What to believe?

Oh how the internets make my head hurt sometimes. I read it on the internet so it must be true.

Uncle says the Republicans are intentionally throwing the race as they don't want to be in charge during another dismal four years.

Tam says that the Democrats miss giving the president a hard time and don't want to win, so we can expect a Republican to win.

Worlds collide! Is it too late for the Galt/Taggart ticket?

SOPA and Ham Radio

I knew that Reddit and Wikipedia among others were going to protest SOPA by doing a blackout, but I just read that APRS.FI will be off-line on Wednesday.

"Although the law is being made in the U.S., it will break the Internet on a global scale by making sites such as aprs.fi liable for links and content posted by the users of the site. Sites like aprs.fi are commonly run by individual developers or small volunteer teams. Due to the huge volume of automatically published user-generated content (50 packets per second currently!) it would be impossible for me to go through it all before publishing. If some APRS user would post links to copyright-infringing material, even when that material would reside somewhere else than aprs.fi itself, aprs.fi could be shut down in the U.S. and there would not be much that I could do about it."

Happy Thought of the Day

My buddy, Slim, always likes to be the ray of sunshine on otherwise gray days...

The Keynesian School of Economics Leads to Violence:

The problem is that eventually the socialist/Keynesian school runs out of other people’s money to spend. They can’t raise taxes high enough, and the market forces them to pay ever higher interest rates to access public markets. When governments increase spending, businesses cut back. The net present value tables always catch up to them.

At this point in the cycle, they generally have created a situation where there are haves and have nots. Forced to cut spending on the people that receive a government check, those people riot.

Arrington on Politics

Not 100% right, but not too far off either..

arrington If republicans could just lose the fascination with our sex lives and the need to push Jesus down our throats, they'd be perfect.Thu, Jan 05 17:51:22 from web

arrington if democrats could take an econ 101 class, they'd be perfect.Thu, Jan 05 17:51:44 from web

arrington I think many, many americans are fundamentally fiscally conservative and socially liberal, but we have no party.Thu, Jan 05 17:52:15 from web

Occupy Building Their Own Social Network

The Occupy folks are talking about building their own social network. It would be called Federated General Assembly (FGA). Some interesting quotes:

“We don’t want to trust Facebook with private messages among activists,” he said.

“You have to know someone in real life who sponsors you,” said Knutson.

"And he sees no reason against spinning off the tech to businesses."

Stratfor Hacked

I occasionally see some of the Stratfor articles - thanks to a friend. They provide a good analysis of what is going on in the world and draw conclusions for what this might mean. Apparently, anonymous decided that meant they were the "bad guys" and therefore hacked the Stratfor site - including e-mails, a list of clients, and credit card information.

What I found very interesting was the response to the hacking on Slashdot. Generally, Slashdot has a liberal lean with a good measure of conspiracy theory tossed in along with an air of superiority stemming for the users' mad computer skillz. I was surprised how they (for the most part) vilified anonymous while defending Stratfor. There may be hope for humanity yet.

Word Problems

From a NYTimes e-mail alert:

"Breaking News Alert
The New York Times
Tuesday, December 20, 2011 -- 1:19 PM EST
-----
Republicans in House Reject Deal Extending Payroll Tax Cut
House Republicans on Tuesday soundly rejected a bill approved by the Senate that would have extended the payroll tax cut for most Americans beyond the end of the year and allowed millions of unemployed people to continue receiving jobless benefits.

The House vote, which passed 229 to 193, also calls for establishing a negotiating committee so the two chambers can resolve their differences.  Seven Republicans joined Democrats in opposition.

But the Senate has left town for the year, and Democrats say they do not intend to call it back, putting continuation of the tax cut in jeopardy and leaving a shadow over many unemployed Americans as the holidays near.

Read More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/21/us/politics/house-republicans-move-closer-to-rejecting-payroll-tax-cut-deal.html?emc=na"

Emphasis is mine. Talk about your basic FUD job. I know doing word problems confuses people when they do math, but how much of a tax cut do unemployed people need? I say raise taxes on the unemployed. That will fix the deficit problem. Tax them at 10,000%! So the average unemployed person making $0.00 would owe... hmm, carry the 3, multiple then add, hmm... zero dollars!

If I give the NYT the benefit of the doubt, then that sentence is still poorly phrased.

The Democracy Will Cease to Exist

It may be new t-shirt time again. The http://www.brickolore.com/2011/04/t-shirts.html was for the Galt/Taggart 2012 and Taggart Transcontinental. I like wearing those shirts as it isn't too in your face, but if you are in the club, then my views can easily be guessed. This one is a wee bit more direct:

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not."

MSM Vs. Social Media

Main Stream Media Vs. Social Media.
Left Wing Vs. Right Wing.

Who is better at using social media? And why?

Tea Party vs. Occupy Wall Street

Video: The competing worldviews of the Tea Party and OWS:

"When it comes to The Tea Party and OWS, though, the more the surface differences become obvious, the more the transparent truth of what underlies those differences becomes obscured. It becomes easy to focus on the way the groups look and act differently — and harder to remember the way the groups think differently."

I don't have a problem making the distinction.

Via ExUrbanLeague

How the World Works: Occupy Wallstreet

Word of the Minute: Venality

Venality: a vice associated with being bribeable or of selling one's services or power, especially when one should act justly instead. In its most recognizable form, dishonesty, venality causes people to lie and steal for their personal advantage, and is related to bribery and nepotism, among other vices.

And some would give more power to the Government

"So, when you connect the dots, properly understood, what happened this week is the first battle in a civil war; a civil war in which, for now, only one side is choosing violence. It is a battle in which members of Congress, with the collusion of the American president, sent violent, organised suppression against the people they are supposed to represent. Occupy has touched the third rail: personal congressional profits streams. Even though they are, as yet, unaware of what the implications of their movement are, those threatened by the stirrings of their dreams of reform are not."

If you are worried about big business, limit government and you reduce the power that corporations could buy.

Brady Campaign to Prevent Alien Attacks

The BC might have more luck with aliens.

Occupy Market Square

I'll be at work earning a paycheck, so I can't make it.



Via No Silence Here

The Difference between #2A and #p2?

I could also have said the difference between us and the #OWS groups. The difference is we can answer yes. Visit Fro Design Co to see the other images in the series and to order prints.

Dave Ramsey on #OWS

I think Dave gives good advice:

"So to summarize, I’m not very impressed at the moment. I’m not impressed by your temper fit. I’m not impressed at your lack of goals and focus. I’m not impressed by the fact that the only thing I see about your movement is ignorance, immaturity and envy. Grow up—and get a job."

The whole article is here.

I'll. Be. Brief.

Some good reading for any candidate...

Short Version:

“The Second Amendment states a personal constitutional right both to keep, and also to bear arms. The politician trying to regulate this fundamental freedom is bound by the strict scrutiny test. I will not nominate any federal judge or justice who will not affirm this understanding of the law.”

The long version for those that aren't distracted easily, OH! Look! Something shiny.

*1000 bonus points for knowing the origin of the post title.

Jobs, Cash, Hope.

makower Someone just sent this: 10 years ago we had Steve Jobs, Johnny Cash & Bob Hope. Today we have no Jobs, Cash, or Hope.Mon, Oct 10 23:24:41 from TweetDeck retweeted by sarahcuda

Are you kidding me?

Bev Perdue | NC Governor | Suspend Elections | Jobs | The Daily Caller:

"“I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won’t hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover,” Perdue said at a rotary club event in Cary, North Carolina, according to the Raleigh News and Observer. “I really hope that someone can agree with me on that.”"

Seriously? That's the answer? I don't think this idea passes the good sense test.

I like the commercial.

Via SaysUncle.