How Would the Tea Party Rewrite Robin hood?

Would they be on the side of the corporate giant hording money from the people? Against the oppressive might? Would Robin hood be an evil person redistributing ill gotten wealth to a bunch of welfare recipients? Or is he a patriot re-appropriating funds from the government? If the credo was take from the rich to give to the poor, how would this story would be re-written from the tea party point of view? If it was redone in their philosophy who would people cheer for and why?

Slut Walk

While I am a little sad that I will miss this Saturdays slut walk, I think I will live. I guess I understand the premise that just case you look like a slut doesn’t mean people have the right to harass you or grab you or worse. But then why dress like a slut if you don’t want that attention?

If I dress up in a police uniform do I have the right to get mad when people ask me for help? Or arrest me for impersonating a police officer? How about if I dress up like a doctor? Firefighter? Army Soldier?

See what you wear whether you like it or not creates an expectation of who you are and what you do. We can argue whether this is right or wrong all day but it is true.

Now I am not saying that people who wear short skirts and tore fishnets deserve to get raped. I am just saying that choosing to wear clothes that might create the expectation of sex would lead to being placed situations where the possibility is more likely.

This outward appears extends to all of us for another example, I should be able to wear a colored bandana on my head to keep my hair out of my eyes and soak up sweat when I am raking the lawn. It should be my right to dress how I want. But that way of dress has a different intention or meaning in others, others who might assault or shoot at me. Knowing this exists if I wear the bandana anyway do I have an argument if I am shot at even though it isn’t right and I have not done anything wrong?

See the world is an imperfect place and although your intentions with your wardrobe choice may be good in a dynamic world your intentions do not exist in a vacuum without others.

That said I enjoy the skirts and fishnets so I hope it doesn’t swing to far the other way.

Night of the Living Dead

This was one of only two movies I ever saw that really scared me. I was young possibly 8-9 years old. I was still naive enough to believe downed satellites or nauseous gases could wake the dead. I was at friend of mines house. His sister was supposed to be watching us but for some reason or other was not around. We watched the movie and I was terrified. I remember my mom calling for me when they got home and saying they were back and I could come home. There was a large field of tall grass and trees between our two houses. Probably about 2 acres in distance. I have never run faster between two points in my life. When I got to the door I told my mom to lock it. I remember being angry that we didn’t own a gun or have a stash of boards on hand that we could shutter the house with. His sister never babysat me again and I although I have tried have never found that thrilling of an experience with a horror movie.

Interesting Side Note:

Recently was in the bathroom when a well known CEO came into it. Not only two seconds later I hear the tell tale sign of “nest building” just seemed interesting that a person can get to that level but still fear skin to seat contact. Guess we are all just people after all.

Monuments

What do our monuments say about us? The things we put in stone that will outlive all of us. Time capsules made out of granite that capture a feeling or belief during a specific moment in time. I wonder what people will say or think about us. How do we weight the 9/11 memorial next to the HP Garage? The Oklahoma City Memorial next to Telsa’s statue overlooking Niagara Falls.

I often wonder with our tributes, anniversaries and monuments if we are pausing to remember and reflect on things that will lead us into a more promising future.

Buffet Rule

There is a talk about the taxing of millionaires an especially the issue of Warren Buffet being taxed at a lower rate than his secretary. Before we get all up in arms we have to look at this one a little closer. When it comes to getting taxed the rate you pay depends on how you earn your money.

In an example if I made a million dollars a year in salary (income) I would be taxed @35%

If I made a million dollars in capital gains (my only source of income is from stocks, dividends etc) I would pay 15%

This is why Warren Buffet is taxed at a lower rate. It is also why it is dangerous to just say tax everyone who makes a million dollars a year even more. It is not that simple.

You say so raise the Capital Gains Tax to 35% but then the Capital Gains is already taxed on the Corporate Side @ 35% so that is not a good option either.

My advise save your money in investment instruments and eventually more of your income will be taxed at a lower rate. Plus…

1.) Raise the estate tax
2.) Eliminate the mortgage deduction on homes > $800k

Even as a left leaning independent I know the mantra of taxing just the rich is populist non-sense. There is a bigger issue here that needs to be addressed and it is being glossed over by this silly example. Every time I hear buffet rule I cringe a little.

Breaking News

Updated :7/24/2020

Small City Ransacked by Rove of Hoarding Winnebago’s.

In a scene that has become more increasingly common a US city was sacked and looted to the ground by a Hoard of Unemployed Pirates driving modified campers and RV’s. 6 people were killed and 13 injured as they confronted the pirates who were taking gas, food and supplies and then disappearing back into the desert and mountain hide outs.
As of today President Reverend of the Resurrected Johnnie Flash of Texas has refrained from calling in troops to deal with the escalating security concerns in hopes that a divine sign will appear to tell him how to patriotically handle the situation.
The republican candidate stresses the root cause of the increasing lawlessness is the amount that we are taxing the rich.

Product Idea: Nano Charged Paint

I realize that after yesterday’s entry this is a little conflicting but what the hay…
Imagine for a second if you had a car that had nano-technology that resisted or repealed foreign particles. So it actually repelled dirt or bird poop. All that would be required to wash your car is a trip on the free way. Maybe I will make a prediction that 20 years from now with changes to our corrosive icing agents and changed to the particles of car paint, car washes will no longer be required.

The Future:

(Heavy huh? it is up to us to make it as nothing is written yet)

Public Service Announcement: Road Map to Recovery

Despite what most people might believe Doctors do not routinely patrol the facebook status’s looking for people who are ill. So if you have an illness such as cramps, heartburn, insomnia, headache , tummy ache, abnormal runs, a weird lump etc the proper people to tell would be your doctor, pharmacist, or a bartender….not your wall on face book.
Judging by my feeds 15% of you are broken, chronically ill, apparently undiagnosed whiners…time to take a tall shot of shut the fu ck up or the proper steps towards recovery and call a doctor.

Conversation with a Foodie and New Theory

“Always eat the brightest colored vegetables\fruits since those are the ones that are best for you”

I think this has a dangerous undertone because it is not really explaining what you need and leads to confusion. In a personal example I know someone who eats lots of kale and spinach and because this is a “dark green” and they think they are really healthy. – (FU buy the way I enjoy iceberg, it is a texture thing.)

Now I know where he was going, yes there is a correlation between the darkness of the inner flesh of the fruit aka the density of pigmentation and its nutritional value but that is not key advice you want to give people.

So I replied does that mean cauliflower, bananas, onions, garlic, and turnips are not as good for you? I mean the meat of these plants is almost completely devoid of color?

With a really vague response I had to go in for the kill. He knew it had to do with pigment which shows that he knew or at least read the concept but lacked the understanding of why. He was parroting a set of statements but didn’t understand the data and assumptions that make it up.

So if I eat Larry (Caucasian man) is he more nutritious with a tan then without a tan? And by how much? Now I know this is a ludicrous questions but I know besides the fact that we could agree eating Larry is wrong he didn’t know.

Once you know the answer to why cauliflower and tomatoes are both good for you the advice that gets created is you want people to eat a variety of colors and shades within those colors, the variety is more important health wise then eating in a particular shade, while there is a correlation between the pigment that case does not always hold true.

I also proposed an alternative theory that the closer a fruit or vegetable is to the color of my poop the less health value…this one still has to be tested so let me know if you need a thesis.

WNBA

I think it is doubly fitting that the only professional sports team that has a winning record is the WNBA Lynx’s. All we hear is the stadium BS and whining from the Vikings, the excuses from the Twins the incompetence of the Timberwolves and the decline of the Wild.

In the midst of all of this hoopla a team that regularly plays for a crowd of 300 and an entire organization that makes less than one year’s salary of Michael Beasley has managed to become the winning-est team in the state. I love it.

Reading List for the Next 12 Months

Keeping a mix of business, fiction and no fiction


Books

Black Boy- Richard Wright
Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - David Eggers
Maus- Art Spiegelman
A Supposedly Fun Thing I will never do again - David Wallace
The Closing of the American Mind - Allan Bloom
The Excutionors Song - Norman Mailer
The Emperor of All Maladies - Siddhartha Mukherjee
Nickled and Dimed - Barbara Ehrenreich
Runaway - Diary o a street kid -Evelyn Lau
Beauty Pays- Daniel Hamermesh
The Manager Pool: Patterns for Radical Leadership - Don Olson
The Pragmatic Programmer by Andrew Hunt
Design for Community – The Art of Connecting Real People in Virtual Communities – by Derek Powazek.
Blind Spot - Charlie Feld
Left Turn How Liberl Media Bias Distorts the America Mind - Tim Groseclose
Damned- Chuck Palahniuk

Random Thoughts on the Double Sided Nature of Myth Busting

Random thoughts that will probably get me in trouble one day. In refereeing a particularly heated religious debate where a staunch supporter of some unspecified branch of Christian faith was proclaiming the literal nature of the bible only to be refuted by examples from a staunch atheists using experts from Leviticus and Deuteronomy on the “correct” methods to discipline an unruly child. A few things occurred to me.

1.)It seems like atheists tend to know more about religion then most “religious” people.

2.)These books of harsh standards of religious practice in the old testament make a up books 3 and 5 of the Torah as well. Yet you never see someone openly criticize the Jewish faith in the same manner.

3.) The Jewish tradition plagued by it oppressive suffering past has somehow made it a sacred cow when it comes to ridiculing it’s silly beliefs. (The same core beliefs that people openly ridicule Christians for)

4.)If you ridicule or mock these beliefs you will be called an anti-Semite. Taken to a extreme this can actually be considered a hate crime and be prosecutable.

5.)This has some interesting consequences. Such as government support for Zionism (the creation of a Jewish national sovereign nation) or the creation and backing of Israel.

6.)Why is it so unacceptable to challenge the Jewish belief system or seen as so taboo?

7.)Should suffering exempt your claims of faith from examination?


Just an interesting observation that I would open to receiving feedback on.

Passive Aggressive =Guilt Tripping?

Is passive aggressive and guilt tripping the same thing?

Guilt trips don’t work if:
A: You don’t feel guilty
B: You don’t give a shit or think the person trying to do it to you is stupid
C: You recognize they are doing it and see their weakness and disregard it
D: All of the above

Perfection

“Perfection is achieved not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away” – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
I have removed cigarettes and feel wonderful…albeit nowhere close to perfect, I do feel that I am headed in the right general direction. Now for my next removal…..french fries. No more French fries. Ever. I hear by challenge the notion that a value meal, burger, fish fry has to be complemented with French fries. It is a waste of calories I am going to learn to live without. One more stoke of taking away rock off the sculpture of my life on its way to perfection.

Magic Number for Deleting People from Your Feed

How many times a day does it take for someone to post something before you block their feed?
(S / N) = D (IF D<=1 DELETE USER)
S = Stimulation = Average Number between 1-10 that I have assigned how much I enjoy the content they add to my feed. (Yes this is a subjective value, but necessary to prioritize my time and make sure I am reading content that I enjoy)
N = Number of Postings = Average Number of postings per day.
D = Deletion (Hide\ Block) Threshold

For example if someone posts an average of 5 on the stimulating category and posts five times to my social network feed 5/5 = 1 they are blocked from my news feed. The content posted has to be on average more stimulating then the number of postings.
If not you are blocked\hidden\deleted depending on the SMN (Social Media Network)

I smell Nobel Prize

"Update" The calculation is being modified to the following:

S+(A*B)/N = D

Where A = Attractiveness of the person and B = the perceived benefit of the relationship. (Think likely hood you will sleep with them or value their company or need them to bail you out of jail) I will set A as a value 1-10 and B as a value 1-5. This however makes it impossible to delete all but the worst offenders. Unfortunately it is necessary since this is the way things work in the real world.

GELP or FELP

What if you could review people the way you could review businesses? Take the concept of Yelp and extend it to allow people to anonymously review people on face book? You could get reviews of who to date, who to hire, past results with how they handled secrets, decisions ect. I wonder if we could do that with each other if it would make people strive to be better people?
Remember way back when we were told this would go down on your permanent record? What if you really had one? A personal one?

Good for the goose is good for the gander right?

Wonder why no one reversed Michelle Bachman’s comments? She “jokingly” stated that Irene was a sign from God trying to cleanse Washington. Wonder if she thinks the wildfires in Texas are God trying to cleanse Texas from the Christians? Wonder why no one asked Perry this question? Although I am relieved to see she is slipping in the polls. If only Perry would start declining too my faith in humanity might be restored. At least a little bit.

Sacred Cow One - Benefits for Vetrans

Recently the president was in Minneapolis giving a speech on Veterans affairs at the American Legion. This brought up some interesting side conversation and left me with a trailing thought. As the crowd was applauding the following statement, “I will not balance the budget on the backs of our veterans” I thought to myself well then on whose back are you going to balance it?

It leads through that the more groups you exclude from having the balance spread across the more the burden falls to the remaining.
I was having trouble following the train of thought of some of my friends who are of the mindset that, “I risked my life for this country so now you owe me what you promised me.”

While I think that promises made should be kept I recognize the enormity of the problem in front of us. A problem we are all going to have to balance across our backs.

I wonder if we are so patriotic, if we love this country so much we are willing to trade our lives for it, why are we not willing to give up some of the entitlements received so that it makes the country people fought for solvent into the future. I mean isn’t the definition of patriotism sacrificing self for the benefit of the greater good? Why does the offer physical suffering or possibility of death get traded so easily and yet we will fight tooth and nail over basis point funding on a VA pension?