Yesterday, the campaign with the help of a very active grassroots organization raised over $4.2 Million... In 24 hours. This is above and beyond what so called "top-tier" candidate Mitt Romney was able to do back in January when he set the republican record for most contributions in one day at $3.1 Million. Ron Paul has also broken the record for any one-day internet donations for any candidate, in any election, ever. Ron Paul is a bona fide top-tier candidate any way you spin this (Ron Paul on Daily Kos?!? WTF!).

Sean Hannity can say all he wants about how polls are spammed in favor of Paul, but can you spam real cash? Remember, Remember, that the 5th of November is V-Day -- V for Vindication day.

Actually.. the cat is way closer to my face than in this video. Also, replace the bat with a full glass of water that I've stupidly left on the nightstand.

Last week, Governor Romney released one of the most horrifying campaign videos I've ever seen. Most political commercials are so diluted that they make just about anyone feel good. You know the ones I'm talking about -- the ones with the sounds of trumpet and dialog like "he's an honest man, caring, he has a plan that will increase jobs." When you make a video with such a supreme lack of substance, there's not a lot to disagree with. This is not that video:

This is the most blatant fear and war mongering video I've ever seen. Sure, the neocons have been making these points for years. But when have you ever seen them in such a recorded and rehearsed fashion?

There was a lot of information in such a short video, so let's take it point-by-point:

Violent, Radical, Islamic Fundamentalism is this "century's nightmare".

I won't deny that there are violent, radical groups (some of which are Islamic) that are menacing and terrorizing. But by no means do these groups hold a monopoly on this stigma. Even our own government supports these same philosophies when it suits their fancy. In a previous age, when the bad-guy-de-joeur wore a red star on his uniform, the U.S. funded Afghan mujahudeen guerrillas to fight against the USSR. This wasn't the U.S. simply coming to the aid of an ally; this was a provocation that started with the U.S. funding the mujahudeen a full six months prior to any USSR invasion of Afghanistan. We were in the Cold War with the USSR, and we saw the efforts of jihadists in Afghanistan as a means to an end. It was in the U.S.' interest to promote these jihadists then. What's so different today?

All throughout history, the U.S. (and a few other countries) have been far more violent and radical than any small terror cell.

Jihadists want a world-wide Khalifah

Update: My friend gandhi pointed out that I indeed heard the wrong word here. My apologies. The word Romney used was Caliphate not Khalifah. I'm not an expert on the etymology here, but I believe the two words are linked.

Nice big word there Mitt. I'm sure most of your future constituency understands what that means (ha!). When you say that word along with other mean sounding words it's easy to think it's derogatory without even knowing the definition of the word.

Basically, every single muslim is supposed to be a Khalifah, a representative / steward of god on this earth. A Khalifah is roughly the same as a missionary in the christian sense -- someone who upholds the principles of god and spreads his message. The Khalifah Institute does propose a plan to spread islamic principles throughout the world, they even go as far as to call for jihad. They specifically mention however, that "this is not to be a jihad of the sword, or of guns, bombs [nor] violence... that would be wrong."

Maybe Mitt is talking about some other Khalifah movement. However, for something so important as to require offensive wars I require my elected public servants to be specific. To simply say we need to fight Jihadist Khalifahs is not only insulting, but dangerous.

The U.S. is a country of Freedom Lovers

Oh, I wish this one were true. The truth of the matter is that this hasn't been the case for a very long time. If Americans love freedom, then it would follow that Americans would keep their government accountable to the very Constitution that incorporates it. If Americans were free, then they should be able to demonstrate the basic, timeless, qualities of free men and women.

Can you build on your land without a permit? Can you educate your own children without mandated curriculum and permit? Can you drive from one city to the next in a car without a permit? Can you acquire a gun without a permit (filling out the NICS is a permit!)? Can you marry the one you love without a permit? Can you die and have your body buried without a permit? Can you stay out of jail if you consume a prohibited substance? Can you stay out of jail if you tell your government that you will not fight their wars? Can you stay out of jail if you tell your government that you will not pay for something you find abhorrent? I submit to the casual observer of current events that every single facet of life in this country is subverted and has been made unfree.

Permits are permission. If you need permission you are not free. Taxes and the draft are involuntary, and equate to slavery.

Jihadists hate us for our freedoms

It's true that many jihadists (and Muslims in general) hate secularism and materialism. Did they destroy four planes and three buildings on 9/11 because of this? No. Blowback is real. The countries that have experienced terrorist bombings in the past decade are not arbitrary. They have been selected. All of these countries have had a military presence in the middle east. Switzerland has a strict non-interventionist policy and you don't see them being a target.

Republican Congressman Ron Paul has spoken very clearly about the issue of blowback. Listen to his calm, yet sobering words accompanied by this short PBS documentary confirming the reality of blowback:

Romney will increase Intelligence spending

Romney wants to increase funding of our intelligence agencies but he won't listen to them in the first place! The CIA has numerous times talked about the concept of blowback. After the Iran coup d'etat in 1953, the CIA produced a (now declassified) memo describing how blowback can be a massive consequence of what the CIA was trying to accomplish (a complete overthrow of an existing government) warning CIA operatives that "few, if any, operations are as explosive as this type."

Romney will increase military personnel by at least 100,000

The U.S. has over 1.5 Million troops deployed worldwide. We have the strongest military presence of any country in all of history. We are Pax-Americana -- a bona-fide Empire. 70% of Americans want out of Iraq. We need to support our troops by bringing them home!

Romney will monitor all telephone calls

Romney says he wants to monitor all calls Al-Qaeda makes coming into America. I say he wants to monitor all calls whatsoever. If his source of information on Al-Qaeda is coming from monitoring telephones, how can he know where Al-Qaeda is calling from before he listens to them? It's the classic chicken or the egg problem. If you want to listen to all calls Al-Qaeda is making, you have to listen to all the calls. If you know where Al-Qaeda is calling from, then what the hell are you doing sitting on your ass listening to their phone calls?

This isn't about listening to Al-Qaeda at all. This is about increasing control.

Romney will make sure the U.S. stops Iran from acquiring Nuclear weapons

Gah. At least he's forthcoming about it this time. Last week he said he'd have to consult his lawyers to see if pretty please, maybe, possibly, he could bomb the shit out of them without having to ask Congress for permission. Romney, real patriots protect the Constitution!

Even if Iran had the capability, let alone the desire, to build nuclear weapons (I doubt they do), what's the difference between Iran having nuclear weapons and the 10 or so other countries that have them? What is intrinsically wrong with having nuclear weapons? Whatever that answer is, it should be applied equally to us as well as to them.

Ron Paul is the only moral choice

The people that believe in Romney's War on Jihadists would call Dr. Ron Paul an isolationist and that this makes him somehow irresponsible. This is so very wrong on many accounts. First of all, Dr. Paul is in no way an isolationist. Is it an isolationist view to think that we should not fuck with the rest of the world by establishing military coups around the world, displacing legally and democratically elected leaders? Is it an isolationist perspective to think that we should be cultivating friends throughout the world by trading and having open dialog with them instead of provoking war by subverting their governments? How would Americans feel if another country were to do the same here? Wouldn't we too feel a little retaliatory? War is avoidable, because blowback is avoidable: just mind your own business and make friends in the process.

Ron Paul is your only moral choice for a conservative president, no matter if you're anti-war or even if you believe in "Just War" theory. Mitt Romney's war theory, just as any modern neoconservative, is fear-based. It lacks any historical perspective and is entirely unjust.

However after seeing a clip today I may have to give Family Guy a more serious looking into. This clip borders on the iconoclastic and satirical genius of South Park. This video is so true it hurts.

I thought to myself, Chris, you're a genius! I still think that. Kellie and I are constantly saying to each other "Whatchoo think about dat?" As funny as it is however, the joke is far from original. Steve Allen made the same joke decades ago but with a different song. That doesn't make Chris' joke any less funny though. The best comedians are those that can find new ways to bring out truth that everyone already knows. Here's Steve Allen's original (Heck maybe he's not even the first):

The best jokes are timeless.

Thanks go to Lew Rockwell for the link.

Achievement is overrated. Not worthless mind you, just overrated. The value of achievement is weighted so heavily in our lives that we tend to neglect the very prerequisites for it.

This is what beauty is: to find happiness and fulfillment in every single day.

Lifelong 'achievement' cannot be realized unless it is done daily. This country's education system and expected work schedules don't help much in this regard but it cannot be blamed for my lack of daily achievement. I can achieve something and find fulfillment in spite of the apathy that may surround me.

This video is very inspiring to me. Because of it I am reminded that I must refuse the concept that I will someday arrive at the beginning of my life.

I am already here.

I always have been.

What I do today is what counts.

I've been kind of struggling to see the point of writing here. I feel totally helpless to affect any change. But then again, maybe I have the wrong idea. Maybe I shouldn't be attempting to change anyone's mind but my own. I've got a lot of spent up frustration, anger and fear right now. I probably need to let it vent off a little more often. So here goes.

So Bush signed into law the Military Commissions Act today. I've been pissed off at where this country is going before.. but I honestly have to say that I'm frightned now. Habeus Corpus is one of the last lines of defense against big bad government. Anyone that says otherwise has been totally brain washed. The president said over and over in early september that this act was of vital, imminent need. The Bush administration has been detaining people without a warrant and without showing cause for a long long time .. what then was the immediate need? And if it was so important why did it stay on his desk for practically two weeks after congress passed the bill? Obviously, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT THE PRESIDENT SAYS.. IT MATTERS WHAT THE LAW SAYS. This is something former attorney general John Ashcroft just doesn't seem to get:

Are we seriously just supposed to trust Mr. Bush for not abusing this law? What's even the point of having laws then if we can place such implicit trust in our leaders? Jefferson, Franklin.. hell.. even Hamilton (even he supported laws!) would be rolling in their graves to see such rhetoric be accepted by the masses.

Last weekend I finally got to see AMERICA: From Freedom to Fascism. I really really enjoyed this film. I was amazed at how well it was put together and how credible it actually was. I could see a film like this easily stray into conspiracy theory hell, but this film doesn't. It calmly, but unrelentingly asks three simple questions (but with unbeliveably hard/non existant answers)

1. Where is the law that says we have to pay an unapportioned direct income tax? (Incredibly, as this film shows, no one is so far able to come up with an answer!!) Forget about tax protesters, we don't even need to protest the taxes to show the coruptness of the IRS, we just need to ask them a simple question: "Show me the law!" ... they can't even answer a simple question like that.
2. Where is our nations gold? Why is there no audit of our gold? Where does congress get the authority to delegate it's ability to coin money to a private company and then forget it's responsibility to regulate the value of the money and allow the Fed to produce a Fiat currency?
3. Will you let the government put an RFID tag first in your drivers license and then later on embed the same chip underneath your skin? It could happen sooner than you think. Scary, Scary stuff.

One point that this film ultimately pressed upon me: even though I already believe that this stuff is wrong.. I'm doing nothing to remedy the situtation. I need to re-read and re-think that last phrase in the 1st ammendment : the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances ... Think about that phrase for a minute. Voting for representatives is only going to have a limited effect. Is your liberty safe in the hands of a representative? Or should you (meaning I) be out there defending it personally? Something just rubs me the wrong way with the idea of relying on political representation for the really important rights. If you rely only on representation ... doesn't that really mean you are incompetent to do it yourself? One (again, meaning I) really should be out there protesting and affecting change directly. We need to organize marches on washington. We need to do it now before it's too late and we all get labled as enemy combatants.

In the meantime, this is just plain awesome: