Looking for receipt printers?

If you own a business that requires you print out receipts for customers, one of the most popular ones out there right now is the epson receipt printer. It's reasonably priced, the cost to operate it is also reasonable and Epson has a great reputation as far as reliability. Another aspect of Epson is customer service, when I've had issues with an Epson product, they've been much more helpful than some of the other printer manufacturers I had in the past.

Weight loss for some, not for me...

It's kind of ironic to sit here and write about weight loss products when since our grill was still warm from our earlier dinner, my husband just grilled me a jumbo hot dog, then topped it with relish and mustard. Yes, hot dogs are not the healthiest food item, especially compared with the boneless chicken breasts and veggies from earlier but? It tasted pretty darn good. I focus on trying to be healthy, and I don't want to be obese but like my decision to not worry about dyeing my hair anymore and accept the silvery gray as...me...I don't worry about dieting anymore. However I know many of you do worry about dieting and whatever makes you happy? Works for me.

Whether and how to woo Tea Party followers

I really hope the decisions made during the Libertarian Party National Convention is to not woo the Tea Party bunch, the whole focus on Rand Paul should demonstrate that those who don't support a major part of what makes a person even Libertarian leaning, are not going to strengthen the goals. Or at least what the goals used to be. However, as this St. Louis today article points out, that's exactly what's going to be discussed and decided:

Whether and how to woo Tea Party followers to their party is one of the big issues at the Libertarian Party national convention this weekend in downtown St. Louis.

Should Libertarians bend their principles for the votes of Tea Party followers, who may agree with them on some financial issues but sharply disagree on social policy; or do they focus on long-held principles that may not hold as much appeal among mainstream voters?

With sadness I put away the red boots...

While I love summer and the warmer weather (as long as it's not too warm) the downside for the summer months is my favorite pair of red suede boots is no longer appropriate or functional for regular wearing. I've managed to keep the same pair in good shape for three winters and falls now, in part because I love them and despite looking each year for a possible replacement, I've yet to find a pair that comes close to them. Here's hoping that next year will be a successful year four...

Rand Paul getting more attention than Convention...

It's kind of disappointing when looking at the current news referencing the Libertarian Party. Far more articles, several hundred, focus on Rand Paul and is he or isn't he really a Libertarian than the National Convention that's taking place in St. Louis.

That's part of the challenge the Libertarian party has always faced, and it's something many groups face. The controversial get more media attention and focus than those trying to create real change and action...

Bob Barr's remarks at the National Libertarian Party Convention

This weekend the Libertarian Party is holding their Natonal Convention in St. Louis. Bob Barr gave the keynote speech, there are a variety of places that had the speech in full, one is the IndependentPoliticalReport.com. References to Atlas were the focus of the speech, one example:

I believe Atlas weeps instead of shrugging, because he still cares; he still hopes; he still sees promise in the America of our founding.

But he also may weep because he knows we in the Libertarian Party have failed to consistently offer to the American people the righteous, vigorous, principled and positive alternative to the stale, two-party system that has become America’s political status quo. Atlas knows that the Libertarian Party has more – much more – to offer the people of this country than the current closed system dominated by the Republican and Democratic Parties, with their cadres of superficially charismatic leaders able to mouth sound bites but little else.

Atlas may weep because we have let him down by allowing ourselves to chase false priorities, and to dissipate the energy of our convictions on esoteric exercises of little or no relevance to the real political world.

If Atlas does so mourn, then let us as Libertarians this year become once again Atlas’ champion.

I had no idea what a irvingia gabonensis was

When I heard the term, "irvingia gabonensis" was, I had no idea what it was, it sounded like some type of a rare disease you would not want to contract. Especially when phrased as irvingia gabonensis side effects, but then I discovered that it's a tree - mainly grown in West and Central African tree and that some also call it the wild mango or bush mango. It's become one of the latest weight loss ingredients so I'm sure it will become much more known in the weeks to come. Just as many of us had never heard of hoodia, or ginko berries until they became "the" product of the moment...

Grilling is relaxing...

Before I came inside and got to work blogging, we had a nice relaxing dinner that made use of our grill instead of me having to heat up the kitchen. There is something much more relaxing about cooking on the grill as opposed to hovering over a stove, sitting back on outdoor chaise lounges sipping a cold beverage while you wait to brush some more barbecue sauce on the chicken and give the vegetable kabobs a few turns. It's also easier clean up...

:-)

An additional piece on Rand Paul...

From Alternet, titled, Libertarians realizing Rand Paul is not one of them though I'd suggest some knew that before hand, it is a recommended read. This one quote pretty much tells you how those who understand what being a Libertarian is, have to say:

Libertarian Party Vice Chairman Joshua Koch cites Paul’s support for a federal abortion ban, along with his opposition to gay marriage and his refusal to call for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, as grounds for running a candidate against him this fall, which he says the party is considering. “We’re not going to let Rand determine what a Libertarian stands for,” Koch, an erstwhile Paul supporter, told The Washington Post. “I’m here to say Rand does not have the Libertarian ideology.”

Keep Rand Paul Off My Philosophies

Highly recommended article for those of you interested in the Rand Paul "phenomenon" and the attempt to once again label what being Libertarian means by candidates and the media. Just one small part of the piece by James Campion:

As a charter member of the order of logical libertarian (I proclaim myself as such in the face of eight years of Compassionate Conservatism and the first two years of Pragmatic Liberalism) I view Paul as at best a poser libertarian. Although he is against foreign wars unless provoked or have direct national security issues, how does he feel about certain anti-Republican cultural and moral issues such as the free will of gays to marry, a woman’s right to her own body functions, for taxpaying citizens to choose the recreational drug of choice without facing prison time, or where does he stand on the usual stream of entitlements everyone wants but whines about paying for?

Paul’s recent rebuttals against the federal government’s braggadocio of “standing on the neck” of British Petroleum for all-but destroying the Gulf Coast sounds an awful lot like a dime-a-dozen conservative-speak that more often than not sees fit to choose the doctrine of free will of business over that of the citizen.

Truth is Rand Paul is as much a libertarian as Christians are christian.

Up in smoke...

I don't know much about cigars, but I have heard certain brands mentioned, one of those is davidoff as one some of the guys I know smoke. There are a few women who I know who also enjoy cigars, where for me I think the problem would be not inhaling. I'm used to inhaling while smoking so the instinct to do so has kept me from trying a cigar. Though a few who do smoke cigars have quit smoking cigarettes and instead enjoy an occasional stogy.

And another arrest...

Reported on Reason:

Libertarian activist George Donnelly participating in, and filming, a Fully Informed Jury Association (FIJA) action outside a federal courthouse in Allentown, PA, was assaulted, arrested, and had his camera taken by federal agents earlier this week. Full report on the details of the incident from the Libertarian Examiner.

Yesterday, from a new Libertarian Examiner report, Donnelly is now out of jail, though it is unclear from their report whether the charges were dropped.

Libertarian photographer sues Dept. of Homeland Security after arrest for filming courthouse protest

I missed this story...in the New York Daily News:

Antonio Musumeci, a 29-year-old software programmer, videotaped the arrest of a Libertarian activist outside Manhattan Federal Court last year.

His lawsuit says that even though he was standing in a public plaza next to the courthouse, an inspector with the Federal Protective Service told him he was under arrest.

Musumeci was forced to sit on the sidewalk for 20 minutes, he says. His camera memory card was confiscated and he got a ticket for filming on federal property, a violation.

The ticket was later dismissed in Manhattan Federal Court, court papers say. His memory card was never returned.

Musumeci, himself a member of the Manhattan Libertarian Party, later returned to the courthouse to videotape other political protests organized by the group and made sure to stand on the public sidewalk.

Even so, he was again threatened with arrest, according to the lawsuit the New York Civil Liberties Union filed Thursday on his behalf.

Why I'd want an Xbox

I'm not into gaming anymore, my days of playing video games beyond having fun on some of the Facebook games is over but one of the things I really like about the xbox 360 that my youngest daughter and her boyfriend have is it connects to the internet, so they can watch Netflix movies on their television in their room as opposed to how I have to watch it in my room, on the computer. Granted you can buy boxes to hook up to the tv, but realistically the Xbox is more affordable and if I ever had the desire to kill a few zombies to relieve the stress of the day? I could do both...

:-)

Speaking of playboy...

It makes me think about skin, and since most of us don't have our own personal make up artists as well as airbrush artists to make our skin flaws go away (at least in print) we have to worry about things like acne creams, wrinkle creams, moisturizers and other skin care products so that we look our best. Even if we are too old to even be considered for more than the interview section of Playboy...Which is supposedly why everyone buys it anyway.

:-)

I'm a sexual libertarian?

Evidently Libertarianism is really becoming more popular...I'm not a fan of Michael Savage but I found this Newsweek article on him being in Playboy magazine as an interesting read.

Playboy writer David Hochman spent 16 hours interviewing Savage, an experience he said was "incredibly difficult." Savage’s opinions were often incendiary to the point of being like "poison." In this case, however, the contempt was shared. "Even when we were laughing," writes Hochman, "I knew he was thinking, Liberal vermin media."

We’ll offer snaps to Hochman for questioning some of Savage’s more offensive views—like on immigrants ("The racists are the people who come into a country that isn't theirs and take it over"), sex ed ("I don’t want the government teaching my kids how to [bleep]"), gay marriage ("I'm a sexual libertarian"), and even conservative golden boy Glenn Beck ("He’s [bleeping] stupid").

A contrast in cultures...

In many parts of the world people struggle to obtain enough food for their families, even here in our nation there are those who rely on assistance programs to be able to provide two meals a day. Then we have those at the other end of the spectrum who have partaken a bit too much in the food department who focus on the best weight loss pills comparison. Obesity though is not just for the wealthy, those who are poor are also often over-weight because of cultural food sources and from a lack of education/access to healthier foods.

My friend named Zed...

I don't know why but recently I've had to deal with acne again, perhaps menopause is finally arriving. One pimple on my chin won't go away, and it's large enough that today I decided to name it. Zed...The downside is of course next week I film my Rant & Rave for FOX Toledo. Yet despite trying several different acne solutions Zed appears to be determined to stay...

What's funny is people don't want to mention how "angry" the pimple looks until you joke about it. Then they start sharing their tales of pimples past...Which means while it's not fun to have at the moment at least myself and my co-workers can laugh about Zed...

Some of the most popular Libertarian quotes...

Here are some of the most popular quotes out there on Libertarianism....

We have been living amidst one of the great revolutions of human history, and we hardly know it: the penetration of the State into every aspect of human life and society. Some people regard this as good and "progressive," others regard it as tyrannical; but either way, it's a fact, a transformation as great as, say, the Industrial Revolution. Absolutely nothing is now beyond the scope of State power.
Joseph Sobran

The chances of your being harmed by terrorists are mathematically minute. The chance of your being robbed by your own government? That’s easy: 100 per cent.
Joseph Sobran


The most destructive thing governments do is divide people against each other, all in competition over the reins of the state.
Anthony Gregory

The war on "terror" will never be over, it will just change locations. Like the war on drugs, prostitution, pornography, and the many others that will follow, it is a war on humanity. These wars will never be won; the State will just keep creating new boogiemen to frighten us with. The sheep will anxiously anticipate the next fall guy the State offers up as a sacrifice for the war on whatever happens to be next. Be careful, the next pawn could be me or you.
Mike Wasdin

The seeds of today's runaway government were planted when it was decided that government should help those who can't help themselves. From that modest, compassionate beginning to today's out-of-control mega-state, there's a straight, unbroken line. Once the door was open, once it was settled that the government should help some people at the expense of others, there was no stopping it.
Harry Browne

The movement towards younger libertarians...

Interesting article from Campus Progress, Behind the New Student Libertarian Movement that's written in their "field report" segment. Realistically the only way for any political party to grow is to recruit new members, either from other parties or to get those who are new to the political world involved. Youth are typically the most dedicated volunteers during election time. Part of the recommended piece:

But even though he appeared at CPAC, McCobin’s tendency to get pegged as a conservative is one of his pet peeves; he is adamant that libertarians, and SFL in particular, are not right-wingers. “There’s definitely a feeling, there’s a lot of pro-liberty individuals, especially younger individuals, who don’t associate with the cultural right, with the conservative, Christian coalition,” McCobin emphasizes. “That’s just not what we’re about.”

For the first time since the early 1980s, SFL holds the position as the only major national student organization dedicated to libertarianism, or as the SFL calls it, “pro-liberty” ideas. The last time there was a visible libertarian student movement, it was strongly allied with the right, united by the common enemy of communism as well as conservative economics.