Down with the IRS! (A look at the flat tax)

Apparently, a number of countries already have introduced the Flat Tax to try to boost economic growth. Since the mid-1990s, Estonia (24% tax rate), Latvia (25%) and Lithuania (33%) have had a flat tax system in place. Russia (13% flat tax), Slovakia (19%), Romania (16%), Macedonia (12% flat tax on personal income and corporate profit), and Ukraine (15%) also have a flat tax in place. Albania may implement a 10% flat tax this coming year.

Could a "radical" simplified tax code ever come to be in America? Everyone else seems to be giving it a try, why not the US? I'm not sure whether I prefer the Fair Tax or the Flat Tax but something needs to be done about the tax rates and tax system in America!

The Hoover institution has been big on the Flat Tax and have published the following book: The Flat Tax by Robert E. Hall and Alvin Rabushka.

I think I might have to make a book purchase as soon as I am done reading the The FairTax Book and FairTax: The Truth: Answering the Critics.

Woman starves her child

Florida Today: Woman given 25-year sentence for starving baby girl
"A Key Largo woman has been sentenced to serve the next 25 years in jail for letting her baby starve to death."

"Thirteen-month-old Jasmine Marie Thomas died in September 2006 of severe malnutrition. She weighed just 6 pounds, 9 ounces at the time of her death."

The baby was thirteen months old and not even 7 pounds! Most children are born heavier than that! A twenty-five year jail term is not nearly enough. I bet the mother will eat a heck of a lot better in the "big house" than her poor little baby did while she starved to death. Hopefully, the mother will do something stupid in prison to get the punishment which she REALLY deserves: life in prison or the death penalty (either by lethal injection or shank).

Taxes, taxes, taxes!!!

My beautiful wife and I are in the process of preparing our taxes. To make a long story short (which should be done with our tax code), our tax code is ridiculous, too friggin long and way too complicated!! It should not take this much time and effort to prepare a tax return!! Its bad enough that the government overtaxes us, at gun point no less! Try not paying taxes or neglecting your return filing and see what happens.

Of course, it wouldn't be this difficult or take so long if we implemented the FairTax.







Do I dread tax day? Absolutely. But what I dread more are the days it takes to prepare my taxes.

China, The Olympics and Gun Control

The Chinese government has been selected as the site for the 2008 Olympics. However, unrest in China and Tibet, which is controlled by China, is embarrassing the Chinese government. China News Agency: Death Toll From Riots Rises to at Least 19: "Numbers for injuries and death tolls have been varied and hard to confirm because China keeps a tight control over information. Tibetan exile groups say 99 people were killed — 80 in Lhasa and 19 in Gansu — while Beijing maintains that 16 died and more than 300 were injured in Lhasa." I think there may be some bias here, an altering of the actual numbers for political gain. Sort of like the "Jenin massacre."

Many are calling for the Olympics to be pulled from China to punish the Chinese government for murdering its citizens and I agree (with how oppressive the communist Chinese government is, I don't know how they were even in the running for hosting the Olympics in the first place). The Chinese populace has been relieved of their basic human rights of free speech and personal protection by their oppressive communist government. And its beginning to look as if the Chinese government is exploiting the vulnerability of their people.

In the US, the second amendment was partially written to prevent government oppression; you cannot oppress an armed populace. Even the Japanese thought twice about invading the US mainland in WW II when Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto of the Japanese Navy said, "You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass." However, just like most gun control advocates, the Chinese government claims that its total gun ban is to prevent crime. However, I think that its really to control its population (and the Tibetan population).

China established gun control in 1935; from 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents were exterminated.

With a terribly oppressive government and a population unable to defend itself, I fear that history may be repeating itself.

DC vs. Heller update

Foxnews.com: In Second Amendment Case, High Court Majority Appears to Support Individual Right to Own Guns

Some quotes from the Foxnews.com story:

"The Supreme Court appeared ready Tuesday to endorse the view that the Second Amendment gives individuals the right to own guns, but was less clear about whether to retain the District of Columbia's ban on handguns."

"But Justice Stephen Breyer suggested that the District's public safety concerns could be relevant in evaluating its 32-year-old ban on handguns, perhaps the strictest gun control law in the nation. Justice Breyer said: 'Does that make it unreasonable for a city with a very high crime rate...to say no handguns here?'"

Does it make it unreasonable to say "no hand guns here?" I say yes, since the handgun ban is one of the reasons why crime is so high in D.C.

Of course, a bunch of commies decided to show up and protested the individual's right to protect oneself and property with a handgun. These are often the same people who argue that we have the right to kill our unborn children but we don't have the right to own a gun.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence made an appearance and chanted "guns kill." While their goal of preventing killing is a good and noble one, guns don't kill because people have to pull the triggers. People kill. If they want to ban guns then I guess we need to ban cars, knives (stabbings), baseball bats (beatings), feet (you might be kicked to death), electricity (including lightning), physicians (even physicians make mistakes), pools (kids are much more likely to drown in a pool than be shot by a gun in the home), rope (people might be strangled) and buildings taller than 1 story (one might jump or be pushed). And , of course, if we ban guns I know that the criminals will be sure to turn their weapons in and play nice. Then we could all get into a hippie circle and sing Kumbaya!

MORE government overreaching

On Friday, a friend and coworker sent me a link to a CNN video regarding the second amendment and a court case against David Olofson entitled, "Freedom Under Fire." He sent it merely to raise my blood pressure. Well, it worked, but it also inspired a blog entry.

This story takes place in Wisconsin and involves a law-abiding citizen named David Olofson and his battle against the overaggressive ATF and the subsequent court case. David Olofson is a fellow gun owner who lent a legal AR-15 to a friend. This friend took the gun to a local gun range in Wisconsin and while the friend was shooting the AR-15 jammed. After he cleared the jam the friend continued shooting. Two multi-shot bursts occurred because the gun began to malfunction. Afterwards, here came the government to "protect" us and subsequently ruin Olofson's life.

By Jeff Knox from The Firearms Coalition:
"(January 29, 2008) There are several ways for a person to unintentionally commit a felony, but most of them are looked at by prosecutors, judges, and juries as the accidents they are and dealt with accordingly. Such is not always the case however, especially when firearms are involved; for the past 2 years David Olofson has been learning that the hard way. Olofson is a regular guy who happens to be fond of AR15 style sport-utility rifles. He loaned a rifle to a friend. While the friend was shooting it he moved the safety switch to a point beyond the Fire position. The rifle fired a couple of short bursts and jammed. Someone at or near the club called the police to complain about machinegun fire. The police notified the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and David Olofson was subsequently charged and convicted of illegally transferring a machinegun."

The above is a summary from a more in-depth article which highlights MANY instances of government, ATF and court "missteps" in this case, investigation and trial.

More links to stuff about this story:
2nd amendment under fire, what's next?

Great Moments in BATFE Gestapo Goonery

Drill instructor convicted after rifle jams: Guardsman guilty of illegally transferring 'machine gun' after firearm malfunctions

I saw a bumper sticker yesterday that said, "Ignore your rights...and they'll go away." Here is a perfect example.

More later...after my BP comes down......

California's assault on personal freedom

NPR: California Home Schoolers Get the Heave-Ho: "An appellate court in California recently ruled that parents who home school their kids may be breaking the law."

SFGate: Homeschoolers' setback sends shock waves through state: "A California appeals court ruling clamping down on homeschooling by parents without teaching credentials sent shock waves across the state this week, leaving an estimated 166,000 children as possible truants and their parents at risk of prosecution."

This is complete and total overreaching by the government and the courts.

We are supposed to have freedom of choice in this country, however, parents in California soon will loose their freedom to choose to educate their children at home. Its already bad enough that many parents throughout America are denied school choice because of the lack of school vouchers; a serious problem for those whose local government schools are failing.

This must be another case of, "We're the government and we're here to help."

More on the Jerusalem massacre

Foxnews: Is nothing sacred?

"Blood covered the religious books. Blood covered the floors. Blood covered the white prayer shawls the boys wore. In fact, the white shawls were completely soaked with red."

Once again, terrorists purposely targeting civilians, including children, that they know are defenseless.

Is nothing sacred? To some, apparently not.

Remember this celebration of savagery???

Anyone who celebrates the killing of innocent civilians is a piece of shit. The recent Jerusalem massacre where "thousands of Palestinians took to the streets of Gaza to celebrate," isn't the first time the palis have crammed the streets in mass celebration over the killing of innocents.

Remember this?



When an Arab terrorist (or any other terrorist for that matter) gets killed, as he deserves, I am pleased. However, I am never pleased when innocent people get killed. Why don't we see mass "happiness rallies" by thousands of Americans or Jews cramming the streets with traffic, shooting off guns and passing out sweets in celebration when innocent Arabs get killed?

And just to be fair, the people who were chanting "death to Arabs" right after the Jerusalem massacre are also a bunch of asshats, however, its very important to note that they weren't rejoicing in the killing of innocent Arabs. I'd also like to point out that this rally was much smaller. So to me size does matter.

Savages celebrate killing of civilians by fellow savages

From the following article from the Jerusalem Post: Mercaz Harav hit by capital's worst terror attack since April '06

"A Palestinian terrorist opened fire at a central Jerusalem yeshiva late Thursday night, killing eight students and wounding 11 others, police and rescue officials said."

Here's the worst part of it....the celebrations by people over the dead just because they like dead Jews: "In Gaza City, residents went out into the streets and fired rifles in the air in after hearing news of the attack on the yeshiva." Yeah, let's celebrate the killing of innocent civilians!!!! No wonder there is never any peace when these savage scum purposely go after innocent civilians. Many innocent civilians killed by these scumbags may even be some of the Jews in Israel who are sympathetic towards the palestinian cause. But, let's face it, to these savages all Jews should be dead. They are not interested in compromise or negotiations.

And of course, now we'll start hearing complete bullshit about the "cycle of violence" after the IDF finds the leaders of the group responsible and sends them to allah for their 72 virgins. There is NO moral equivalence what-so-ever between the targeting of innocent civilians by these terrorist scumbags and the response coming from the IDF to punish these savages.

Enjoy your virgins, bitches.

The FairTax

I just purchased the book, "FairTax: The Truth. Answering the Critics" written by one of my favorite radio personalities, Neal Boortz, and Congressman John Linder (R-Ga).

From the FairTax website:

"The FairTax plan is a comprehensive proposal that replaces all federal income and payroll based taxes with an integrated approach including:

• A progressive national retail sales tax.
• A prebate to ensure no American pays federal taxes on spending up to the poverty level.
• Dollar-for-dollar federal revenue neutrality.
• Repeal of the 16th Amendment through companion legislation."

Any talk of a fair and uncomplicated tax code makes me happy. And of course, who can dislike a book which has a "no IRS" pic on its cover?

DC vs. Heller update

The Supreme Court of the United States is scheduled to begin hearing the District of Columbia v. Heller case on Tuesday, March 18, 2008. This case could be pivotal in the continuing battle over the second amendment which has pitted freedom loving gun owners (the good guys) against anti-gun commie pinkos (the bad guys).

Here is a current NRA link which list the good guys and bad guys with .pdf's of their respective amicus briefs regarding the case. From the NRA page here is an extensive list of the good guys who are supporting the individual right to own firearms:

• National Rifle Association
• Academics
  
• Academics for the Second Amendment
  
• Alaska Outdoor Council
  
• American Center for Law and Justice
  
• American Civil Rights Union
• American Legislative Exchange Council
  
• Association of American Physicians and Surgeons
• Buckeye Firearms Foundation, et al.
  
• Cato Institute and Professor Joyce Lee Malcolm
  
• Center for Individual Freedom
  
• Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms
  
• Congress of Racial Equality
  
• Criminologists
  
• Disabled Veterans for Self-Defense
  
• Eagle Forum Education and Legal Defense Fund
• Former Justice Department officials
  
• Foundation for Free Expression
  
• Foundation for Moral Law
  
• GeorgiaCarry.org
  
• Goldwater Institute
  
• Grass Roots of South Carolina
  
• Gun Owners of America
  
• Heartland Institute
  
• Institute for Justice
  
• International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association
  
• International Scholars
  
• Jeanette Moll
  
• Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership
  
• Joseph B. Scarnati, III, President Pro Tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate
  
• Libertarian National Committee
  
• Liberty Legal Institute
  
• Major General John D. Altenburg, et al.
  
• Maricopa County (Ariz.) Attorney's office
  
• Members of Congress and Vice-President Cheney
  
• Mountain States Legal Foundation
  
• National Shooting Sports Foundation
  
• Paragon Foundation
  
• Pink Pistols
  
• Retired military officers
  
• Rutherford Institute
  
• Second Amendment Foundation
  
• Southeastern Legal Foundation
  
• State Firearms Associations
  
• Texas and other states
  
• Virginia1774.org
  
• Women state legislators and academics

The global warming debate

We have a good friend visiting us this weekend and, not surprisingly, we have spent a considerable amount of time discussing politics. One "hot" topic of discussion this weekend has been global warming (pardon the pun).

Personally, I am not sure where I stand on the issue. The earth may be warming but I am unclear as to the reasons for these changes. I am a scientist, however, my specialty is not in atmospheric science nor climate issues. I have done some reading on the various opinions of the factions in the scientific community who are currently debating the issue of global warming and, at the very least, I'd have to say that the issue is far from decided with no clear consensus among atmospheric scientists. However, if you listen to the left in this country and the media (one in the same) global warming is the biggest issue that threatens humanity. Based on the data that I have read, I really don't think we have a good handle on the issue of global warming or what is "driving" it (pun intended).

I don't often depend on Wikipedia for my information but I do think that Wikipedia strongly illustrates the fact that there is a serious debate about global warming and that the issue it nowhere near settled.

Here is a list of Wikipedia links which I think illustrates my point that the jury is still out on the issue of global warming:

Global warming

Scientific opinion on climate change - this link contains the list of the many who agree that global warming is occurring and is due to human activity.

Global warming controversy

List of scientists opposing the mainstream scientific assessment of global warming

Anyway, from what I can tell the issue is hardly settled. Interestingly, I agree with John McCain on this issue. During a presidential debate he was asked the question about those who oppose global warming. McCain essentially argued that we'd have a cleaner environment if we worked to combat global warming and global warming turned out to be untrue.

I am definitely for a cleaner planet. For instance, yesterday we took my kids to the beach and I spent a few minutes picking up garbage that some slobs decided wasn't worth throwing in the numerous garbage cans that were in the area. For anyone who has littered - you are a friggin slob!!!

Again, I think that we should all be better "stewards of the environment." However, being a libertarian, I worry about how much the government wants to get involved in preventing a phenomenon which is far from settled. I'm not even comfortable with the government getting involved in issues in which there is a consensus!

Pro-gun quotes of the day

"These Sarah Brady types must be educated to understand that because we have an armed citizenry, that a dictatorship has not happened in America. These anti-gun fools are more dangerous to Liberty than street criminals or foreign spies."
-Theodore Haas, Dachau Survivor

"Gun control has cleared the way for seven major genocides since 1915, in which governments gone bad murdered 56,000,000 persons, including millions of children."
-Aaron Zelman of Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership

These pro-gun quotes and others can be found at MilSurpStuff.com