Blog of Josh Hall

ok, this is something i have been tossing back and forth, and trying to find holes in the idea.  I think the government should have to function as a business.  They should have to work for a profit, and if they fail to succeed, new management needs to step in.  Taxes are already a form of profit for the government, so why should the get the benefits of a business without the work?

Wars and other “ventures” should have to be funded.  Ask for donations, fund raising events involving celebrity supporters, etc.  If the people are not interested in the product, and they don’t want to buy invest in it, then it shouldn’t happen.

I think a lot of the coruption in government arises from taxes, and officials taking funding for granted.  The best way to save money, is stop spending it.

now, no taxes at all would make it far too easy for government to fall, so there should be a small obligatory percentage of your income that goes to funding the maintenance of the government.   (continued)

and while we are on taxes, with addition to my rants about the lack of technological improvements effecting the way taxes are done, i think there should be options in taxes.  I would much rather losing money out of every paycheck and be done with it.  I think an option to pay a monthly fee would help the budgeters of america.  there need to be options with taxes, that would also get rid of the intense load of work the IRS has to deal with every april, just spread it out over time.   I would be fine paying a “government bill” every month, just like the gas and electric.  Heck, that might even be financially beneficial.

but anyways, if the government goes bankrupt, the CEO, or president would be replaced.  And people need to stop being fooled about the superlative president.  the president is a puppet.  There are so many checks and balances that we could easily be without a president for a matter of months.  The president being in place does not effect our day to day operations.  law officials and the FBI (ie enforcement that prevents anarchy) would still be as functional as they always are (har har). 

The (what ever happenned to steve forbes?) flat tax would have to be small enough, that it would not create such a surplus that the government would not need to look for revenue elsewhere.  perhaps the tax could even be dynamic.   maybe we would all pay 5% for a year, and then we end up being in the black, and we only have to pay 2% next time.  Who knows, maybe even we could go without taxes for a month!  (if you were on the monthly tax plan of course 😉

Josh –

For Mike Doughty, Pittsburgh, May 18:

We’ll put your name on the guest list. You may bring one guest with you as well; guest list gets you into the show, so you won’t need a separate ticket; you’ll also have backstage access.

Go on backstage to say hi to Mike at 7:30; he’ll give you the email list to take around, and you can chat for a while. At 8:00, half an hour before he goes on stage, please let Mike get ready to play and head on out to the crowd and start signing folks up.

After his set, Mike will come back out and sell CDs; keep signing people up then, and give the list back to Mike at the end of the evening.

Let us know if you have any questions.

Thanks!
HQ

What a weekend!  loaded full of activity.  I even ended up taking a nap!  i hate naps!

The day started with J’aime and Dan picking me up and we went to see Van Helsing.  Not terrible.  It was over 2 hours long, I think they should have split it into 2 movies.  Overall, it wasn’t too bad.  I would give it 6.4 out of 10.  I got to see J’aime and Dan’s house friday.  What a wonderful house!  hardwood floors, nice yard, great condition, i took pictures and a video of it to show my grandma, but J’aime and Dan don’t like the idea of those being on the internet.  So no soup for you!  J’aime and I went to visit grandma hall then, hung out there for a bit, and then went home.  Pretty much as soon as i got home, i went over to adam’s, it was about 10.  He had about 10 people over just hanging out, playing pool and socializing.  Good time.  I ended up staying to around 2, then drove home and crashed.   In bed, not the car.

Saturday we ended up leaving around noon, instead of the 9 am targetted departure time.  Who saw that one coming?  so we got out to PSU after 3, got some pictures on the nittany lion, ate at the green bowl, and then some dessert at the creperie.  The green bowl (suprisingly, they don’t even use green bowls) is a chinese joint where you pick all your veggies, as much as you want, throw them in a bowl, put your choice of sauce on it, and then chose your meat, and give it to them to cook.  It’s all you can eat too.  not a bad place at all.  i think it was even cheap.  (continued)

So then we went to the creperie place.  I got “the best of both worlds.”  I said it just like that too, something tells me the waitress was not amused.  IT was like a thin rubbery pancake thing, with nutella and caramel wrapped inside of it.  Very interesting, but very tasty.  I had planned on spending the night there, but around 9 we took our leave. 

Sunday we got up for church, had a little lunch, Keren and I washed the car for my mom, everyone else did some yard work and cleaning for her.  I convinced Kathy to drive me back up to the city too.  She doesn’t have anything better to do, Kim doesnt come home til later this week:)  

When Kathy left, i went outside with her, and as she pulled away, a black guy asked me if i got that NBA contract yet.  He was the guy that had asked me if i played for pitt about 3 months prior (supposedly, i don’t remember him, but he said he grew a beard and changed his hair since then [shrug])  Anyway, He said that he was the guy that the cops had accused of being the home invasion guy.  Apparently, he was shot off a roof when they came to get him.  He showed me the scar on his left shoulder, then lifted up his shirt so i could see the 2 long scars on his stomach, and then up by his right arm pit, the bullet was still in there.  He asked me to touch it, and i did.  So there i am, talking with a guy who had been shot off a roof by the police, and having a conversation (initiated by him) about what programs to recommend to people who ask me for change.  Apparently, the hill house right up the street, is not a good place because they charge $28 a week.  And the church down the other way only offers prayer, and no shelter or food or anything.  He did seem like a nice fellow, and we probably talked for about 5 minutes.  i gave him some money, which i normally don’t do, and he said thanks, and went off to sleep under the over pass.   Too much exitement for me. 

a lot going on this week too.  maybe some softball tomorrow, keren and deirdre’s may day on wednesday, frisbee on thursday, and hopefully some recording some where in there too.  so, i shall bid you farewell, and leave you with some 80’s classic commercials.

nothing like a walk home from station square at 1 am.  the T stopped coming at 12:30.  i am not complaining though, i not only enjoyed the walk home, i enjoyed the 2 hours of jimmies chicken shack.  amazing.  they play sooooo many songs, and talked so much, and…drank a lot too.  they were definitely gone by the end of the show, but they rocked just the same.  i plan to write a full review on the band in the reviews section later on.  i gotta get into the shower, i wreak of cigs and beer.

today turned out to be a pretty good day.  i walked down to pittsburgh guitars and played a lefty SG.  different from a strat, and only $150….i can’t.  I would love to, but i can’t.  also eyed up an acoustic pick up for $40, i need one of those.  i guess it will have to wait for brighter days.

so later on today, i am going to wake up, catch a T to south hills, meet J’aime, and go home.  Adam is having a shindig at his casa, i might make a guest appearance.   Then, it is off to Penn State to Silly Serah’s abode, to do whatever there.  if i get back intime sunday, I’ll probably get a ride back to the burgh with da jenks and show kathy around campus for her classes monday.  It would appear her schedule is already messed up. 

while i was out have a blast, comcast was busy firing all the employees of TechTV.  what the crap is that about???  i don’t even get that channel here yet.  Idiots.

alright, i gotta get a shower and some sleep.  i will continue this on another date.  until then, pass the time with looking at how crazy ricers get over seas.  check out the vans and tail pipes!

MIKE DOUGHTY IS COMING TO PITTSBURGH!!!!!!!! HOLY CRAP I CANT STOP FLIPPING OUT!!! I AM LIKE A SCHOOL GIRL!!!!! tuesday may 18th, who is in?!?!?!

well, saturday didnt work out as i had hoped.  I had asked someone to go, and they ended up not getting my email until today. :-  and saturday night, i asked someone else to go, and he said he would drive, so 8 rolls around, and he was supposed to pick me up then, and he calls and says he cant go.  by then, it was too late for me to catch a bus, so no matchbook romance for me.  oh well, i guess it was just not meant to be.  Hopefully the band will stick together and come back around.  This thursday is jimmies chicken shack though. Nothing is getting in my way.  Nothing.

turns out what i thought was 55 cents per impression for ads, was really 55 cents per thousand impressions.  quite the difference.  since it wasnt even worth it, i took it down.  i was all exited there for a second.

i have been thinking about puting the videos section back up and hosting them else where so i dont kill my bandwidth.  i will probably do that sometime this week.

going to Penn state this weekend with my sisters to see serah and help her….welll i dont know why we are going up really.  they just asked me to go.  always good times with the sisters though.

for all of you that voted for keren, she is lucky to have friends like you.  friends that are willing to lie just to make her feel good.  and kudos to all those who dared to be different and vote for the stick.  i didnt see that one coming at all. 🙂

so i guess i have to leave you will some interesting tidbit of knowledge, or something funny, or just something partially entertaining.  well, here it is.  you can either learn how to make a stun gun from a disposable camera, or you could use your disposable camera for good and turn it into a digital camera.  the choice is yours.