ghoststrider

I hate my new job. I mean I really do. Three main reasons: one, its boring as all hell; two, nobody there is really nice; and three, I can never get my money to match up at the end of the day, so I'm always either short or over. If it was just boring I could deal with it, but the money thing has me frustrated every damn day, and quite frankly having my coworkers being antagonistic dopes. The fact is, I got very little training about how to do anything, and they don't know this. When I point this out to them, it just seems to make them more annoying.

Sunday night I took my father to the local dirt track for Father's Day, and also a chance to relax. Short track dirt racing is perhaps the only sport that I actually enjoy, and that was a night to enjoy. During the 358-Modified race (358-Modifieds are the biggest baddies that run at the local track) three cars got smashed on the first lap. I was watching turn one when all of a sudden something big and metal flew up on the straightaway, and soon three cars had been pretty much destroyed. Luckily, everyone was okay, and after fifteen minutes the race got started again. And then everyone from the guy at the local burger joint to Donald Trump spun out on the turns.

I did get an idea for an NCIS episode while there, which I think I will use for a spec script. So I'll make two spec scripts for Hollywood; one for NCIS and another for Fringe, so I can show that I can do the large market of action and crime procedurals (and, of course, character-based shows) as well as do work in science fiction, my true love. Maybe some day I can make a science fiction police procedural! Maybe.

I've also noticed I've been posting much less to Livejournal. Not sure about that. Probably because I just don't feel the love here anymore. Just the idiocy.

As you can well imagine, I'm back from California. I actually got in on Saturday, but a combination of exhaustion, work, laziness, and preoccupation with other things moved this LJ update back to Wednesday.

I have to say, I found this excursion to California very enjoyable. It was refreshing to be around people who cared about liberty and were skeptical of government expansions, who weren't constantly arguing with me over every little thing (at least in terms of politics.) Unfortunately, I didn't get much time off of campus, although the Tuesday night party in San Clemente was very enjoyable. The professor who hosted the party has an amazing backyard view of the valley.

There was also, of course, a lot of stuff about screenwriting. I got to meet Paul Guay (writer of Liar, Liar), Tim Minear (executive producer, Firefly, Dollhouse, Drive; writer, Superman: Adventures of Lois & Clark, The X-Files), and Glen Whitman (writer, Fringe). Unfortunately, as I've read a bunch of stuff on writing, they weren't as useful. Whitman's lecture was interesting and useful to a point, but I don't believe his trade-offs of "characterization vs. plot" really make any sense, because characterization is advanced through plot. However, I did get some ideas, and the lectures on copyright and "stories about the law" were fascinating. I met a lot of people, most of whom were more traveled and older than I was, and bumped my Facebook friend list over 100.

The plane rides, however, were miserable. Okay, so they weren't that bad, but seriously, as a 6'2" (188cm) tall man, I believe I qualify for a disability whenever I get into an airliner. The overnight flight from John Wayne to Newark was an excercise in turning my legs into accordions, and not having anything to put my head up against. Amazingly, I was still admitted to the land of Nod for a couple of hours, but then I got deported and I wasn't allowed back in. But that was a week ago, and the misery is already receding from the shores of my mind.

Unfortunately, a new misery has come forth: that of dealing with morons on Livejournal, including those who don't believe the hysteria over Obama ever existed. Really? Are people just being that arbitrary with reality nowadays? I will compile a list of several statements made supporting what actually happened, and will drop it on a few communities, but I probably won't get anything done towards that until the weekend.

I also started work yesterday at the local convenience store. Easy, close by, and kinda boring actually. The only part I really disliked was food service, but it has to be done (and once you learn it, its not that hard.) One of my old acquaintences from high school works there, and I know most of the people since I'm usually in there to buy milk and bread. However, I don't qualify for a lunch break, and the only free stuff we get is coffee and hot chocolate, the first I don't like at all and the second which you don't drink during the summer. Oh well. As long as I don't accidentally let a youngster buy alcohol and tobacco, I guess I should be alright.

Can you say AWESOME?

So right now I'm sitting next to Glen Whitham, one of the writers for Fringe, one of J.J. Abrams creations. It's just part of the awesomeness that is the IHS' film and fiction seminar. I really, really love this place. First of all, its southern California. Secondly, its refreshing to talk with people who don't virulently disagree with you on nearly every point. It might sound like an echo chamber--and it really isn't, since we do disagree on certain points--but having gone through the left-wing liberal gauntlet nearly every day, being able to take a step back and relax in a friendly environment. Third, the lectures are interesting (well, sort of.) Fourth--I actually have time to work on screenplays and fiction, and I have a good feeling I can actually finish a 100-page screenplay in a year, and maybe even shop it around as a spec script.

I haven't met Tim Minear yet--he comes on Thursday--but that's okay. Just being here is stimulating my creative centers. I've also made a ton of friends. There's Jason, the 33-year old UCLA grad student whose written 13 screenplays, and my roommate Craig, from the same college who directs stageplays. There's Emily, who made me her friend after, on the first day, I basically shredded Ayn Rand for her terrible writing skills (and I mean, this is a place that would probably worship Ayn Rand.) The presenters are pretty cool too; there's Glen, whom I've already mentioned; Tom, a fantastic law professor who's pretty chill and comes to "class" on his skateboard; Joe, who is a political scientist and philosopher who asks tough questions; and a couple of others. (They're, um...)

[At this point I must apologize, now writing the next morning after Glen has left. I can't really finish these damn LJ posts because I'm so busy. And thus I lead into...]

There are a few bad things, however, about this seminar. First off--the beds are awful! It's just a plastic box for a mattress, and they don't even have fitted sheets! Unfitted sheets, IMNSHO, are a sign of barbarism. And it's really annoying when I toss and turn during the night and pull the sheet with me, connecting my warm, soft skin with the freezing, crinkly surface of the mattress. *shudder* Not cool. Second, we were told that there was free, wireless Internet all over campus. As Lex Luthor would say: WRROOOOONNNNGGG! My room doesn't have it, several of the classrooms don't have it, and thus it takes me awhile to find time to write. I don't really want to write during "class," but it may come down to that. And third, my final "complaint:" my God do these people fill up the days. Basically, we have class from 9am to 10pm, with some short breaks inbetween. (Today, Tuesday, is only a half-day, but that's the exception.) Just sitting in these lectures all day is exhausting. By the time we go to the nigh-mandatory evening social from 10:15pm to 12pm, I'm just barely awake. Usually I'm eating breakfast at 7:30AM because I can't sleep longer (still on NY timezone), so when I get out of class I'm zonked. Fortunately, I still have time to work on screenplays and maybe even short stories.

My battery is running low so I have to cut this short, but essentially this is one of the best experiences ever. I won't get a chance to see much of Los Angeles, but I'll definitely come back at a later date and explore. Maybe even get a job. (*snigger* Me, a job? Yeah right.)

So I'm going to Orange County California this Saturday. Boy am I nervous. I hope I have enough money for a taxi (or that a bus goes by the campus.) I hope I arrive on time. I hope TSA doesn't decide to strip-search me in front of everyone. And I really hope that I don't end up looking like a moron in front of everyone!

But, man, what an opportunity! A seminar about cinema and literature from a libertarian viewpoint. Amazing! I just hope that it doesn't turn into some far-right stupidity wonk that's just masquerading as libertarianism. That would be hugely disappointing.

Then again, Tim Minear from Firefly is going to be there, so it can't be all that bad.

So I was in Wal-Mart today--unwilling but there--waiting at the deli to pick up half a pound of Virgina Ham and another half-pound of roasted turkey. I took a slip--mine was 94, the historic docking bay number where Han Solo kept his Aluminum Turkey--and waited for my turn. There was only one old guy running the deli, but there were two or three people in front of me and a few more came after me. Including this one woman, with a baby, who could not stop complaining. "Where is everyone?" "I'm getting really mad." "Where are your other people?" Finally she calls the front desk and makes a junior manager come down to the deli, where she explains she's frustrated that there's only one person working the deli. She wasn't particularly mean to the guy, but still, all I could think during this was: Man, what a self-centered b***h.

I understand her frustration--only the day before I was feeling much the same way in a convenience store--and to be honest, she wasn't all that mean to anyone, but still, that's what went through my mind. Like, really, woman, is that all you're going to do? Do you not comprehend that these people work really long hours and must take breaks? That you are, in fact, not the center of the bloody universe? I don't know why I thought that, but I did.

Yesterday, I got a similar feeling for my father, when he called me up for no other reason then to badger me into staying into the Honors College. Why? What benefit do I get? First of all, my scholarship isn't based on my membership in the Honors College. Secondly, the Honors College itself is a joke; no one takes it seriously and it won't be much of an impact in my future, especially since I'm rather certain to get Magna Cum Laude when I graduate. Third, I could just put it down on my resume if I really wanted to, and I wouldn't be lying about anything, so why would it matter if I quit now? Fourth, my parents have made me stay in things longer than I wanted to without any real benefit. Band? Wanted to get out after just two years, they made me stay there for about five with no tangible benefit and some mental scarring. JROTC? Marginal benefit there, as I did meet a lot of friends, but by my senior year I was tired of the whole damn thing and wasn't doing much. Astronomy class? All that did was inflate my number of credits and drain my brainpan. Now this? I am seriously sick and tired of having these dunderheads dictate my life and tell me where to go. They seriously think that they know what the world is, but increasingly they appear to be antiquated and not in step with the rest of the world. They're being left behind, and as painful as that is to see, I cannot allow myself to fall into their trap. I'm nearly old enough to drink, for heck's sake. I'm old enough to vote and serve in the military if I choose to do so. I should be permitted--nay, I am--to leave an institution if I wish to.

It makes me feel a lot like the character of Yuu Goto from Noein, who is under intense pressure from his mother to study all the time, to the point where she prohibits him from seeing his friends or leaving the house. My situation is definitely not as bad as his, but still, I feel a connection there. (BTW, Noein is a great anime series. My only real problem with it is that the ending, to me, felt rushed and unsatisfactory. Check it out sometime.)

So I got an email from the Honors College the other day saying that they may have to drop me from their rolls.

Good riddance.

I got a 3.11 GPA because of the morons in my Journalism group and from my bloodthirsty Japanese professor. If they're going to toss me over that, well, then the heck with them. It's not like it was really beneficial anyways. Having taken a half-dozen honors courses to satisfy the college requirement on that front, I only found two courses to be really interesting and beneficial--one and a half, really. Ostensibly, they were to "expand my academic horizons," but considering I had dealt with all my GenEd requirements by transferring in with 32 credits, they held me back and did me no good. (Although they did take care of my journalism department cognate, I still find them to be a lot of extra work for no gain.) The various "events" and talks given in the Honors College housing were stupid and problematic, considering that we were supposed to go to 7 a semester--which wasn't easy when you're usually required to go to freshmen orientation meetings, departmental events, assignments for journalism classes, those sorts of things. I don't think membership affects my financial aid, so you know what?

Screw it. I don't need the honors college. And if I'm out of the honors college, I won't have to do that honors thesis. I still might, but I probably won't. It'll save me a lot of work. So its a good thing for me.

Yay.

ついに！　かんさいがいだいはしょうだくしょをくれた！　大阪に八月に行く！　日本はずいぶおそそだ。ままよ、かんさいがいだいにはいられている。今、お金の問題。。。

Finally! Kansai Gaidai just sent their acceptance letter! I'll be going to Osaka in August, baby! Man, Japan sure is slow, it seems. Whatever, though, I'm accepted. Now, about that money problem...

I feel lost. Adrift. Aimless. Without a purpose in life. And its all my damn fault.

I procrastinate far too much. I can't sit down and write out a story or even a bloody outline before I get distracted and then comb Livejournal or Wikipedia or TvTropes for something. And the strange thing is is that writing is in my soul, in my deepest core. I can't go without writing or thinking up something for any period longer than thirty nanoseconds. It's me. And yet I suck at it. My plots don't make sense, my characters seem fake, and my writing is rather...well let's just say its "not good" and leave at that, shall we? No need to go completely emo here.

I don't think I'll be able to actually do the honors thesis I had set up for myself so many months ago, and part of me has considered dropping out of college (which will become something of a reality if, for some inexplicable reason, Kansai Gaidai decides to say "FU" and not accept me.)

But I'm struggling with this outline for a movie I really want to do (its about a police force in a city set in an anarcho-capitalist America, so yeah), I've been working on that sci-fi novel since I was 17 and its not finished, I have several half-written short stories on my computer(s), a half-finished play, and its just...depressing. I get nowhere. I feel like I'm going to be relegated to this bumfuck rural area for the rest of my life, and that's perhaps the most depressing thing since I found out that Star Wars wasn't real. I can't really do anything else (except pontificate on LJ), and so if I fail at this, I fail at pretty much everything.

I don't know what to do. Although I think I'm gonna get back to working on this movie outline.

From here:

"
I've been reading a bit about the proposals for health care reform and I'm stumped on Republican opposition. [...] What I don't get, is why they oppose this. If the government can run a health insurance company that eventually drives out the private players, it means that the government has done a more effective, efficient job."



I am deeply ashamed at the lack of knowledge in regard to how markets work in this country. It's like people don't even try to learn up on economics or market systems. It's disgraceful. Perhaps someone should explain to the little twat that government does not play by the rules, does not have to worry about profit, and is perfectly able of getting away with anything it wants because it has the army and police force and, let's face it, the law--the law that it creates--behind it.

rust_belt gets a Bothy for being a complete twat. But the sad thing is, we have twats like this earning Nobel Prizes and publishing treatises on economics. These people will run this planet into the ground, and some day, when the house of cards falls, we're going to be too busy trying to survive to even laugh at them.

Yeah, so some exciting things have happened in the past week. I finished all my exams, my strange Chinese roommate came back for one night and then randomly moved out at 1am on Tuesday, just as I was getting ready to go to bed, the bookstore paid me to stay outside and buy back textbooks in rather nice weather, I'm going to be in California for a week in June, and now the Study Abroad Office and the campus television service has chosen me to star in my own "No Reservations" show.

I'm not kidding. The ATV (Albany TeleVision) guy even mentioned Bourdain as an example.

So this is how it goes: over the summer they will give me a Flip MinoHD camera. It's actually a loan--I can't keep it--but even so, I still have one to use and "play" with. I was thinking of buying one anyways, so this is a great cost-saver. I'll be using it to film my departure, my daily life in Japan, and cover some local cultural tropes. Of course, it will be a great tool for my thesis, which is talking to Japanese journalists and readers and trying to figure out just why they have circulation numbers in the millions, but I'm thinking I could do a great many other things too. Like throw up eating octopus, throw up while on a Japanese bus, or throw up after drinking too many beers. Lots of throwing up ideas. I think I may have something.

Already I'm thinking of the kinds of scenes and editing and jokes that I want to use, although deep down I know that it won't be this spectacular thing that will be shown on the Travel Channel, and all the editing will be done back in Albany by Paul and his technicians. It'll be shown on campus TV and will be posted on the internet. All I'll be doing is taking the video, telling everyone about it, and of course providing some narration. Then again, maybe they will let me direct...

I mentioned a few posts ago that I was accepted to the IHS "Cinematic and Literary Traditions of Liberty" seminar in California, but never really elaborated. Essentially, I'm going to a libertarian screenwriting seminar. Even though my major is journalism, journalism is really secondary; I find it interesting and maybe something will come of it, but I really want to write novels and screenplays. A week in California may also do me some good; I've been wanting to visit that state for awhile now, and taking a mini-vacation before I take a year in Japan will be useful to get my mind off of things. That said, I must now start working on an outline for my movie/potential miniseries idea, Ancapistan PD. I'm not joking, I'm really going to write it.

Poynter Online - Low Profit Limited Liability Company

So (a guy on) Poynter is talking about a new Vermont law which would allow companies to incorporate as "Low Profit Limitd Liability Companies," otherwise known as an L3C. "As an L3C, a news organization could rely on a wider range of financial backers than is currently possible," he writes.

Hey, here's a brilliant idea: let's allow companies to have no restrictions on financial backers, as long as they're not engaging in criminal acts. Let them draw up funding how they see fit, instead of slapping restrictions on them every way they turn. Let them actually work as companies. That might not save the newspaper industry, but it would help them out and the rest of the economy in the long run.

But no, the children in government must continue to make rules in order to not be bored. Why can we not let some adults run this bloody country?

EDIT: It gets worse. "Let's have the government give everyone broadband internet access and spur innovation in new business models!" Seriously? Our media is so [don't know what word to insert here] that they need the government to prop them up?

This is ridiculous. Respectable journalism, exit stage right.

Sorry I haven't been updating lately. I've just had roughly 2-3 weeks of intense essay writing and busyness. Annoying as all hell. Now that my two big essays have been submitted, I want to take a break and actually write something to my Livejournal, cruise my friends list, check up on everybody, and maybe actually have time to use the bathroom.

And just as an aside: my goodness, it's like 120 degrees in my room right now. I'm hotter than Jessica Alba.

( MASSIVE News is bad for flists, so I'm cutting it. )

BBC NEWS | Europe | EU quarantines London in swine flu panic

After death, this virus is able to restart the heart of it’s victim for up to two hours after the initial demise of the person where the individual behaves in extremely violent ways from what is believe to be a combination of brain damage and a chemical released into blood during “resurrection.”

WAT

A Government that oppresses its people is not by definition socialist.

WHAT

---

To elaborate, the definition of socialism is simply government control of the means of production and distribution--or in the case of "anarcho-socialism," the "public." Oppression doesn't enter into it. Oppression can occur under a socialist state, and it could occur under a libertarian state. (Let's be fair--libertarianism is not a perfect ideology.)

It's just a completely stupid comment any way you phrase it.

Actually, I interpreted it wrong. MY BAD! EPIC FAIL!

"And this is an idiot" is pointing to myself...

Well, I've progressed quite well on my 15-page (minimum) libertarian defense paper, and I think I'm starting to sound like an Austrian economist writing it. (I don't know whether that's a good or a bad thing...) Two other good things have happened: I've been accepted to the IHS Seminar at Chapman University in Orange, CA for "Cinematic and Literary Traditions of Liberty," and I just received a copy of Thomas Woods Jr.'s Meltdown. I also have only four days of class left.

But there have been some disturbing things going on, especially within the Historical Fiction class I complained about earlier. Right now we're reading The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, and we're discussing "truth." In the book, O'Brien states that "a thing could never happen and yet be true, while a thing that did happen could be a lie." (Paraphrasing there.) The professor then brings up the example of Oleanna, and according to the professor, in the movie a student goes to a professor to ask why she isn't do so good, and the professor gives her a lecture, and then she somehow gets convinced by her "group" that she was raped--although she clearly wasn't--and then gets him fired for it. And then students start saying about how people have their "own truth;" that while it wasn't rape to the professor, it certainly was to the girl, and they are both telling the truth. Essentially, truth is subjective.

I countered that the professor should tell this bullshit to the people who are in jail for refusing to pay their taxes. C'mon, seriously? Truth is no longer important? Everyone exists in their own little reality? Why is this crap taught in higher education? If truth really was subjective, we'd all be going around doing whatever the hell we wanted without worry of repercussions, and aside from the government and big business, no one is doing that. I could kill someone, but, because I think the truth is that she really isn't dead, or it wasn't really a killing, I should get off scot-free. Seriously? ARE THEY OUT OF THEIR FRICKIN` MINDS?

People want to know what's wrong with American education. Well, I can tell you why: the people are stupid.

Parts of me want to write another political themed post, but at the very moment I am writing this I just don't have the energy. So let me give you a little bit of a rundown of the weekend:

• Yesterday, set up XAMPP on my desktop to create a dummy server to test out a possible avenue for my honors thesis--as a blog.
  
• Interviewed a Japanese student today (well, yesterday, really) for my thesis and a journalism class project.
  
• Had my desktop nearly overheat and die because its 70+ degrees outside.
  
• Got barely any work done on my 15 page libertarianism defense paper (LDP) because I'm a lazy slacker.
  
• And also because I fought for almost an hour trying to take the XAMPP desktop installation (on XP) and put it on my laptop (on Vista.) Vista is terrible. Screw you, Vista. Screw you.
  
• Went down to the college pool and actually got wet.
  
• Got hit on.
  
• Hung out with friends.
  
• Plan on going to Fountain Day tomorrow, but not planning on actually enjoying it.
  
• Planning on coming to history class Monday to discuss Nickel and Dimed and being shat on as the resident libertarian like usual.
  
• Planning on writing at least five pages for LDP, get started on the other history class paper, and laundry. Dear lord, do I have to do laundry.
  

And that is a very, very, very simplified summary of my weekend.

Apparently the ranks of the Japanese Communist Party have been swelling recently, growing steadily for 15 consecutive months.



Do they not remember what happened just a hop-and-a-skip away in Maoist China? Does Tiannenmen Square mean anything to them? Where are their brains?

I mean, I can, on some level, understand why they're joining the JCP. The economy is a mess, and the politics in Japan are extremely rigid; the LDP has been in power almost continually since 1955, and many feel its completely out of touch. But seriously, to turn to communism? They have got to be out of their frickin` minds. Not even Obama has gone down that road just yet.

I just don't get it. People keep flirting with it and trying it and demanding it...and it always works out badly.

And of all places, in Japan? Jeez lawheez...

I am now officially 20 years old, and someone half my age is now a bestselling author and is showing up on talk shows.

Meanwhile, my novel is still stuck in the fourth or fifth draft. I can't tell what I am, more pathetic or more lazy. Maybe both. Just what the hell am I doing with my life?

I am astounded by the level of stupidity being passed for wisdom these days. People are staring into the face of the leviathan and are seeing daisies. Or something; they're definitely not looking at reality. Massive industry bailouts, inflated government spending, a tumbling economy, overflowing jails, and it doesn't look like we'll get out of those Middle Eastern stinkpots anytime soon. Thanks a lot.

So here's the situation: Our national debt is over (9000!) $11 trillion, our budget deficit has hit $1.7 trillion, and apparently (although I haven't really checked these numbers here, so this guy could be wrong) government spending is now 90% of American GDP. But wait, it gets better. Obama has, as you know, decided to "halve the deficit in four years," but at the same time refuses to increase taxes. He's ordered a piddling $100 million budget cut in the next 90 days, but that's like pissing into the Atlantic Ocean. (Or Onondaga Lake, although for two very different reasons.) Such a tiny amount is almost insulting.

The whole thing is insane. Either Obama is nuts, incredibly brilliant on the scale of Ronald D. Moore and J.J. Abrams (which may not be a good thing), or he's a moron. It doesn't make any sense what he's doing. Let's just look at it: in order to have money, one must have income and revenues. To keep an entity afloat, revenues must be larger than expenses. So what is Obama doing? Cutting revenues and increasing expenses. Is this not boneheaded, pants on head retarded fiscal policy? Why can no one see this? And then his press secretary has the balls to say (CSM paraphrasing): "that higher budget forecasts will not make it harder for President Obama to halve the deficit in four years."

IS HE OUT OF HIS FRICKIN` MIND?

I understand that, as a PR officer, Mr. Gibbs is required to spin things positively for his client, but c'mon, this is absurd. No, wait, I take that back. The fact that the American public is buying into this crap is what's absurd. It doesn't really require a degree in economics. Hell, just managing your pocketbook should tell you what's needed. But for some inexplicable reason, the American public is inable--or perhaps unwilling--to see past the Obama Administration's doubletalk and contradictions. And they're quite unable--or unwilling--to understand the ramifications of these policies. Sure, in the near future, they might buoy the economy, but when the debt finally comes due and the economy gets into a rough patch again, we're screwed. Massive inflation. Government bankruptcy. Economic downturn (again.) And if people buy into government intervention into the economy again, so help me David Boaz, I'm going to pound my head into a concrete block until it turns bloody.

Ultimately, however, can we really lay this at the feet of the Democrats? The individual and party most to blame are George W. Bush and the Republicans. They're a gang of liars, thieves, warmongerers, and slimy twofacers who have less credibility than George Tenet on Iraq's WMD program. We had a budget surplus when Bush came into office; that quickly went the way of the dodo. Any shred of small-government conservatism and limited spending was vaporized during his eight years. As CBS notes, "He ran up more debt faster than nearly all of his predecessors combined: just under $4.9-trillion." The current Republicans in power are nothing but a bunch of empty-headed, unprincipled, scoundrel hypocrites. According to Boehner, the House Minority Leader, the current budget "spends too much, taxes too much, and borrows too much from our children and grandchildren." (Quoted from Washington Post.) If that's the case, just where the hell was he from 2000-2008? Lounging around in the cafeteria? What an idiot. As much as we harp on Democrats, the Republican Party right now is the most pathetic creature I've seen. And people still vote for it?

If there's one silver lining to this mess, it's that if we lose our superpower status and our #1 GDP ranking, there's a chance people may wake up. They've been living in a world where America was always #1 no matter what, that they were on top. Coming down from such a high is going to be a good wake-up call to most of America, and hopefully it'll provide some good soul-searching and investigations into government. Maybe we can get back to the principles of limited government that have eluded us for so long. If not, we're in for some pretty scary times.

And that's my ridiculous oversized rant on the insanity gripping the United States.

EDIT: Even the AP thinks Obama isn't doing enough.