Lou Pickney's Online Commentary
New Spying Allegations
Thursday
May 11, 2006
More government out of control. The state of Tennessee's house and senate has approved legislation that would require ID to be provided by ANYONE for a sale. You could be 95 and want a six-pack of Heineken, but if you don't have a driver's license with you, the law would require that the clerk not sell you the beer. It's so ridiculous that even the nazis that run MADD are neutral on it.
On the national level, it's not any better. It looks like my last two home telephone providers, Verizon and BellSouth, are in cahoots with the federal government. Privacy? Forgettaboutit.
From the USA Today:
"The National Security Agency has been secretly collecting the phone call records of tens of millions of Americans, using data provided by AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth... The NSA program reaches into homes and businesses across the nation by amassing information about the calls of ordinary Americans — most of whom aren't suspected of any crime."
This is modern day America. Let there be no question why I'm a Libertarian... it's because of tactics just like this.
See the link over on the left side for lp.org? That's the Libertarian Party website. If you wonder why I'm writing about it all the time, you can get a better idea why. And if not, perhaps you can bury you head in the sand like most people in this country tend to do.
The sad thing is that, for the Libertarian Party to ever get matching federal funds for a presidential election, they'll need to get 5% of the vote in the previous election. And because people who donate to candidates usually want something in return (quid pro quo), and with that going against the very principle of the party... it's a problem. What it'll take is a celebrity to run. Howard Stern was on the Libertarian Ticket for Governor of New York in 1994 (before opting out due to not wanting to disclose his finances), but the rigors of a run for President is a much, much different beast.
|  | A.J. Styles is a talented wrestler.
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Will we see it happen? I don't know. It just takes one, but the DNC has most of Hollywood wrapped up, and it isn't exactly en vogue for celebs to jump on the Libertarian bandwagon. A damn shame, but so it goes.
I have TNA wrestling on in the background as I type this. More like TNT (not the network), as in Total Nonstop Talking. If I wanted bad skits, I'd watch WWE programming -- and I don't. They only get one hour a week, and I have to look at Kevin Nash drone on and on and on? I have the volume turned down (with the Howard Stern replay playing via Sirius through my computer speakers), but these guys only get one hour a week, they have a roster with plenty of great wrestlers... and this shit makes the air? My brother is friends with Matt Conway, who works for TNA, and I don't mean him any disrespect with this. But it just makes me mad to see good talent wasted.
On the upside, I did order an A.J. Styles DVD (produced by TNA) via Amazon.com, which from most all accounts is excellent. I saw Styles on an indie show in St. Petersburg, FL in late 2001 (he tore down the house in a match with a guy named Scoot Andrews), and I knew then that he had the potential to be a huge star. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the stuff that he did in the early days of TNA that I missed.
Lost has been great the past couple of weeks. Though, in the preview for next week, Siyad's line of "Michael may have been compromised," sounds like it may have been lifted from an episode of 24. What's next, Jack Bauer shows up on the island?
One last thing: I received a confirmation e-mail about the Google Da Vinci Code contest tonight, though it doesn't say for sure if I'm one of the lucky 10,000 who will receive a cryptex.
Thank you for participating in "The Da Vinci Code" Quest on Google.
This email is to confirm that you have completed all 24 puzzles within the quest and successfully registered for a chance to participate in the final challenge. Well done!
We will be contacting the 10,000 finalists on Monday 5/15 via email regarding their cryptex shipment. Within that email the 10,000 finalists will also receive instructions on how to participate in the final challenge.
All remaining players who finished the quest will also receive a surprise message via email.
The e-mail seems vague about if I'm actually a finalist, at least by my interpretation of the wording. Hmm...
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