THE REVOLUTION a manifesto by Ron Paul

I'm currently reading 'The Revolution' by Libertarian Ron Paul. I am still learning about the Libertarian platform, but I believe I may have found my political home. Ron Pauls book is incredible!! So far he's spot on with his estimations and ideas. It is so relieving to find that there are alot of people out there that feel the same way I do - we don't fit in either major political party. No matter what your political inclination, this book is extremely insightful, informative and educational.
I've read a good portion of Noam Chomsky's work and there's no doubt he's quite a brain, but my contention is that in order to educate and inspire change you must speak a language that people can understand. I find that I often have to re-read lines of Chomsky and/or must already have a pretty good understanding of what he's talking about in order to follow him. Congressman Paul, on the other hand, speaks in a way that is very direct and comprehensive. I highly highly highly recommend this book to everyone! (my opinion is subject to change upon completion of the book)

Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
"Congressman, Republican Presidential candidate and author Paul (A Foreign Policy of Freedom) says "Let the revolution begin" with this libertarian plea for a return to "the principles of our Founding Fathers: liberty, self-government, the Constitution, and a noninterventionist foreign policy." Specific examples demonstrate how far U.S. law has strayed from this path, particularly over the past century, as well as Paul's firm grasp of history and dedication to meaningful debate: "it is revolutionary to ask whether we need troops in 130 countries... whether the accumulation of more and more power in Washington has been good for us...to ask fundamental questions about privacy, police-state measures, taxation, social policy." Though he can rant, Paul is informative and impassioned, giving readers of any political bent food for thought. With harsh words for both Democrats and Republicans, and especially George W. Bush, Paul's no-nonsense text questions the "imperialist" foreign policy that's led to the war in Iraq ("one of the most ill considered, poorly planned, and... unnecessary military conflicts in American history"), the economic situation and rampant federalism treading on states' rights and identities ("The Founding Fathers did not intend for every American neighborhood to be exactly the same"). Though his policy suggestions can seem extreme, Paul's book gives new life to old debates."
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Supermarket Moonwalking

There was this really attractive woman I saw at the grocery store right when I was putting some beer into my shopping cart.

Talk about embarrassing!

I had to say something so she didn't get the wrong idea, so I said "Excuse me, mam, this isn't what it looks like. I'm not drunk right now, i'm just getting this for a friend who is too sick to get it for himself."

To prove my point, I walked twenty steps, heel to toe, counting out loud. Then I moonwalked back to where I had started. I figured this was definately not something you could do if you were drunk.

But the woman had apparently left.

The moral of this story is that I actually was drunk.
--Al Cracker

Deep Inventions

A good invention would be the 'Overnight Calculator'. All you would do would be to enter your equation, just like a normal calculator, and then, simply forget about it and go to bed. The next morning, when you check the 'Overnight Calculator', your answer will appear on the display. The math was done while you slept.
--barquedust

Song Idea

here's an idea for a song; its about a robot that doesn't know he's not a human. he falls in love with another robot but tells her that he can't be with her because they're too different. and there's a snappy little reggae beat. and at the very end, a little more reggae.
--barquedust

Carbun Footprints

the coral reefs are dying at a tremendous rate. if they die, i feel like a little part of me will die too. but i suspect it'll be a part i can live without or was going to have removed anyway, so i guess no harm done. by the way, is it 'reefs' or 'reeves'?
--barquedust

Horn Player Wanted

horn section of rock band seeks horn player for horn position. must be able to play horns with drums and rock-style drums. horn playing a must with a background in horns, horn playing and rock. will have horn parts to learn, so familiarity with the horn is a must. experience with drum parts are desirable but will teach the right candidate. also any drumming skills a plus. must have a carrying case for your horn and be able to tune your horn to rock drums. should be able to play rock-n-roll with the horn and must work well with other horn players. regular horns are preferred, but will consider less normal horns depending on your ability. please bring your horn, carrying case and any horn related supplies to audition. thank you.
--barquedust

Deep Inventions

the one-way monocle. you could see out, but nobody could see in. this way, nobody could tell where you were looking but you'd still be able to maintain the appearance of a rich baron.
--barquedust

Props to my Peeps

i was about to buy some planters deluxe whole cashews at the store the other day when i realized i was a little slim in the wallet. so i looked for the planters regular whole cashews but i couldn't find them. i thought, "hmm. that's funny. you'd think they would have a cheaper version than the 'deluxe' ones." then it dawned on me - planters probably did away with all of the regular cashews and just brought the price down on the deluxe ones. i see heinz got on board with their 'extra fancy ketchup' too. i just want to say thanks to them for delivering the higher end products to us joe everydays at a price we can afford.
--barquedust

Jedi Master

when the teller at wells fargo told me i had a number of overdrafts in my checking account and that there were seven insufficient funds fees i froze from embarrassment. i decided to act like it was somebody else's fault, so i did my best yoda - "disturbing this is. foresee the lack of funds i did not. stolen my money somebody must have." i turned to leave and as i opened the door i said, "find him i must!" i think it bought me at least a couple of days.
--barquedust

Rants - Airtime minute scam

I have a strong suspicion (strong enough that I'd bet a pint of Haagen Dasz) that there is an underhanded scam being perpetrated by our cell phone providers to shave a little more airtime into your calls than is actually necessary. Who hasn't been annoyed by the pre-recorded message that you get when you call someone and get their voice mail? It goes a little something like this..."To page this person, press #. At the tone please record your message. When you are finished recording your message, you may hang up or press 1 for more options. To leave a call-back number press the star key." This little song-and-dance takes about 10 seconds to listen to. If only a million people have to listen to this only once a day, at just $.01 per minute (rates will vary of course), that adds up to $1,666 and some change per day that they make off of us while we sit through this nonsense. And that's just a million people. Do you feel ripped off? Do you feel that you're paying for a valuable service listening to this menu of options every single time?
And another question - Here, in 2009, do we really need to be reminded that we begin our message after the tone, or that when we are done we may hang up? Is there still a large enough body of people out there that don't know what to do that it justifies making us all listen to these instructions?
Just curious...Your thoughts?