some stuff

Two Commercials

I was just looking at Paul's blog, as it's been a while since I hung out over there, and he has two recent posts with commercials in them. Take a look at both of them. They're pretty great.

IKEA: The Lamp. You may have to watch it twice to catch what the guy says at the end, as he's got this little (presumably) Swedish accent. Hilarious, though!
Honda: When everything works. Absolutely amazing. Be sure to check out the article from Snopes.com that Paul linked here.

Harry Potter Update

In case some of you don't know yet, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is now finished and will be published 16 July 2005. You can pre-order it now from Amazon.com or BarnesAndNoble.com, and I'm sure you can order a copy at most any bookstore near you as well, if you want to be there for midnight madness and mayhem.

If anyone wants me to pre-order British editions over here, let me know and I'd be glad to do so. (You can either email me or just post a comment to this entry.)

Also, if you'd like a little more info on this, check out JKRowling.com, specifically the Rumour section and the News section. And if the Do Not Disturb door is still openable, you can find instructions on Mugglenet about how to get the clues. (I haven't been able to get it to work, personally, but be sure to give it a try.)

Fair Tax articles

I haven't heard much about the Fair Tax Initiative (House Resolution No. 25), but I read two great articles about it today. If any of you don't know anything about it yet, be sure to check out the official website, which you can get to from here, or by clicking the banner at the bottom of my sidebar. And then, if you're interested in hearing some more about it, check out these articles.

Walter E. Williams - National Sales Tax. Williams is an economics professor at George Mason University (if I remember correctly), and I've learned much more economics from him than I ever did in High School. He makes the point that while a national sales tax like HR 25 proposes might be a step in the right direction, there is still a much larger issue at stake that will not be solved by any kind of tax system.

Matt Towery - The 'Fair' Tax. Matt Towery supports the Fair Tax Initiative, and in this article he laments that it's creator and main advocate doesn't get the respect he deserves in Congress.