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Congress has decided to renew the USA-PATRIOT Act for another year. This was supposed to be a big deal. There was supposed to be huge debate. But it has just been brushed aside until next year. There are several reasons Congress has acted this way, but most people have narrowed it all down to a single reason... Someone from a foreign country - Australia or someplace - concealed an un-authorized Toyota floor mat aboard a U.S. commercial airliner. If the floor mat had made it to the U.S., chaos would have ensued. Amidst all of the panic, NASCAR quickly ordered Congress to renew the Patriot Act, saving America from the Aussies once again! |
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| The latest Saturn floor mats... | |
Of Interest: - The logo on the floor mat pictured above has nothing to do with Saturn. It is actually the new online logo for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. The new MDA logo briefly sparked controversy this week as some thought it resembled a crescent moon, while others thought it resembled the Obama campaign logo. I think it is supposed to be the dark side of the Moon passing in front of the Earth, but in an abstract way... |
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On February 18, 2010, Joseph Stack flew a small commuter plane into an office building in Austin, Texas. Prior to the event, he posted a letter on the Internet. Information about the event is still being sorted out. I've posted excerpts from his letter below. The full letter is available HERE. I'm not going to make very many comments about Mr. Stack's letter. I do want to say that it isn't clear what the government was trying to accomplish with the tax law Mr. Stack quoted. I also want to say that it appears as though there were a number of other factors that may have influenced Mr. Stack's tragic decision. |
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| ----- EXCERPTS FROM JOSEPH STACK'S LETTER ----- [T]here isn't enough therapy in the world that can fix what is really broken. [...] Why is it that a handful of thugs and plunderers can commit unthinkable atrocities (and in the case of the GM executives, for scores of years) and when it's time for their gravy train to crash under the weight of their gluttony and overwhelming stupidity, the force of the full federal government has no difficulty coming to their aid within days if not hours? Yet at the same time, the joke we call the American medical system, including the drug and insurance companies, are murdering tens of thousands of people a year and stealing from the corpses and victims they cripple, and this country's leaders don't see this as important as bailing out a few of their vile, rich cronies. Yet, the political "representatives" (thieves, liars, and self-serving scumbags is far more accurate) have endless time to sit around for year after year and debate the state of the "terrible health care problem." It's clear they see no crisis as long as the dead people don't get in the way of their corporate profits rolling in. [...] On the subjects of engineers and dreams of independence, I should digress somewhat to say that I'm sure that I inherited the fascination for creative problem solving from my father. I realized this at a very young age. [...] I was off to a terrifying start as a 'wet-behind-the-ears' contract software engineer... and two years later, thanks to the fine backroom, midnight effort by the sleazy executives... we saw the passage of 1986 tax reform act with its section 1706. |
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[...] For you who are unfamiliar, here is the core text of the IRS Section 1706, defining the treatment of workers (such as contract engineers) for tax purposes. Visit this link for a conference committee report (http://www.synergistech.com/1706.shtml#ConferenceCommitteeReport) regarding the intended interpretation of Section 1706 and the relevant parts of Section 530, as amended. For information on how these laws affect technical services workers and their clients, read our discussion here (http://www.synergistech.com/ic-taxlaw.shtml). [...] The best we could get for all of our trouble is a pronouncement from an IRS mouthpiece that they weren't going to enforce that provision (read harass engineers and scientists). This immediately proved to be a lie, and the mere existence of the regulation began to have its impact on my bottom line; this, of course, was the intended effect. [...] After months of struggling it had clearly gotten to be a futile exercise. [...] Years later, after weathering a divorce and the constant struggle trying to build some momentum with my business, I find myself once again beginning to finally pick up some speed. Then came the .COM bust and the 911 nightmare. [...] By this time, I'm thinking that it might be good for a change. Bye to California, I'll try Austin for a while. [...] To survive, I was forced to cannibalize my savings and retirement, the last of which was a small IRA. [...] But [the government] didn't notify me in time for me to launch a legal objection, so when I attempted to get a protest filed with the court I was told I was no longer entitled to due process because the time to file ran out. Bend over for another $10,000 helping of justice. So now we come to the present. [...] When we received the forms back I was very optimistic that they were in order. I had taken all of the year's information to Bill Ross, and he came back with results very similar to what I was expecting. Except that he had neglected to include the contents of [my wife's] unreported income... To make matters worse, Ross knew all along this was missing and I didn't have a clue until he pointed it out in the middle of the audit. By that time it had become brutally evident that he was representing himself and not me. This left me stuck in the middle of this disaster... Things I never knew anything about and things my wife had no clue would ever matter to anyone. The end result is... well, just look around. [...] I know I'm hardly the first one to decide I have had all I can stand. It has always been a myth that people have stopped dying for their freedom in this country, and it isn't limited to the blacks, and poor immigrants. I know there have been countless before me and there are sure to be as many after. [...] The cruel joke is that the really big chunks of shit at the top have known this all along and have been laughing at, and using this awareness against, fools like me all along. ----- END ----- |
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Related: - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Stack |
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On February 12, the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Canada will begin. Let's join in support of all the athletes that have worked so hard to get there! Best of luck to everyone! |
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It's true. I'm a fucking retard. But I live in a country populated mostly by fucking idiots. I'm trying to fit in. It would take a fucking genius to notice the difference between a fucking retard and a fucking idiot. Should I be fucking worried? |
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I first wrote about corporate personhood back in 2007. Actually, I didn't really write about it; I merely brought it up and provided a link to ReclaimDemocracy.org - an organization that knows a lot more about corporate personhood than I do. ReclaimDemocracy.org is calling for a Constitutional amendment to get rid of corporate personhood, and I agree with them. I also think it's interesting that when people look at issues as complicated as this, the Constitution always comes up. Personally, I've gone so far as to criticize legal precedent, the U.S. Code, Congress, and the stability of American democracy. And the Constitution always comes up. Corporate personhood is one of those issues that dredges up all of this... "The idea of corporate personhood" basically says that corporations may have the same rights as citizens. But there's a lot more to it... Last month the Supreme Court made a ruling influenced by the "idea of corporate personhood." The Supreme Court ruled that corporations may be able to spend unlimited amounts of money on political ads. I say the decision was influenced by the "idea of corporate personhood" because there is no law (that I know of) that describes corporate personhood or what it means. Instead, it's just a patchwork of legal decisions going back over one hundred years, along with some random laws passed by Congress. I want to put this in words everyone can understand. A judge rules on something over one hundred years ago, then another judge rules on something else, and somehow that can make or break a case in the present-day. That's legal precedent. There is no talk of right or wrong or anything else. Get it? After legal precedent has done its damage, Congress gets lobbied by the winners (or losers, if they're loaded) of the court case to pass some weirdly worded law that makes no sense at all, and only pertains to the specific court case. I say weirdly worded because the law Congress passes will say something like "the words 'to be' in line 10038 of the U.S. Code shall be struck, and the words 'of which shall be' shall be added, forthwith." There are very few places where the law is actually "laid down." The Constitution is one of those places where it is. Anyway, maybe corporations can spend unlimited amounts of money to influence elections now, but maybe there's some genius lawyer out there who can get us out of all of this... using legal precedent! |
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judge from the 2005 film Idiocracy. The courtroom is wallpapered in corporate ads. |
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photo of the 2010 Supreme Court judges posted at ReclaimDemocracy.org. Corporate ads have been added to some of the judges' robes. |
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Related: - ReclaimDemocracy.org - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precedent - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiocracy See Also: - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campaign_finance |
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Scott Brown just won a big Senate election in Massachusetts. In his campaign, he mentioned that he drives a truck. The way he said it made it seem like a big deal; like there was some sort of Massachusetts liberal bias against people who drive pickup trucks. So, I want to congratulate Scott Brown on his purchase of a GMC Canyon. I've been to Massachusetts and I've lived in Boston. I've even been to Harvard. And I drive a Prius. But I have no problem with trucks like the GMC Canyon. However, I don't want to spend trillions of dollars on oil wars to fill that truck with gas. And I don't want to sacrifice American lives. I guess this is where this debate breaks down... Why can't the GMC Canyon be powered with hydrogen? Is the debate really even about trucks and Priuses? I've said it before and I'll say it again... Corporations like Fox News have done a great job confusing Americans about trucks and SUV's. These vehicles have a lot to offer - without all of the sacrifices Americans make to fight wars on behalf of the petroleum industry. America can't afford to fight the battle this darkly, and the Australian owner of Fox News, Rupert Murdoch, knows it. Fox has us fighting over leaded vs. unleaded gas... (that's a '70s reference). We should be preparing for gas prices to rise along with global temperatures, but "Rupert the Australian" has us fighting over trucks. And we're doing next to nothing about it. I want to sell Scott Brown a 2010 GMC Canyon H2 and watch the American economy soar! In the meantime, Scott needs to be in a Prius so he can stop sacrificing his daughters to the petroleum industry! |
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| The GMC Canyon | |
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| The
1983
Wagon Queen Family Truckster... Does that GMC Canyonero have 8 headlights? |
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The Democrats should hold a beer summit to start 2010 off right... |
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| Democrats Hold A Beer Summit | |
Of Interest: - The photo used in the artwork above is from Obama's first "State of the Union" address to Congress in 2009. I Photoshopped the beer kegs and cups into the photo. The beer kegs say (clockwise from background): Stout, Hef (for Hefeweizen), Lager, IPA (for India Pale Ale), Pils (for Pilsner), and Ale. The last one just says Beer Keg. |
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Linux just got easier than Windows. You can install whatever software you want on Linux, and it's as easy as searching for something on Google. Check out the Yum Extender (shown below). All you have to do is type in the software you want and click the binoculars to search. Then, select what you want, and click "Process Queue." That's it. No complicated downloading, no My Documents, no ".exe" files, and most importantly, no viruses; the Yum Extender only installs software from "software repositories" trusted by the user. And it always installs the version that works with your computer! Just look at how easy it is to install software on Linux... |
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Polls show that the Republican candidate is ahead in the Massachusetts Senate race. It could kill healthcare. But Vice-President Joe Biden has to give it his seal of approval before anything's official. The Democrats will probably wimp out, though. They'll put the Republican in office, just like they put Bush in office in 2000. Even though they have an opportunity to do the right thing for America and get healthcare passed, they'll almost certainly blow it if the Republicans win in Massachusetts. It's almost Biblical, and I think it's hilarious... |
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In December of 2009, I read the Senate and House healthcare bills, and said that I thought the "expansion of Medicaid" politicians had been talking about made more sense to me. I said I wished it had been explained to me sooner. I also went on to say that my comments about the expansion of Medicaid in an earlier post were wrong. It looked like Medicaid would be expanded to cover people living in poverty or living close to poverty, even if they aren't pregnant, disabled, blind, or aged. (Medicaid is currently unavailable to most people living in or near poverty unless they are pregnant, disabled, blind, or aged.) But it looks like I misunderstood some of the language of the legislation... For me, the issue comes down to whether or not Americans care about each other. And it looks like the politicians and insurance companies are going to allow the abuse to continue. They're going to try to force many individuals living in or near poverty to purchase a private healthcare plan from an exchange instead of providing Medicaid to those individuals. It turns out expanded eligibility for Medicaid depends on factors other than living in or near the "poverty line" (1). Some of the requirements are really strange. In some cases, you can't qualify for Medicaid if you put a donation can in a local shop asking for help with a medical problem. But if the government forces you to purchase a private plan through an exchange and you put that same can in a local shop, the rates you pay in the private exchange could stay the same. I'm sure they'll close that loophole in a way that makes things worse for those living in or near poverty (but I hope they close the loophole in a way that truly expands Medicaid). Unfortunately, the way many parts of this legislation are worded, it seems like they want to kill off poor people. The kind of thinking they're doing - if that's what they're doing - has even stranger effects. If you are eligible for Medicaid but qualify for the private exchange, the government will still try and steer you towards the exchange. There's a notification clause in there, but it reminds me of the free credit report scam. There's a lot of work left to be done on healthcare reform. America needs a strong public health insurance option, and stricter regulation of insurance companies. We also need to pay for the reforms without taxing middle-class healthcare plans. And we need to make sure subsidies reduce the costs of healthcare realistically, so that people buying health insurance can afford it without having to sacrifice everything they're working for. Employers need to pitch in their fair share, too. A healthcare plan that takes a huge bite out of employees' paychecks - and has huge deductibles that have to be paid at the doctor's office - is not fair! Related: - Senate Draft Bill (H.R. 3590) - First House Bill (H.R. 3200) - Second House Bill (H.R. 3962) Notes: -1) It looks like they're still doing away with the "pregnant, disabled, blind, or aged" requirements, unless I'm misunderstanding that, too... |
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On December 24th, 2009, the Senate voted 60-39 in favor of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590). Negotiations between House and Senate leadership are now under way to reconcile significant differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill. The House bill is called the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962). I strongly favor the House version for its approach to cost containment and use of private sector innovation and competition to improve the quality and value of care... |
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Happy New Year! |
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Disclaimer: Your feedback will be interpreted with these statements
in mind... This is not professional writing. It does not necessarily reflect the views of the author(s). It does not reflect the views associated with "Newsking sites" or associated entities. I sometimes put my foot in my mouth in a big way, which is why this blog can't be associated with my professional writing. My social responsibility for "blogging" has so far been undefined by society, but I do not intend for this to affect my public life. Please take it light! Prior entries may be edited (with notation?). Since it's a "blog?" I may or may not use "drugs," alcohol, and certain foods in the production of this "blog." Keep it light! I did not "just solve a problem" or "just cause a problem." For anyone. As in, please keep it light! This blog occasionally contains humor. This blog may contain numerous links to outside content. A small portion of this content may contain information some readers may find offensive. I want to apologize to anyone who is offended. Every effort is made to ensure this site complies with about 25 editing "rules," including spellling, grammar, punctuation, accuracy, HTML, etc. Your "experience" is important. Please enjoy yourself! |
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| © 2010
by T.J. Newton. All Rights Reserved. A more detailed copyright policy should be forthcoming. It will probably be similar to this one. |
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