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.]

A double post with the Lead Communicator.

CRAYONS, and shades of gray.

The complex stems from the simple. It did not simply come about.

Reason demands it.

Take, say, this drawing:

The above is the end result of a series of circles and lines drawn on an ADESSO tablet in a free raster graphics editor.

Now, let's apply this bit of reasoning to clitorectomies.

There is good. There is evil. There is black. There is white. These are the axioms, the slabs of bedrock on which the ephmeral "shades of grey" can stand.

Before an artist can use shades of grey, he has to know his black value and his white value. Otherwise, shading is inconsistent and spotty.

If it's this way with something simple like pencil drawing, then it's the same way with decisions as to which is black versus which is white. In order to have subtle gradations, we first need absolutes.

Otherwise, we're wasting our time. With Transformers, and civilization, and everything that makes human life worthwhile.

For more info, check out LGF on the sidebar.

SSA Reform: What to do....

Mostly a ramble, although I will link to some opinions.

Were it up to Star Parker, SSA retirement & disability would be done away with!

[Just betwixt ye & me, that ain’t happening.... Let’s concentrate on what’s possible in Washington, DC. No hyper-libertarian wet dreams, please.]

The idea [I have been notified by one of my coworkers that Dubyatron has no actual “plan”; he’s just “pushing” the personal accounts] is basically: Everyone in the country gets something akin to current federal government employees’ Thrift Savings Plan, which is...

...a 401(k)/IRA savings account that you cannot touch until you retire or die. [I have something similar with my state retirement account.] The only real difference between this and what we have now is that with the PRIVATIZATION PLAN, my near & dears will get whatever monies I plugged into the 401(k); whereas now, the family will get $255 if I die before the target retirement age.

[This happens to enough “Afrimericans” that it should be a real concern, considering any minimum-wage employee can generate $255 of SSA taxes(FICA) in 4-6 pay periods--a max of three months.]

Speaking of which...have you ever asked yourself when you first joined the workforce...

...what the FLUG is FICA!?

I did, when I started working at fourteen. I understood Federal Tax, State Tax, Medicare: the first is Uncle Sam’s cut, the second is the Palmetto State’s cut, and the third is for health care. [KiM: I was, again, fourteen; hence the oversimplification.]

But FICA, apparently, is some obscure code acronym for Social Security. The idea being that I put in my two bits now, and I get it back later when I’m old.

Except...it doesn’t really work that way. Oh, no. What actually happens is I put in my two bits to pay for my grandmother’s retirement bennies. IOW, a tidy little sum per paycheck is gone, gone forever.

Now, now, you say; Uncle Sam will pay your money back when you retire.

Sure--if I’m 40 & over. If not...I lose about 27 cents per dollar. Joy! And if I die before target age, I get $255. Yippers.

[I’m actually rather miffed with this matter.]

But in order to understand where I’m coming from, and why I’m supporting President Bush on this matter, I could point you to people who are much smarter and more versed in economics than me.

[--for example: Here's a reproduced clipping, a letter in my local paper, that articulates my opinion better than I do.--]

[I won’t, however, recommend Paul Krugman. With all due respect to one who teaches economics @ Princeton, I think I can handle basic arithmetic for myself.]

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

[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

***

a basic accounting shortcut:

If you want to find out what an amount will be after you add/subtract in the percentage[KiM: percentage = decimals], you do the following(sales tax & % discounts are two main uses):

adding 6% sales tax: x 1.06 - the “1” automatically adds in the principal when you multiply, saving you the step of finding out the percentage’s decimal and adding it to the principal to get your full total.

subtracting 15% off: x .85 - all percentages add to 100%, or 1.00. in this case, you subtract the percent of 100 that you’re trying to take off [here, 100-15] and you get the difference. you multiply the difference to your principal to find your discount price.

***

[please let me know if my setup here is wrong....]

= = = | = = =

$629.58....

That’s a computer. That’s my rent and groceries. That’s a tidy DVD collection. Or two to three car payments.

Now, it’s not much, but it’s mine....

I worked for that $1373.45, about 6% of my pay as of 11/16/04. [My employer pays about another 6% on top of that, to an approximate total of 12% SS tax.]

As it stands now, this amount goes to my grandmother to pay her benefits. The idea being kicked around Congress is that I can invest some of this in a 401(k) at a good interest rate.

PRIVATIZATION won’t make the SSA system solvent by itself; no, the traditional bennies I’d normally receive around target age would probably be reduced by the amount I chose to plug into my personal account[again, akin to a 401(k)].

But it’s a start, at least from where I see it. Where Mr. Krugman lost me is when he mentioned “borrowing” and playing the “risky stock market”. For one, it’s nigh impossible to borrow my OWN money. Those figures you saw above are based on my pay stub. And two: I appreciate Mr. Krugman’s feelings. He, like my coworker [who handed me two of his NYT columns], is worried that I’ll blow my “safe” retirement funds on Wall Street.

Except I already have a 401(k) and a 457 [which has accrued over $1000 since I last looked at it]; plus my retirement 401(a). I know how those work. In all three, I allocate a certain percentage to different types of investments. [stocks, bonds, etc.]

[* and that’s just a state government package. there are probably better ones out there with the private sector. -think Wal*Mart-*] I also have a traditional IRA outside my job. I am not alone, either.

Thus, I’ve concluded based on what I know, what I’ve heard of the issue, and on the math; that Mr. Krugman is too worried about what I choose to do with my money. Basically: he did his best to “warn” me, and I’ve chosen not to listen to him. If Mr. Krugman’s right, and I blow my retirement; I blow it. Hopefully, I can accept being wrong--because I could be wrong--with the grace and dignity I’m trying to display now.

Because there’s also other math involved. According to every official estimate, the trust fund pot becomes exhausted(and I lose 27 cents per dollar) in 2042. The year 2018 marks the beginning of the end.

This year(2005), I’ll be 29. In 2018, I’ll be 42; 24 years later(2042), I’m 66. Presuming that I can still withdraw my bennies at 65(and actually, it’s 67 now; I know), I actually lose money, not even getting what I put in back. Not...fun.

Hence my push now to save for my retirement.

= = = | = = =

In both cases, I’m dealing with money I may never see. I could lose this cash. With “risky” Wall Street[the 401(k)], I know it’s a risk; I chose this risk. With “guaranteed” SSA, I was told that I’d get my money back; yet it looks like I’m not going to get it.

For The Powers That Be: leave it up to me. I’ll take my chances with Wall Street.

It’s my money.

:: afterthought ::

Isn’t it curious? Anti-republicans/conservatives/etc. think that being right is of greatest importance, more important than a person’s choice to risk being wrong.

Atheist(sorry, deiphobe--real atheists don’t scream like this): THERE IS NO GOD!

me: Various theist[THERE IS A/ARE GOD/GODS!] doctrines could win more people over(ex. Christianity) if they’d acknowledge that their knowledge of God is based primarily on faith; the empirical data is inconclusive. IOW, the empirical--material--evidence of God’s existence/nature/etc. is non-falsifiable by scientific means. [we couldn’t reproduce the conditions for the universe’s existence if we tried.] Having said that, I do think atheists are being a bit close-minded about the matter. Our material, factual knowledge of the universe is quite limited. If there isn’t a deity, no one will know because said deity never existed. We all just die. If there is a deity, and he/she’s as righteous as the holy writs say, they’ll judge us. [and I’m certain Allah is something...but not any sort of god. his chosen prophet is simply too wicked.]

Pro-Choice: A woman has the right to control her body.

me: Fair enough. The baby[HUMAN fetus/embryo/protoplasm/ball of cells] also has a right to...be born. It’s too bad people can’t discuss this without screaming. [If only it didn’t involve cute, cuddly babies....] The real issue is that teenage girls are cavorting/forced to cavort with middle-aged men; and who gets left with an “unplanned pregnancy”? The teenage girls and their parent(s). I have witnessed teen pregnancy in my sister. It’s fun to have a nephew. It’s not fun to have him cry at 3am. when you’re not quite 10. These teens are still kids; and they want to do fun things; not care for an adorable but needy youngster. These girls don’t want to work at McDonald’s and deal with school and care for the baby. And not all of them chose to have sex at their age. If they go to Planned Parenthood, they push abortion as the best answer ever. [Adoption? What’s that?] Abortion is freedom.... And being self-absorbed kids, they probably don’t even “agonize” over the decision at the time. It’s only when the teen sees an actual baby(as she matures) and she thinks about it that the guilt may sink in. While a woman has the right to her body, the other body inside her womb is its own person. What do we do here? There’s no simple answer. [and yes, I’m well aware that Pro-Life is one-note as well. at least they mention all the options when crying that the teen should have the baby.]

Diversity: We are a multicultural salad, and we have to appreciate our differences.

me: I’ve seen salads. I don’t like cauliflower, radishes, and definitely not hard-boiled eggs in my salad. And I’d spend too much time picking out the parts of the salad I don’t like; or I’d try to order the salad ingredients I do enjoy. If you give me no choice but to have the yucky ingredients in my salad, I simply won’t order the salad. [That, in a nutshell, is gentrification/white flight.] But we’re not a melting pot, either. That implies that we’re all the proper, listed ingredients for cheese fondue. What we Americans are: we’re a tasty smoked sausage. While we know about its pork & beef content; the more we learn of how it was made, the less we like it. But this is presuming you want to spend time and energy learning about sausage manufacture. Apart, sausage ingredients can be bland, yummy, or nasty; together, sausage is tasty. Let’s just eat and enjoy. :D On that note, while there are many differences, let’s also look at what we have in common. What do we share as Americans? As human beings? How do our differences work together? True diversity is e pluribus unum, how disparate parts of other cultures become one tasty, meaty sausage.

Environmentalist: We must end global warming, recycle, and quit depending on fossil fuels; else 500 years from now, we’ll suffer a nuclear winter. And we must save the rainforest and endangered species.

me: I don’t want to. You can’t make me. 500 years from now, I’ll be long dead, and my descendants will live on a moon orbiting a terraformed planet in Alpha Centauri. You can’t force me to buy a fuel-efficient car, simply because I may not want one. No matter what governments and “evil” corporations do or do not do, the cost/benefit analysis of solar, wind, and biodiesel will remain the same for the next century. The best thing to do in the meantime is to liberate the ME so that the Oil Reserves(t m) aren’t under the control of cruel dictators that murder their own people....

**

The naked ape(Homo sapiens sapiens), a highly intelligent creature whose existence has fostered the preservation of many exotic flora & fauna, is the only endangered species that has apparently escaped your notice. Its only natural threat...is man.
**

The general tenor is: think as I do, live as I do, eat as I do, breathe as I do; for I am right and you are wrong. Be right. Be me.

my counter: Leave me alone, and let me be wrong. You be you, and I’ll be me. Okay? :)