a rebuttal
In response to some of the comments on my post yesterday…
Brian, for the sake of keeping the math simple though wildly inaccurate, yes $60 billion sounds like a lot and maybe it might affect the economy is some way (though I suspect a good portion of it would have been spent on consumer debt thus doing nothing really for the economy), but compare that sum to the currently projected $455 billion deficit out of the Federal Budget’s, as of now, $2.2 trillion in expenditures (src: the OMB). That’s twelve freaking zeroes and my government is spending nearly half a trillion dollars it doesn’t have after it gave back $350 billion! Who is going to foot that bill? We are, long after the party responsible has skipped town. And believe me, the average $300 or so most Americans are saving in tax cuts now pales in comparison to what many of us will pay later in interest on the national debt and reduced essential federal services and programs. The $300 or so I got is a paltry amount compared to what those in the upper echelon of wage earners, take a look. And we haven’t even talked about dividend, capital gain and estate taxes. This, incidentally, is not even remotely balanced by those in the lower income tax brackets. For an idea of the total effect in the tax cuts, look at this. Tax relief for everyone my ass. So not only do nearly ~50% of taxpayers get left out of any meaningful tax relief, they get bent over with a lack of affordable healthcare options, inferior elementary and secondary public education, virtually no real higher education options – basically just a lack of any real advancement options, or in the least guaranteeing they have a nearly insurmountable road to travel if they wish to realize that “American Dream”.
I would argue the government is more effective at spending my money on certain things than I. Providing public education, national defense, a national highway system, a national power grid, the FDA, FAA, FCC, CDC, SEC, are all examples of things the government provides with the taxes I pay. Too many Americans fail to realize that and are too short-sighted to see the bigger picture, and what’s more frightening is that some don’t care. I do have a problem with being taxed unnecessarily, but the more prominent problem is with how the government is spending my money. As I’ve said before I am surprised more people are not outraged at how government spends our money. And to those that honestly think the $120 billion and counting we’re spending in Iraq was the best use for those funds, you’re completely delusional. But if that is the case, the you shouldn’t have a problem with repealing the tax cuts to properly pay for it, no?
However all this really won’t matter much if something isn’t done about social security. It’s a real problem and every side can see that (well except maybe baby boomers) and so far no one is seriously addressing the issue. How much of our, “our” being generation X and Y, do we sacrifice to take care of the generations that preceded (“baby-boomers”) who in some ways, at least partially, failed to take care of themselves? It’s a hard question. When your parents or elderly, sick and disabled relatives come to your for assistance, can you tell them no? How much of your future do you sacrifice to help them in their twilight? How much should they be or should have been responsible for? There has to be a point you have to stop or run the risk of irreparably ruining your chance at life and subsequent twilight years.
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Wednesday, January 28, 2004
on what did you spend your $300?
There are many issues in this election year that are of grave concern, but I can’t imagine one more serious than that of the failure to support our education system as evidenced in a recent Newsweek article.
Currently I’ve been obsessing about the spending habits of this administration and it’s prioritization of funding, and my apprehension over how things will shake out isn’t doing wonders for my sleeping habits. Bush is pushing for his tax cuts to become permanent while ignoring its ramifications. I gotta say the $300 bucks I got back didn’t do much for me and especially considering the trade-off, I would have preferred the government keep it and fix its impending problems. I mean some new clothes, lunches out here and there and a few DVDs in exchange for astronomical tuition rates for higher education, a crumbling national infrastructure, an inadequate health system, a national debt that will burden generations to come while those who caused it are cashing in on a whacked-ass-about-to-bust social security system into which I’m paying money that, at this point, I’m certain I’ll never see a dime returned. Not to mention the rising costs of health care and my soon-to-experience property taxes which far overshadow the vastly ineffective “tax relief” so proudly offered by Bush. I don’t mind paying my necessary share of taxes to support genuine programs to help foster an improved nation and the life of its citizens. I do mind the squandering of said responsibility on private and/or politically motivated interests, ass-backward initiatives (TSA, marriage incentives, National Missile Defense! I’m looking at you), asinine and poorly considered wars, especially when the few overly-privileged are shirking their duties (and the have the nerve to scoff about it) leaving the already heavily burdened to pick up the slack.
I’m absolutely flummoxed at the lack of outrage from the nation’s citizens. Even more so considering the inexplicably large group of people still set on giving this administration another four years at the helm. Oh yeah that’s right, this war or terror thing. Apparently the lack of terrorist attacks on American soil is due to Bush and his ever-vigilant crusade to keep American safe! I forgot, what with the everyday onslaught of terrorist attacks that we had to suffer through. Never mind, more people will die in car accidents, alcohol and drug related incidences everyday, and even more will suffer from hunger, inadequate health care, and poor education. But that’s okay, Saddam Hussein was captured, we “freed” Iraq and bombed the crap out of cave-dwelling Taliban. We’re fat, dumb and happy with $300 dollars burnin’ a hole in our pocket so what the hell, Bush is alright!
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Tuesday, January 27, 2004
like brand new
Just a little note to all my readers, the site now features live commentary! Live meaning you can post comments on my ramblings that will display immediately. You can join in the fun by clicking on the "comments" link that trails each day's entry or entries. For now it's completely open, but if you guys get too rambunctious, restrictions will be applied.
And to point out, in order to avoid any confusion or misrepresentation, I will not be posting in the comments section. Any response, by me, on the commentary will be featured in the blog entry itself and noted as a response to a specific comment or comments. And of course discourse can still be achieved via email.
Edit (1/27/04):Yes mad props to Tim and Brian at Entrellix for their assistance and debugging. Obviously being the novice that I am, I lack thier mAd sKillZ. Thanks guys!
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Sunday, January 25, 2004
a fine winter's day
Nothing like the warm breeze in your face as you ride. The soft sun gently coaxing sweat as you pace. The constant hum of rubber on concrete and the intermittent punctuation of shifting gears play metronome to the orchestration that is riding on breezy sunny day. Yes ladies and gentlemen, I was out enjoying a much-needed ride on a perfect seventy-two degree winter day; a very nice cathartic release to yesterday’s stressing house events. It has been too long since I’ve enjoyed a good bike ride. Mad props to Florida.
Opportunity knocks
Congratulations to NASA on the successful landing of Opportunity! Most excellent indeed!
Sir William Gates
Really!? Sir Bill Gates the third? Most weird indeed!
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Tuesday, January 20, 2004
Our Union according to…
For those who know me and my adamant displeasure with Bush and his administration there’s no doubt that I was beyond cynical about what the President had to say in the State of the Union address. But, honestly, I was willing to listen and hope he'd set some things straight. But I just couldn’t believe some of the half-baked contrivances in his statement concerning education, health care, social security, his tax cuts and the shitty-assed PATRIOT ACT. Oh, and let’s not forget this additional war on terror which included the invasion and toppling of the immediate threat of Iraq, whose
And please, for the love of all things in the realm of not-out-of-the-blue, where the hell did a paragraph on steroids come from? Seriously, WTF, and school drug testing? Is it such a pandemic concern that it warrants such a prominent mention in the State of the Union? Personally I think it was put in so we could get a shot of Tom Brady. And why it was so important for the press coverage to so conspicuously point out his attendance is beyond me. Hrm… Patriots, fresh looking All-American kid going to the Super Bowl = Americans, Patriots are the WinnArs = Bush! I dunno.
To me, most of the address stank of the modus operandi for the Bush administration. Say one thing, and do another. Interestingly enough we didn't hear a peep about the President's proposal, in his last State of the Union, to help Africa with its A.I.D.S. epidemic or pushing for more alternatively fueled automobiles. What happened to those initiatives? [EDIT: I guess this might explain the A.I.D.S. initiative] No, it just seemed like more of obscuring true actions with flag-waving, being-a-patriot-means-doing-and-not-questioning-what-I-say, tough protectionism and for-the-people rhetoric while really cashing out, and ensuring the extremely wealthy remain firmly in control and aren't too inconvenienced by those that aren't so well to do. Of course many politicians do this, but it’s sickening how brazen Bush is about it and worse, how still so many Americans can’t see past it and believe he’s actually good for our country and its future. I know the masses are a bit dense, but I can’t imagine how they can continue to believe… okay I’m gonna stop before I really say what I want.
But I will say this. If there is a constitutional amendment to codify marriage as a sacred institution solely between a man and a woman, this on top of the lame back-asswards proposal to spend $1.5 billion in federal money on “marriage education” programs, we will be in a sad state of affairs and I swear I would devote the rest of my life to becoming the next President just to repeal that amendment. How can Republicans cry out too much government and yet be okay with it governing how people should live and who they can love? Really though, how this has become such an important issue in the national agenda that should be focusing on resolving the problems of social security, health care, education, the economy, our perilously decaying infrastructure and foreign relationships is absolutely mind-boggling. Is not denying two people, who love each other and are willingly to vow to be with each other for the rest of their life, legal rights solely based on sexual orientation a violation of civil rights? How is it not a civil rights violation? Not that long ago this country barred legal rights to women and minorities, but to do so now would be unheard of. Tell me, how is this different?
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Friday, January 16, 2004
can u do the robot?
So far 2004 is starting off with a bang in the world of technology! First, Spirit cut loose on Mars, with Opportunity reaching extraterra firma in two weeks on the opposite side. And more recently I caught video of dancing robots that is absolutely astounding. See for yourself (6 MB .wmv file). And go here to see how Sony did it. Really, you should check it out. Cool^100. It’s incredibly impressive and this is just the preamble.
This recent display of robotic advancement correlates nicely with a discussion I sat in on concerning just how far our robotic endeavors will take us and why there is such a fear about them. The discussion was sparked by the cunningly intelligent Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex series and the anime. In fact, just this morning when I showed the robot clip to my friend, his first reaction was, “oh my goodness, robots are gonna take over the world”! Then of course, subsequently, the obligatory gurrrrl robot comment. If you kind of examine the media dealing with robots and their interaction with humans, a lot of it inevitably veers towards hostilities between man and machine. As a broad example, recent exhibits would be The Matrix (more specifically The Second Renaissance story in The Animatrix), A.I., and the Terminator series. Not so recent examples; Robocop , Blade Runner, Westworld and Fritz Lang's Metropolis. Then the numerous novels and short stories, most notably those of Isaac Asimov.
There seems to be some inability to see autonomous and sentient machines as only benign servants of man. Why? If we program them to serve obediently from where does our fear emerge? When we provide them with the capability of independent thought and reason, what makes us believe they will want to harm us or in the extreme, exterminate their creators? There are some interesting points raised in the discussion I linked earlier that attempt to rationalize our trepidation, even my own suppositional contribution.
One thing for sure is that we, meaning the human race, definitely have some insecurity to deal with.
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Tuesday, January 06, 2004
the spirit of Mars
Once again like a giddy school boy with a new Nintendo game, I’ve been drooling over the lastest images beaming back from Mars. You can check it here. That 8MB image is just sweet. I mean, at first blush it’s not a whole lot, but when you stop to really think about what you’re looking at, it should hit you. This is the surface of ANOTHER PLANET! I mean, come on, another planet. That’s like, well, a whole other world! If you can’t completely fathom that and get overly excited, well then you just don’t dig extraterrestrial exploration. Your loss. As for me, this is beyond cool.
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Friday, January 02, 2004
on my way to world domination
Pinky, an aircraft carrier would be a much needed addition to my fleet. Hmmm, now where does one obtain such a vessel? EBay? Yes, yes of course.
Today the carrier, then tomorrow the world!!!
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Thursday, January 01, 2004
come what may
On the cusp of another new year. It really does always feel like a chance to start over. Will it be another cycle of the same or will this year bring something different? How much of it do I sow and how much of it is left to la forza del destino? Will the inner demons win out this time or will the higher angels keep them at bay. Will the life I want begin to take the shape or will I resign hope and accept the hand dealt? Will I come up with more clichés or get on with it?
You can’t help but feel the excitement of something new when the clock strikes midnight and the digits roll back to 1/1, even if just a little bit despite the repeated disappointment of years gone by. The promise of a New Year. More significant than that of a new day yet more accessible than that of a new millennia. In those wondrous moments of a newborn year as we hum Auld Lang Syne there is a hope that resonates. A little something to which we cling that whispers “despite the mired inertia of the past, the gloriousness that you seek is bound”. So easily in those tiny ticks of history do we discard the past and look toward what is to come; the rare unknown ahead of us that we do not fear, but eye with eager anticipation. Come what may, indeed.
So cheers to you old friends and old times. Here’s to what’s ahead. May this time around be all that you wish and no more than you can handle. Let the harbinger of the New Year fill you with joy as you brave the coming days of change whether it is at the hands of fate or by your own. Should auld acquaintance by forgot…
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