Elmo

That goal is why I'm having this debate. I forgot where I read it but it was a conversation that went like this: pupil: "How do I become a better person?" sage: "Find the one philosopher you completely disagree with...then read his book."

I don't think I'm being overly liberal. I'm against free loaders, I'm against the whole occupy wall street. Maybe I'm not expressing myself correctly. I wanted to hammer in a point hard and as a result, my responses might have ended up being harsh to which I apologize for. You should also be aware that I'm not sitting behind this computer angry and fuming. I actually have a smile on my face while I'm typing as I am taking this as a fun conversation/debate so I hope people don't get too riled up over this. My point about freedom is that laws restrict some of it as it should. It seems sometimes when anyone mentions some kind of restrictions, people get angry. They say their rights are being taken away. To me, that's progression. Decades ago, some people felt women should have a right to vote. Many thought that would ruin this country. Now people look back at it as progression. Regarding CEOs, (and I'll throw inside traders in there as well) find loops holes in the system and take advantage of it. I feel that isn't right and some of those loopholes should be closed. Those who play it right, should be paid. Those who don't shouldn't. Steve Jobs took Apple above Microsoft. He should be paid handsomely. Steve Eichen bankrupt Disney and he walked away with over $200 million. Hmmm... The guy who tanked Lehman Brothers. He knew the company was going under. He set himself up with a nicely before leaving. Think of it as a plane and he's the pilot. The whole time he was telling everyone everything is fine, have some complimentory wine, as he casually walks to the back and grabs the only parachute. Then he yells "You're all going to die" as he jumps out of the plane. Not cool. His parachute was built on all those investors who were not informed and continued to pump money into the system. Now sure, as a publicly trade company, they have to release their financial information but a good accountant and financial advisor can hide that while the inside guys set to jump ship.

"I love when people claim they love freedom but then start laying down their conditions to that freedom" We are want to the most freedom we can get which is why I love this country but by dictionary terms of true freedom as being able to do what ever you want, true freedom won't cut it in society. I mean, the guy down the hall smells. He hardly takes out his trash. I'm going to go down the hall and shoot him in the face with a 12 gauge. I am free to do so. What do you mean I can't? You're denying my freedom to do so.

That's how photography works. When I'm on vacation, I purposely take several shots of the same thing at different exposures and different lighting and keep the best one. A friend of mine who's a wedding photography told me that he and his team would take over 3000 photos during a wedding but give the couple 200 to 300 of the best ones.

You're right...just got to beat them in their own game. Until then, I'll continue to just pay the taxes for those who knowingly tanked corporations and took their golden parachutes until my time comes.

How about this...CEO's salary should all be incentive based. If the company makes 2 billion dollars this year, he/she should be paid $20 million dollars. If the company loses 2 billion dollars this year, he should lose 2 million dollars. (so as not to be TOO harsh)

Yes, seriously, great stuff.

Off topic but using A-Rod was the worst example. Every since he was accused of being on the juice, his production has dropped dramatically. He isn't even a top 10 player anymore and the Yankees still owe him $114 million for the next 5 years not even counting the rest of this year. The Yankee's can't even give him away for a bag of baseballs.

Also, the unemployment, the less tax is collected, the more the employed has to carry the burden on top of supporting unemployment checks.

Freedom is great. It's also great for criminals who abuse that freedom. It was also great when bullies use to take other kids lunch money until a teacher stepped in a protected the smaller kids. The top CEOs are where they are because they know how to work the system and abuse that freedom. I fully support open democracy and capatilism which is based on incentive based achievements but seriously, if you're 60 something years old and have hundreds of millions of dollars, would you really care if you're fired?

I agree. Small game is where to start. Unfortunately, there is no short-cut to it. You have to spend your time in the woods scouting. Small game hunting allows you to scout and hunt/practice at the same time. You may not see a lot of signs initially but as you become more familiar with them, you start to develop an eye for them and start to notice a little more of it at spots that you initially thought didn't have any signs.

If one CEO cuts his/her salary in half, and still make more than CEOs of other countries, the company can hire 100 additional employees, easy. Wouldn't that increase production and efficiency? It's not like US CEOs are being compared to third world countries. England and Japan are economic world leaders as well.

The average CEO in the USA gets paid 475 times more than the average worker in the USA. See how that compares to other countries.

This article basically does an extremely brief recap of the 1st half of Michael Pollan's book. Read Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma" if you want further details. Pollan goes into much greater detail and mentions every little step as to how monoculture farming ruins soil. The Mindful Carnivore by Tovar Cerulli is another good one.

Yeah, this is the dest I could do with an iPhone. Sometimes I would carry my SLR there at night but they would hardly be there when I do.

Finally got a big of footage of that darn coyote near my park. This is actually the second coyote. Usually they stay so far away I can't take a picture of them but this time, I got between the two of them so when the 1st one ran off, the 2nd one had to go around me to meet back up with the 1st one so he/she got close enough (20 yards or so) for me to take this video with my iPhone and a pocket flashlight I carry to pick up my doggies poo. coyote.wmv

Congratulations. That's awesome.

I have less of a problem with this than a health bill pushed on me because frankly, some strangers carbon emissions impacts me directly while their health does not.

When there's no one out in the woods to judge and criticize you, you could be doing something wrong your whole life and not know it.

I missed the first one so I'm hoping a second one gets set up.

Hahaha! I guess I'm good then because I'm broke.

I sponsor a child through Children's International, donate to Kiva, and MassKickers regularly. I run in various races (paying my "donation" fee every time). I have no problem helping those in need.

I pay around $90 a month for my health insurance through work. In the past 5 years, I've gone to the doctors 3 times total (other than my annual check up). Once for a bone bruise when I accidentally hit myself with an alluminum bat while playing softball, lyme disease test after my second tick bite in the span of a couple of weeks, and surgery to have a benign cyst removed. My total bill over those visits is around $1500. I have no problem assisting those who tried to help themselves but couldn't. I don't agree with helping those who are not willing to cut back on diet and or exercise to prevent medical assistance in the future.

I certainly don't want anything forced on me but if I have to choose the lesser of two evils, I rather force a more a proactive approach to health care than a reactive approach. In other words, focus more on a healthier style of living to prevent diseases such as diabetes instead of focusing on how to deal with people once they get it. I hardly ever see the doctor but I exercise regularly and I mind what I eat. I would love the smoke that cigarette just like anyone else. I love an extra piece of cake just like anyone else. I love sitting on an air conditioned bus instead of walking up the hill. But I quit smoking, moderate my junk food intake, and walk up that hill so that I don't have to see the doctor that often so why should I be paying for those who wants to those vices? Seriously, you mean they get to enjoy all those vices and have someone else pay the financial consequences of it? Comedian Bill Burr said: The show, Biggest Loser, talks about how sad it is for these obese people and how hard it is for them to lose weight but no one talks about how much fun they had putting on that weight to begin with.

Bloomberg has put a lot of heat on gun shop not just in upstate NY but even gun shops in other states. A lot of these shops don't want to deal with Bloomberg harrassing them and just figure it's not worth the trouble. While you don't have to register your firearm when purchased outside of the city, I believe you do go through a background check regardless and some where in Washington DC's FBI building they see your registered address and a red flag is raised.