Themes/Terms I'm obsessed with.

I'm an obsessive person. I've spent my life obsessing over one thing to another. The life span of my obsessions varies from months to years. If you know me, you know I repeat terms and themes over and over again. This is how I know who my friends are. Those who have stuck around despite the redundancy. Here are some things that are kind of current, some are not. Keep in mind obsessing over something doesn't mean one is an expert. Obsessions can can constantly float around in my head resulting in mainly exciting the brain, but sadly sometimes little research or scholarship is put into it. Here goes, I'll try to group them appropriately:

• Voluntaryism - http://www.voluntaryist.com/
• Anarcho-capitalism - http://www.ozarkia.net/bill/anarchism/faq.html
• Austrian Economics - http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/AustrianSchoolofEconomics.html
• Stephan Molyneux - http://www.freedomainradio.com/
• Ludwig von Mises - http://mises.org/

• Fiat Currency - http://dailyreckoning.com/fiat-currency/
• Fractional Reserve Banking - http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/frb.html

• Military-industrial-complex - http://www.militaryindustrialcomplex.com/what-is-the-military-industrial-complex.asp
• Fascism http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fascism
• Statism - http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/statism.html

• Ron Paul - http://www.ronpaul.com/

• False Flag - http://www.wanttoknow.info/falseflag
• IMF - http://www.imf.org/external/country/index.htm
• Federal Reserve Board - http://www.bos.frb.org/about/pubs/begin.pdf

My Day at the Beach.

This Sunday (sundee) of Memorial Day weekend I felt I needed to get out of town.

I woke up and needed some food. I went to Wegman's. While I was eating I was debating whether or not to go. Money was an issue, but I decided to go.

I made it up near Sandy Hook. Actually a little south from there. It was 8$. I'm not sure if that was a holiday rate. Water temperature was 55 degrees. There was a good crowd (unfortunately). Turned out to be a beautiful day. Good sun. I walked the shoreline ( I had my space) and got my feet wet. I put everything in perspective.

Then I headed home.

I took 202 to Route 12 (as memory serves). Twelve takes you to the Delaware river. (There were) nice little towns along the river where the rich people live. (There were) cute little bars and eateries too. Visually it looks very nice but I probably wouldn't want to live there. I have many ghosts along the Delaware. I have a good imagination. Eventually we (I) crossed over to PA and came up through Hellertown. This was completely unchartered territory for me, and a longer way to go.

I enjoy maps and different routes. I don't enjoy the gas prices.

Should money be backed by something?

I always thought it should. I'm not an economist. A book I'm reading by William Still opposes this view. William is also critical of the Fed.

He points to a country in the English Channel called Guernsey. He says they don't back it with anything but just increase the money supply, in relation to the population. He says they're quite prosperous. He takes the position that gold and silver or any commodity could be manipulated and blames the Great Depression on the Fed contracting the money supply.

This is a compelling view, but I get kind of lost when he argues for the US government taking control of the banking. This is contrary to Austrian economics which stands for everything being privatized and having competing currencies. I think at this point in the game (in history) our congress can't really be trusted to take control of anything. This is, in principle, an authoritarian view of banking/money printing.

William Still points a few fallacies in Ron Paul's monatary position which is completely opposite of the view stated above. He says he's also invited Ron Paul for an interview/discussion and RP has not returned his calls. I would really like to see them two talk and hash the issue out. They do agree on one thing, that the Federal Reserve is an unconstitutional private bank with a monopoly. On William's website he does support Ron Paul.

I find both arguments fascinating and it's quite sad our corporate owned media doesn't have more coverage of this most vitale issue to the economy.

Why do i live in Kutztown?

I first set foot on Kutztown soil back in the spring of 1997. Me and my dad came out as I had to schedule classes. I chose the school cause it was affordable and it had the area of study that I wanted to pursue. I had no clue about this town other than it was a college town on the other side of the state.

I had a couple years in the dorms and those were swell times, even though it was a prison like setting. Eventually I moved out and on the opposite end of town, from the university. My first year off campus I almost went nuts. I was living by myself and shunned most inter-action. Occasionally friends would stop by as if they were visiting me the shut in. From then on, I've come to appreciate the value of human interaction and see it as a necessity for sanity.

My senior year I decided that I was going to go to bars on a regular basis, by myself. After a few weeks I became a regular, got comfortable and made friends. This was about 10 years ago exactly.

I think everything is quite relaxed and comfortable here. Yes, this is a small town, and rumors go around quite fast, but if you can get beyond that it's really a swell place. The Main Street has mostly functioning, if not thriving businesses, a few storefronts are empty. Walking the streets is always pleasant and safe and people here are generally kind, barring a few folks here and there. Though the borough is corrupt and that's on the record, I rarely feel bothered here (I did get a silly ticket a couple months ago however).

There's a bus station walking distance from my place that'll shoot you up to NYC in no time. I like that. There's a great flea market walking distance from my place that has lots of cool shit. I like that. There is a soothing stream that runs through town. I like that. Especially on a night walk with the Kutztown Kreepers.

It's a university town, and that makes the place a lot more interesting too.

I think in the event of an economic crash, this would be a great place to be because it's surrounded by many farms.

There are some things I don't like though.
-There seems to be a lack of music venues here. We do a big fire company gig two times a year, but thats not a regular place. I have seen some great shows at the Eckhaus. I hear the pub is doing music. Shorty's books shit cover bands to go with their shitty bar and everything else shitty in there. It's shit.

-There needs to be a GOOD chinese restaurant in town, and a GOOD sushi place in town, and an indian place would be nice.

-It goes against everything I stand for to have the borough run the electricity and cable. That should be privatized.

-And, I don't have children, but I hear the school board is kind of going downhill. (I'd home school anyway)

What's Best
What's best is that I live near so many peeps that are dear to me and that I'd feel comfortable going into their homes, uninvited, to just say hello, or get some meaningless dramatic thoughts off of my skinny hairy chest. The way things are set up these days and neighborhoods/developments what they are, this may be a rare thing. Fortunately I grew up with it, and I've managed to stay with it. This goes a long way when we speak of quality of living.

How is your hood?????

The Watchtower (Authoritarianism: church/state)

I did my eight to eleven shift today at work, met up with some friends at the local coffee establishment. Some local artist/prof was talking about herself, and she did it quite well at it. I stuck to my eggs on a bagel and waited for her to leave. Thoughts of the statist/academic mindset arose but I tried to block it out and remain positive. Another university member came in. They all seem to be happy in their world of non accountability, time off, and sabbaticals. It's a good life. I'm not anyone to judge (but I will), I've opted for the corporate approach which isn't that much morally superior to the statist (violent/gun to the head) way.

I'm (my income is) still connected to taxpayer money (to some extent) in the form of grants/student loans, but each term I am held accountable and evaluated. It seems like mostly every one's salary these days in the USA is connected to taxpayer funds. This is not a sustainable road to prosperity, as we're seeing the beginnings of the end of it.

I headed home, parked my silver hatchback, and crossed Noble Street to my home. As I was crossing another form of authoritarianism was approaching me in a suit and a friendly smile. I initially thought it was a politician or someone from the government. Turned out to be a Jehovah's Witness. A nice guy, but kind of fake. He was a salesman of sorts.

He had stopped by before and remembered my name and where I worked. The first time I answered the door I looked like a mess. Today, I looked tired warn out, but I was dressed better. He gave me some literature and went on his way.

I think most people I know, friends, etc. would have told him to get lost, but I remained polite and told him I needed a nap. I grew up in a religious household and dabbled in other sects for a while so I can sympathize with this guy and in a way and know where he's coming from. At least with this guy, as opposed to the state, the authoritarianism he is selling is completely voluntary.

After this interaction, I went upstairs, tried out this 8$ Casio keyboard I bought (IT WORKS!) then snoozed for a good three hours. It was much needed good rest. I'm ready to go!

Feet are disgusting

Hugs are frivalous, you're being lied to, and yes, feet are disgusting.

Yesterday I had plans to get some gyros and the local record store, but both were closed. I settled on Goodwill and sushi. There's a good place near Wegman's called Lui's. Good sushi and prompt service. I was fortunate enough to be placed next an upper middle class family, most likely out for a mother's day lunch.

As I was looking down to grab my sushi I noticed the father was wearing sandals. This didn't seem to go well with my sushi and I inside I began to rant about my dislike of feet. I kept this all to my own brain, but for years I've hated the sight of feet.

They range is from ugly to disgusting. They were created, or evolved (if you will), to do a pretty serious job and practically speaking they do a swell job, but that doesn't mean I need to see them. What kind of arrogant soul feels the need to show their feet in public?

What's more annoying than seeing feet is seeing painted toenails. Who the heck goes to the trouble of such a frivolous act. Whoever has the time for that should volunteer somewhere. It doesn't even look appealing. No, I don't want to see feet on a woman, I'd prefer knee high dark socks. Forgive me if that's offensive, but, keep the feet covered.

(This being said, I have nice feet for hating feet. But, I have enough class to keep them covered.)

The truth is, feet are dirty. Fungi sometimes grows on them (not mine), but other people. I once knew a man who crashed at our house that long skinny toenails, like talons. We would call them talons and they would tap on the floor. We laughed about it but it was gross. The guy wreaked of pot and tiresome bleeding heart, yet establishment political views. Help us.

Moving back to the sushi restaurant, the dude in sandals began talking about his motorcycle and how he wanted to see the races somewhere in the poconos. His voice kind of made me want to stick a chopstick in his eye but who am I to judge about voices (or anything). I kept my thoughts to myself and remained calm, thinking about how I could turn this everyday situation into a horrible blog post.

I think I've succeeded.

Local Weekend/Greater Berks County

DaintyBones had a nice weekend to kick off the month of may.

Friday we went out to a secluded place on the river to see some friends band play. It was noise music, they had a looping pedal guitarist, drums and another guitarist. It was good. Music went on in the spacious shed with nice lighting to go along to the music. Futon mattresses were placed up front for people to relax on while the music played. I mooched a couple beers off of a friend.

As the music went on, we had a lovely fire going outside, as some folks gathered in the cozy house. It wasn't too crowded. It was all just very nice, relaxed and laid back. Another Danish band played but I was outside by the fire as they started. There was some nice weird sounds coming from the shed, and filling the wilderness and mountains.

Saturday I chose to do a cookout. I threw some meat on the grille, chopped and seasoned it, and we had tacos. I also threw some smoked beef sausage on the grille too. It turns out this was one of rare occasions that I made exactly the right amount of food for everyone. It was a casual gathering and preparation really wasn't that bad. Again, I mooched a couple beers. I went to bed while some friends were still there. The rest of them went to the Fire Company.

Sunday afternoon was the big block party. I got there early to sort of assist with set up as best I could given the fact that I can't carry too many heavy things and my knowledge of sound equipment is quite limited. It started out kind of stressful as what we were hearing from the University's Radio Shack speakers didn't sound to promising. Many of us had our doubts.

Our friend, guitarist and expert sound dude, Dave, seemed to have doubts, which made me a little uneasy, but somehow he magically pulled it all together. I went in the tavern to calm down and have a few drinks and came out to a good sounding PA system. This put me at ease.

The planning for the event didn't allow for time in between bands so everything was a little behind. We had to eliminate 2 of our songs but everything went okay. A few small mistakes on stage, but people generally stuck around and even danced. Below is a photo.

Photo by Eric De Jesus

I ended my Sunday with a quick trip to Bethlehem to see a couple other bands. It was a busy weekend, I hope the rest of them are this busy as it begins to warm up around here.