It’s not just that he screwed up and said something stupid because he’s so committed to a purist fancy. No, it’s worse than that. Libertarianism itself is what’s stupid here, not just Paul. We should stop tip-toeing around this belief system like its adherents are the noble last remnants of a dying breed, still clinging to their ancient, proud ways.

Now, to be clear, before continuing: there are legions of brilliant individual libertarians. [Dave] Weigel himself, for example, is a great writer and reporter, and a true master of Twitter. We’ve never met, but by all accounts, he’s also very much a stand-up fellow. But brilliant, decent people can think silly things. And that’s what’s going on here. It’s time to stop taking libertarianism seriously. [...]

Think about the New Deal. Although libertarian ingrates will never admit it, without the reforms of the 1930s, there might not be private property left for them to complain about the government infringing on. Not many capitalist democracies could survive 25 percent unemployment, and it doesn’t just happen by good luck. [...]

The government didn’t just help make the “free market” in the first place — although it did do that. It’s also constantly busy trimming around the edges, maintaining the thing, keeping it healthy. The state can think ahead and balance competing interests in a way that no single company can. [...]

The libertarian who insists that the state has no place beyond basic night-watchman duties is like a teenager who, having been given a car, promptly starts demanding the right to stay out all night. Sometimes, someone else really is looking out for your best interests by saying no.

And that’s why the best rap on libertarians isn’t that they’re racist, or selfish. (Though some of them are those things, and their beliefs encourage both bad behaviors, even if accidentally.) It’s that they’re thoroughly out of touch with reality. It’s a worldview that prospers only so long as nobody tries it, and is too unreflective and self-absorbed to realize this. In other words, it’s bratty. And that’s bad enough.

Of course this is after Rand Paul made his comments on the Civil Liberties legislation, which is a different discussion for a different day. What surprises me is that Mr. Winant’s take on the “Free Market.” He states that without the government there would be no free market. How this makes sense eludes me. The fact that the government passes regulation on the private sector eliminates the term “free market.” The fact that the government prints currency at super speeds and adjusts value of this paper and adjusts the intrest that these papers can collect completely destroys the principles behind the “free market.” Its a disgrace that people think that we have ever had a “free market” especially since the establishment of the Federal Reserve. If anything that line should read that “The government didn’t just hurt the “free market” in the first place, it destroyed it — It is constantly busy regulating, getting in the way of innovation, messing up the thing, making is sick with disease. The “FREE MARKET” can adjust to the current times and balance competing interests in a way no government can.”

The metaphor he gives to compare the governments duties and to that of a teenager acquiring a license to operate a motor vehicle doesn’t even fit. While the Government would love more than ever to have a parent child relationship with the citizens of the nation, it does not. All the gov’t is supposed to be is the night watchman, who defends in country. It is none of the states business how enterprise and industry provide money and wealth to society. There is not one line written in the constitution about gov’t and business. Any person who advocates that gov’t be in control of enterprise and industry are those who are already holding office or those who do not trust themselves to make decisions for their own lives. These people also love to tell people what to live like and how to live this way.

How about the fact that in the 1920′s credit was so easily available, it created a false boom just like today, and then it collapsed because of gov’t intervention and thus we had the great depression. There was a major crash in the economy in the 1921, and since the gov’t just left it alone and allowed the market to handle it, this depression lasted all of a year. A vast contrast to the great depression, where gov’t intervened and let to mass unemployment and a serious cut in living standard. The gov’t cannot do anything successful because the people who sit in their offices have no one clue about the issues they pass regulation and laws on. They like to think they do. But they don’t. Look at whats happening today with unemployment rates.

True unemployment rates are approaching that same 25% that is was in the 1930′s and how is the great government handling it today? By forcing regulations on the private sector to “stimulate” job creation. It sure is working! Ask people how easy it is to get a job today, in todays market. These regulations shut the door on job creation, no business is hiring because they simply cannot afford to hire or do not have the tools to make sure they match these requirements and regulations. So the government creates some public works project to build some useless bridge out in the middle of nowhere to create 500 jobs that last 6 months-1 year, and lauds it as some success, while the factory that produces a small part to an aircraft has to close up shop because the 20 people he was going to hire were given the bridge job, that in the end provides nothing to economic growth. This factory now needs to shut down because it does not have the man power, now the aircraft manufacturer needs to go to China, Japan, India, Mexico to get the part to produce the crafts. He runs the risk of paying more per part due to regulations on foreign importing and trading of goods set up by the government, and he also risks that the quality of the part that he has used for the past 20 years might not be the same quality as the part made from foreign plants and businesses.

You cannot go attacking the “free market” because you feel its attackable due to what one Rand Paul stated. You need to do research and think things through before you post your verbal assault on how bad the “free market” is and how it would not exist without the governments watchful eyes and constant pruning. Until we have a true FREE MARKET in this country, one cannot assert that it will not correct government created problems and those that fall under corporatism.

I really had to think about this one; to imagine I had the power to write an amendment and have it pass instantly, or change one of the current amendments to the Constitution is pretty heavy.  After a round of brain debate I couldn’t make up my mind between the two options I arrived at.  I explained both to my friend, and they agreed with me.  Lets see if you the reader agree as well.

I would instantly add freedom of information to the first amendment.  This one word INFORMATION means the world to you and I,  instantly we would gain a vast amount of power over all three branches of government and anything/anyone involved with the government.  Not only would we be ENTITLED to information it would be required by law that we have a freedom to it.  This one addition would guarantee that items like Ron Paul’s HR1207 would be passed without hesitation, as auditing the Fed would provide you and I information on where our hard earned tax dollars are going and provide REAL TRANSPARENCY to the US Government.  This does not only apply to government, as all information would be a freedom, there would be a surge of learning and mental growth among the population.

The second would be an amendment would be to finally write into law a free market economic system, think Austrian School economics.  With this addition we would instantly gain economic freedom and not be forced to submit our hard earned money to the government.  Which in turn allows the government to fund programs, wars, and policies that are unnecessary, foolish and at times unconstitutional.  Why should we the people submit our money to fund a disorganized, highly polarized, and extremely volatile corporation like the US government.  By passing this into law we instantly curb Corporatism and Statism.  Since we would go back to the gold standard and in turn rid this horrid, nightmare fiat system that we currently have in place.  There would be no excuse for bailouts, corporate lobbying, and most importantly high taxes and fees that only go to failed programs and policies.  This alone would End the Fed, and the Fed is a different story for a different day…

There are several more options I mulled over, but ultimately one of choices would be the one I would go with.  Both are equally important to me so I found myself in a conundrum trying to chose just one of them.  I wish the question allowed me two chances to make/change amendments.  I would love to hear your feedback.   If YOU had one opportunity to add an amendment or alter a current amendment, what would you do?

The second order of business is the first and LAST time I will ever talk about these next points.  I like to call these points: Emotion Issues.  These are the issues that DO NOT BELONG IN POLITICAL DEBATE, DISCUSSION OR CAMPAIGN.  Such issues are abortion, drugs, religion, etc.  These are all based on emotion, and EMOTION CAN NEVER BE POLITICAL.  The government’s sole job (originally) was to provide for the common defence and make sure that all contracts are abided by.  IT IS NOT governments job to tell you how to live.  It is my belief that if you want to smoke cigarettes, and studies prove that they do harm, and YOU STILL smoke; it is not my job as the government to stop you.  The government is not a nanny, parent, guardian.  AND IT NEVER SHOULD BE!  It is your choice what you do with your property (your body) and your life,  IT IS NOT YOUR CHOICE TO FORCE YOUR DECISIONS AND BELIEFS ON OTHERS!  That simple statement is the definition of liberty.  It was a main point in the creation of this country that church and state shall NEVER mix,  yet when I see Jesus being forced into the health care debate, it makes me worried.  No where in the constitution does it say Jesus shall always be a center piece in the government, nor have I seen anything about health care being a right in the constitution either.  All these issues that are the focal points of the American political lens are emotion based and should be ousted from the halls of capitol hill, the white house and the supreme court.  These are PERSONAL matters that you have a right to have YOUR OWN opinions on.  There is no law that condemns you from hating marijuana or from being pro-choice for abortion, however these issues should not be a part of the governments agenda.  As stated above: The government is not your nanny, parent, or guardian.  Nor should we give it the power to take on these roles.  Everyone is entitled to life, liberty and happiness.  And in no time what so ever should we submit these basic rights to anyone.  And in no time should any individual or group impede/trample these basic rights.

So in closing, I would implore you to get emotion out of politics/government, and to get out there and make a change because we need one about now.  Remember it is the basic rights talked about above that have made us “a land of the free, and home of the brave.”  There are many potential senators/representatives that believe in protecting these rights.  All you have to do is support these people, regardless of Republican/Democrat.  The problem is that the government has gotten to big and its time to put it on a rather large diet.  Get rid of these career politicians, allow us economic freedom, and most importantly reinstate the constitution!

Before Guitar Hero and Rock Band was another phenomenon of the music gaming genre: Dance Dance Revolution. Konami’s “dancing” game bundled a peripheral and captured the media’s attention with its kinetic “exergaming” play. Over the years, the franchise has dwindled in relevance, as gamers got tired of stomping their feet to moving arrows. Each iteration of the series brought new songs, but the gameplay turned stale, and gamers eventually put their peripherals in the closet.

The same might be happening to the current slate of music games. NPD reports (via Gamasutra) that revenue for the Guitar Hero franchise have dropped 34% year over year. Even worse, the Rock Band franchise has dropped 67%. (Although, it should be noted that the Rock Band series has not had a major console release this year.)

Jesse Divnich of EEDAR argues that “the music and rhythm genre is being monetized more closely in terms of a pop-culture fad,” which explains the increasing number of releases we see from the Guitar Hero franchise. He argues that the window of opportunity for making money is limited and that both Activision and MTV Games are “[striking] when the iron is hot.” The upcoming The Beatles: Rock Band and Guitar Hero 5 may make a big splash this holiday season, but it might not be long until gamers put away the plastic instruments and look for the next big thing.

Ah I remember the first time I took my first steps on a DDR pad, it was fun stepping to high speed techno mixes of random hits. After 3-4 sessions it grew old very very quickly. I tried to reignite the fun by purchasing the new software, but I quickly learned that its the same thing over and over. Step on arrows, get a good score, pick new song. Lather, rinse, repeat. Much to my joy a new game launched called Guitar Hero! Now I could play the guitar to some of my favorite tunes. So I played and played and played and within about an hour of playing it, I got that old DDR boredom feeling. I was sick of this game as well…

Fast forward years later and we are on Guitar Hero 5 and there is a whole OTHER game out that DOES THE SAME THING, Rockband 2, nothing has changed, there is nothing revolutionary about these games, now instead of 1 guitar you can have a whole band! These are just novelty games, just like EVERY SINGLE BLOODY FPS HAS TO DO WITH SOME ALIEN/ZOMBIE/ROBOT ARMAGEDDON; AND YOU HAVE TO COWER BEHIND A WALL FOR 30 HOURS OF GAMEPLAY. OH AN CONTINUALLY PRESS UP OR LEFT ON THE D-PAD TO TELL YOUR GROUP WHERE TO GO! AND THEN A STRAY BULLET HITS YOU AND YOU ARE SENT BACK TO THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME…./rant

The video game industry like Hollywood needs to learn when to let something go, they both grab a hold of a basic layout and go with it, since the matrix came out I have seen every actio movie follow in its footsteps. It was cool back in 1999 to have that format, but nearly 11 years later we still have the same shit, bullet time mixed with 400 explosions and you have the perfect Michael Bay Film.

This goes for the gaming industry too, Halo RUINED FPS games, that came out and then 12 more come out with the same storyline and a control scheme that you need 4 degrees in bio-mechanics and metallurgy to get past the training levels. These music games are the same, press green, red, blue, yellow, white, purple, mauve at the same time and strum, repeat process, over and over. There are SOO few games out there that I classify as great/good and MOST of them come from the classics era. I love gaming, however these days I am paying 60 bucks for an interactive movie, not a game, this has got to change.

I wonder if DJ Hero will pick up where RockHero leaves off…

“Tell me what cell phone you use, and I will tell you what you are.” -Brillat-Savarin

Erm.  That’s not right, wasn’t his quote about food or something…*shrug*

Back to business at hand.  This is a new concept review that I am having a go with.  I call it a fast touch review.

This concept is simple to grasp;

In the inaugural fast touch review I took the liberty of checking out two smartphones.  The Groundbreaking, Earthshaking, Universebending, Apple iPhone 3GS or is it 3G S (jury is still out regarding the space or not) and its cosmic competitor Palm’s “Lay On Hands” (WoW reference..sad I know) Pre.  Let me get this to you straight off the top,  THESE TWO ARE COMPETITORS NOT KILLERS.  So first lets go with the already proven iPhone.

The 3GS (S stands for SPEED) and it delivers, albeit nothing too mind blowing.  The phone is faster, but not the way they are advertizing as if it were faster than a supercomputer; but still its a speedy little device.  Applications opened in a snap and the phone performed quite well.  I tested a quick youtube video and it played after a small 15 second wait, not bad.  The weather, stocks, notes apps were all quick as well.  With the addition of the OS 3.0 the phone has some quality features.  The Main feature even before video and compass is Landscape typing.  I quickly tapped my way into a sizable paragraph about nothing,  and with only a few minor errors at that.  This is where the iPhone takes it to a new level, this is “that” feature that the user has been begging for since day one.  They also added copy-paste to the phone and this grants a small applause, as I find myself rarely using copy-paste on my phone now.

The compass is novelty, although im sure the customer service rep was amused as i spun around in all directions testing this feature,  it lost its novelty feel after a few minutes.  The voice search is a bit funky to use, I tried to call a filler contact in the contact list on the demo unit, but it had a hard time recognising the speech pattern, again not a feature that I find myself using (nor have I seen many people use it either).

The Camera is the second place BIG feature of the new 3GS.  The auto focus is quick, not like some other phones where it could take a while, and the tap to focus feature is great.  The video interface is just like the still photo interface, tap record and you are off.  As I could not see the video on a PC, I cannot judge the quality, however I have seen some youtube videos and its not shabby at all.

To wrap this up, I like the 3GS.  It beats the living ***T out of my lack luster Sidekick LX (circa 2007).  Plus Apple threw a curve ball at us, $99 for a 3G (non S) iPhone! Plus IMO a 3G with OS 3.0 is like 90% of what you get with a 3GS, you are really only missing Video Capture.

BUT HOLD ON APPLE!

Palm has launched thier new smartphone into the wild and its name is the Pre!  8GB internal storage, same resolution as an iPhone (smaller screen though), All NEW WebOS.  This thing is geared for a fight, a fight not only with Apple, but RIM and Android as well.  Let me let you in on a little secret though, it DELIVERS.  Sure the hardware feels like it was build with lincoln logs and elmers glue, and the keyboard should have come with a toothpick so you can tap the right keys.  But the OS is the homerun.  WebOS is open, clicky, fun and downright addicting. I got lost in the phone with the swipes, taps and pinches.  The OS is responsive, it has the core features that can satisfy any smartphone user.  Its main problem is that its new, and does not have anywhere near the amount of support other smartphones have.  Give it time and this will change,  Palm brought a gamechanger to the public.  Finally a system that is not as archaic feeling as the Blackberry OS, nor as rough and unyeilding as the Android OS.  Its a cuddly, warm, soft, fun OS that begs you to touch it (I just went there).  Its organized, the card system is wonderful and messaging is in one spot, its just great.  If that OS were on a piece of hardware like an iPhone then we would have to press the panic button at 1 Infinite Loop.  I did not get too much time with the Palm Pre, as the Sprint rep was annoying the shit out of me about purchasing some Sony Rokr.  I really am intrigued at where the Pre goes,  I hope Palm offers the WebOS on more phones, I really do.  I loved my Palm Treo 700p and I am already a fan of the WebOS, however the hardware is its weak link.

In the end I do see myself with a 3GS over the Pre,  Only because the support, and the fact that its a more matured platform.  Its the hardware of the Pre that makes it a no go.  Put the OS on a better device and 1000% Definatley I would have a Palm.  With that being said I hope RIM takes note and produces a more 2009 OS and not a 2004 OS.  As far as Android, flooding the market with 5000000 phones with some low budget, rough, unsofisicated linux like OS is NO WAY TO WIN A TECH BATTLE.

I hope you all enjoyed the inauagural Fast Touch Review of the iPhone vs. the Palm Pre.  I hope to write more of these fast touch reviews in the future.

—RandyICJ