tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-342945762012-02-16T00:15:15.920-07:00Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.comBlogger521100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-76011228408278471872008-12-01T16:33:00.002-07:002008-12-01T16:36:11.029-07:00

New At TheLeviathan.net:The Case for Government (Or Why I'm Not an Anarchist)Crazy Tobacco Rules in AmsterdamCop Shoots Himself, Sues, Wins 4.5MRevitalizing The Begging EconomySee you there!

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-91405174627098866152008-11-28T18:20:00.002-07:002008-11-28T18:31:35.198-07:00

If I claimed that I had been doing anything but completely neglecting my posts, I would be made into a bigger liar than Sarah Palin claiming she said "thanks, but no thanks". However, I come bearing gifts. Since I began this blog, and I got a job working at a "dot com", I have learned quite a bit about blogs, blogging, bloggers, and blogging about bloggers who blog about blogging. I have decided

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-79624841216970685122008-10-17T12:24:00.002-06:002008-10-17T12:28:33.318-06:00

Some of you may have already seen this, but Justin sent me this video. It's amazing. There's already a wikipedia article about Joe the Plumber http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_the_plumber . I feel bad for the poor guy, the rhetoric of politicians ended up screwing him, like a sacrificial lamb for their campaign. Although, its not unusual to see one person getting sacrificed to further the goals

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-70229389454391795572008-10-07T10:11:00.003-06:002008-10-07T10:18:43.156-06:00

From the interesting Correlation department: According to MAPLight.org, members of congress that voted for the bailout receive about 50% more in campaign contributions from bank lobbies, than those who voted no. Of course, that is not something that these congressmen and women would EVER take into account with voting, right?

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-33381690127988534662008-10-01T16:36:00.002-06:002008-10-01T16:37:57.192-06:00

I’ve been listening to a podcast of a show called Free Talk Live. One of the hosts, Ian, has a tendency to be a complete jerk to anyone he disagrees with. His position is that if you’re not a borderline anarchist, then you support government sanctioned violence, and therefore you don’t deserve his respect. In his activism with the Free State Project, he has recently been interacting with judges

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-20525910609362189992008-09-30T11:36:00.001-06:002008-09-30T11:41:51.154-06:00

Six years ago President Bush appeared before a banner on a warship that said Mission Accomplished. To every observer, he appeared to be claiming that the Iraq War was over and had been a success. Today, we're still in that war. Yesterday, John McCain took credit for the successful passing of the bailout of the banks. A few hours later, the bailout plan failed. McCain is such a maverick, he's

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-88794447597264075492008-08-31T13:49:00.003-06:002008-09-04T10:11:40.632-06:00

When I heard that McCain had chosen Palin as his running mate, my first thought was Michael Palin of Monty Python fame. But much like the Python's Spanish Inquisition, no one really expected the choice of Gov. Sarah Palin from Alaska. Gov. Mitt Romney, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Condaleeza Rice, Gen. Colin Powell, Gov. Bobby Jindal; these are names that I expected to hear in terms of the

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-1246039073156680942008-07-31T12:14:00.003-06:002008-07-31T12:18:50.550-06:00

Welcome back folks. I'm back, big as life and twice as ugly posting from my new temporary headquarters in Wylie, TX. The move from Chicago went smoothly, with the only casualty being the transmission of my car. Perhaps it is an omen: the 'reverse' function is broken, as now my little 4-cylinder can only move forward. Hopefully in a few short weeks I'll be moving forward to my new life in Austin,

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-87226586621241094462008-07-29T11:17:00.004-06:002008-08-01T10:51:48.330-06:00

The stars were aligned today to make my return to the blogosphere as easy as possible. As I sat down to make my normal rounds of news sites I see this headline over at Politico:Ted Stevens indicted. Sen Stevens has been a US Senator since 1968 and is the longest standing Republican Senator in the country. He is allegedly also the the most corrupt Senator in Washington. Today he was indicted on 7

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-86577121457144377962008-07-03T15:50:00.006-06:002008-07-11T03:10:44.116-06:00

He kicked in doors and made arrests. He helped the people in Gerald, Missouri end their problems with Meth. Sometimes he was a Federal Marshall, others, a member of the DEA, but it was not always clear which. When asked to show a warrant he informed people he was a federal agent, and didn't need one. Sergeant Bill was no federal agent. He was an unemployed former rent-a-cop who went on a spree of

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-36490137791955405092008-06-30T14:12:00.003-06:002008-07-11T03:23:33.276-06:00

NPR is holding a pledge drive right now, trying to raise funds for its operation. As it is mostly a listener supported station (they do receive a bit of government funding), they make pleas to reason and emotion to motivate their listeners to pledge. I enjoy NPR and I hope to one day be in a position to be able to donate. When they returned to their regular programming there was a spokesperson

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-369198775485639602008-06-27T07:52:00.002-06:002008-07-11T03:31:46.511-06:00

In the comments to "Shootin' Mad", Isaac asks: Isn't the amendment not only intended to afford us the right to protect ourselves from one another, but also the right to protect ourselves from the tyranny of our own government?While usually I would reply in the comments, this is a long enough response to merit it's own post. The problem is that the government cannot perform it's legitimate duties

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-79560871515459226912008-06-26T19:21:00.003-06:002008-06-26T23:32:59.963-06:00

According to Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, evidence that "the Framers made a choice to limit the tools available to elected officials wishing to regulate civilian, uses of weapons" is "nowhere to be found". Apparently the statement "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed" has nothing to do with with limiting the regulation of weapons. This was in his

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-42806748095464330022008-06-23T15:54:00.003-06:002008-06-23T18:36:11.977-06:00

One of the many things I hate about the Government is that the usual approach to creating change is by enacting new restrictions. Want more efficient cars? Simply prevent people from selling inefficient ones. The current system might be effective but I've long thought that competitions such as the ones the X PRIZE Foundation holds, that substantially reward success rather than penalize failure

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-76744332271067299692008-06-20T05:12:00.002-06:002008-06-20T05:49:16.254-06:00

One of the more audacious moves that our legislators have pulled on American tax-payers was the passing of public financing for Presidential candidates. Under the guise of preserving the "integrity" of our political system, and not allowing companies and individuals to have too much "undue influence" on our elected officials, they generously offer matching funds for candidates, as well as a

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-3935572136691854632008-06-19T00:26:00.002-06:002008-06-19T05:30:48.624-06:00

You know what I’m tired of? I’m tired of watching the news every day, hungry for information, and receiving nothing but crumbs. It is impossible to obtain information from these petty peddlers who seem to believe that flashy on-screen graphics and bottom-of-the screen quotes (of what was said two seconds earlier) is a substitute for producing actual content. I watched several hours of the CNN

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-67324382502399014422008-06-17T17:13:00.004-06:002008-06-17T17:49:50.698-06:00

What happens when you rely on the government to do your dirty work, instead of your success? Well, sometimes it comes back to bite you. A few weeks ago I discussed how the broadcast radio industry was lobbying to increase the royalties paid by internet radio. Well, it seems that now it's coming back to haunt them. This week the internet radio crowd got together with recording artists and are now

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-776073537313132162008-06-13T15:53:00.003-06:002008-06-13T18:57:05.104-06:00

This week: Kucinish, ED Hill, Rezko, and RussertRep. Dennis Kucinich brought up 35 articles of Impeachment against President Bush this week. The pretty much universal reaction, including from the DNC leadership was "What's the point". Kucinich aparently gets extremely cranky when the media stops portraying him as a lunatic and has to find new and more ridiculous ways to get his 15 minutes of fame

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-16554869527677494042008-06-12T16:59:00.004-06:002008-06-12T18:10:18.358-06:00

It’s not news that with the pure quantity of information on the internet comes a fair amount of misinformation. Anyone who has been using e-mail for more than a few weeks or so has gotten messages about the threat of microwaving water in a ceramic cup, or about needles filled with AIDS tainted blood hiding inside seats at movie theaters. These kinds of urban legends have always existed, and the

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-70436325315438304072008-06-11T17:36:00.002-06:002008-06-11T23:55:59.296-06:00

"Five billion years from now the sun will run out of Hydrogen gas" according to The Future of Energy. While worrying about the fate of the Sun is a waste of energy, for as far back as I can remember people have been worrying about the supply of oil. Having been born after the oil crisis in the late 70's, I have not experienced a world in which there wasn't widespread concern about our energy

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-58436139577185983182008-06-10T16:37:00.004-06:002008-06-11T15:28:07.562-06:00

In a year when presidential politics are getting groundbreaking achievements in terms of race, sex, and even age, it's laughable to see how some people cling to xenophobia and racism as a campaign tactic. I'm referring to Buddy Witherspoon, a Republican running in the South Carolina primary against incumbent US Senator Lindsey Graham who has Sen. McCain's endorsement. I know little of the Buddy

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-72439957835128786352008-06-09T14:45:00.003-06:002008-06-09T18:19:13.914-06:00

Yesterday I went to Bluesfest in Grant park, and one of the announcers said something that bothered me. During his introduction to B.B. King he said that the City of Chicago had been "Giving us Bluesfest for over 30 years", which brought loud applause from the audience. I like the Blues Festival, and the other large events that are held in Chicago's Grant Park, but the idea that it's a "free gift

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-67971536966042912732008-06-05T16:18:00.005-06:002008-06-07T15:53:29.074-06:00

Would you take profits from McDonald's to subsidize White Castle? What about from the Bellagio to subsidize the Golden Nugget in downtown Las Vegas? Apparently the Illinois legislature would, and has done something very similar: it is requiring that Illinois most profitable Casinos give parts of their profits to subsidize the state's horse racing industry. Illinois' Supreme Court agrees, stating

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-74228479035637415552008-06-04T12:54:00.002-06:002008-06-04T16:24:10.784-06:00

Will McCain pick an ultra-conservative governor half his age to be his VP? Now that we know who the presidential candidates are, I thought I'd focus on learning a bit more about the possible VP Candidates, starting with Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal. Jindal is the American born son of Indian immigrants. He's had a fairly successful career in politics, including being a Congressman and Governor of

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-12086781793488402102008-06-03T17:05:00.007-06:002008-06-04T12:48:11.530-06:00

The loooooooong primary season is finally over. Today Obama is guaranteed to reach the number of Delegates and Superdelegates needed in order to receive his party's nomination. He will be the first African-American nominee for President of the United States from any "major" party. So what's in store for us in the up-comming months as Obama and McCain battle it out?First off, we should be hearing

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-13848464319300434572008-06-02T16:31:00.006-06:002008-06-04T12:49:15.915-06:00

When Sen. Ted Kennedy says that he wants working families to receive the same level of health care coverage as "member's of Congress provide for themselves", does that include and-picking the best doctors in the nation? That's what Sen. Kennedy did today after his recent diagnosis with malignant brain tumor two weeks ago. According to the Boston Globe, "Kennedy and his family conferred with a

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-6579343582006788852008-05-30T18:21:00.002-06:002008-05-30T18:29:39.886-06:00

If you've been reading and enjoying the blog, I have a few things to ask of you. Leave comments! Even if its just a comment on this thread saying hello, let me know you're out there. There's nothing more encouraging than knowing people are out there reading what I write. Let me know what you think of different pieces, when I get it right, let me know, when I miss the point entirely, definitely

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-46124544880435889322008-05-30T17:40:00.002-06:002008-05-30T18:20:02.839-06:00

In an update to my very first post here at FaBA, the Texas Supreme Court has ordered state officials in Texas to return the more than 400 children to their families starting next week. The Judge asserted that Child Protective services "failed to show an immediate danger to nearly all the children swept up from the ranch", which is pretty much exactly the argument I made here. Kudos to Texas, and

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-17087924208632018172008-05-29T16:24:00.004-06:002008-06-04T12:52:38.829-06:00

Michelle Malkin, conservative blogger and commentator, is declaring a Jihad against scarves. The AP reports that Dunkin' Donuts pulled an online ad featuring celebrity Chef Rachael Ray because of Ms. Malkin's complaint that the scarf resembled a Keffiyeh, which she describes as "Hate Couture". The company responded by pulling the ad and apologizing. I'm not even sure where to begin with this one

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-44556382687008041802008-05-28T18:25:00.004-06:002008-05-28T19:50:39.009-06:00

On Memorial day Obama retold a family anecdote, about his uncle coming back from World War II after being one of the first troops in Auschwitz. He told this to a small group of Veterans he was meeting with in Las Cruces. Aparently, the uncle was actually his Mother's uncle, Obama's great-uncle, and the camp was Buchenwald not Aushwitz. This wasn't in a debate, or even a major speech. From the

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-81472222882449989332008-05-26T15:23:00.004-06:002008-05-26T20:36:31.093-06:00

While most of the news is focusing on Memorial Day, I have been listening to archives of one of the better "talk-radio" format podcasts that I've found, Free Talk Live. The show got a call from a disabled veteran who told a "horror story" about his latest purchase at Best Buy, which ended up with the General Manager of the store allegedly telling him that "If we went out of our way to make all of

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-65453793614408796132008-05-22T16:12:00.005-06:002008-05-24T01:50:27.968-06:00

Yesterday I made the claim that Hillary would be ahead in the popular vote if Michigan and Florida were added to the count. Turns out that's what she's saying, but not true. Something so small as the truth isn't going to get her down over, and over. In order to get the numbers that Sen Clinton's campaign is saying about the popular vote is only by including votes from Michigan and Florida (which

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-51001371541659569612008-05-21T17:22:00.005-06:002008-05-22T16:12:19.708-06:00

In the past two days Sen. Clinton has been doing more of what she's been doing for the past few weeks: whining a lot. On the heels of yet another irrelevant primary win in Kentucky, which of course Clinton claims as a huge victory that proves she should keep going, Clinton has begun aggressively campaigning for the votes of Michigan and Florida to be accepted into the primary election. The reason

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-54026076671529485542008-05-20T16:00:00.002-06:002008-05-20T16:55:46.623-06:00

Sen. Ted Kennedy was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, the particulars of which I'll spare you, but essentially odds are against him. It seems that most of the media outlets have started to eulogize him, focusing on his life, his legacy, and his "passing of the torch". Since Sen. Kennedy has been one of the greatest supporters of Obama, everyone with a left-of-center political bent is

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-12818195328993074132008-05-19T15:34:00.002-06:002008-05-19T16:33:14.866-06:00

It seems I can't go anywhere on the internet recently without hearing about Bob Barr, who is running for the Libertarian Party nomination. Everywhere you look, from left to right, everyone has something to say about Bob Barr. While Barr himself has done very little since his announcement, mostly some nagging at now-irrelevant Gov. Huckabee, everyone is scrambling to figure out what effect he will

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-59193649149815163092008-05-16T08:46:00.004-06:002008-05-16T09:30:16.779-06:00

In an attempt to share some of the spotlight with the Democrats, McCain gave a sort of "Back to the Future" speech where he looked forward the the changes his Presidency would like to accomplish by 2013. I will try to give this some more in depth analysis soon, but it seems to be at least a novel idea. Politicians usually try to prevent giving out any specific goals or ideas for fear that it

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-79907879783319659502008-05-15T16:19:00.004-06:002008-05-15T16:57:15.387-06:00

In California today, Supreme Court for that State overturned the ban on gay marriage. San Fransisco allowed it, law makers outlawed it, and now the court is saying its OK again. Just when you thought the madness would stop, it seems that many predict this will only last for a few months, until a ballot initiative to change the state constitution to ban gay marriages goes through in November.

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-10462820072378597672008-05-14T09:34:00.002-06:002008-05-14T10:48:13.057-06:00

I was watching the news this morning and I saw a headline that caught my eye. "DNC Delegate Sells his Vote for $20 million", or something of that nature. While at first I expected some sort of interesting controversy about an idiot superdelegate trying to profit from the highly contested primary, what I found out was actually quite different, and quite interesting. Steven Ybarra's role as a

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-17297698068055477972008-05-13T16:17:00.006-06:002008-12-10T05:15:54.217-07:00

Now that most everyone has accepted that Sen. Obama has won the primary, rumors are going around that he might choose Sen. Clinton as a running mate. In a Gallup poll asking Democrats if he should choose her, 55% said yes:I wonder about the wisdom of this idea. Clinton has for the most part been ruthless in attacking Obama, saying he's unprepared to run, attacking him for being disconnected, etc,

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-73684929996365576752008-05-12T16:28:00.005-06:002008-05-12T18:38:35.815-06:00

Former Congressman Bob Barr announced his candidacy for President on the Libertarian Ticket today, some several months behind all of the other candidates. Rep. Barr, who is probably most known for introducing the resolution to look into impeachment proceedings for President Clinton, left the Republican Party in 2004 to join the Libertarian Party. Commentary is already popping up that Rep. Barr is

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-9219636088107810112008-05-11T16:30:00.003-06:002008-05-11T16:36:39.475-06:00

Probably not. But I found this clip from last night's show that echo's some of my sentiments on Hillary Clinton that I pointed out in my post about the Indiana Primary. Tongue-in-cheek as it might be, I don't think they're too far from the truth. Clip at Hulu.com

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-72952561243886008192008-05-09T08:10:00.002-06:002008-05-09T09:28:40.144-06:00

It's Friday! Prepare yourself for small chat at cocktail parties by catching up on news you might have missed. The Clinton camp has some good news for those who are getting tired of the longest campaign ever. Even though Sen. Clinton loves announcing that she'll never give up, Her campaign manager, Terry McAuliffe, suggested that she'll probably give up before the convention. A shift can already

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-4535339474202404972008-05-08T16:18:00.005-06:002008-05-13T15:22:41.217-06:00

Today the final touches were put on this year's farm bill. The subject of farm aid comes up every few years, since the first Agriculture Adjustment act of 1933. However you would think that in a year where we can constantly hear the whispers and screams of the "Global Food Crisis", it would be a great time to reexamine the way we deal with farm subsidies. First the good news: If you're a farmer

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-70768392202636999862008-05-07T15:23:00.003-06:002008-12-10T05:15:54.551-07:00

Today, I decided I would see what it would be like to actually go on a gas tax vacation. I crunched all the numbers, did all the equations, calculated the interest and added in the inflation, and figured out exactly how much money I would save this month, if this was implemented today. Then I went out and spent that money. While originally I thought it was a dumb idea, I now I might have to think

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-6836398488276539122008-05-06T11:47:00.005-06:002008-05-07T14:09:15.562-06:00

The Indiana primary is happening tonight. It seems to me that there is a lot of hubbub over the State, when it won't actually decide anything. Delegates are split evenly between the candidates, and neither seems likely to win by a large margin. In fact, from the numbers I have seen, it won't matter at all in terms of overall delegates. So why is this primary important? It's all about the

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-68791037820130776332008-05-05T15:52:00.002-06:002008-05-05T16:46:42.372-06:00

The Chicago International Pipe and Tobacciana show, which was held in St. Charles, Illinois this past weekend, is a yearly event that has been held in the Chicagoland area for the past 12 years. Pipe and tobacco vendors from across the world come to show off their latest creations in what really is a display of artistic craftsmanship. The show, which featured over 300 vendors from across the

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-79072895257323202062008-05-02T14:39:00.005-06:002008-05-02T17:09:03.270-06:00

The week's news you might have missed:The Greek Island of Lesbos is suing the Homosexual and Lesbian Community of Greece, because their use of the term "Lesbian" is offensive to natives of the island. If they are successful, the term "Lesbian" will no longer refer to homosexual women, but to gay-bashing bigots of Greek descent. Good luck to them. A giant squid that was captured last year and

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-6842759744124790602008-05-01T16:45:00.004-06:002008-05-02T10:46:53.756-06:00

Thanks for checking out FABA (For A better America). I'm still actively working on the blog, and hopefully it will be a bit closer to perfection soon. For the time being, be sure to check in every day as I will be keeping the blog updated. For suggestions on stories, comments, or anything else, feel free to e-mail me at rickygonzalez@gmail.com. Thanks, Ricky

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-91121738618305854282008-05-01T15:44:00.005-06:002008-05-01T16:42:23.980-06:00

With the latest release in the GTA series, we see many of the same complaints that have accompanied every other release. The gist of the game is that a player can do pretty much anything they want in order to become more successful in their life of crime. For people and organizations that are constantly looking to pin the blame for all of societies ills (except personal responsibility, of course)

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-87875406491617059942008-04-30T15:47:00.004-06:002008-05-01T16:45:02.566-06:00

When I heard that Ben Stein was releasing a movie, I have to admit I was a little excited. I had generally agreed the few comments and snippets of articles of his that had come my way. I knew him to be generally in favor of individual rights and free markets, ideas which I support myself. While I wasn't yet born when he was an advisor to Richard Nixon, I understood that this now pop-icon was a

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-53133079889697429102008-04-29T15:09:00.009-06:002008-05-01T11:32:22.388-06:00

Obama essentially broke all ties today with Rev. Jeremiah Wright. After months of controversies stemming from comments made by his Chicago Pastor, he felt that his political career was more valuable than the relationship with the man who married him and baptized his children. While this is his decision, and probably the correct one for his campaign, I can't help but notice the duality between

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34294576.post-12044339598470192472008-04-28T15:59:00.001-06:002008-04-30T01:31:58.278-06:00

You may have heard about the "Fundamentalist Latter-day Saints" in Texas, that have recently been the source of quite some craziness. The gist of it is this: Supposedly, a 16 year old girl called the police and said she was forced to marry a 50 year old man and have his children. The government's response? Take over the camp, take over 400 children from their families, remove 130+ women from the

Ricky Gonzaleznoreply@blogger.com