Tax it Jul 3, 2008
Former Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss has this to say about prostitution: 
"Look, it's going to go on. You're never going to stop prostitution. The way to do it is to regulate it. Clean it up a bit. Make it fair--fair for the girls, fair for the clients. At the end the government gets money out of it."

(via Kottke)
Regardless of my views on prostitution or any other illegal activity (no, I'm not a client), I couldn't agree more.  Things like prostitution, drugs, and a host of other illegal activities will happen whether they're illegal or not.  Rolling Stone did a story on the drug war and estimated its cost at around $500 billion over its 35-year history, with the end result being that drugs are now even cheaper and easier to get.  The conclusion:  It was a total waste of money and the war on drugs failed.  If people want to smoke pot, they'll find a way.  And many pot-smokers will never get caught or go to jail or move on to harder drugs or kill their families. 

Getting back on topic, my point here is that instead of spending all this time and money enforcing laws like this, we should just legalize a few things, and tax them.  Can you imagine how many people would be in line for our nation's first federally-regulated (and taxed) Marijuana Store™?  Holy crap.  Or how about picking up a prostitute on the street corner ... of Times Square in NYC ... in broad daylight?  Of course she would need to be registered with the city, but the client wouldn't have to sneak around some back-alley red-light district and run the risk of getting shot.  So not only would our nation be saving money on enforcement (and with it, jail time in already overcrowded prisons), we'd be gaining money through tax revenue. 

I'll admit it's quite easy to come up with a counterargument to this, and here are a few: 
  1. Which laws would we abolish?  All of them?  How would we decide which laws were legitimate (cocaine trafficking) and which ones were stupid (j-walking)?
  2. Legalizing prostitution and drugs is a slippery slope.  How would our nation maintain any semblance of order or law?
  3. Illegal activities often go hand in hand with other illegal activities.  Won't legalized drugs lead to more gang violence?  Won't legalized prostitution lead to more sexual abuse and/or a general downfall in our nation's values?
These are all excellent arguments that deserve careful consideration before any decisions are made.  And even if a decision was made, how would it be enacted?  All of a sudden, certain things are legal?  That would lead to chaos and anarchy.  Nevertheless, I think it's an interesting proposition and I still support it.  If I ever run for president, this will be my platform:  Legalize It and Tax It. #money
Ripoff via convenience Jul 3, 2008
It's one thing to charge a lot of money for something you don't have a lot of and only offer to customers as a convenience, like a $5 toothbrush at a convenience store or a $3 bottle of water from a street vendor.  But it's an entirely different thing to charge $18 for a buffet breakfast at a hotel, simply because (a) you know most companies will pay for it, and (b) there's nothing else around.  This is directed at you, Radisson Hotel in Hannover, Germany.  You should be ashamed of yourself and your crappy overpriced breakfast. #money
Berlin Victory Column Jul 3, 2008
The Victory Column in Berlin is a structure that celebrates several Prussian (a.k.a. Germany before it was called Germany, sort of) military victories.  When American forces were stationed in Germany following World War II, it gained the nickname "Chick on a Stick". 



This might be the coolest picture I've ever taken.  I originally didn't include it in my trip recap because it didn't look that good on my computer screen at work.  But on my home laptop, it looked completely different, and awesome. 

The funny thing is that the picture was taken during our guided bike tour.  Our tour guide said to just pedal past it because we'd be coming back later to talk about it and take pictures.  I disobeyed the order because I could see rain clouds coming into the area, so I wanted to take a picture while it was still light.  The sun happened to be at a perfect position in the sky, so I used my point-and-shoot camera and got the picture.  Not bad for an amateur. #entertainment