"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." 
~ Bertrand Russell


Man Strips Naked At Oregon Airport To Protest TSA?
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Lessons Learned from 9-11?

Traveling strangers, locked together inside a pressurized cabin at 33,000ft, will collectively take action to stop any and all acts of lunacy or terrorism on an airplane. The days of folks passively sitting back and doing nothing are officially over. Read More...

T-S-A stands for Touching Sensitive Anatomy?

Remember when Baloney had a first name?

Remember when school bus drivers were the only ones worried about No Child Left Behind and it only took 20 kilobytes for NASA to put a man on the moon?
Photo of Dried Pig Heads taken in Fenghuang, PRC (April 2009).

The Foundation for Rational Economics and Education?

If a passing visitor spends more than just a few seconds looking at the various images uploaded on this blog, it's evident that this blogger has flown around the world and back again. I've physically walked on the streets of Baghdad, Kabul, Sarajevo, and Mogadishu. I've lived and worked in Alaska, China, South Korea, Italy and Germany. I've vacationed in Berlin, Prague, Bangkok, Jakarta, and Ho Chi Minh City.

It's difficult to summarize 50 years of a life of traveling in a single post. Every image has its own story. Every short video is just another piece added to this puzzle called life.

A beautiful sunrise. A busy street corner. A smile shared.

In 2012, the events of 9-11 are already starting to feel like a lifetime ago. However, like a lot of folks, this blogger sill vividly remembers the day itself.

I was listening to a local radio station while driving across Austria. Then, the announcer broke into the music and started talking about New York City. While I cannot speak German, I immediately knew something big had occurred back in the United States. When I finally reached a television in Germany, and the tragedy unfolded before the eyes of the world, my first thought was, "our country is going to war".

Which brings this blogger to the central theme of this post: Among other things, the U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights did not create traffic lights or crosswalks. The U.S. Constitution did codify slavery into public law and rejected the voting rights of women, but this blogger will leave that particular political rant "for another day".

Ron Paul raises campaign cash to 'end the TSA'?
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To quote Benjamin Franklin, a man with more personal baggage than Newt Gingrich,"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." What if the TSA had existed prior to 9-11? How different would our shared world be today? The following NBC story aired on July, 20, 2004:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The events of 9-11 illustrated how a lack of oversight in screening passengers had real economic consequences for the global economy. For those that actually remember the 1970s, believe it or not, there are reasons why governments around the world became involved in monitoring and enforcing aviation safety and security. Can you say "Entebbe"? Additionally, the U.S. Constitution created a system of government guided by the principals of the "rule of law" and NOT a country void of any form of social or economic accountability. And yes, "Liberty" comes with an actual price tag.

Congressman Ron Paul is a soap seller. In the view of this blogger, his 2012 candidacy is NOT about what's in the best interest of the country. Paul is running for President to pave the way for his son's continued political career. The taxpayers put food on his table. Politics is the family business. That's why he repackaged himself as a Republican. He's attempting to permanently interject his misguided, 18th Century inspired, Social-Darwinistic, fantasy island idiotology into the GOP brand name.


His latest run for the White House is no different than Mitt Romney's father running for President in 1968. Or better yet, the four generations of public service by the Kennedy Clan as well as the two previous Bush Administrations (with Jeb waiting in the wings).

As far as this candidate's latest money-bomb targeting the TSA, what Congressman Paul lacks in social empathy, he more than makes up for with his record of political futility.

According to a story researched and published by the Washington Post the day after Christmas, "of the 620 measures that Paul has sponsored, just four have made it to a vote on the House floor. Only one has been signed into law." Perhaps it's just me, but something is seriously wrong with this picture. Read More...

Instead of working to fix a problem, or advocating a more responsive, efficient and effective government, Ron Paul's solution to each and every issue is a verbal ax. This man is the perfect Presidential candidate for the Twitter Generation. 140 characters of text is about all the candidate can handle. 

Suggested Reading:
Glass-Steagall Act
The Marshall Plan