such a building.

This isn't just a one time thing either. There are many schools around the country that are costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars to build. This video from CATO explains how school districts are hiding a lot of the costs of educating our kids. Even without these added expenses, they seem like a waste of money. More people need to wake up and realize that more money and fancier classrooms do not always equal better educated students.



It's time that money stops going to buildings and finally starts going to the students. If we are going to be publicly funding education, we must have school choice for students and parents and get rid of this bloated public educational system as it currently is. If we don't, there will be a country with nobody smart enough to run it. This doesn't mean we have to abandon the old schools and fire all the teachers. All we need to do is go to a voucher system where the students get the money and spend it on the best school for them. The schools are then required to operate like a private business and use the money they get from students to run it, and expand it in a way that makes sense, instead of a way that exploits the taxpayers and does nothing to help the students learn.

Lots of parents already support this, but a lot of teachers and their unions don't. However, building this school should be a wake-up call to teachers. Building these new schools will only put your jobs in danger. California and all of these other states are cutting back on education spending. They aren't going to sell their buildings they spent millions to build, they'll just get rid of teachers and staff. If you're a teacher, would you rather work in a regular building and have job security, or an expensive, new building to work in that will probably cost you your job? If parents had the choice, most wouldn't give a damn about the building, but what kind of education their kids get. That comes down to how well the teachers actually teach their kids. If you truly are a good teacher, then you'll not only have job security, but you'll probably get paid more for doing a good job instead of having that money spent on a school swimming pool, or Tiki themed auditorium. If you're just in it for the government benefits, then how long do you think the taxpayers are going to bend to your demand?

If we can't get teachers to agree, then another option that we really should look into is online learning. One of my favorite sites is The Khan Academy, which is a totally free, and probably better, way of learning the same stuff we pay tens of thousands of dollars for each year. Whatever choice we make for the future education of this country, we have to make some kind of choice now, because the status quo is not working and we can't afford to put this off any longer.

FM Radio On Cell Phones By Law

I came across this article the other day. Basically, the music industry is in a dispute for more money from radio stations. To counter this, radio broadcasters are willing to agree if they get help to pressure the government to force cell phones makers to build FM receivers into their phones.

This is a clear example of how regulation really works. Regulation isn't about protecting the consumer, but rather, making money for businesses. FM radio and the music industry in general have been on the decline since the internet and cell phones became popular. They see cell phones as competition for business, so they naturally want to take control over cell phones and force their product on it. They can't do this using free market principals (since they suck and fewer people really want them hanging around), so they want to use the government to force it on them with laws. Using the force of government is the only way they can keep making money. I wonder if telegraph operators were this annoying back in the day when telephones came around to drive them into extinction.

If people actually wanted this in all of their phones, it would already be in place. There is no need to require this to be on all phones. It's not like millions of people are dying because their cell phones don't get FM radio. Most people's phones can play MP3s, Pandora, and access to the internet. Any information, or music they want, or need is already there. I don't know about you, but it's been years since I've tuned in to a local radio station. With all of this new stuff around us, who needs to? I'm not saying do away with FM radio, since there's some people that can only afford, or know how to use a radio, but if you're able to buy a cell phone, you really don't need an FM radio in it. It's like forcing you to buy a horse just because you own a car.

It's just a tiny radio receiver, so what's the big problem? Well, first off it's not right when people who aren't harming anyone are forced to by the government to do something, especially just so someone (the music industry and radio stations) who refuse to adapt to new technologies can be kept on life support, or just get more money than they're already getting. One regulation doesn't kill an inustry and free market, but where there is one regulation, there will be more...LOTS MORE. All those regulations can kill companies, prevent newer companies from starting up. Worst of all, they will create huge corporate monopolies that thrive in an ocean of regulation by drowning other companies in those same regulations. While I doubt requiring FM radios would actually make a cell phone company go under, it does put them under more pressure to have to comply with regulations.

Most people don't care that much about companies surviving(even though they should), but their main concern is how can it hurt them the consumer. Well, if it's mandated they have to put FM radios in their phones, then that will either add to the cost of the phone. It could make them design a phone with less features to fit an FM radio into it physically and economically. Adding an FM radio feature might drain your battery life faster. Besides, there are already phones out there with FM radio features if you want one. It's not like FM radio is some precious resource that cell phone companies are keeping you from enjoying. FM radio is like a dinosaur and should just go extinct already. Actually, now that I think about it, they aren't, since dinosaurs are still cool and popular. FM radio is like a dodo bird...

Outrage At Ground Zero

As most of you are probably aware, there are plans to build a mosque near Ground Zero. This has sparked outrage throughout the country among some people who think that it's offensive and some people even think they shouldn't be allowed to build there. A lot of people might be asking themselves if we have a Muslim problem in America. To that, I would say no.

However, it is far too clear that America has a hate problem and an ignoring real issues for ones that don't really matter problem. I find it outrageous that it's been 9 years since 9-11 and billions of dollars spent there and nothing has been built at Ground Zero! That's the story that should be making people angry. Oh, and while this story is the major headline, a Florida church is planning on burning Korans on 9-11. How about stop worrying about Muslims for a second and start worrying about this country making Hitler's Thousand Year Reich a reality. I'm not saying they don't have a right to burn Korans, but if you're going to be protesting people for doing something, this seems like something more important than building a mosque. If anybody is going to help terrorists recruit others, don't you think these book burners would be doing so? Terrorists are going to look at these stories and say to new recruits, "They burned your Koran and took away the freedoms of your fellow Muslims in New York. They hate your people and your Mosques. Here's your proof that America is evil and hates you. Now go kill them!"

I think a lot of the individuals who are opposed to this Mosque are so swept up in their own anger that they are too blind to see themselves for what they are. It doesn't matter if it's gays, Muslims, illegal immigrants, or whatever, as long as you aren't similar to them, they automatically hate you. There are Americans out there that don't judge people as individuals, but as a group. They will group together people based on the negative actions of a few individuals, or more often, what they think those people are like without really meeting with them. Human beings who aren't like they are will always be seen as nothing more than cattle that need to be rounded up and sent to the slaughter house. A lot probably wouldn't be willing to go that far, but if it did happen, they wouldn't feel any remorse about it. These individuals ignore, or are just ignorant to, the fact that innocent American Muslims died on 9-11; some even trying to rescue people.

With these haters, there is no "turn the other cheek". There is no, "Americans embrace freedom". Yes, we should speak out against radical Muslims that kill people and use their governments to oppress people, but these are those Muslims. If we don't change our ways and speak out against our people who want to do the same things the radical Muslims are doing, their hatred is going to spread and the only thing left in America anymore will be a bunch of crybabies that get offended over the littlest thing, or worse. I've studied history enough to know that America is looking a lot like pre-Nazi Germany right now. The economic crash and all of this anger and blame placed on minority groups for "causing our problems" is just like it. If we don't change, we will no longer deserve this Republic. We will no longer be the land of the free, or the home of the brave. We will have become cowards, scared of a few people wanting to build a mosque, or like Germany did, we'll become something much more horrible than just cowards.