Libertarianism: The Blue pill

Libertarianism is the belief that life is a simulation and that human nature is not one of the variables.

-WKW

#OurXmas: The Greatest Twitter Extravaganza in The History of This or Any Other Planet (With updates)

I should be in San Francisco right now.  The plans had been made, tickets bought, room and board at the ready. A family Christmas vacation awaited. But then, life got in the way.

It got in the way in the form of a tiny, old Boston Terrier named Max. My wife got Max before we were together and at the tender age of 22. He’s been with her through the ups and downs of life. While we have other dogs and always will, Max is the dog of her life. And now, at the age of 14, Max is winding down. He has congestive heart failure, and has been battling a sinus infection that won’t go away. He still has a lot of life in him, enjoys his normal routine and attacks food. But the fact is, he could leave us at any time and needs care.

So, my Christmas present for my wife this year was to stay in Brazil with Max and take care of him. My wife could never have enjoyed the trip with her family without me here, as she’d have been worried the entire time about how he was and how the caregivers we’d have to pay for were treating him. I’m happy to do it because I love my wife, understand her deep connection wit Max, and I love the little man myself. It has not been a sacrifice. It has been life.

What this means, however, is that I’ll be spending Christmas alone this year. This is not such a tragedy, mind you. My wife will be home in a week and we’ll have our own festivities. But it made me think of all the people who will be alone this Christmas, or are left out of it because they don’t celebrate that holiday for whatever reason.

Which why I - with the help of Barracks O’Bama (@P0tUS on Twitter) - have come up with a plan - tentatively and humbly titled:

#OurXmas: The Greatest Twitter Extravaganza in The History of This or Any Other Planet

Here is the plan: Using the hashtag #OurXmas on Twitter, we invite everyone to come and enjoy a day of fun, laughs and love on Twitter or on participating blogs. It will be a chance to connect with others, enjoy some humor and just have some fun. To sum up simply, it will be about inclusion, humor and holiday cheer.

Here are the basic ground rules:

1) While this has been started for those who will be alone on Christmas or don’t celebrate it, all are invited to be a part of it.

2) Keep religion and politics out of it. You have 364 days a year to make your political and philosophical leanings heard. Let’s make an effort to make everyone, regardless of ideology or belief system, feel included.

3) I will not be policing anyone. That’s just not my thing. Enjoy the spirit of the day and the concept.

4) Have fun.

As for the tweeting aspect:

1) Use the main hashtag of #OurXmas on applicable tweets. (Note: Using “Xmas” in this hashtag is not a statement of any type. It is being used to save characters.)

2) Use “Sub-Hashtags” such as #memories for Tweets reflecting on Holidays past, or #Stories for favorite Twitter stories, or #jokes for Christmas humor. This - like most of the event itself, will be open to creative license.

3) Be as silly or serious as you want to be. As I see it, the main focus should be - as the kids say - Lulz. Have some fun, make some people laugh, and maybe connect with followers you wouldn’t have otherwise.

4) I will post other blogs to collect people’s stories and memories if they want to share them in more than 140 characters. Also, if you have a blog and want to be involved, please feel free and ask me any questions you have. We’re getting the ball rolling, but this will be a team effort.

That’s about it. I have some ideas on humorous and fun topics and memes and would love to hear other people’s ideas. Think outside the box. But mainly, just know you have people to be with this Christmas.

I will be adding updates to this post to help clarify things and add ideas as we get closer to the event. The festivities officially begin at the stroke of Midnight (EST) on Sunday, Christmas Day (but hey, if you want to start now, get to it.) If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in comments, or write to me at @Wolfrum on Twitter.

We hope to see you there.

(Update 1: Out of the blue, The Washington Post decided to join in our extravaganza.)

-WKW

Hateful words at William K. Wolfrum Chronicles? Stop blaming William K. Wolfrum

Every few years, a group of mindless political operatives shriek loudly about how I, William K. Wolfrum, am a racist. This, my friends, is an exercise in futility, as I am obviously not a racist. Nonetheless, these hateful smear mongers continue to pursue these charges.

These charges are baseless, and come from words that appeared at “William K. Wolfrum Chronicles” years ago, such as:

“Opinion polls consistently show only about 5% of blacks have sensible political opinions.”

“If you have ever been robbed by a black teen-aged male, you know how unbelievably fleet-footed they can be.”

Also:

“Racial Violence Will Fill Our Cities” because “mostly black welfare recipients will feel justified in stealing from mostly white ‘haves.’”

“I’ve urged everyone in my family to know how to use a gun in self defense. For the animals are coming.”

“Jury verdicts, basketball games, and even music are enough to set off black rage, it seems.”

Other lying, slander-demons have pointed out that William K. Wolfrum Chronicles often supports right-wing militia thinking and anti-Semetic beliefs. They point to anti-civil rights words that appeared here, such as:

(Boy, it sure burns me to have a national holiday for that pro-Communist philanderer, Martin Luther King. I voted against this outrage time and time again as a Congressmen [sic]. What an infamy that Ronald Reagan Approved it! We can thank him for our annual Hate Whitey Day.)

Listen to a black radio talk show in any major city. The Racial Hatred makes a KKK rally look tame. The blacks talk about their own racial superiority, how the whites have a conspiracy to wipe them out, and how they are going to take over the country and enact retribution.

Or they bring up homophobic words that appeared here, such as:

AIDS sufferers “enjoy the attention and pity that comes with being sick.”

“Homosexuals, not to speak of the rest of society, were far better off when social pressure forced them to hide their activities.”

There is a simple reason why these words appeared at William K. Wolfrum Chronicles: They weren’t written by me. They were written by someone else. I have no idea who. But man, that person is a jerk.

So there you have it. I have detailed the charges against me and shown them all to be false. Like the great Dr. Ron Paul before me, I am being judged for something that has nothing to do with me. I will fight these attacks with ferocity by continually telling people one thing - It wasn’t me.

My friends, William K. Wolfrum Chronicles - written, edited and bankrolled by me, William K. Wolfrum - is not a racist, homophobic or anti-semetic Web site and contains no such views, except the above examples and probably some other ones. But they have nothing to do with me. Case closed. So let’s drop this subject and talk about how the Gold Standard will save us all.

-WKW

When Fascism Comes to America

Feel free to add your own.

-WKW

The GOP Race for the Presidency: The greatest Book-Selling Scam ever

The race to the GOP nomination has very little to do with actually winning the Presidency, and much more to do with selling books. Just about every GOP contender has a new book, or books out, as well as other Republicans connected with the GOP race.

A quick rundown:

Newt Gingrich: “The Crater” & “A Nation Like No Other”

Callista Gingrich: “Sweet Land of Liberty”

Mitt Romney: “No Apology: The Case for American Greatness”

Rick Perry: “Fed Up”

Herman Cain: “This Is Herman Cain! My Journey To The White House”

Donald Trump: “Time to Get Tough”

Ron Paul: “Ron Paul Family Cookbook”

Michele Bachmann: “Core of Conviction”

President Barack Obama had success weaving his books - including “Dreams of My Father” and “The Audacity of Hope” - into his 2008 run for President. But the Republicans have taken it one step further, with all of them incorporating book signings into their campaigns.

Basically, the GOP field and assorted hangers ons and spouses, have used the Republican Presidential race  as a way to sell books and line their pockets. George Will - “Mr. Cain, who used this as a book tour, in a fundamentally disrespectful approach to the selection of presidents.” - hit the nail on the head regarding Cain. But the fact is, all the candidates are doing it.

This isn’t a political campaign any longer for the GOP. It’s a book-selling scam.

-WKW

As Alec Baldwin turns

For those following the silly drama between Alec Baldwin and American Airlines, the 30 Rock actor has now quit his Twitter account, saying he would start a new one.

“Let’s play a game called Mass Unfollowing. I want to crash this acct and start again. But, tonight at 10 PM, NY time, unfollow me,” wrote Baldwin.

For those unawares, yesterday, Baldwin had been kicked off a flight by American Airlines and took to Twitter to complain. From US Magazine:

Alec Baldwin arrived safely at New York City’s JFK airport Tuesday night. Earlier in the day, the 30 Rock star was kicked off an American Airlines flight for continuing to use his iPhone while the plane was at the gate.

“The flight attendant on American reamed me out for playing Words with Friends while we sat at the gate, not moving,” Baldwin, 53, tweeted. (His account has since been deleted.) “No wonder American Air is bankrupt.”

Earlier today, American Airlines gave their version of the events on their Facebook page:

Since an extremely vocal customer has publicly identified himself as being removed from an American Airlines flight on Tuesday, Dec. 6, we have elected to provide the actual facts of the matter as well as the FAA regulations which American, and all airlines, must enforce. Cell phones and electronic devices are allowed to be used while the aircraft is at the gate and the door is open for boarding. When the door is closed for departure and the seat belt light is turned on, all cell phones and electronic devices must be turned off for taxi-out and take-off. This passenger declined to turn off his cell phone when asked to do so at the appropriate time. The passenger ultimately stood up (with the seat belt light still on for departure) and took his phone into the plane’s lavatory. He slammed the lavatory door so hard, the cockpit crew heard it and became alarmed, even with the cockpit door closed and locked. They immediately contacted the cabin crew to check on the situation. The passenger was extremely rude to the crew, calling them inappropriate names and using offensive language. Given the facts above, the passenger was removed from the flight and denied boarding.

And just a few hours ago, Baldwin - who had nearly 600,000 followers on Twitter, apparently abandoned the account. His account has now been renamed “Deactivated001.” Baldwin’s last Tweet, 13 hours ago, was video of Bernard Haitink and the Concertgebouw, performing the Mahler 9th, fourth movement. “I leave you with this …” Baldwin wrote.

Other Twitter celebrities have had their own Twitter dramas, as well. Pundit Keith Olbermann - a friend of Baldwin - has recently announced he will no longer reply to any of his followers on Twitter.

Update: Conservative SooperMexican - who has had some Twitter drama with Baldwin in the past - has more on the Baldwin story.

-WKW

Update: Brazil keeping Chevron’s feet to the fire over oil spill

Last week I wrote about the Chevron oil spill in the Frade Oil Field off the coast of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, as well as how Brazil has held Chevron’s feet to the fire for the incident. Brazil is continuing to keep the pressure on Chevron. A couple updates:

Brazil says Chevron must come in line with Brazilian law as they claim Chevron has lied and hidden details of the spill:

Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil producer after Exxon Mobil Corp., needs to comply with the country’s laws and coordinate activities with the country’s oil regulator, Minister Edison Lobao said in an interview in Brasilia today.

Brazil plans to offer exploration areas by the end of 2012 in the so-called pre-salt region in deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Brazil has made the largest oil discoveries in the Americas in more than three decades in the area, where oil deposits of up to four miles below the ocean floor are trapped under a layer of salt.

Chevron “needs to completely come into line with Brazilian law,” Lobao said. “From time to time there are gaps of information between them and the agency.”

Chevron has come under increased scrutiny in Brazil after it leaked 2,400 barrels of oil last month from an oil field in deep waters of the Campos Basin. Chevron underestimated the amount of pressure at an oil deposit it was exploring, and crude leaked from the reservoir for about eight days, George Buck, the head of Chevron for Brazil, said on Nov. 20. …

Brazil’s oil regulator, known as ANP, is investigating Chevron for only providing partial video clips of the Nov. 7 oil spill and not reporting the presence of hydrogen sulfide in an oil well at the Frade project where the spill happened, Magda Chambriard, a director at the agency, said Dec. 1.

The agency ordered Chevron to shut the well with hydrogen sulfide and is also investigating inconsistencies in Chevron’s plan to cement and abandon the well that caused the leak, she said. The agency has prohibited Chevron from drilling any new wells for at least three months until it finishes probing the spill, Chambriard said.

Chevron to be kicked out of Brazil if they do not comply:

BRASILIA – U.S.-based Chevron Corp. will have to leave Brazil if it fails to comply with the agreement it reached to deal with the damage caused by an oil spill last month off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state, Energy and Mines Minister Edison Lobao said.

“The company has already been given a very strong penalty for what it did and it has been suspended from engaging in new drilling in Brazil, even if it is the second-largest oil company in the world,” Lobao told reporters in Teresina, the capital of the northeastern state of Piaui.

Chevron must pay a fine of 50 million reais (about $28 million) levied by officials and took responsibility for the environmental damage caused by the spill, whose extent has still not been determined, the energy minister said.

Brazil holding its ground against the Oil Companies:

Speaking to the Financial Times, Carlos Minc, Rio’s environment secretary and the country’s former environment minister, says he is now pushing for tougher rules for companies looking to profit from Brazil’s oil boom.

“We may be a tropical country but we’re not a ‘banana republic’,” he says. “Everyone wants to come to Brazil and if we’re not strict with [Chevron], this place is going to turn into a pool of oil.” …

“If we let Chevron make an error, there will be a thousand more errors during pre-salt,” says Mr Minc. “We need to be hard now, especially on big companies such as Chevron, which has all the resources to do things the right way, but got it wrong,”

Last week ANP, Brazil’s oil and gas regulator, put further pressure on the company by shutting down another well at its Frade project after a safety audit found unreported hydrogen sulphide. The week before, ANP already said it would ban Chevron, which ranks as the country’s third-largest oil producer, from drilling wells in the country’s waters until the causes of the incident had been further clarified.

Ibama, Brazil’s environmental regulator, imposed the maximum fine it could on Chevron of R$50m ($28m), and Mr Minc says the company can expect at least another R$200m in fines from regulators and the state government.

Meanwhile, the federal police have launched their own investigation, which could even lead to the imprisonment of Chevron workers for environmental crimes. …

Mr Minc has also pushed regulators to ban Transocean, Chevron’s drilling partner on the project, which also operated the drill in the Gulf of Mexico spill. Transocean responded by saying it would fully co-operate with the authorities.

However, Mr Minc warns the industry of even stricter regulations, calling for the maximum fines to be doubled.

The difference between how the U.S. government coddled and protected BP for the much-larger Gulf of Mexico oil disaster and how Brazil is handling this incident could not be more striking.

-WKW

 

 

Earth 2.0: Invade now and the Keplerian-22bers will greet us as liberators

My friends, we are living in perilous times. With the discovery of Planet Kepler-22b, we Americans are threatened in a way like never before.

Yes, Planet Kepler-22b, or “Earth 2.0″ as the unserious are calling it, is an Earth-like planet that could contain life. Life that would annihilate us for our freedoms.

Sources close to this blog have stated that - if and when the Keplerian-22bers attack, it will likely be worse that 400,000 Sept. 11s. It is up to us to not wait for the smoking gun that will come in the form of complete interstellar destruction. No, we must strike first.

Invading and overthrowing the likely evil Kepler-22b government is our only failsafe action in this situation. And while it seems like it would be difficult, the simple fact is that such an invasion would take roughly six weeks, and pay for itself. And the Keplarian-22bers will greet us as liberators.

That is why President Barack Obama must begin sending predator drones into the atmosphere of Kepler-22b and begin systematically taking out its leadership from the skies. Only then can we send in fighter planes to weaken its infrastructure, and finally troops to mop up the rest.

It is time for Americans to come together as one. Kepler-22b is just 600 light years away. That means - with recent developments in the study of the neutrino - we can be there in 599.99999 years. It is time to set a plan, and stick with it. We are America. We went to the moon. We can get to Kepler-22b, overthrow it’s government and convert its people to Christianity.

For average Americans looking to help in this interstellar war effort, please, travel. Shop. Enjoy this fine country and its myriad mini-malls and outlet stores. And, for God’s sake, stop talking about cutting the defense budget.

-WKW

Newt Gingrich and Tim Tebow: Winning ugly

As of this very moment, there are two men that are dominating the news - and both of them are just awful at their chosen professions. But amazingly enough, we are all witnessing mediocrity rise to incredible heights as a lousy NFL quarterback is leading his team to victories while a lousy politician is leading the race for the GOP nomination for President.

Yes, my friends, with Newt Gingrich and Tim Tebow, America is putting its worst foot forward and getting a chance to enjoy the fruits of lousiness. And while the two are incredibly different in many ways, there are some striking similarities to their current runs of success.

Unexamined, both Tebow and Gingrich look like winners. Tebow has led the Denver Broncos to six victories in seven games, often pulling off miracle comebacks to get the job done. Gingrich has managed to become the consensus front-runner of the race to the GOP nomination, despite having his campaign all but die at birth.

There is one simple reason for the duo’s success, however - an incredible lack of competition. Tebow’s six victories have come against teams with a combined 29-42 record, with none of them resembling a playoff team.

For Gingrich, his race to the top of the GOP comes against an even worse field. Keep in mind, Herman Cain was the GOP front-runner only a scant few weeks ago. Donald Trump has spent time on top of the polls. For the most part, Gingrich has ascended to the top for one main reason - his name isn’t Mitt Romney.

Thus, the current successes of Gingrich and Tebow have mostly come in spite of themselves. Gingrich is no doubt an experienced politician, but his barrage of affairs and divorces make Kim Kardashian look like a spokesperson for successful marriage. Add to that the fact that he is more of a flip-flopper on issues than Romney, as well as his bizarre, angry white guy proclamations - such as his latest push of ending child labor laws because poor children have no one around them that has a work ethic - and it becomes clear that Gingrich is not just out of touch with modern America, he’s not even within shouting distance.

And while Tebow is obviously a very talented athlete, his quarterbacking abilities are abysmal. He has virtually no field vision and the passing game obviously moves far too fast for him to react. He often looks like a punter trying to make a throw on a trick play rather than a starting quarterback. And while it’s worked thus far against mediocre competition, an option quarterback just has no place in the modern NFL.

Keep in mind, the differences between the two are greater than the similarities. Tebow is a likable young man who is earnest in his religious beliefs. He has natural leadership skills - make no mistake, the Broncos have become a better football team solely due to him.

Gingrich, on the other hand, is about as unlikable a person as exists in America today. His religious beliefs - he’s a Catholic now, by the way - are completely transparent and self-serving. His leadership abilities have wrecked his own party and created political discourse that makes schoolyard taunting look like an MIT lecture. The GOP is a worse party, solely due to him.

In the end, we are currently watching a lousy quarterback win NFL games and a lousy politician lead the GOP field. But one thing can be said with the utmost certainty - both Gingrich and Tebow will see their seasons end in humiliating defeat.

-WKW

The GOP’s Elite Eight - Now more than ever

We cannot allow this to end.

My friends, we are living in a special time and it is up to us to get as much out of it as we possibly can. The current field for the GOP nomination for the Presidency is a group that can only be defined as “special.” And we may start losing them.

Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, Jon Huntsman, Rick Santorum and Herman Cain have been the only thing that has kept America from falling into a complete depression - mentally, not economically, mind you. This group of Republicans has helped America in so many ways. And we are nearing a time when some of them may start dropping out. So now it is our turn to help them.

Cain - who led in the polls as recently as a few weeks ago - may be the first to go. Apparently blindsided by the fact that 13-year affairs don’t magically disappear when you begin a political campaign, Cain has spoken of “reassessing” his campaign. This, as we all know, is code for “How can I get out of this.”

Still, Cain is showing the gumption to keep going. The multiple accusations of sexual harassment haven’t slowed Cain, and it’s possible the allegations of a long “friends with benefits” relationship with Ginger White won’t stop him either. Cain has lashed out, releasing child-like maps that are supposed to showcase his foreign policy chops (Brazil? A friend!) and firing away at his critics, claiming that Democrats and liberals are are afraid of him.

And he speaks the truth. We are afraid of Cain. Afraid that he’ll drop out of the race. In fact, we’re afraid of losing any of the GOP contenders. We are in the midst of a once-in-a-lifetime event. The GOP’s Elite Eight is akin to Haley’s Comet flying by during a solar eclipse while the Chicago Cubs win the World Series.

Much like a boy band, each of these candidates holds a special niche:

Romney: The hot one who just wants to be respected for his ever-changing mind.

Gingrich: The angry one with horrifying morals who will likely be spitting on voters before the end.

Cain: The funny, yet super-troubled and possibly dangerous one.

Perry: The drunk one.

Paul: The wacky one who lives in a separate reality but has a cult of fans who live in that same separate reality.

Huntsman: The one in the suit.

Bachmann: The nutjob religoid.

Santorum: The nutjob religoid.

Ok, there may be more nutjob religoids in this group than in your average boy band, but I’m on a roll here so just overlook that.

As individuals, each one of these candidates is a train wreck of horror. But put them together, and they sing, baby. Somehow, all the anger, self-righteousness and ignorance meshes together into a symphony of stupid. Every GOP debate is must-see TV. They are like “Keeping Up With The Kardashians” but with far less intellectuality and ethics. And the best part is, they all assume we are laughing with them, when we are all just laughing at them.

This is why Americans of all stripes must come together and encourage all of them to stay in the race for the long haul. We must send letters, e-mails and text messages of support. We cannot lose a single one of them. Not now. Not when we need them most.

My friends, eventually there will be just one GOP candidate. And that candidate will somehow lose the general election to Barack Obama by 600 or so electoral votes as new states will spontaneously emerge just to vote against whoever the GOP offers up to slaughter.

Ok, maybe we can afford to lose Huntsman. But the others must stay on at least until the GOP Convention in Sept. 2012. Better yet, we need them all to stay in the race with the belief they may win.

Howard Gold called the Elite Eight “the single worst field of presidential candidates a major party has put forward in 50 years.” Gold is both correct and incorrect in this opinion. Sure, not a single one of them has a chance to win a race for county dog catcher, let alone the Presidency. But for those of us who revel in seeing a group of people far stupider and more evil than ourselves, the Elite Eight is pure win.

It is up to all of us to keep all of them in the race, for as long as possible. Ok, maybe not Huntsman. I still have no idea why he even ran in the first place. But the rest of them we need. Stay the course, Lady and Gentlemen. We need you. Now more than ever.

-WKW