Obamacare's architect ADMITS that it was all a scam

Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber bragging about deceiving the American people, who he thinks are stupid.

As if I somehow needed yet another reason to never vote for a Democrat as long as I live... Cocksucker...

- Lord Publius

Why 'The One' doesn't actually exist...

There is no such thing as 'The One'.

By 'the One' I'm talking about this idea that there is one person on this Earth that was specifically made just for you. Anyone who took a statistics class should already know that's preposterous and impossible but, I suspect many of my readers didn't take that class. (Or, simply don't remember anything from it anymore...)

I won't use any math here. I want this to be readable. So, I'll use a more 'simple logic'-style approach.

The idea seems to have a religious component. Many of the folks who subscribe to this idea all think that God made that special someone specifically for them. That would mean that God would have to personally intervene in your life, which he doesn't seem to do. (And please, don't bring miracles into the discussion. That will be another post for another time.)

In order for this idea to be plausible (let alone work), He'd have to steer you to the person you were made for and there's no evidence to support that idea at all. Of course, the Faithful rarely ask for any kind of evidence. That's why I find organized religion to be a generally bad idea. And no, that doesn't mean that I think God is a fairy tale. God is simply very different from whatever we think He is...

One thing I am sure of though is that He's a busy man. Even if he can micro-manage things to the point where he's playing celestial matchmaker, he'd probably rather not. That's why every creature in existence obeys the various physical Laws of Nature that He created. That way, the Universe (from our perspective at least) is largely autonomous and operates on its own like a well-oiled machine without much divine intervention.

That, and the odds would not be in your favor if there really was only one person for you. The world is a pretty big place and there are over 7 BILLION people here on Earth. How would you ever find 'the One' in that huge crowd? How would you know her when (and if) you meet her? If anyone can answer those questions, please do. And don't resort to that intellectually lazy fallback position and say 'God works in mysterious ways' or something similar. His ways only seem mysterious to you because Humans don't (and probably can't) understand him.

So, if 'the One' doesn't actually exist, then, what is really going on?

Science might have an answer. we've already discovered that most primate species are fairly promiscuous. You can also tell from your own love life that there are many people that will seem like 'the One' for a while. After all, most people will not marry their first love. Even if you did, there's no guarantee that marriage won't end in a divorce. The only real guarantee that you have in life is that it will eventually end. So, don't worry about chasing a fairy tale. Live life to the fullest and enjoy it while you can.

Based on my own observations, I suspect there are actually many different people you could be happy with and they are all over the place. Finding them can be a challenge but, many options out there offers better odds than just one single individual. This also may be why everyone has a 'type' of person they're attracted to and various types they don't fancy. Deep down, we know that 'the One' is Bullshit and we're trying to come up with multiple options.

And those types can change with time. As a teenager, I was madly in love with a blonde who had the sweetest disposition of anyone I had ever met, second only to, perhaps, my maternal grandmother. Nowadays though, I'm all about the Redheads and the occasional brunette. That preference can change again someday too. There's no way to tell when, why or how.

That is how it should be, too. Variety is the spice of life and we didn't get to be the dominate species on Earth by just having ONE romantic partner in life. If God really only wanted you to have one partner in life, he would have made it easy to find the one you were destined to mate with for life. Since He didn't seem to do that, I'm forced to conclude, based on all available evidence, that 'the One' is just another fairy tale Humans created. I'll admit, it is a very appealing fairy tale that plays us all for a sucker at least once in our lives (like it did to me with that blonde back in my adolescence, who is still one of my best friends) but, it still isn't real.

Also, call me crazy if you want, but I don't believe any life-long relationship of mine with a woman should have to depend on God and/or the Universe to specifically design us for each other. God shouldn't have to steer us towards one another, either. Give yourselves some credit, folks. As a species, we are capable of reason and free choice. You don't need an outside force to find the perfect mate for you. You can find and make your own by being the person that others want to have around and insisting that they do the same for you. Love may act on the brain like a drug but, it should not dominate your life like one. Above all else, Love is a partnership. Treat it like one and work together to keep it strong. Then, by the time you're both old and gray together, you'll realize that 'the One' was never something God or the Universe made for you. You made it for yourselves.

Lovingly yours,



Lord Publius

P.S. Is it weird that Pandora was playing so many damned love songs while I was writing this piece? It certainly feels that way...

My list of Dream Cars

Not too long ago, I listed all the completely insane (yet AWESOME) things that Uncle Sam would have to do to get me to work for him again. Of course, that won't happen but, it still made for a hilarious post.

Anyway, one of the things Uncle Sam would have had to do to get me back was to give me a new or excellent condition used sports/luxury/muscle car for every day of the leap year. I didn't put that list there because it would be too long. However, it can be its own blog post. I can't promise that I'll have a full 366 cars to put here but, it should still have plenty of nice vehicles on it, nonetheless...

I'll split up the list by manufacturer and then put them all in chronological/alphabetical order...

DOMESTIC BRANDS

GM

Buick

- 1963-64 Buick Riviera
- 1965 Buick Riviera GS
- 1966-67 Buick Riviera GS
- 1970 Buick GSX painted Apollo White w/455 H.O. V8
- 1971-73 Buick Riviera GS
- 1982 Buick Riviera (I used to have one of these and miss it every day.)
- 1984-87 Buick Grand National
- 1987 Buick Grand National GNX

Chevrolet

- 1957 Chevrolet Bel-Air
- 1957 Chevrolet Corvette Fuelie
- 1961 Chevrolet Impala
- 1962 Chevrolet Corvette Fuelie
- 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray coupe
- 1964 Chevrolet Chevelle SS
- 1965 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray (Convertible)
- 1965 Chevrolet Impala SS Convertible
- 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray w/ L88 option package
- 1967 Chevrolet Chevelle SS396
- 1968 Chevrolet COPO Camaro
- 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 Convertible
- 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 Coupe
- 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle
- 1969 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray w/427 V8
- 1971 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray
- 1971 Chevrolet El Camino SS
- 1971 Chevrolet Chevelle SS 454
- 1985 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z
- 1988 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Regular cab with stepside bed and 350cid V8 (My father had one like this years ago.)
- 1991 Chevrolet Silverado SS454
- 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 like the 'Blue Devil' that survived the sinkhole at the Corvette Museum
- 2011 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport
- 2014 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1
- 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Z06

Oldsmobile

- 1949 Oldsmobile Rocket 88
- 1967 Oldsmobile 442
- 1971 Oldsmobile 442
- 1976 Oldsmobile Delta 88 painted light blue with a white vinyl top, light blue cloth bench seat interior and a 350 Rocket under the hood. (My grandmother had a car like this when I was young.)

Pontiac

- 1967 Pontiac Firebird 400
- 1967 Pontiac GTO
- 1969 Pontiac GTO Judge
- 1970 Pontiac GTO Judge
- 1973 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am SD455
- 1977 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am like the car in Smokey and the Bandit.
- 1980's era Pontiac Firebird Trans Am made to look like K.I.T.T. from Knight Rider, flashing red Cylon-style sensor bar and all.
- 2002 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am w/WS6 Ram-Air package painted black with black interior
- 2004-06 Pontiac GTO

FORD

Ford Division

- 1957 Ford Thunderbird
- 1964 Ford Galaxie 500
- 1964 Ford Thunderbird
- 1966 Ford Fairlane GT
- 1967 Ford Mustang GT
- 1968 Ford Shelby Mustang GT500
- 1970 Ford Mustang Mach 1
- 2008-2009 Ford Mustang GT500KR
- 2010 Ford Shelby GT-500 Super Snake
- 2014 Ford Mustang GT
- 2015 Ford Mustang GT

Lincoln

- 1962 Lincoln Continental
- 1964 Lincoln Continental

Mercury

- 1968 Mercury Cougar
- 1969 Mercury Cyclone 428CJ
- 2003-2004 Mercury Marauder

MOPAR

Chrysler

- 1958 Chrysler 300D
- 1967 Imperial*
- 2015 Chrysler 300 SRT w/ the biggest HEMI that MOPAR will put in there.

* = MOPAR tried to market the Imperial as a seperate make from 1955-1983 but, most still associated it with the Chrysler division because Chrysler dealerships continued to sell them.

Dodge

- 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T
- 1971 Dodge Challenger
- 1992 Dodge Viper RT/10
- 1996 Dodge Viper GTS
- 2006 Dodge Viper SRT-10
- 2012 Dodge Viper GTS-R
- 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat

Plymouth

- 1958 Plymouth Fury made to look like the car from Stephen King's Christine.
- 1970 Plymouth Road Runner Superbird
- 1970 Plymouth AAR Cuda
- 1971 Plymouth HEMI Cuda

SRT

- 2013 SRT Viper


IMPORTS & EXOTICS

Aston Martin

- 1965 Aston Martin DB5
- 2006 Aston Martin DBS painted Silver w/ black interior like 007's car in Casino Royale
- 2010 Aston Martin DBS
- 2011 Aston Martin One-77

Ferrari

- 1985 Ferrari 308 GTS
- 1984-85 Ferrari 288 GTO
- 1996 Ferrari Testarossa F512M
- 2007 Ferrari 430 Scuderia
- 2008-2009 Ferrari California

- 2012 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano

Lamborghini

- 2001 Lamborghini Diablo
- 2010 Lamborghini Murciélago
- 2012 Lamborghini Aventador LP 700-4

Porsche

- 2009 Porsche Carrera GT
- 2011 Porsche Boxster Spyder
- 2012 Porsche 911 GT2

==================================================================

I crunched the numbers and there's only a total of 106 cars on this list here so, there's not quite enough for every day of a leap year. However, I never said this list was complete or comprehensive. Also, not a single one of these cars is allowed to be painted yellow unless I can't find a 1970 Buick GSX in Apollo White. Except for that one Buick model, I just don't like the way the color Yellow looks on cars.

- Lord Publius

Why it's actually GOOD that MTV doesn't play music anymore...

MTV started as a way for record companies to show the promo videos they had already been making for several years. (Not to mention awards shows and live concert events.) It was great in the pre-Internet era. So, thanks to MTV, it looked like video would kill off the idea of bands becoming stars through radio airplay... Or, would they? Eventually, the novelty started wearing off. Concerts, award shows and videos were no longer enough so, MTV branched out. Some worked out great like their many great cartoon shows. (Beavis and Butt-Head anyone?) Many others just didn't as far as us music lovers are concerned. Would a guy who loved Headbanger's Ball really give a shit about The Real World or House of Style? I doubt it...

Unfortunately, most of their programming nowadays has turned into crappy reality shows that no one above the age of 17 will watch. Even worse, the videos had an unintended side-effect. The emphasis shifted from the music itself to the image of the musician. While image has always been part of a Rock Star's appeal, it should NEVER be the primary focus. MTV became their own worst enemy.

As a result, their ratings suffered. I no longer have any faith in the idea that the channel will start playing mostly music programming again. I was holding out hope but, I don't need to anymore. The Internet has made it obsolete.

The record companies and artists no longer need a TV channel like MTV or TV shows like American Bandstand to have their videos/live performances played. The internet (particularly YouTube and Vimeo) has made them all irrelevant. And that is how it should be too. Technological progress continues to march onward, without losing a step.

Oddly enough, the next logical step takes us full circle back to a purely auditory medium: internet radio. I have to admit that I thought internet radio was ridiculous at first. Why pay for something that you can get over the airwaves for free? Of course, time and lame business entities like Clear Channel Communications (now known as iHeartMedia) answered that question.

Traditional AM & FM radio has been made uniform across the country by these massive corporations buying them all out. This started after the previous restrictions against owning multiple media outlets in one market were rescinded in the quite terrible 1996 Telecommunications Act. That's how Clear Channel bought every station in just about every town and made them all the exact same sub-par and hopefully inoffensive garbage that AM/FM has become.

They must have realized their mistake when people started complaining and revenues went south. Plus, they also owned iHeartRadio. So, they now had the ability to give people a choice among any station they owned anywhere through the internet. That's nice. You turn every station in my town to utter rubbish and your solution is to give me more choices that may sound just as generic and lame. Yeah...

Fortunately, the market and the internet offered another solution to that problem: streaming services that let you create your own channels/playlists like Spotify and Pandora. I haven't used Spotify yet but, I have used Pandora heavily when I was still in the Army and living at Fort Detrick. Thanks to all the Signal units on post with their large radar dishes, there was no signal for broadcast radio or television. EVERYTHING came through the internet, unless I was watching/listening to/playing a video game that I already had. Despite my earlier misinformed belief, I don't have to pay for it, either. I have the option of paying Pandora so that I don't have to hear radio ads. That's not a bad business model.

I haven't been using Pandora much as of late but, that will change now that I have regular internet access in my new apartment. My current job has me living far from home (again) and I could only take with me what I could pack into my truck. Therefore, virtually every single last CD & all of my cassettes and vinyl were left behind in my storage space in New Orleans. This is one of those situations where Pandora will be very useful. I hope my next new car has Pandora streaming into the stereo.

Thanks to Pandora, I don't really have to miss MTV or even terrestrial radio anymore. Plus, I now don't have to listen to whatever they decide to play. I can make my own stations playing whatever I want. Technology and personal choice, for the WIN. (That being said, I am wondering why it won't let me create a special station for KISS when it did let me create one for Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Pantera and Iron Maiden. WTF, Pandora? Couldn't get the licensing rights?)

So, my final question is this: Will streaming services like Pandora and Spotify make YouTube and MTV obsolete, like MTV tried to do to traditional radio stations? The possibility is there with smart phones and stereos in new cars being outfitted with broadband internet access and Bluetooth wi-fi technology. The irony in that would be hilarious to me. Radio ends up winning in the end by using a new transmission medium, the internet, instead of the airwaves. So much for Video killing the Radio Star...

\m/O_O\m/

- Lord Publius

LEGO DOOM

I want this to become an actual game. The living God Emperor of FPS games deserves the LEGO treatment. Hell, it worked for Indiana Jones, Star Wars and Harry Potter. And while we're on the subject, how about a LEGO Star Trek game too? I don't care which era or if it takes place in the Prime, Mirror or JJ-verse continuities. I just want to see my two most fondly loved childhood special interests combined into a third: video games.

- Lord Publius

The Monsters Are on Maple Street...

This video here is a remake of a classic episode of the original Twilight Zone from the 1960's. In the original episode from 1960, it was aliens experimenting on Humans to see how quickly they could incite them to panic. This time, it's the government, wanting to see how quickly some community would go apeshit after a power failure. This episode may be more than a decade old now but, things haven't changed that much. People are still just as afraid of terrorists as ever. It's a wonder that the idea of nuking the Middle East hasn't become a major political movement yet...

I know it's Human Nature to be afraid when something unexpected happens and to distrust strangers but, sometimes, it goes too far. It also scares the Hell out of me at just how quickly people will panic and start acting like an angry mob. I've been the folk devil behind a great many moral panics over the years. It's not fun to be treated like Frankenstein's Monster when all you really want is for everyone to leave you alone. Funny how society will often publicly state a love for diversity but, never actually embrace people who are different... At least I never had an angry mob come after me with torches and pitchforks...

We are supposed to be better than this in an enlightened and civil society. And yet, as this episode from a (sadly) failed attempt to bring back The Twilight Zone demonstrates, we aren't really that civilized at all. If there is any lesson we should learn from this, it's that you should never be quick to judge or panic. You should also never be too quick to act, unless someone really is making a clear and immediate threat against you. Of course, unless someone has a gun pointed at you, that clear and immediate threat may not really exist.

Sure, there are monsters in the world. Lots of them. However, what many fail to realize is that the monster you're most likely to encounter is your own ignorance, paranoia and ungrounded fears of the unknown. You are the worst monster that you will ever face. Not terrorists, religious fanatic assholes, communists, fascists or politicians. And it is up to you to guard against the real monster and not panic. Otherwise you give those terrorists, religious fanatic assholes, communists, fascists and politicians exactly what they want: chaos, the breakdown of civilization and the ability to take civil rights/political power away from you. Panicking in an emergency helps no one but those with impure motives.

The moment you give into fear and panic, that's when the monsters you were so afraid of suddenly appear and take over. They are always with us, just waiting for their time to 'shine', for lack of better term. And that is why eternal vigilance is the price we must continually pay for our liberty. History is already filled with so many examples of people panicking and giving power to the very monsters they were afraid of in the first place. We don't need to do that again.

- Lord Publius

The Borg Documentary - Part 2

To those who say that Voyager somehow 'pussified' the Borg, I suggest you watch those episodes again. Voyager's crew had to do some pretty crazy things in their interactions with the Hive Mind but, they never treated the Borg as just another group of bad guys. They were as menacing as ever. The problem is that they became too familiar. An enemy/plot device like the Borg works best when they remain as mysterious as they are ominous. Take their one appearance in the prequel series Enterprise, for example. Archer and his crew had no idea what they were facing and that mystery actually made the Borg scary again.

This is also why popular series of slasher flicks tend to become less scary with each new sequel. Hollyweird just insists on making the mistake of trying to explain the killer instead of leaving him as a mysterious and malevolent force. Just imagine how terrifying Freddy Kruger was in the first Nightmare on Elm Street and then compare him to the joker we saw in parts 4-6. Those movies were semi-entertaining but, they weren't scary. That is the wrong answer. And don't even get me started on how badly Hollyweird fucked up the Halloween series...

Anyway, that's enough ranting from a nerd that has dabbled in fan fiction that no one else will ever see. The next blog will be slightly less nerdy and much more relevant to modern-day issues: People's fears over Terrorism, Government using that fear to infringe on civil rights and how people create Folk Devils to give a face to their latest Moral Panic.

- Lord Publius