I'd Vote For This Guy

I used to live on Staten Island in New York and if you're a Republican there you're one tough son of a gun and this guy proves it. This is supposed to be some comedy show but I respect this guy for saying what he needs to say. I'd seriously give him a thought if he ran for President. Good for him for saying what he really thinks to these liberal crazies.

Al Gore Wins the Nobel 'All About Politics' Prize

It's sad when the Nobel Peace Prize turns into something as useless as the Oscars. Alfred Nobel himself said that the award was for improving the condition of humankind. Al Gore preaches the religion of the carbon footprint and yet owns a mansion that sucks energy like no tomorrow(which by the way I have nothing against. He's just a hypocrite). So Gore makes a Hollywood scarefest called A Convenient Lie - For The Benefit Of Make Me Popular Activist(Borat fans will laugh at that) and says that our world is coming to it's end because we as human beings can destroy this earth so easily as to live in a free market society. Gore did NOTHING to improve our way of life. In fact, he's definitely hurting American lives with his socialist intentions. Good job Nobel Committee. You don't seem so smart anymore.

Who's The Idiot Now?

How many times have you heard it? Bush is an idiot, moron, imbecile, blah blah blah. I have proof that he is not any of these. I'm only going to focus on the economic achievements even though I could go on and on about the national security, military, educational, environmental, and judicial achievements if I wanted.

This is taken directly off of the whitehouse.gov website:

• Since last summer, the American economy has grown at the fastest rate of any major industrialized nation.
• America's economy has been growing at rates as fast as any in nearly 20 years.
• Nearly 1.5 million jobs have been created since August 2003 and 1.3 million new jobs have been created this year alone. The unemployment rate today is below the average unemployment rate of the 1970s, the 1980s, and the 1990s.
• From 2000 to 2003, productivity grew at the fastest three-year rate in more than a half-century, raising the standard of living for all Americans.
• The Conference Board's index of leading indicators has risen at an average annual rate of 4.2 percent since March 2003 - the fastest 15-month period of increase in 20 years - suggesting vibrant economic growth in the near term.
• The stock market regained more than $4 trillion in equity since its low in mid-2002. In 2003 the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 25 percent and the NASDAQ rose 50 percent.
• Manufacturing activity expanded in July 2004 for the 14th consecutive month.
• Real after-tax incomes are up 11 percent since December 2000.
• Interest rates reached their lowest levels in decades during the Bush Administration.
• Homeownership reached an all-time high and mortgage rates reached their lowest level in decades.
• During the Bush Administration, we have experienced one of the lowest core inflation rates (averaging two percent per year) in the past 40 years.

These figures are taken even before the DOW cleared 13000. It's ridiculous to fall for the media's lie that Bush is a moron. If you have fallen for it, who's the idiot now?

Harry Reid Once Again Shows His Support of Terrorism

I found this story on Fox News but what is interesting is that it's nowhere in CNN's headlines. I think this says a lot because even the most liberal news medium isn't posting Reid's crazy 'surrender to terrorism' story.

Reid today claimed the war in Iraq was lost and "can only be won diplomatically, politically, and economically'. WHAT!!!!???!!! I for one would love to test Reid's theory out by sending Reid himself to 'diplomatically' talk this out with a terrorist leader(doesn't matter which one) and then see if Reid would change his mind at the last second while he was having his head sawed off with a dull machete while hearing his last words, 'Allahu Akbar!'.

Reid went on to say:

"Now I believe, myself, that the secretary of state, the secretary of defense and you have to make your own decision as to what the president knows: that this war is lost, that the surge is not accomplishing anything".

This is an outright lie, though not surprising because Reid has based his whole career on lies. The 'troop surge' as it were is actually working and the numbers claim proof of this. Allied deaths are down and insurgent deaths are up. WHAT MORE DO THESE IDIOT DEMOCRATS WANT??? Oh yeah, that's right. They want Bush to lose, even if that means the terrorists win. It just shows how much we need Republicans in office because anytime the going gets rough, dems want to give up on the spot.

ASCAP's Mafia-Like Control Over The Music Industry

I know that I usually post articles that are politically motivated but I ran into a situation today that I feel people need to be aware of.

I run an independent coffee shop and was excited when we opened that I would be able to play music in the coffee shop that I had legally bought from either a music store or off the net(usually via iTunes). I also spent an incredible amount of money on a sound system so that independent musicians could come and play their music for the enjoyment of our patrons. Seeing as we would never charge for our patrons to come in the door, I thought nothing of it, that is, until ASCAP(American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers) began harassing us.

It turns out that you cannot play any type of music over a speaker system, nor can you have musicians cover other artists works without paying a hefty fee to ASCAP.

I have 3 major disagreements with this group. First of all I ALREADY paid for the CD's, therefore giving the studios who published this music the opportunity to pay the prospective artist's their royalty from my purchase. Why should I in turn have to pay an exorbitant fee to play this music over a speaker on MY OWN PROPERTY. I would understand if the music was why I was making my money(i.e. a radio station, a dance club, a bar charging a cover) but it is there purely for background music enjoyment. Lawyers for ASCAP in these cases will state "irreparable damages" or "injury" to the artist. Can someone please explain to me the "irreparable damage" done to the musician other than possibly advertising their music for them for FREE in an establishment that doesn't have to do so in the first place.

Secondly, musicians that come in to my shop and play a majority of original songs sometimes want to play a cover tune in the middle of their set. According to ASCAP, if a musician plays even ONE song that is not their own, the business is liable to over $400 that year as a fee to ASCAP. As a musician myself, I feel that if someone likes my music enough to learn it and play it in a public setting, I should be honored that they would give me free advertising, as long as they state who the original author is.

Thirdly, if a musician who has been signed with a label affiliated with ASCAP, BMI, or SESAC(the three big organizations who claim complete ownership of your copyrighted material), and they decide to play their own music at my coffee shop, ASCAP can legally sue me for not paying their royalty fee, even though the artist chose to play their own music.

In learning the complete ownership that ASCAP has over almost every single song written in America since 1914, I have had to put away an enormous array of great music that I would otherwise be playing. I have also had to shut down most of the artists who play here because they might be covering material that is not their own, even though they give credit to the original artist. The only thing I am barely allowed to do is play the radio because I'm under a specific square footage.

Here is what I would change if I could afford to take ASCAP to court today:

1. A commercial business of any kind should only have to pay a fee to a copyright organization if the music that is being played in that establishment is directly making money for that business. This includes radio stations, night clubs, dance clubs, and bars(because a bar would be a very boring bar with no music). This includes jukebox's which, even though the owner has already paid for the music in that jukebox, continue to make money for that establishment.

2. You should not have to pay a fee to ASCAP if an indie artist covers another artist's song if: (1) The indie artist gives credit to the original artist and (2) does not charge a cover to enter the establishment.

3. Amazingly enough, if you own more than 3750 sq. ft.(not including parking space), playing the radio over your own speaker system isn't even free. This is the most ridiculous example of the mafia that is ASCAP. How can you start charging for public air waves? The radio stations already pay tremendous fees for the right to play the artist's music. Why should you in turn have to pay a second fee to play that music over your own radio. This has got to change.