"Republicans get out of my bedroom! Democrats get out of my wallet!"

This was a great quote I heard today while listening to the Jim Vicevich radio show on WTIC.com. Jim is a Libertarian leaning Republican who has a radio show from 10 to 12 AM Eastern time on WTIC 1080 in Hartford, and WTIC.com. Jim has a great show. His views and core values regarding government are the closest to my own that I have found in all media (print, TV, radio, etc.). I recommend the show. I've put a link to his show further down on the right side of this blog. Jim also has a blog here on blogger at radiovice.blogspot.com. I have not had much time to explore his blog, but I hope to in the future.

I thought this quote from Jim summed it up nicely.

Just a quick post today because I think the quote speaks for itself.

Let's hear your thoughts, supporting or opposing.

Manny Ramirez Has Officially Jumped the Shark on Red Sox Nation

Note: On occasion, Liberty Alert will comment on events outside the world of politics, government, etc. These forays into other various topics will be occasional, and all fun. I've used this space before to discuss Manny Ramirez, so this entry is a sort of follow up to my previous entry.

OK, I've finally had it! I've been an apologist for Manny being Manny for a while now. I put up with the water bottle in the back pocket, the high fives while the ball is in-play, the bathroom breaks inside the Green Monster, the erratic fielding, the arguments with teammates, and even the phantom injuries. But enough is finally enough! In case you have not heard the latest, Manny Ramirez, perennial all star, World Series MVP, and future Hall-of-Famer has suddenly and mysteriously begged out of the last 2 games due to a supposed knee injury. What's worst is that his sudden unavailability came against the arch rival New York Yankees. The Red Sox have a $20 million team option on Manny next season that they have yet to exercise. Speculation is that Manny, who happens to be one of the top 5 highest paid players in the game, is unhappy with ownership for not yet picking up his option. Therefore, he is using this knee injury as the ultimate passive-aggressive revenge.
What does Manny Ramirez have to be upset about? Red Sox Nation has winced and looked away at all of the previous Manny-isms because the guy has produced at the plate. However, Manny has continued to show a lack of respect for his teammates, the Red Sox organization, the fans, and the game of baseball in general. In case you have not noticed (which I know that you have), Manny's production was significantly down last year. Red Sox Nation was able to look past it because Manny came through in the playoffs, followed by a decent first half this year. Regardless of his production, there comes a point when an organization and fan base needs to stand up for principles. Manny Ramirez is taking advantage of the good will of Red Sox Nation. It's a shame because he's one hell of a hitter, but he's finally gone too far.
I would not have said this a week ago, but I hope the Red Sox stand up and do not pick up Manny's option for next year. Instead of turning into a facsimile of the over-paid, over-arrogant Yankees, I would rather the Red Sox use the $20 million on a player(s) that cares as much about the team as the fans do. Let Manny be Manny somewhere else. What do you think?

Exercising Civil Disobedience While Paying Property Taxes

July and August is the time when vehicle property tax comes due in all 169 Connecticut municipalities. As if the property tax Connecticut residents pay on their real estate is not enough, like many states, Connecticut residents are also taxed on all registered motor vehicles including cars, trucks, campers, boats, and even trailers.

This summer, the tax payers here at Liberty Alert (i.e. me) used the opportunity to let the town of Bristol, CT know what we really think of their tax collection. See the attached picture. Each tax bill was separately mailed with a special label for the tax collector on each envelope.

Now, I fully understand that the tax collector does not determine the tax rate or tax system. However, this small act of civil disobedience was done not just for the benefit of the tax collector. Those envelopes will be seen by multiple post office employees, and likely some town hall staffers on the way to the tax collector. The envelopes may even draw enough attention to get the mayor or some council members in the act. The point is, this small act of rebellion could get noticed, and help encourage some civil disobedience in others. Is it a bit childish? Perhaps. But, in the spirit of Henry David Thoreau, a little civil disobedience is a good thing. Humor and satire can be a strong tool to get your point across. I look at it more like playing a prank on a good friend. You like the friend, but it's fun to see them go through a little harmless suffering. Don't let the government off the hook. It's ok to give the government a hard time once in a while. The government is not above being harmlessly punked. Remember, the government should fear the people, not the other way around!

Incidentally, Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau is an American classic that I highly recommend. The essay inspired such leaders as Martin Luther King and Gandhi. It is a quick read, and can likely be found at any local library. It's a must read. Look for a future book review of Civil Disobedience on Liberty Alert.

What the US Government Should Do About High Oil Prices -- Nothing

Nearly everyone in the US is struggling with the high price of gasoline driven by the recent run up in crude oil prices. Rightly so. In the United States, gasoline is closer to a utility service than a luxury item. The layout of the country requires gasoline to drive the economy. Where in Europe their transportation infrastructure was built upon rail travel, the United States has the greatest car-based infrastructure in the world. To get to the point, the US needs gasoline. So naturally, when prices go up, people look for relief. The question to ponder is; should US citizens look to government for that relief?
The US exists in what is supposed to be a free market economy. A free market has proven to be the most successful economic system. When government gets out of the way, the natural ambition of people is able to thrive. One needs only to look at the recent rise of the Chinese economy after the government loosened the reigns and moved towards a free market system to see the power of a free market economy. A free market is intended to be just that: free. Free from government meddling. Given time, free economies have been able to correct themselves. The forces of supply and demand are powerful. Perhaps even more powerful than anything the US government can do.
However, it's an election year. Candidates love to make promises to people. Republican or Democrat alike rarely miss an opportunity to promise government action to alleviate any ill. And what is government action? Essentially it's spending money. What is government money? It's our money! Spending money to try to save money does not make sense, especially when you consider the device spending the money is the highly inefficient government machine. Regardless, this does not stop the pandering from politicians. I'm reminded of the old saying "When your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail." Government seems to believe that more government is the only solution to any problem. Perhaps even more troubling than the political pandering on the campaign trail is the citizenry demand for government action. The victim-mentality of a large segment of the population constantly looks to government to solve every problem. This fuel that drives the growth of Big Government. Unfortunately, the price of that fuel seems to be all too low these days. Let it be known that although the Democrats are synonymous with Big Government, the Republican party is hardly innocent of the recent build up of Big Government.
I urge people to have a little patience and a little faith. Understandable that can be difficult, but it's necessary. I'm right in the high gas price fox hole with the rest of you. But I have faith in the free economy. Without any government action whatsoever, the price of oil has gone down for 2 weeks in a row. Again, the forces of supply and demand are at work. The market could not sustain such high gas prices. People are changing their habits. Americans are using less gasoline. Demand is down. Prices have followed. All this with no government action. I'm hardly naive enough to believe that were are out of the high-oil woods. The price can certainly spike back up. It can continue to climb. And if that happens, the free market will again react. Technology will step in. New technology that we have not even yet anticipated would eventually come to fruition. It might not happen over night, but I have the highest faith that the market would certainly respond quicker and more effectively than any government action.
So, is there anything the government can do? Certainly there are actions the government can take to promote beneficial behaviors. First and simplest, they could reduce regulations on drilling, allowing for more drilling. This is a great example of how government intervention staggers a free market economy. Loosening the regulations would allow the free market to respond to the natural market demand. I'm also open to hearing about potential government economic incentives. Perhaps tax breaks on alternative energy companies or users. However, beware of government intervention in the free market! Ridiculous ideas like a "wind-fall profits tax" is one of the scariest things I have ever heard escape the lips of a politician. What's even scarier is that when those words were uttered, the crowd cheered.

Restaurant Review: Chevy's Drive In -- Bristol, CT -- Forget About It

I did not plan to use this space to review restaurants, but part of the purpose of this blog is for me to be able to vent. Tonight (7-12-2008) I had an absolutely terrible attempt at a dining experience at Chevy's Drive In on Farmington Avenue in Bristol, CT. I use the word "attempt" because we never got our food. If you are from the Bristol area, I would recommend saving your money and not bothering with this place.
Without getting into details, the service was so bad that I left before my food arrived. The waiters were rude and incompetent. The table next to us left a nasty note telling them what they thought of the restaurant, so it was not just me. If you want the details, leave a post and I can expound.
I hope I can save some of my local readers some time, money, and aggravation.

I apologize to my non-local readers for including such a Bristol-specific post, but this was very likely the worst restaurant experience I have had in my life. I could not let it pass without writing about it.

There. I feel a little better now.

Obama Wants People to Pay Down Hillary's Campaign Debt

So Hillary Clinton has sold out again. During her failed campaign to secure the Democratic party presidential nomination, Hillary has apparently racked up over $20 million in debt. Now Mrs. Clinton has embarked on a joint begging tour as a tag-along to Senator Barack Obama as he continues his fundraising. Hillary is asking the American people, specifically Democratic supporters of Barack Obama to pay off her debt. What's next for the former First Lady; panhandling?

I suppose we should not be surprised. Hillary Clinton has a history of selling out her values for personal gain. She has proved time and again that she is a woman that knows no shame. She sold out her marriage by staying with a cheating husband that any other reasonable wife would have been expected to divorce. She sold out her roots by moving to New York simply because there was an open Senate seat there. This is a state in which neither of the Clinton's had previously had any residence. She's the true definition of a carpetbagger (look it up if you've never heard the expression). Would she have established residence in Alaska if they were the state with the open seat? She acts and talks now as if she's been a New Yorker all her life. However, isn't funny that when she made political stump speeches in the south she suddenly found her southern twang? Now she is selling out her own ego to beg for money. Has the woman no pride? What's even more appalling is that she expects the American people to pay this debt. Last I checked, nobody forced Mrs. Clinton to run over by $20 million in her campaign. If that's the kind of fiscal responsibility that Mrs. Clinton showed in her political campaign, imagine how she would have handled the national finances!

Top 10 Problems with US Government Today

I came up with this list off the top of my head. Let me know what you think.

1. Career politicians
2. Misunderstanding of founding principles
3. Fiscal irresponsibility
4. Enormous size
5. Overabundance of taxes
6. Pork barrel spending
7. Overcomplicated tax code
8. Inefficiency
9. Excessive money in campaigns
10. Pandering

In a later post perhaps we can discuss the cause of the problems, then eventually possible solutions.

Readers can ignore this one. Just a post to set up a technorati account. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Technorati Profile

A Note Regarding the Writing in This Blog

Just wanted to let everyone know that most of the writing in this blog is of the brain-to-finger-tips-to-keyboard style of writing. I have a full time job and a full time family, so I don't always have all the time necessary to craft perfect posts. Sometimes you may notice a stream-of-consciousness style. Other times you may see some grammatical issues, or an occasional spelling mistake. I want to take this opportunity to apologize in advance, and ask you to bare with me as I try to add content to the site.As always, if you see a mistake, feel free to point it out in the form of a post. I'll do my best to make corrections.

J

Movie Review: Wall-e -- Can We Please Stop Putting Blatant Political Messages in Children's Movies?!

So this weekend I took my 3-year old son to see Wall-e. In case you've been in a cave, that's the new Pixar-Disney robot movie. Here's all I have to tell you to review this movie: both me, and my 3-year old fell asleep during the movie. However, we both managed to catch enough of the movie to get the gist. Despite his falling asleep, my son did seem to enjoy the movie.

The plot summary is that in the year 2700, due to man's negligence, the Earth is a garbage dump incapable of supporting life. Wall-e is a robot left behind to help clean up the garbage in anticipation of an eventual recovery. People have left the Earth and live in some sort of huge space ship. The human race has become a bunch of fat, blubbering, spineless blobs that do nothing but float around in levitating chairs and eat. Eventually, plant life is discovered on Earth, and the humans come back.

This was one of the most political children's movies I have ever seen. The message is right from the "environmentalist-whacko" handbook. Man is bad. We are destroying the Earth. Fortunately, my son is young enough to not really understand the undertones of the message.

This would not bother me so much, except it is right on the heels of another blockbuster children's movie with an environmental message. Happy Feet was another movie that attempts to infiltrate our kid's minds. Can it please stop?! Whether you agree or disagree with the message, do our kids need to be slyly bombarded with politics when they go to the movies? Adults can typically see when they are being sold to. However, children are not able to distinguish the difference.

Growing up, the most political movie I can recall was Bambi, but that message came nowhere near breaching the political firestorm pushed upon our kids in Wall-e and Happy Feet.

In the future, I'm going to be more careful about exposing my children to political messages in their entertainment. I anticipate some difficulty when my son wants to see the latest movie that "everyone" is seeing. Perhaps I'll cave, but I hope to at least be on-alert for these tactics in the future. I hope I can let my kid be a kid. He has his whole adult life ahead of him to complain about politics.

To the film makers: Stop trying to save the world! Do your job and entertain us. Make it worth the $10.50. If not, at least make it hold my attention enough to keep me awake through the entire film. Thanks.

Update -- We're Published

The blog entry I posted June 27th regarding the contradiction in messages created by the recent closing of Connecticut public schools due to "excessive" heat was also sent to the editor of The Bristol Observer-Step Saver newspaper. Much to my surprise, I opened the paper today to find the letter published in the July 3rd edition. Finally gettin' some love from the local press!