States I've visited

More accurately, states I've either visited or passed through. Will I ever visit all 50 states?

Click above photo so that you can also share a map of all states you've visited or if you wish passed through.

Reason: Hawaii's "Lone Ranger"

[VIDEO] Sam Slom is a State Senator in Hawaii. He's the only member of the Republican caucus in the upper house of that legislature. Slom talks with Reason.tv about his role being the only member of the opposition caucus in Hawaii's Senate.

It's a little hilarious but a serious interview. He even discussed the fact that there may have been other instances of one member of a minority party in a state legislature and even Hawaii's early political history and how in the early days it had been dominated by Republicans and somehow became a blue state where President Obama took 42% of the vote. It does make you wonder what happened.

BTW, let's add that Obama is a native son of Hawaii as he had spent his childhood there. The President is often considered a Chicagoan however he basically started his adult life and career in the "Windy City".

Via Instapundit!

So should states be able to create their own gold & silver based currencies?

An old friend talked about this frequently since he's a proponent of using primarily precious metals as currency and not merely fiat currency. It looks like some states are considering his advice at least. This article is from February 2012 but might as well share it on this Sunday:

Worried that the Federal Reserve and the U.S. dollar are on the brink of collapse, lawmakers from 13 states, including Minnesota, Tennessee, Iowa, South Carolina and Georgia, are seeking approval from their state governments to either issue their own alternative currency or explore it as an option. Just three years ago, only three states had similar proposals in place.

"In the event of hyperinflation, depression, or other economic calamity related to the breakdown of the Federal Reserve System ... the State's governmental finances and private economy will be thrown into chaos," said North Carolina Republican Representative Glen Bradley in a currency bill he introduced last year.

Unlike individual communities, which are allowed to create their own currency -- as long as it is easily distinguishable from U.S. dollars -- the Constitution bans states from printing their own paper money or issuing their own currency. But it allows the states to make "gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts."

To the state legislators who are proposing state-issued currencies, that means gold and silver are fair game, said Edwin Vieira, an alternative currency proponent and attorney specializing in Constitutional law. And since gold has grown exponentially more valuable, while the U.S. dollar continues to lose ground, the notion has become increasingly appealing to state lawmakers, he said.

If it happens in Illinois, my friend may not like the fact that Illinois could use on their precious metal based currency Abraham Lincoln. He's not a fan although I'm sure there are other state figures that my state could put onto such currency. Although granted I'm not sure this state would adopt their own currency.

Here's the section of the constitution which concerned money in this nation. Article 1, Section 8 among the powers of the United States Congress: "To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures"