McDonalds Still Under Siege!

Back in early July I posted a blog about a “Nanny State” liberal organization called the CSPI (The Center for Science in the Public Interest) called I'm Lovin' it. The CSPI threatened to sue McDonalds if they did not remove the toys from there Happy Meals. They were arguing that McDonalds shouldn’t be allowed to put toys in meals that are not healthy (healthy as deemed by them) because then their children would want to eat the unhealthy food. Look everyone knows that McDonalds isn’t the healthiest place to eat but it should be up to us what we and/or our children eat. Heaven forbid they have to say no to their children. McDonalds isn’t doing anything misleading by giving a toy.

When word of this reached the public there was a huge backlash in support of McDonalds. After this McDonalds’ CEO Jim Skinner sent a letter to the CSPI basically informing them that they would continue to include the toys and would fight them in court if they choose to do so. In light of McDonalds calling their bluff, the CSPI backed down. Or did they….

Now it would appear that the liberals have decided if they can’t beat McDonalds head on they use a back door. They have been spending a lot of money lobbying politicians to get the toys outlawed. Yes outlawed!!

Last week with an 8-3 vote the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a law banning toys to be given with Happy Meals. Mayor Gavin Newsom promised to veto this measure. However, if the 8-3 vote holds it will be enough to override his veto. They is expected to go into place in December 2011.

So it would seem that the new goal for the Nanny State wackos is get as many cities and towns to outlaw the toys as possible and then possibly a nation wide ban. What gives them the right to dictate to us what we eat? Allowing big brother to tell us what we can and can’t eat is a very dangerous and slippery slope. We cannot keep giving away our rights as individuals and parents.

For me personally I very rarely eat fast food. I train Brazilian Jiu-Jistu in Columbia Maryland and I am always watching my weight for tournaments. Because of this I know I can’t have a lot of fast food. However there are times when you are in a rush or traveling with the family and need to get some quick food at a low price. I see absolutely nothing wrong with getting fast food once in a while. It will not hurt you or make you obese to eat fast food one time and what is wrong with seeing your child’s face light up when they get a little toy. You can say that my family is the exception and that too many families eat it regularly but how is that anyone’s business but their own.

I know that many people look down on McDonalds and may not care about this but I guarantee that if we allow the government to regulate businesses in this manor it will only be a matter of time before more and more is taken away and who knows for what reason. There is already a large assault on personal freedoms from political correctness to smoking to snacks, trans-fats, salt, etc. What will be next and for what reason? You never really even know what the reason behind this is. Sometimes it’s an excuse to raise taxes and other times it might be a crazy vegetarian group much like a new report put out by the Nanny State liberal group PCRM (Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine) that list milk as a junk food. Yes that’s correct they listed Milk as a junk food! The PCRM is a front for a radical vegetarian group (not a Physicians group at all) bent on scaring people away from dairy.

The bottom line is that we must do more to take on personal responsibility and stop the over regulation by our government. If you don’t want your child to eat a happy meal don’t buy it. We can’t rely on the Nanny State to protect us from everything, even ourselves.

"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety" - Benjamin Franklin

Personally I believe that the larger problem of obesity in America comes from lack of exercise but I should be careful saying that because they might mandate that next…

Big Brother is at it Again, Again!!

Obstructing a Police Investigation? Believe it or not this is actually a charge and it is being used to skirt the bill of rights. This is just another way Big Brother is trying to limit your rights and freedom.

In resent years we have witnessed time and time again people being arrested for crimes and then going to jail for obstructing an investigation rather then what they were arrested for in the first place. Most notably Martha Stewart, no she was not convicted of insider trading, and Scooter Libby, no he did not leak the name of a secret agent (that was actually a democrat named Richard Armitage who was never charged with anything). In Martha’s case she was charged and convicted of lying to the investigator. I am not sure what she lied about exactly but it obviously had nothing to do with insider trading since she was found innocent of that. Libby’s case on the other hand was a little more public. The worst part about Libby’s situations was he was forced to testify by a Grand Jury which is fact finding and you are not afforded 5^th amendment protections (you must answer although you can say you don’t recall). When he missed stated a date of a phone call he made a year before he was charged for lying and trying to mislead the investigation. During the investigation Richard Armitage admitted to being the leak but for some reason the grand jury proceeded.

The reason for bringing this up is I was talking to a good friend of mine that I train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu with in Columbia Maryland, Dave Zwanetz. He is a criminal defense attorney and today he had a client come into his office with one of the most egregious abuses of power I have heard of in recent times by a police officer. This is even worse then the motorcyclist being arrested for video taping a traffic stop (as talked about in my blog back in July Big Brother is at it again!) Dave makes a lot of videos to help inform the public of their rights and here is the one he started for this incident.

I cannot believe that this happened and can only hope that Dave’s client sues the crap out of this officer once the case is thrown out. Or even better I hope that this leads to the officer being fired for his criminal abuse of power. This needs to be fought all the way. If we let one officer get away with this what will stop others from doing the same!

“Well the election didn’t go that well for me here in Maryland but nation wide we did pretty well. We took the house...” was the response I gave when my Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor asked me about the election results at my Mixed Martial Arts School in Columbia Maryland. He then asked, “Why do you say WE when the republicans do well, when you say you are a Libertarian?”

The simple fact of the matter is that when I say we I mean we as a nation, including my instructor who is neither a Republican nor Libertarian. It is no secret that I am a conservative Libertarian. So from my prospective the closer the country pulls to those views the better for everyone.

On the ballot in my district there were only two Libertarians both of which I voted for and both of which lost. I do vote for a lot of Republicans but that’s usually only when the alternative is the Fascist that call themselves Democrats or when they are more like a Libertarian then a Republican. I have even been known to vote for the constitutional party as well (which I did and he also lost. lol). However nation wide a lot of libertarians and Libertarianesque Republicans won. A lot of new school small government Libertarianesque republicans also took seats in the house (Rand Paul, Mike Lee, Ken Buck, & Ron Johnson to name a few).

For this election even if no small government Republicans had been elected it still would have been good for all Americans. Currently the Democrats have been running amuck in DC. Controlling both houses and the presidency is never good (just look at the Bush years). There needs to be checks and balances. One party cannot be in total control.

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men.” John Emerich Edward Dalberg Acton, first Baron Acton (1834-1902)

If we can get gridlock in DC it would be a very good thing for everyone. The only fear is if the two parties start working together. There is an old saying that I am not exactly sure of its origin but supposedly was told by a republican staffer to a group of Russian legislators.

“In America, we have a two-party system. There is the stupid party and there is the evil party. I am proud to be a member of the stupid party. Periodically, the two parties get together and do something that is both stupid and evil. This is called bipartisanship.”

So yes we did do well nation wide, at least seemingly so. Only time will tell. But… no my political party did not…

Election Day is here again! I must say I do love Election Day. They should make this a paid holiday. You can truly experience the full range of emotions from exciting to anxiety, filled with joy to plain pissed off. The only other thing that gets me this excited is doing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at the Mixed Martial Arts School in Columbia Maryland were I train.

It can be very exhausting waiting to see if the candidates you voted for win, especially when you allow yourself to be emotionally invested like I do. For many people this is their big chance to help make a difference that only comes once every couple years.

I always try to do my part (Voting, Boycotting, Protesting) even though often it feels like my efforts are in vain. I honestly think that I would feel worse if I did not even try.

This year I have been more optimistic then I have been in a long time. The polls are showing that many small government candidates have a shot at getting in (both Libertarian and Tea Party type Republican candidates). People who seemingly want to make a difference and not just want to be apart of the old school establishment. I have even seen Democrats running on a Libertarian platform. Of course it will be an up hill battle even if they do win and you never know if they will stay true to their word but there is a huge groundswell in this country supporting small government. It is clear that people are getting sick of the politics in Washington D.C. and this may be our chance to make a difference.

Well my wife and I have already voted so now it’s just a waiting game. I am very anxious to find out the results. Here in Maryland we have a couple big races but it’s always tough. Maryland is almost two to one Democrat so that the fact these races are even close is a miracle. Even most of the Democrats that I know are fed up. So much so that they are either voting Republican or they have said that they are not voting at all. However, I know that that is only anecdotal and not to mention that Baltimore is well known for voter fraud (the dead always vote and Baltimore always goes Democrat).

So I will just wait and see and hope and pray for the best like everyone else.

Compromising Beliefs for Profit

“Is it hypocrisy to be for small limited government and low taxes yet make your money off of the government?” was the question posed to me by my instructor at the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu School in Columbia Maryland were I train. He added, “What do you think about people who compromise their beliefs to make money?”

We were speaking to a mutual friend of ours who is a criminal defense attorney and happens to be for limited government. The argument was that if the government was restricted and people were freer then he would have much less work and make less money. So therefore he profited from large government.

I’m not so sure that necessarily agree with this logic. First of all there is a big difference between being for limited government and being an Anarchist. There will always be a need for his services. With that said, lets say he would not be needed (or needed much less) in a free society. The fact of the matter is that we do already live with a very large overbearing government. People like our friend are needed to help protect the average man. I think that this is very much so consistent with his beliefs. Sometimes you need to be apart of the system in order to change it or even protect someone from it.

Our friend’s firm has protected people from the most egregious of government abuses. In very recent time it proved in court that a police officer falsified evidence, arrested a man and lied under oath to try to have him convicted for no other reason then she was having a bad day (that officer is now facing charges). Yes he does make money for what he does but is that wrong. Shouldn’t he get paid for not only the time and effort he puts into someone’s case but the time and preparation he has put in to becoming a good attorney.

To put it simply, just because he could make more money with a larger, more intrusive government doesn’t mean that he is hoping for more regulations. The fact that he rails against an overbearing government despite possibly hurting his own pocket says a lot about his character and unwillingness to compromise… unless its just for show… then he would be a douchebag and should go buy a 3 series…hahaha

I don't think too highly of anyone who would take money to do something that was completely against his/her own beliefs.

A Nice Weekend!

Another good weekend for the Mixed Martial Arts School in Columbia Maryland were I train. A large portion of us went to Miami for the Miami International Open Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament. We had two guys go up to Vermont for their first MMA fights.

Both of the guys (John "Devastator" Delbrugge & "Big Sal" Al Washington) we sent to Vermont did extremely well with first round finishes. Big Sal showed some impressive quickness and agility finishing his guy with a close guard armbar at the end of the first round. Devastator did exactly what we have come to expect, demolishing his opponent and tapping him out with a rear naked choke only 54 seconds into the round. Great job to both of my team mates!

Miami was tough but as usual our team team did well. We sent a pretty large team to the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament and almost everyone metaled. Also "Big" Phil Thorn won the blue belt open weight division.

For me it was the first tournament I had done in a long time since getting hurt. It was also the first tournament I have done at my new weight (154lbs with Gi). Overall I did ok taking 3rd. It was disappointing but I learned a lot and I got some stuff to work on. It was great to be back on the mat and I got away relatively injury free, which is always nice. I cant weight to get back out there again but for now back to training!

Privacy?… A right?…

What is this country coming to? We are constantly surrendering more and more freedoms to the government. From high taxes to Bush’s “Patriot Act” to Obama trying to regulate the internet and sue Yahoo to surrender private e-mail accounts to the federal government without a warrant, we are constantly allowing our freedoms to be taken away.

Many people remember the Patriot Act. After 9/11 the government jumped at the opportunity to take as much of our freedoms as they thought they could get away with and for the most part many of us were perfectly will to give away. The Patriot Act included a lot of things like warrant less searches and wiretapping. Some of which was eventually thrown out by the courts and some that was not.

Barack Obama and many democrats railed against the patriot act and ran on repealing it. However once Obama was elected he fought to expand the powers. First his administration ordered Yahoo to give them access to private e-mail. When Yahoo refused he sued them in curt to have access to e-mails without a warrant. Thankfully Google and several others came to Yahoo’s aid and banded together to fight the lawsuit. Near the end of August the Obama administration finally backed off and the case was dismissed. Now his administration is trying to regulate internet content. His administration has stated that the FCC has the authority to regulate the internet and is set to outline a plan to regulating broadband lines. I’m not sure what exactly or how they plan on doing this but I will give you more when I know more.

The Federal Government is not the only ones hard at work to take your freedoms. Just a few months back a Maryland man (Anthony Graber) was arrested for video taping a traffic stop where he was pulled over for speeding on a highway. He was on a motorcycle. The cop cut him off nearly knocking him off of his bike then jumped out of his car and pulled his firearm on him. Graber was cooperative but latter posted the video on Youtube. He was then arrested for Maryland’s new wiretapping laws, which make it illegal to video police officers. Keep in mind that it is not only still legal to video anyone else in public, not to mention that the police officers themselves tape the stops with there own on board cameras. I think the most surprising to me was that this law is actually in many states. Talk about protecting their own.

What got me started on this little tirade today was a news story I came across about a young man named Yasir Afifi. Yasir, a 20 year old college student, took his car in for an oil change. The mechanic spotted a strange device attached to the bottom of his car (a little box with antenna). After they removed it he posted images of it on line and asked if anyone new what it was. Two days later the FBI showed up at his door and asked for their GPS tracking device back. Apparently the FBI has been putting GPS tracking devices on peoples cars with out them knowing and more importantly with out a warrant. This has started a major issue over privacy rights. Similar cases have been heard in many courts already with many different verdicts, which left me very surprised that I had not heard about this sooner. We cannot allow the government the right to trace our every movement with absolutely no probable cause (if they had it they would get a warrant).

Often I talk to my friends at the Mixed Martial Arts School in Columbia Maryland were I train about these issues. Our school is very diverse. We have people from all walks of life from doctors & lawyers to people who work retail to contractors and so on. Everyone is always outraged but often nothing gets done. It is not easy to stop the government from taking more and more power but we should do what ever we can (Voting, boycotting, protesting, writing letters to congressmen, etc.). Often we feel like it does not make a difference but if we do nothing then we are the ones to blame.