I just read a story about a Norwegian movie director, Harald Zwart, who said he was honored that his film Lange Flate Ballaer II was pirated.

The movie was filmed in theater the day it was released and put on a Bit Torrent site in Norway. He was honored because of the fact that some one thought the movie was interesting enough to smuggle a camera in and go through the trouble of posting it on a web site. His one argument that really made sense to me was this: “Some forms of piracy are unfortunate, but I would rather one beat the pirates to it instead of hunting them down.” Law enforcement should spend more money fighting other crimes and admit they have done horribly with laws against pirated movies and music. One suggestion was to release movies online as soon as they’re released for a fee. Say you charge $5 to download the movie off line (before a DVD is released by the way). That’s cheaper than going to the theater and buying a ticket, you can watch from the comfort of your own home, and the quality would be much better than a pirated movie! It makes sense for people in the movie industry because this would expand their exposure to much more people, while people that like to go to the theater could still go.

He must be on steroids because he does things that just aren’t natural.

I just paid my Sprint cell phone bill and had to share this with the people who don’t already know. Sprint currently has their employee plans open to the public.

You just need an employee’s email (leave a message if you’re having trouble finding one), which you can find pretty easy on Google, and you’re set. By the way, if you’re currently a Sprint customer you can change your plan without charge to SERO because Sprint changed a policy starting this year. All SERO plans come with unlimited texts, night and weekends at 7 PM, unlimited weekends, unlimited data (great for people with PDAs or smart phones), unlimited picture mail, and great Sprint service! 500 minutes is $30, 1250 is $50, and 2500 is $100. However, it is very easy to get added perks when you call Sprint and tell them you want to cancel. My roommate, “Ultrayeah,” has 700 minutes with 6 PM nights for $30 and I have 600 minutes with 6 PM nights for $30. I strongly recommend you get the SERO plan if possible, and please leave a comment if you need any more information.

 
I’m sure you guys have all drank bottle water before. Have ya’ll heard of Nestle Pure Life? There’s nothing special about the water but the labels are worth something: Collecting them can help schools get much needed equipment and give the students field trips. The only thing is, you need a lot of points to actually get something. It takes around 600 labels for a football and a 32 bottle package cost 4 dollars; that amounts to almost 19 dollars, which isn’t bad for a football.

 

I drink a lot of water-32 bottles a week. Even though it’ll take me ages to collect enough labels, I’m going to do it. It doesn’t cost me anything, besides taking out the labels, and it feels good to do something positive. I don’t think there is a deadline for these labels to be turned in, so I’ll keep collecting until around this time next year. By then I should have enough points to actually give a school something!

 
I encourage ya’ll to start drinking Nestle Pure Life water and collecting points! Bottle water all taste the same, but only Nestle gives you points that you can donate to schools. I can think of a lot of underprivileged kids-around the Austin area- that would absolutely love going on a field trip or new gym equipment! If ya’ll guys want comment here and maybe we can start a group collection of these tabs, and make a difference!

 

Yeah.

 
Recently, my roommate “NO” ranted about Guns on Campus and apparently it sparked some controversy: Stephen J. Feltoon, a Midwest Regional Director from http://concealedcampus.org, decided to write a rebuttal.

 

No bother finding me on facebook, here I am! It’s too bad you said you’re from Texas. If you were from WA, PA, CA, VA, CO, IN, MI, KY, or a few other states that I can’t remember right now, I’d tell you to pack your bags. Why? Cause those states allow concealed carry on campus by law (in the sense that they don’t forbid it by law…and if they don’t forbid it, it’s legal) so I can take a trip down to Kentucky, do a jig in the middle of a college campus with a concealed firearm, and would be committing no crime. I feel so unsafe walking around campus without a firearm, so since this is a battle of who feels safe, who wins? I’d much rather you be uncomfortable but have me able to better defend myself than leave me relatively defenseless but have you feel warm and fuzzy inside. I’m surprised you don’t feel unsafe considering that criminals break laws and that a criminal intent on committing murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and rape isn’t going to care about the (most likely) lesser crime of illegally bringing a concealed firearm (which, in all honesty, they’re probably concealing illegally too) on campus.

If you’d like to discuss this further my email address is Stephen.Feltoon [at] ConcealedCampus {dot} org but chances are you’re content with being uneducated on this issue and just spouting off opinions without facts to back them up. You think this group is idiotic? What about the college administrators and law makers who think that a sign that says “no guns allowed” keeps criminals from bringing guns on campus (since law-abiding license holders will abide by the law)?

 
I have a few statements to make. First, I have no problem with guns; I’m actually getting a concealed handgun license when I turn 21. I fully support the 2nd amendment and value my rights to own a firearm. Second, I checked the first state he listed, for the states that allow handguns on campus, and indeed it’s doesn’t say anything about prohibiting firearms on campus; however, Washington’s laws are very cloudy, when it comes to guns. Although, their statues prohibit the sale of guns at least 500 feet away from schools. Why would they prohibit from selling guns 500 feet away from schools, but allow people to carry them to school? I can’t answer that: It’s not written specifically in Washington’s state statues.

 

This quotation is taken from USA Today’s article on guns on campus.

“School is the only place I’m not allowed to carry my weapon,” says Washington State University senior Kristin Guttormsen,

Apparently, Kristin goes to Washington state and isn’t allowed to carry a gun.

I did some more research on Washington State University’s policy and I found this.

Illegal possession, carrying, or discharge of any explosive, firearm, or other weapon (including shotguns, rifles, pistols, air guns, and pellet guns), is prohibited at Washington State University. No student may possess any firearm, explosive, dangerous chemical, or dangerous weapon while on the campus or in other University residence halls, apartments, and approved housing except in transit to approved storage (located at the WSU Vancouver Department of Public Safety in the Physical Plant building) or to leave campus.

If Fletoon ” [did] a jig in the middle of a college campus with a concealed firearm” he would be breaking school policy.

 
Oregon, like Washington, also doesn’t specifically ban guns from public places, but a highschool teacher was denied permission to take her pistol to school. This proves that even if law doesn’t specifically prohibit were guns can be possessed, the courts decide if it’s legal or not.

 
And now for the combo breaker. 18 USC § 922

(A) It shall be unlawful for any individual knowingly to possess a firearm that has moved in or that otherwise affects interstate or foreign commerce at a place that the individual knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone.

Just another example of Congress stretching its interstate commerce power. The act has been turned down twice, but revised and re-enacted. You can argue all day with interstate commerce, but this is the law of the land right now. Federal Law supersedes State laws, so it seems that even if a state doesn’t have laws prohibiting guns on campus, it has to obey the United States Code. This translates to guns on campus are illegal! Again, if Fletoon ” [did] a jig in the middle of a college campus with a concealed firearm” he could be “jigging” his way to jail or a big fine.

 
Finally, I disagree about how Mr. Feltoon’s stance on guns on campus. This section is dedicated to him personally.

 
I don’t know how much safer I would feel if everybody was allowed to carry guns. In fact, I would be even more worried: Anybody could be carrying a gun and I would have to watch what I say. If somebody’s temper flares up, he/she can easily pull out a gun and end a life, or start a firefight. Imagine how many innocent people would be killed in the crossfire if everybody had a firearm and uses it during a confrontation.

 
The fact is, you’re not trained to fight a terrorist or a gunman; so even if the situation arises and you need to use one, you won’t know what to do. You might end up getting killed and your gun taken, or possibility shooting somebody innocent. There are reasons why people -like police officers- get trained for situations like that; it’s takes lot of tactics to gunfight and trap the enemy. It’s better for you to remain as a student, and let law enforcement take care of it, instead of playing hero. I believe the solution to school shootings is to have better prepared local law enforcement and maybe even campus security. You probably won’t agree with this and cite Virginia Tech, as a failure for the law; however, hopefully we learned from that and in the future, the police will be better prepared for those terrorist situations.

 
Bottom line is banning guns on campus is the right choice. We can’t ensure that there wont’ be guns. But what sense does it make to let everybody carry them? It’s exactly like fighting fire with fire; it doesn’t work. The best way for our schools to minimize casualties-in a school shooting- is to have trained professionals on the spot, and a definitive emergency plan.

 
Feel free to add ya’lls opinions on this matter.

 
Yeah.