1. Are You Against Immigration or Just Illegal Immigration?

    Reviewed by: Joshua Steimle on January 23rd, 2012 Categories: Immigration Comments: 1

    “I’m not against immigration, just illegal immigration.”

    I’ve said these words countless times. But I’m not so sure I really believed it. Do you? Prepare the answer in your head before you read on.

    Imagine that all immigration were made legal tomorrow. Then there would be no illegal immigration. Problem solved, right? After all, you’re not against immigration, just illegal immigration, and there’s nothing more making illegal immigration illegal than a law on the books, which can be overturned with the stroke of a pen, right?

    So are you really against only illegal immigration, or against all immigration?

    … Read the rest of this entry »

  2. Why Skateboarders Are Natural Ron Paul Supporters

    Reviewed by: Joshua Steimle on January 23rd, 2012 Categories: Politics Comments: 0

    I’m a skater, and I think that goes a long way towards explaining my gravitation towards Ron Paul’s message over the past few years. Skateboarders should be natural Ron Paul supporters. Here are a few reasons why:

    1. Lack of trust in authority. Skaters have had all too many opportunities to get to know abusive police officers. In fairness, not all cops are jerks, in fact, most probably aren’t. But those who aren’t still feel an obligation to “do their job” which often involves ticketing or arresting skateboarders.

    Skaters also deal with flack from unsupportive family members, school administrators and … Read the rest of this entry »

  3. When is it OK to Kill Billy?

    Reviewed by: Joshua Steimle on January 21st, 2012 Categories: Aggression, Foreign Policy Comments: 4

    There’s this kid named Billy who lives across town from you. Way across town. You don’t really know him, but you have some friends who do. They say he’s got a bunch of orange trees on his property where he and his parents live. Your friends like to go by there on a regular basis and get oranges. Sometimes they do little favors for Billy in exchange for oranges, although nothing much. But Billy is a bit of a pushover, and there’s only one of him and more than one of your friends, so he doesn’t have much choice.

    Things … Read the rest of this entry »

  4. How Ron Paul Supporters View Mitt Romney

    Reviewed by: Joshua Steimle on January 14th, 2012 Categories: People, Politics Comments: 5

    Ok, maybe not all Ron Paul supporters feel this way. Maybe I’m the only one. So change the title of this post to “How one Ron Paul supporter views Mitt Romney” if you want, although I suspect I’m not alone.

    Yesterday I had two debates on Facebook with various friends and acquaintances where I stated that if Romney wins the GOP nomination I will not vote for him. Many think this is out of spite, or an emotional reaction just because “my guy” didn’t win. But it’s not. I’m not the type of guy who is into “team spirit”. I … Read the rest of this entry »

  5. The Most Important Quality in a President

    Reviewed by: Joshua Steimle on January 12th, 2012 Categories: People, Politics Comments: 0

    There are many important qualities we would like our Presidents to have, and perhaps no  one quality can make up for a total lack of others, but if we had to prioritize the qualities or characteristics we would like to see in a President, what would come out on top?

    One might argue that “goodness” is most important. After all, no matter what other qualities a President has, if they’re evil and have evil intentions they’re going to do bad things. Ok, let’s admit that this is probably the most important quality, but let’s move on, because I don’t believe … Read the rest of this entry »

  6. What Social Conservatives Don’t Understand

    Reviewed by: Joshua Steimle on January 6th, 2012 Categories: Social Policy Comments: 0

    Social conservatives have given Rick Santorum’s campaign a fighting chance. Not a chance to win the GOP nomination, mind you, but a fighting chance to make it to a few more states. Ultimately, I believe Santorum’s campaign will implode and he’ll fade away. If they guy lost as a sitting senator in his own district by 18% he’s got about as much chance of winning the GOP nomination as Bob Bennett, the former senator from Utah.

    Social conservatives voted for Rick Santorum because he’s not Mitt Romney and he’s not Ron Paul. How is he different? He believes the government … Read the rest of this entry »

  7. Romney’s Ron Paul Problem

    Reviewed by: Joshua Steimle on January 4th, 2012 Categories: Politics Comments: 2

    How many Romney supporters would vote for Ron Paul if Paul became the GOP nominee against Obama? How many Ron Paul supporters will vote for Romney if Romney becomes the GOP nominee? Herein lies a problem for Romney.

    Last night in the Iowa caucuses Romney won the voters who are most concerned about electability. That is, they care about getting rid of Obama more than anything else, and they think Romney can beat Obama better than any of the other GOP contenders. These voters are the “team” voters. Anyone with an “R” in front of their name is better … Read the rest of this entry »

  8. Does Romney understand freedom?

    Reviewed by: Joshua Steimle on December 23rd, 2011 Categories: People Comments: 0

    If you want to see what real shock and awe look like, try telling someone you don’t see much difference between a Romney vs. an Obama presidency.

    Each time I saw this, I get pretty much the same response in different words ranging from “How can you say such a thing?!” to “Of course they’re different, Romney would overturn Obamacare.”

    I agree that Obamacare vs. no Obamacare does seem like quite a different type of policy, if one believes it would happen. But even assuming Romney would immediately get rid of Obamacare, Obamacare isn’t really the problem (more shock and … Read the rest of this entry »

  9. Who says the TSA doesn’t do any good?

    Reviewed by: Joshua Steimle on September 8th, 2011 Categories: Miscellaneous Comments: 0

    I had a positive experience with the TSA today as I boarded a flight from Salt Lake City, Utah to Las Vegas. Many readers might assume that by associating the word “positive” with the TSA I must mean that I merely avoided having a negative experience. But no, I had a full-blown, positive experience, in that I was better off for the TSA being there than I would have been without them…well, almost.

    I arrived inside the terminal at about 6:10 am. My flight was due to leave at 6:30. This gave me a mere 20 minutes to make it … Read the rest of this entry »

  10. Why I’ve Stopped Listening to Glenn Beck

    Reviewed by: Joshua Steimle on August 24th, 2011 Categories: Media, People Comments: 0

    I started listening to Rush Limbaugh when I was 15, and kept it up for virtually 20 years. I started listening to Glenn Beck a few years ago as he came on the scene and was a devoted acolyte. But sometime in 2010 I started listening less and less and during the past month I’m not sure if you added it all up that I’ve listened to even a single hour of either Beck or Rush. What happened? Ironically, it’s all Glenn Beck’s fault.

    I don’t mean it’s Glenn Beck’s fault in that his tone, content, delivery, etc. turned me … Read the rest of this entry »