Guard Dog

We are not talking about ungoverned anarchy here. There is always going to be Federal, State, and local governments with jobs to do. The might be doing less, with less and the lines between them might be hardened but there will always be governments, social services, etc. But, let's put that aside for a moment. In our 242 years I can count on one hand all the times one political party controlled everything to the point there could be no resistance. And even then they did not get "everything" they wanted. There is no scenario in the near or even intermediate future where the LP gets a veto/filibuster proof majority in Washington of any state capital. So even is the aim was a complete objectivist deconstruction of society (it is NOT I will repeat) electing a handful of LP politicians to congress, state houses, or executive offices will not make that a reality. What we DO have is a government that I think most can agree is getting out of control. Take Trump and his tariff BS. The power of taxation is enumerated to Congress. Congress granted the Executive the power to use tariffs in wartime and national emergencies back during WWI. Are we at war? They can take it back at any time but they won't because most of them hope to be President someday and want that power for themselves. Barack Obama used Executive Orders to modify laws passed by Congress and even adjudicated on by the Court. Can he do that? He cannot, but Congress did not stop it for much the same reason as before. Both the Democrats AND the Republicans are growing a bigger, meaner, more intrusive and abusive government on almost every level. If you oppose that then voting for either makes not sense. The hope of putting LP member into power is to slow that down and AT BEST maybe reverse course a little bit. The Libertarians are not a third party. They are a second one. The D & R are the fist one.

Jesus Christ this again? This is not the first time you championed the intellectually vacant notion that just because someone at some time may have written something you agree with at you are buying into every little thing they ever said. I don't know why this is so difficult to grasp but it IS possible to think Atlas Shrugged MIGHT have raised a few interesting points without thinking Ayn Rand was f-----g Moses carrying the stone tablets. And why do some people seem unable to get past the idea that a dead russian ex-pat who wrote a few long winded books over sixty years ago is somehow the messiah of Libertarian thought today? If that is really your criteria you'd make a better argument if you said it was Murray Rothbard or Thomas Sowell. Hell at least he is still alive. As for the "real problem" of this country being libertarianisim I can see why you'd think that. Imagine a country where we left each other alone. Where you would not have to go to prison for rolling up a dried plant in paper and lighting it on fire. Or could marry whoever you liked without the government saying no. Imagine a country where you did not have to fall to your knees and humbly beg the government permission to build a fence on the property you supposedly own. Or have to worry that government will take your home because someone with more money wants it. Imagine a country where books don't get banned from libraries, the government does not tell TV networks what they can and can not show. Or tells citizens what they can and can't buy or who from. Imagine a country where $0.45 of every dollar you work for isn't taken from you and wasted on things the government is not even supposed to have the power to waste it on. I can see why you would not want to live in a hell like that.

Isn't it more that you're not supposed to expouse your politics like that while in uniform because you're representing the US military at that moment? Don't know the military guidelines for doing that stuff while out of uniform and on a personal account while not giving any references to the US military. Also what GD said. @GD: Don't you mean USMC, not USMA? Also, IMO, wearing a che guevara shirt under the uniform without boasting about it like he did would be fine with me. Military guidelines probably say otherwise. USMA is US Military Academy. West Point. That's where he was. As for political stuff, you can pretty much do what you want on your own time to a point. But participating in political demonstrations in uniform is a no-no. They go a long way trying to keep the military apolitical. For good reasons. When I was in there was no such thing as the internet or social media so I don't really know what the rules are now.

He got a General Discharge, not dishonorable. You really have to f--k up to get one of those. They usually come at the end of a vacation in exotic Ft. Leavenworth.

The USMA, Naval & Air Force academies are not regular universities. You are in the military the moment you become a Cadet/Midshipman. That means you do not get to say/do whatever you please. Especially in uniform. It's called "the service" because you are putting certain aspects of your life and even liberties on hold for a higher cause. This ain't Berkley.

New York NEEDS this man. This whole country NEEDS this man. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA_eTtULKAo

Soup sandwich! I am SO stealing that one!

In the international tournaments I tend to pull for Mexico or Canada when the US is out of it. When you know a lot of people in both places it comes easily. A few years back I got to go to the Rugby Sevens WC in Vegas and actually got to hang out with some of the Canadian players (friends of a friend). And I worked in Mexico off an on for almost a year a while back.

Did you know that marriage makes you 42% less likely to develop heart disease? And 55% less likely to suffer a stroke? And less likely to get dementia? https://www.yahoo.com/news/marriage-literally-good-heart-study-225324808.html Of course the article fails to mention the stress marriage induces. Especially a bad marriage. I've done extensive studies on that subject myself.

My informal polling here in the US reveals Americans I have access to fall into one of four categories. The largest know the WC is going on and don't care. The second largest don't know what I'm talking about. The third group is rooting for Iceland because, well, why not. We like underdogs here. And last is pulling for Mexico because most folks here have nothing against Mexico or Mexicans. In if Mexico actually wins this thing there will be one hell of a party and who wouldn't want that?

Going off on a tangent here. If the US, Mexico, & Canada were to unite in a single country what might that look like? Politically? Economically? Culturally?

Now reading this: Apparently this event is pretty well known down under. It's the first I've heard of it. Fascinating story though. Two different ships wrecked on opposite sides of the same island at the same time (sort of). Neither group of survivors aware of each other. the two stories have very different endings.

If you serve a certain period of time in the French Foreign Legion you get French citizenship. That is the only country that does that as far as I know. Edit: I didn't know the Warrant Officer ranks were not available to non citizens. I'm surprised to hear that actually. They are drawn exclusively from NCOs. In the Marines a Master Chief Warrant Officer (CWO5) ranks below a boot 2nd Lieutenant on paper. But in reality a Master Gunner (as the rank is called) is someone you do not f--k with. In terms of influence they are somewhere between Colonel and Brigadier General.

This just strikes me as very cool. I don't use tablets much. In fact the only one I do really use is a Kindle Paperwhite which isn't really a tablet. But if i did I'd buy this: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/elretron/penna-retro-bluetooth-keyboard-starting-as-low-as

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/mexicos-goal-celebration-against-germany-12730188 Fans in Mexico city set off a seismograph the moment of Logano's game winning goal against Germany.

I guess you guys don't get to the Cloud District much?

It was for money. I was the second one out on the fist table. Chasing too many flushes on the river card. I'm thinking is a 1 in 4 to hit it. Even if that means it's a 75% chance of missing it. But thinking afterwards it's not even that good. Two clubs on the table and two in front of me means at least four out of a possible 13 are accounted for. With four other players at that time there are 8 other cards face down. that means an 85% chance at least one of them is a club. That leaves at best 7 clubs left out of 36 cards still in the deck. So the odds were not 25% they were 19%. at BEST. If even one more of the 8 cards I could not see was a club that drops the odds another 3%. Poker is no fun when you start doing the math.

Trust me, the rules of calculus are the same at Harvard as they are at Marlboro College (the smallest public U in the US as of 2012). They don't teach the "secret math" in the Ivy Leagues. In education there is only one word that matters: accreditation. As long as your school of choice is accredited (not all are so be careful) you are good to go. The only advantage of a big university (aside from specialized studies like medicine, nuclear physics, etc) is networking. Which after your first job you should be doing OK with anyway. Oh, and snobbery. Can't forget that.

I played in a poker tournament last night. Made an early exit I'm sorry to say. Texas Holdem really isn't my game. Too many cards. In 5 card stud two pair is a monster hand. In Texas Holdem it's a losing hand. Also, if you have not made your hand by the Turn, check or fold. You are NOT getting it on the River.

You really have to go through multiple leaps to claim restaurants are subsidized in any comparable way to a public university. But hey, whatever. I was looking for a way to get than Animal House meme in and that was a good one. Just one thought on higher education. One of the biggest lies we all tell ourselves is that a degree from one University might be better than another. Unless you are studying medicine of nuclear physics this is not so. The curriculum of one accredited school in any state is much the same as any other. I graduated from FAU back before it started expanding. It was the smallest of Florida's public universities. But if you compare the courses I took to Florida State they are exactly the same but I paid $68 per credit hour vs $100 (or whatever FSU was in the '90s.) Something to think about when you are paying your own way. Especially if you are going in serious student loan debt to do it.

Watched Denmark beat Peru last night. I don't know who the guy doing the call on FSN was last night but he was more entertaining than the match. Next up for us here in the US Mexico vs Germany. Go Mexico.

Almost. Too many missed opportunities. And Messi should have been penalized. Nice goal in the 2nd though.

Thought for the day. In adjusted dollars a college degree in the USA costs 297% more today than in 1978. Lunch at McDonalds costs 40% less than in 1978. Guess which of these two is getting subsidized by YOUR taxes?