Good day to all! 

So this is a little addendum to one of the first posts I ever wrote.  It’s called I would rather give myself a tattoo—with a rusty nail.  This post was about the show Miami Ink and the main character Kat Von D.  Funny, it seems a lot of people don’t feel the same way I do and many felt the need to express their difference of opinion via hateful comments.  I deleted pretty much all of them, but good lord I am still shocked that so many people would pretty much take a bullet for some reality tv show asshole and rake some faceless stranger on the internet over the coals for calling her greasy!!!  She is!!!!

Almost every time I log in to my blog page there are more comments awaiting approval- their hate throbbing bitterly as I hover my mouse back and forth between ‘approve’, ‘delete’, and ‘reply.’  Every time I end up picking ‘delete’ (I know, how boring) but I just don’t want to go there over something that is really not that important!

I guess it did get to me though, because the last time I was around a tv I tuned in to Miami Ink- hoping to see what all the people out there who hate me for writing that early post find so fascinating about the main star Kat- and, BEHOLD, it’s still a shitty show and Kat Von D is (unbelievably) even more of a jackass than before!!!  I do not have a problem with people who want to put that kind of time and effort into portraying an ‘image’ and I am in no way knocking her tattooing abilities, but HONESTLY, it’s gone too far.  Who has that kind of time to put into their hair, make-up, and clothes every day?  How long does it take to wash all that off at night and what in God’s name is underneath it all?  I showered after watching the show and will probably never watch it again. 

So let the hate spew out of your tattooed and pierced mouths Von D fans, I gave it the good old college try but for the life of me I don’t understand what the appeal is.  The tattoos are still good (if you want to hear about how someone has to get cherry blossoms on their shoulder because their best friend in kindergarten had an eating disorder or whatever) but the whole show is just a lot better on someone else’s television- not mine.

After a looong hiatus I am finally back. I don’t think anyone missed me but I missed writing!

What has happened since I last wrote:

*Became a Permanent Resident of Canada (finally)
*Graduated to ‘headstands’ in my yoga practice
*Still hate Kat Von D, despite protests from the people who read that post.
*The US has a new president, I’m not as optimistic as most people but anyone is better than what we’ve had!
*Still cranky but working on my attitude with the help of my beloved Dr. Joy Browne.
*It’s 2009!

April 15th nears…. and everyone starts making cute comments about the dreaded Federal Income Tax, and the forms start rolling in, and you call your accountant, and high school and college kids are excited because they get a few hundred dollars coming back to them, small business owners cringe for not filing quarterly, etc. etc.

All this ado in early spring every year; it’s a custom we’re used to and never question.  We know that if you do not bite the bullet and ‘Do Your Taxes’ you could face a fate worse than death: an audit.  OR jail, or a beating, or a big fine, or just a big pain in the ass. 

But guess what….?  There is no law that requires you to pay the Federal Income Tax.  That 1040?  Not required.  Taxing your labor?  Unconstitutional.

The 16th Amendment addresses taxation, but no where claims that the Federal Income Tax is a citizen’s duty.  Actually, when the government tried to get the amendment changed to make F.I.T. a requirement, the Supreme Court said ‘no’ and ruled the tax unconstitutional. 

Don’t believe me?  You look it up.  Call the IRS and try and get them to explain the law to you- or even quote the section of #16 that STATES you have to pay income tax.  Call your accountant, ask them.  You will never get an answer, not a real answer, because there is NO law that requires you to fill out that 1040, or to have your checks garnished and portions of your hard earned dollars sent to the… wait, where does the Federal Income Tax go?  What does it pay for?  Not roads, not schools, not even the salaries of politicians.  All those are already paid for by the dozens of other types of taxes we already pay (local, property, cigarette/liquor, etc. etc.).  Those types of taxes are perfectly legal, the Federal Income Tax is NOT.

Here is a great movie by Aaron Russo (director of Trading Spaces, The Rose….) called America Freedom to Fascism.

He’s an excellent director, and takes a good look at WHY we pay taxes, and questions the law (a law that doesn’t exist) that forces us to do so.  Certainly watch all of it, but if you can’t, AT LEAST watch the first half. 

http://www.freedomtofascism.com/

Google Video Link To Movie

*You can find it on YouTube too…

As we near the 2008 Presidential Election, and commercials telling us how important our vote is begin to grow in numbers, I would like to remind you that your vote doesn’t really matter.  Along with incredible fraud that is occuring at ballot casting sites across the country, there are many other factors working against you- the ‘voter.’

Why your vote doesn’t matter:  The Electoral College

There are many factors that work together to make your vote useless, but the main reason why your vote doesn’t matter has to do with a little thing we call the Electoral College.  The electoral college system dates back to ancient times, probably for the sake of offering representation to peons who couldn’t vote themselves. 

Today, however, most everyone is capable of voting themselves- yet we insist on this silly ‘middle man’ system anyway.  So the electoral college is a group of electors who are actually the ones whose votes do matter.  Each state has a different number of electors, so some states carry more weight than others.  The number of electors is determined by adding a state’s Senators (2) with US Representatives (varies depending on state’s population).  For example, Illinois has 21, California has 55, North Dakota has 3.  So, Califonians are more important from Illinoisans (?), who are more important than North Dakota.

When you cast your ballot on election day, you are really just voting for whoever the elector is that said they would vote for you candidate.  So if you go and check the John Edwards box, you are really checking the box of Joe Elector who says if he got elected for the college he will vote for Edwards.  Then, you put your trust into the hands of a guy who SAYS he will vote for Edwards, but who really knows?  And, for North Dakota, he doesn’t carry much weight anyway because he is only 1 out of 538 votes cast in the college.

Why do we still use this literally ancient system?  I don’t know.  Wouldn’t it make more sense to have everyone vote, and then count the votes, and then whoever gets the most votes wins?  I guess maybe that would take too long… so much for fairness.

An Example of How the Electoral College is Not a Fair Representation of the Little Person’s Vote:

The 2000 Election:  Al Gore had more ‘real’ votes (had we counted votes in a normal way), but according to the Electoral College he had less. 

Now, you may think- oh we’ve all heard of that one, it’s been beaten to death- but I am going to keep talking about it because although we KNOW, as a fact, that the 2000 elections were unfair and incorrect (for reasons besides the electoral college thing, which sadly is perfectly legal) we haven’t done a thing about it, and actually let it happen AGAIN in 2004.  ONE article of many suggesting this.  And we’re obviously letting it happen again.

Part 2:  Faithless Electors

A faithless elector is a member of the electoral college who says they are going to vote for one candidate, and then votes for someone else.  This behavior is punishable, but no FE has ever actually been punished.  Apparently FE’s have never changed the outcome of an election,  but I wonder.  That’s personal opinion, but take some time to think about it yourself.

Part 3:  ‘Winner’ Takes All

Another part of the electoral college which makes no sense is this:  After the electoral votes are cast, whoever gets the most votes in that state ‘wins’ and gets that state’s whole vote.  So if Clinton gets 40 out of 55 electoral votes in California, California switches and ALL 55 of it’s votes go to Clinton.  So during elections, when you hear about which candidates win which states, it’s not a matter of who gets the most votes, really, it’s who gets ALL the votes for that state.  So, for example, Clinton could ‘win’ all of California’s 55 votes even though technically she only got 40.  These numbers add up, and by taking away votes from other candidates who don’t get the majority of the state, this nullifies your vote and actually GIVES it to a candidate you did not vote for.  If you vote for McCain, but the majority of the electoral college votes for Clinton (just an example) then YOUR votes flips to Clinton as well. 

So, because we still insist on using the Electoral College as our method of choosing leaders, YOUR VOTE DOESN’T MATTER- unless of course EVERYONE votes for the same person.  The electoral college racks up big number fast for the front runners, and almost immediately nullifies votes for anyone else.  So after the big states flip to whoever the majority of the college votes for (not the majority of the PEOPLE), it’s pretty much a done deal.  You can go ahead and vote anyway, I’m going to, but just keep in mind that unless everyone else votes the same as you- your vote, more likely than not, will eventually go to a candidate you are not supporting. 

This is foolish, and makes no sense, but until we get off our asses and stop reading stupid articles like this and instead DEMAND a change, we’re going to keep getting Presidents in office who we did not elect.  I don’t know about you, but after some pretty shitty elections in the past I’m ready to step it up and create a REAL democracy, not a fake one run by the rich and the high up.

**Check comments below for a link to Citizen J’s site for further detail on this foolish and sneaky voting method!  …. well I’ll just give you the link here!