I suppose if loving freedom, believing in limited government, less regulation, lower taxes and the incandescent lightbulb makes me an extremist, then I guess I am one.

Very exciting things are starting to happy with the company Painting for Life. Our new shopping cart website is starting to come together. Please, if you have a moment, I welcome you to go to www.paintingforlife.com/store. From there, feel free to browse the merchandise and place a few orders. Note, that it is still a work in progress, so be prepared for there to be missing images, funky sentences, and incomplete products, however, the cart is legit and secure. If you do notice any grammar issues or page link issues, or what have you, please let us know.

The second set of exciting news about Painting for Life is that we have always been primarily a stationery company. We are starting to branch out and offer more products, including books and CDs by local independent artists, and bath products and gifts sets.

If you run a non-profit, or you know somebody who does, ask to participate in the PFL fundraising program, in which you and your team sells Painting for Life products to raise money for your non-profit. It is an excellent program filled with exciting products that practically sell themselves.

Finally, this summer I’m going to participate in several art shows. If you want to know more about the shows and other exciting happenings, sign up to receive our ezine at PaintingforLife.com.

Any similarities to Nancy Pelosi is purely incidental.

It’s tough watching the fallout with the Toyota company. I’ve been a Toyota fan for a long time. It didn’t shock me, however, to discover that there would be fraudulent malfunction claims. It’s bad enough to have to deal with the real claims. Poor Mr. Toyota.

Anyway, I can go on and on about how I agree completely with Ayn Rand’s concept of producers verses looters and the morality of working for an honest wage, and how the role of government should be to protect life and property, not to redistribute it. The only issue Rand was wrong about was the concept of original sin. We are all capable of being looters and we are all looters of some degree at different moments in our life. And I wonder where she gets her objectivity without a religious basis or background.

Outside of that, it is a great read and it forces one to think critically, something I feel we are afraid to do in today’s hypersensitive society.

Almost everybody I know who has seen this movie, liberal or conservative, has told me it is nothing more than a tired, recycled plot, pumped up on special effects. Yet, because it carries an anti-capitalist world view, it has been lauded by the Academy and up for Best Picture.

The Academy Award goes to the film that best carries our message and slaps it upside your head.

I’ve noticed that over the past five years, I have hated 99% of all Academy Award nominated film. I now use today’s nominations as a guide. Has it been nominated? Well then, I’ll skip it.

I find it interesting how many of the psychic houses I pass as I drive through Denver make it very clear that you are to set up an appointment. I suppose if you were psychic you could call me ahead of time and tell me not to arrive at 3pm on Tuesday, because that’s when Susan is supposed to drop in.

What makes fortune telling so effective is that they cater to our over inflated egos. Think of the last horoscope or fortune cookie you read. They always read to the effect of, “Everybody ever born between these dates have these exact same traits: you are kind and thoughtful, thinking of others before yourself, generous. Your hard working attitude and your attention to detail is what will allow you to be successful this year. You are the perfect lover, a charmer.” Well, shoot, these psychic people must know what they are talking about, I guess I am hot stuff.

Imagine for a second if the horoscopes actually told the truth. “You are a stuck-up, mean-spirited jerk– oh, and your breath stinks, too.” Well…, you know those horoscopes, can’t really trust them to be accurate.

Of course, the moment today’s seers started telling it like it is becomes the moment they lose business. Which makes me wonder why they charge money in the first place. With abilities like that, you’d think they’d do pretty well in Vegas.

When you allow government to funnel your money to in order to “take care” of you, the costs far outweigh whatever perceived benefit in the long run. Thank you Mary D for this great idea!

Christmas day proved me right. Now with the TSA’s overreaction from the thwarted attack, I am livid. Let’s examine some of the irony with the new rules.

First, the guy who saved the day got out of his seat to do so. In response, the TSA now says you can’t leave your seat.

You are not allowed to keep anything in your lap 1 hour prior to the plane landing, including paperback books. Serious? You guys at the TSA think banning paperback books is going to stop terrorism?!? The terrorists stated goal is to, what, kill our freedoms, is it not? They no longer need to be successful with their terrorist attacks anymore–the overreaction of our government will automatically take away our freedoms for them.

So we are expected to sit strapped to our seats for hours on end without even the relief of a book to pass the time the next time we want to take a flight. We can’t cover ourselves if we are cold, we can’t get up to use the bathroom if we have to. Prison inmates have more freedoms than this! The detainees at Guantanemo have more freedoms than this! The terrorists have effectively put 1 million flyers into prison every day!

(But Ben, we’ve got to do SOMETHING!) Yes, but we have to do the right thing and the right thing was not done on Christmas day. The so-called “panty-bomber” was on a terrorist watch list, had an Islamic name, bought a one-way ticket to America with cash and NOBODY raised a red flag. Similar things happened with the Ft. Hood incident.

Screw political correctness. We are at war with radical Muslims, they should be suspect and scrutinized. Until the war is over, that’s just the reality of it. Granted, maybe not every jihadist who says “Death to America” on his website will actually carry out plans to do so, but let’s double check him, just in case.

Here’s my solution, it’s a good one, who can I talk to? One: Give us our books, blankets, shampoos and knitting needles back. Let us roam the cabin if we need to. I mean this. The ban on these items will not make us a lick safer. All it does is give the illusion of security at the expense of freedom. Several foreign airlines operate just fine without these restrictions.

Obama has promised more full body screeners. Good. I can live with that. It’s an invasion of privacy, yes, but not of freedom. But let’s use them the right way. If you have an Yemenese passport, Islamic name and you are buying a one way ticket with cash, buddy, you’re going through it.

Let’s spend our money on getting some chemically trained dogs to roam the security lines. People aren’t moving anyway, they might as well be subject to a “sniff” search.

Allow flight attendants who qualify with training and a thorough background check to be allowed to carry if they want to. Assign more undercover air marshals as well. There is no greater defense than a good offense.

Finally, make a BIG deal out of the everyday heroes who risk their lives to save the day. They should be given some sort of financial reward for their efforts, so as to encourage more people to take safety into their own hands.

Between you and me, I am so upset about the new rules, that if I’m to ever get on a plane again, I swear I’m tempted to engage in civil disobedience, just the make a point. I WILL NOT put away that paperback. Let them fuss over me. Let them arrest me. My cause will be vindicated and hopefully enough people will see how stupid it is that they waste all their efforts over some chronically ill white guy because he refuses to put down his book “Common Sense” by Thomas Paine, instead of focusing that time and money on the real perpetrators. I just pray these restrictions are lifted by the time I take the next flight or else, you might be seeing me on the news…

Question: If you were to walk down the halls of congress and trip, who would catch you? The Republicans or the Democrats?

Answer: Neither. The Democrats would form a government agency designed to catch people who happen to trip in the halls of congress. It will span several bureaucracies, cost millions and will not be completed for several years. Of course, you’ll be long recovered from your fall by then, but they’ll keep the agency in place, “just in case” you happen to fall again.

The Republicans will simply tell you to catch yourself.