SSA Retrospective

Remember this old post?

However, all I really need...is my paystub! Behold:

(acsound2011: paystub truncated for length)

[above: my paystub, doctored for my protection. highlighted is my FICA amount per pay period, and my YTD FICA as of 11/16/04.]

The YTD FICA is what I’ll use for my calculations. That would be $1373.45 as of November 16, 2004. [that, BTW, represents 22 pay periods in 11 months.]

Okay:

I’m going to compare SSA’s 1% return to the “in excess of 3%” return the evil PRIVATIZATION could provide. [Let’s say...3.2%.]

1% of $1373.45 = 13.7345 ~ $13.74

3.2% of $1373.45 = 43.9504 ~ $43.95

Now, I’ll find out how much compound interest will accrue between my two principal amounts [FICA & PRVT] over a period of 20 years:

FICA

13.74 x 20(1.01)

13.74 x 20.20 = 277.548 ~ $277.55

PRVT

43.95 x 20(1.032)

43.95 x 20.64 = 907.128 ~ $907.13

If my arithmetic serves me right, $277.55 is less than $907.13; or another way, $907.13 is greater than $277.55.

I’m going to calculate the difference betwixt the two:

$907.13 - $277.55 = $629.58

It appears that Newt Gingrich is trying to plug it again. Unfortunately, due to the current economic crisis that started in 2007-2008 (during the Bush Administration), no one's going to give this smart and overdue idea a chance.

If I wanted to be really cynical and snarky, I'd argue that I'm just cutting out the taxpayer-funded middlemen (politicians) and giving my money directly to our "corporate rulers". At least I have the option to tell corporations "no".

Look at my figures again. If my math is wrong, please let me know. That $629.58 difference is a nice chunk of change.

Just sayin'....

~ acsound

The right to be wrong.

Here's a video from a guy I don't always agree with.



I happen to agree with him (Amazing Atheist/Distressed Watcher) on that point.

My take on it is this: an individual has the right to their opinions, beliefs, etc.--even if they're wrong. :D

Seriously, though: it's not a crime to be wrong, ignorant, or misinformed. If it were, this entire country would be a massive prison camp. No one's right all the time. No one has all the answers.

For example, let's pick something wrong and fatal, like: "childhood vaccination causes autism". This conclusion is horribly wrong. However, here's a thought exercise: What if Jim Carrey and Jenny McCarthy are right--that vaccines can wreck your kid's brain and cause autism?

My question here is this: So what? Is autism really so bad--so horrible--that you'd rather risk bringing back polio and smallpox?

Take a good, hard look at this smallpox image, from the link above:







This killed entire populations for centuries. We as a species worked hard, over the course of two centuries, to cure it. We eradicated smallpox for a reason. We want polio gone, and thanks to vaccination, polio soon will join smallpox in the bin of viruses that can't maim and kill us anymore.

We need vaccines.

Now, to autism.

Here's my question: Autism, which has killed no one, or a pair of diseases that wiped out entire populations?

I'd rather confront the likes of Bill Maher with this question, rather than ban him from speaking. Being offended by the lethal, industrial-grade stupidity he spews is a small price to pay.

(The tl; dr version: I'd rather counter something offensive than ban it, if it's all the same to you. Oh, and: autism may suck, but polio sucks harder and can kill people.)

It's been a week. I'm not feeling the Hope and Change.

I do sense an increased amount of dread for my country's future.

To the Democrats: your political wad was blown here. The Republicans will have the White House in 2016 at the latest. I sincerely recommend that if you want to slow the hemmoraging, and you want a charismatic leader--and you want my vote...

...quit picking losers!

In 2000, you gave us Al Gore. As Clinton's VP, he was the boring, robotic blowhard. Now he's the unhinged eco-nut blowhard.

In 2004, you pretty much ensured that President Bush would win reelection. (I miss saying that, and within 12 months, so will the fools who voted Obama--let alone the rational people who wanted H. Clinton or J. McCain in the hot seat.) You put up a known Vietnam-era traitor, who was also a boring, elitist blowhard. The sad part is: aside from Obama (back then an unknown but charismatic junior Senator who was *just* elected), Kerry was the best you had. Howard Dean meltdowns aren't nice. Worse, Kerry picked for his VP...a smarmy tort lawyer. ("We have better hair." "I don't want Wade's hairbrush.")

Well, you finally won in both ways. Bush is gone (in 2009, as I predicted in RL), and a Democrat is in the Oval Office for the first time since January 19, 2001.

In all earnestness: the next time you guys want a Democrat in the White House, guess what? Magic Johnson's available! If Wikipedia's correct, he's a Democrat.

He's also a successful businessman, a faithful activist for AIDS research, and an all-around classy guy--much like the last Republican candidate, Senator J. Sidney McCain III.

= = =

A good number of President Obama's endorsers were more qualified for the job than he was. All of them struggled to be the best they could be in their fields: Magic, basketball, Oprah, her talk show; and P. Diddy, his rap career and clothing line. All of them accomplished something in life. Obama's talent...was getting elected to public office.

That, and having a couple of really cute kids. He will defend and honor his wife amid controversy. This isn't praise, though--a man is supposed to do that; thus, I still don't believe that he was the One America was waiting for.

As a "black person", I know we could have done better--even with that pitiful list of celebrities above. (I'll even throw in freakin' Kanye West, the no-talent hack; he managed to trick teenagers into thinking he was a rap artist....)

As an American--a citizen of the US--I think that we should have elected McCain; he was the right man for the job. Dr. King's rolling in his grave.

Okay; Obama-venting is done.

= = =

Senator Mac apparently didn't want the job badly enough. The problem was that we didn't drag him over the finish line kicking and screaming.

For the uber-conservatives: the man was kind enough to line up his replacement--a woman who held your beliefs. The fact that she sounded like Bobby Generic's mom was a plus in my book.

For the liberals: she would never have shoved her beliefs down your throats--your lifestyles were safe.

In any event, Sarah Palin was a damn sight better than the Presidential candidates running in the 2008 cycle. And for you Democrats, socialists and assorted communists who sneer at her "country-bumpkin" attitude: please note that Obama was the best you had this cycle, and it took you three tries to get him--after ALGORE and Kerry.

As for Palin not being VP material: Democrats, you tried to foist John Edwards on us. Twice. And who do we have for our current VP? Joe. Biden. The man who was in Congress longer than Senator McCain.

Yet you have the remarkable gall to crack wise about Sarah Palin, who has accomplished something in life.

Next time (Rudy Giuliani voice): Call Magic Johnson!

= = =

Yet, the above is to be expected when we continue to hold to one of the stupidest ideas ever conceived: "Everyone's a winner."

Recently, a high school basketball coach in Dallas, TX was fired for insubordination. The reason for that insubordination? He coached a girl's basketball team...and that team played won a basketball game 100-0.

No illicit dogfighting rings. No drugs or steroid usage. The girls' basketball team was just too damn good. Shame on the team for winning. Shame on the team's coaches for encouraging the team to win.

How dare that coach do his job? The same job, by the way, that colleges and professional sports clubs pay people millions of dollars a year to do: lead a team of athletes to victory.

Yet, everyone's a winner.

Bah. I'm waiting for 2012.

~ acsound

I *had* a dream....

I was asked to drive a city bus. My family was surprised, but otherwise supportive. Somehow, I got behind the wheel and was driving along Rivers Avenue. I did rather well until near the Whipper Barony area (across from Burger King). I had started speeding, only to cause the bus to careen off Rivers and land somewhere. I exited the bus and--using a lever--flipped the bus in an attempt to get it on its wheels; I only succeeded in turning the bus upside-down.

Miraculously, no one was hurt--somehow the commuter bus had seatbelts on it. Passengers hung upside-down (due to the above-mentioned state of the bus). No one was angry, though there was some fun-poking at my expense. A woman volunteered to drive the bus on Monday, and I was to drive again on Tuesday.

Surreal. No one asked--once--about my driver's license (which I don't currently have), about my CDL, or even if I was a bus driver.

Below is my pitiful interpretation.

We elected one of the most unqualified inviduals in the United States to be our President. His greatest skill is being elected to public office, then doing nothing except campaigning for higher public office.

Yet, somehow, we'll be okay in spite of our own stupidity. We may even re-elect the idiot, and we'll still be fine.

Someone smarter and wiser than us installed seatbelts.

Cue Cullen!

A link to TV Tropes to elaborate, but here's the Q & D: It's in reference to the voice actor behind the iconic leader of the Autobots, Peter Cullen; and a pun on Cu Cuchlain, the hero of Irish/Celtic folklore. The idea is of a single person being the DEALMAKER when an iffy, controversial idea/person is being bandied about. In Mr. Cullen's case, he was the DEALMAKER for the Transformers 2007 movie for G1 fans as he reprised his role: Optimus Prime. (Not for me, though I like Optimus and Mr. Cullen's work as an actor overall. Megatron, leader of the Decepticons, is voiced by either Frank Welker(my vote) or David Kaye!)

In the case of US presidential election, the DEALMAKER for conservatives unhappy with Senator McCain is...

. . . Sarah Palin!

Senator Obama was to have his post-anointment bounce in the polls, only to be blindsided by the apotheosis of every 80s girl's dream--denied once already by Senator Clinton's own party.

I'm so giddy that there's only one way for an 80s kid for me to celebrate:



The name "Sarah", in Hebrew, means "princess"; hence the choice of one of America's SHOJO ACTION HEROES! (Although thanks to Overstream, I'm able to--to quote Emeril Lagasse--KICK IT UP a notch with subtitles!)

Now this is the hope we've all been waiting for: a break from Senator Obama. Now there is real change we really can believe in.

Yes. We can. (It really, really is a good slogan--and it's time we Americans take it back.)

= = =

And to the sad troglodytes who think a busy working mother can't handle a "disabled" child...



Not only that, but life will go on without any of you.

Later.

Just a message from the late George Carlin regarding the environment.

NSFW, for those not familiar w/Mr. Carlin.







The sad part is: he was a liberal himself. Liberal atheist.

Here's one interesting reason to vote Senator McCain president:



Hat tip: Chakra Hammer @ Hot Air.

Also instructive is the video being discussed there. An Obama supporter's starting to have "buyer's remorse".

Me: I'll consider the Democratic Party when they start fielding serious candidates. Right now, they're just not serious regarding my home--this country, the US. I want my country's leaders to protect and advance our interests.

In the long-term, we should find ways to show them what we did--how we did it.

That's why Senator Obama's slogan--in addition to being lifted wholesale from Bob the Builder--
is pointless: of COURSE we can--we already did, and can do it again and again. "Can-do" attitude defines Americans.

We don't need Senator Obama to do anything more than what he's already been hired to do--act in the best interests of the people of Illinois. He's not qualified for this promotion.

McCain wants the job...so that he can continue serving American citizens. He sees it as a continuation of his entire adult life. Served in the military. Served in Congress for most of MY entire life. He was in the House of Representatives when I was munching Trix during the Reagan administration. He is no saint, but neither was Winston Churchill--or Ronald Reagan, for that matter. I won't harp on former President Clinton's blatant infidelity for the same reason.

Men are just that: men. Flawed, fallible and at times, corrupt. Women, being "of man", are also flawed, fallible and at times, corrupt.

Using the God-given gifts of reason and free will, most of us strive to rise against these vices of ours.

The real danger with Obama is that he wants the job...so that he can serve as a god. No thanks. Most of the country has a god. Christians have God. Jews have G-d(the Name), who Christians believe to be their god. Hindus have a pantheon. Buddhists have no god, per se, but the philosophy of Buddha. Animists(including practicioners) believe that EVERYTHING IS GOD [/oversimplification]. The ones left who have no god are atheists ("god does not exist") or agnostics ("we can't know for sure"). Oh, and Muslims have Allah. I must not forget Allah. I hate his guts, but if a certain minority of his practitioners would at least quit killing other people for any real or perceived offense to him/Mohammed(who's just a murderous, child-molesting troll), I could tolerate him.

The reason I hate Allah is the same reason I can't elect Obama. It's not Islam that I hate, per se.

It's Tyranny. No man should rule over another. Even parents can't be brutal or negligent dictators over their children--that's why DSS actually exists.

I don't fear that Obama will become a dictator (although considering his political leanings, it is possible). I do assert that he presents himself as weak and accomodating.

He's like an older version of my brother....

No. My brother is more qualified to be President. He's a strict Jacksonian. ("We have problems here at home!") Liberal domestic policy aside, my brother at least has a plan on how to help Americans lost through the cracks to become self-sufficient. That's his goal. The rest of the world can go hang. Obama, despite being a "community organizer", doesn't have that much. (Yet my brother wants Obama in the White House.)

My problem with Jacksonian policy is that: "It has been my experience that human problems... become gargoyle problems." From Gargoyles. When Goliath said that, he was talking to a small group of English gargoyles during WW2. One of the gargoyles, Griff, wanted to help the British fight the Nazis; the other two, Leo and Una, wanted to stay out of it--it had nothing to do with the three of them. (episode: M. I. A.)

The reason I quote this cartoon (aside from being an animation fan: you were warned in the masthead) is because we have this same issue as Americans. Jacksonian policy--from President Andrew "Old Hickory" Jackson--is "countries are neighbors". What others do in their home is no concern of ours.

The flaw in that is when the 'neighbor's' such an abusive jerk that most of the neighbor's family risks death to break into our home. Or when another neighbor wants to take over the neighborhood. Or when a family of cultist thugs wants to destroy other neighbors' homes, steal their stuff, forcibly wed their daughters, and force the entire neighborhood to become part of their cult.

Good fences make good neighbors, but fences aren't always enough.

My policy is the Roosevelt-Gadsden policy. Speak softly, but rattle and carry a MOAB. Those things are heavy; can we lift it?

Yes. We. Can.

[/it is a good slogan.]