What will the Fair Tax do to CPAs?

This is something I am hoping to find out very soon. If anyone sees this and has some thoughts, please share them. I am very curious what some expect will happen to CPAs out there that work for themselves (presumably doing a lot of tax work) when/if the Fair Tax Act passes and the income tax becomes a thing of the past.

Why do insurance/health care companies need to be "for profit" enterprises?

For a while, I have been thinking that capitalism is failing when it comes to health care and insurance needs. If anyone happens to see this and wishes to explain why it is better for these enterprises to be "for profit" (as opposed to non-profit, which does not mean they could not be profitable)? These are not the types of businesses that, in my mind, should be answering to Wall Street analysts.

The world is a horrible place.

Terrible things happen to people for no good reason. It happens day after day. Through no fault of their own, people are injured or killed. There is no good reason for any of it.

The Wilhelm Scream Compilation

A scream that has been used in many films over the years...

Jason Smith tribute

Jason Smith tribute by the Oilers upon his first return to the city with the Philadelphia Flyers.

Japan gets 61 Mbps, Korea gets 45.6 Mbps, Canada gets 7.6 Mbps...and the US gets 4.8 Mbps?

Yes, apparently, the "most powerful country on the planet", the "only Superpower", gets even less average broadband bandwidth than Canada does, according to ITIF. That is disgusting. I wish somebody would explain why we offer such inferior services in this country, at higher prices, than other places. It is time we stop believing that paying more for everything means we are getting better quality. It simply is not true and people need to stop believing that propoganda.

The following is quoted from http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060913-7731.html:

In Japan, symmetrical 100Mbps connections are available for less than $35 per month, while residents of South Korea can get similarly speedy fiber optic connections for around $32. Those speeds are unheard of for consumer broadband in the US, and prices for much slower hookups are significantly higher—Comcast charges $69 for 10Mbps/768Kbps service where I live, by way of example.

I do not know for sure, but I am willing to bet that we will find similar situations when we delve into issues where we routinely believe that paying more for less means we have the highest quality on the planet. I really wonder if we will find out the dark secret in health care that paying more per capita than any other nation on the planet actually does not have us at the top in quality either.

The Lie Of The Century

Make sure you have about 20 minutes available for this...

30 minutes of 80's cartoon Openings

Just like it says... 30 minutes of the intro segments from cartoons of the 1980s. Interesting to sit through at least once.

Taja Sevelle - Love Is Contagious

Maybe this one is a little strange for me, but I have liked it for a long time. I even exchanged a few emails with her once upon a time.

Killing Joke - Eighties

Another brilliant track that is mostly forgotten (at least it seems that way).

Candi - Dancing Under A Latin Moon

Another great lost treasure that too few seem to remember or appreciate properly. One of my all time favorites.

Regina - "Baby Love"

Remember this one? It is another one that seems to be a lost treasure.

Bananarama - The Wild Life

Best Banarama song ever. Too bad it is almost impossible to find and (apparently) few do actually remember it.

Skee-Lo - I Wish

Brilliant stuff. This is one of the best songs ever and the video is fun as well.

A Little Fishy - USA Network Horror Short Film

I saw this once, in between movies on USA Network on some random night. I have no memory of what the movies were, but this came without any introduction or fanfare. Since then, some 15-16 years ago or so, I have not seen it until I finally found it on YouTube. Enjoy!

Zombie Kid Likes Turtles

You may think I am trying to make fun of this kid, which is what I think the YouTube poster was trying to do. I'm actually in praise of him, though.

We need more people doing this kind of thing on TV. The whole thing is a charade and needs to be brought down. He seized this opportunity to mention something that is important to him. He didn't waste time playing the news jockey's game and got better bang out of those few seconds than they wanted him to. I hope he continues to do his own thing and not "play the game" the way they want it played.

Battle at Kruger

Amazing true life footage here...

Bill Murray Broadcasts Cub game Part 1

I did not get to see this originally, but I had heard about it. Bill Murray was filling in for Harry Caray as the play-by-play commentator.

"Chocolate Rain"

A catchy song that is, apparently, becoming a phenomenon.

Pinball Number Count

Awww yeah!

Seven Souls

By Material

Xymox - Obsession

They made another great one as well, which is on the same album (I think).

Xymox - Imagination

One of the best songs of all time.

Our corrupt food system reveals itself once again...

The Associated Press
Sunday, July 22, 2007; 12:31 AM

WASHINGTON -- A Georgia meat processor on Saturday expanded its recall of canned meat products that may be connected to a botulism outbreak.

Castleberry's Food Co. of Augusta recalled more than 80 types of canned chili, beef stew, corned beef hash and other meat products in addition to the 10 brands it had recalled Thursday...

Here is the full article...

Fox News Kills Monsanto Milk Story

Yay! Go government! Go Rupert "Big Business" Murdoch!

Drama Chipmunk

If this doesn't make you laugh, go get a sense of humour.

World Champion of the National Football League?

I like the Colts and I like the NFL (National Football League), but being a "World Champion" by winning the "Super Bowl", which only involves teams from ONE (1) nation on this planet, is really absurd. It's a very obvious "dumb American" thing to do this. The stereotypical "dumb American" thinks the USA is on top of the world and everything goes through us.

Skinny Vanilla

Some people need to check themselves.

I don't know how some people get off with the things they do, but they should just check themselves before it goes too far. I know it is normal for some people to put their nose up in everybody else's business, but they really should just mind their own. They surely have no business speculating on what I think about it, nor suggesting what I or my loved ones should be doing.

I suppose some people are just misguided souls who think they are saving someone. If you read this and think I am trying hard to keep from being obvious, you are right. If you read this and think it is about you, you just might be right. You can bet your life that I have no interest in talking about it with you, though, so just forget about that. Anyone who makes any sort of threats against anyone in my family is persona non grata for eternity.

Making of the Doctor Who theme (full)

Very cool stuff for synth nerds (or Whovians).

DJ Ted Stevens Techno Remix:

The Internet is a series of tubes. Stupid Senator Ted Stevens needs to be laughed at.

Will get to Joost invites later today...

I was not able to get to the invites yesterday, so they will hopefully be coming out later today.

Heaven (must be there) - Eurogliders

A brilliant '80s alternative song that needs to be enjoyed by more people.

Heaven 17: Crushed By The Wheels Of Industry

A very good song from a very good band that is very underappreciated in the US.

JOOST!

I should have mentioned this to more people earlier...but definitely try it out if you have a good "hi-speed" connection and a fairly powerful computer running Windows or Mac OS X.

I do have invites, since I was a part of the Beta team before they opened it to everyone. So, if you can't get in and need an invite to do so, I should potentially be able to hook you up.

Non-smoking sections/signs are not logical.

If the natural state of humans is not smoking, then "non-smoking" sections/rules/laws don't make any sense. "Smoking" sections should have to be designated and the presumption should be that everything else is "non-smoking" unless otherwise marked.

I don't know when/why/how the presumption came to be that the entire planet was a smoking section unless otherwise marked, but it makes absolutely no sense unless human beings are naturally "smoking" and have to choose to be "non-smoking."

Save Net Radio

Doing business with China and India supports genocide...

Yes, that's right. It supports genocide. Since they do loads of business with Sudan, without a thought for the genocide perpetrated by that government, doing any sort of business with any entity in those nations supports the genocide in Sudan. At least indirectly. If you care about that sort of thing, you should have to reconcile this in your own head. You won't have to dig very hard over at news.google.com to find articles talking about the business that India and China do with Sudan, plus articles talking about how China intends to veto any UN sanctions against Sudan.

Asshole neighbor steals stuff from recently handicapped man

Yep, that's right. An asshole neighbor has apparently decided he would steal a bunch of stuff from a man that is still in the hospital trying to recover from an automobile accident (that wasn't his fault). What kind of sense does this make?

Government corruption in New Jersey.

Not only was the Governor not wearing his seat belt, which is against state law, but his driver, a STATE TROOPER (yes, a police officer), was also driving at a speed of 91 miles per hour in a 65 miles per hour zone. So, this criminal enterprise was going down the road just looking to cause trouble. That trooper should be behind bars right now, if there were actually any justice in this nation.

This country is a disgrace.

Robert Palmer - Every Kinda People

A meaningful song that I had somehow forgotten until hearing a remake while in a restaurant with my family the other day.

Man sues insurance company over damages resulting from druggie daughter's fleeing from police...

When Cobb County police finally stopped an out-of-control driver after a high-speed chase through red lights and major intersections, they spotted a gun and feared the worst.

Sirens screamed as backup patrol cars rushed in, bumping the Lexus SUV to stop it on the I-75 south off-ramp to South Marietta Parkway. When the driver locked the car doors, police smashed the windows to get in.

The menacing motorist turned out to be 19-year-old private school graduate Jennifer Natbony, who was on drugs and hunkered down inside her mom's luxury car. The teen, lying near what was a pellet gun or air rifle, was arrested on 16 charges on Dec. 1, 2003. After pleading guilty to DUI and evading police, she received probation and community service.

Now her father, Michael Natbony of Marietta, wants his insurance company to foot the bill for the $12,612 in damage to the Lexus, according to a lawsuit filed by his attorney Robert S. Windholz. Trial in Fulton County State Court is tentatively scheduled for next week.

...

In a 2005 sworn statement to attorneys for both sides, Natbony, who had a history of drug possession, speeding tickets and wrecks, told her story:

She borrowed her mom's Lexus for a night of fun and headed out to a friend's house around midnight. After a while she hopped back in the Lexus to follow the others to a nightclub.

Van Alstine, on regular patrol, spotted the Lexus speeding in a 35 mph zone, headed west on Barrett Parkway near Prado Lane. The teen saw the cop, glanced at her speedometer — which read 61 mph — and panicked.

"All that I remember was that I didn't stop," she said in the sworn statement. "I knew if I got another speeding ticket, my dad was going to sell my car."

Jennifer Natbony said at the time she gave the statement that she was a psychology major at Sierra Nevada College, living in a dorm in Lake Tahoe. She was hazy on many details about the face-off with Cobb County police.

She remembered taking her mom's Lexus, but couldn't remember whether she had permission or why she didn't take her own car. She remembered going to meet friends, but couldn't remember the friends' names. She remembered doing drugs, but couldn't remember what drugs or how much. And she didn't remember most of the more-than-20-minute police chase.

No wonder she behaves in such a way. Her father doesn't even hold her responsible for her actions, nor take responsibility for her actions. He expects Progressive to take responsibility for her actions.

I am disturbed by the kind of people that live amongst me on this planet and the kind of people they are raising.

the final Back To The Future ride (at Universal Studios)

Even more Back To The Future ride footage...

Modjo - Lady (Hear Me Tonight)

Another brilliant track from about 6 years ago or so. The video is kinda catchy too, for some reason.

Tom Tom Club - Pleasure of Love

Somewhat rare song that was never put out on CD, but one of their best.

Back To The Future The Ride

More Back To The Future Ride footage...

Back To The Future Goodbye - Universal Studios Orlando

Another ride lost to the theme park graveyard. It was closed yesterday, March 30th, 2007.

Rare Rocky and Bullwinkle Show at Universal Studios Orlando

Yet another lost treasure at theme parks.

Pop Will Eat Itself - Def Con One

The Poppies are on patrol!

Take My Time - Junior Senior

With help from the brilliant Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson!

79 Leafs at Atlanta Flames playoff brawl

A brawl in the playoffs? That would never happen today. NHL playoff hockey in Atlanta? Haven't seen that in decades! Not to take away from the playoff success of the Atlanta Knights, but obviously they were not in the NHL.

Internet Relationships by MC Lars

Weird looking unofficial video by some guy named "Jack", but the song is extremely good by MC Lars. I heard it on Adam Curry's Daily Source Code 573.

AISHA-Death in vegas feat Iggy Pop

YES!

Some people are just jerks.

I don't get it, but some people just want to go out of their way to act like a jerk. A troll, if you will, to borrow some Internet parlance. The kind of people that the ignore functions on messageboards were created for. Sometimes I forget why I've added them to the ignore list, but then I come across some idiotic post they've made, bypass the ignore, and am reminded why I never want to read their crap.

I just wonder why they keep it up as weeks turn into months, and even months turn into years.

3 Stooges - Swingin the Alphabet

Classic.

Gary Numan and Bill Sharpe - Change Your Mind

More good stuff.

Code Monkey

Fun times. Have a smile and forget that the world mostly sucks for a few minutes.

Kennedy - (Who's Lovin) Your Mamma (I am)

In these dark times, you have to get a lift from something and I am turning back to some music right now.

The Timekeeper pt.3

The final portion of a tribute to a wonderful attraction that Disney killed off.

The Timekeeper pt.2

Part 2 of a great attraction that Disney killed.

The Timekeeper pt.1

A great attraction that Disney has killed, in favor of a Monsters, Inc. concept that bombed in previews.

Eric Prydz Vs Floyd : Proper Education

A little good entertainment in dark times.

Skinny Puppy Tour Starts In April!

At least some sort of good news...

Panasonic Viera Advert

Hah!

Don't you even care a little bit about your father's business?

Your father has worked hard for years to have a business going that pays for all his bills, plus lots of extra things. He pays for your phone service, and has even bought you a truck, without asking for much in return. When he gets hurt, and is in a coma in an ICU, where the fuck are you? Do you have any concern about this business and how it is going to stay afloat? Do you wonder how those bills are going to continue to be paid? Apparently not, you little shit. You continue to run up extra bullshit charges and play on MySpace, leaving the concern for this business and those bills to other people.

I don't know if you care about the condition of your father or not, but you certainly don't care enough about everything that he stood for. You are persona non grata with me from now on. If you do happen to come across this, you will certainly know who you are.

Let's all pray...

Whatever.

Would Walt Disney outsource?

"The first year I leased out the parking concession, brought in the usual security guards - things like that - but soon realized my mistake. I couldn't have outside help and still get over my idea of hospitality. So now we recruit and train every one of our employees. I tell the security police, for instance, that they are never to consider themselves cops. They are there to help people. The visitors are our guests. It's like running a fine restaurant. Once you get the policy going, it grows." - Walt Disney (in Walt Disney Famous Quotes)

I'm guessing not. Too bad Bob Iger thinks it's a good idea. More and more people, now working in the actual resorts (down to the parks and hotels) are being let go in favor of outsourcing the jobs. What a world we live in.

Mark Twain motivates...

Twenty years fron now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.
Dream. Discover.

Everyone has a degree in India?

You know how corporations in America keep talking about the proliferation of degrees in India as a compelling reason to offshore jobs there? Have they also revealed that this is because it is paid for by the government? Yes, that's right. Unlike the people in the United States, those people don't have to pay their own way. I wonder if these corporations that are singing the praises of this system would even begin to consider paying into a similar system here. We know that answer. They definitely wouldn't think about it for more than half of a second, if even that long.

The police and their botched raids...

Check this out. An interactive map of all the botched police raids in this country. So many people think these never happen. It must be nice to live in their fairy tale world.

Your Oilers - the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Photos from the guide book... Apparently not so good, but funny.

Ethan Moreau and Steve Staios After Hours

Missed this during the Cup Finals. Good stuff with good players.

Oilers Halloween

Talking about Shawn Horcoff being Gene Principe for Halloween...

Liars, Cheats, and Thieves...

Yeah, you know who you are. A bunch of fake women attempting to exert undue influence upon a bunch of others. Those who don't fall under the spell are cast from the society. A plague upon you. Try being honest. You can be an asshole, if you want to be, but be honest about it.

Skinny Puppy - Worlock - REMASTERED!!

You must see it, but you should really be a fan of:

1. Skinny Puppy
2. Horror films
3. Gore (and not Al Gore)

A little happy about the election...

I think only one of the candidates I voted for actually won, but I am relatively content with the results. I am not a fan of the Democrats, but I like seeing the Republicans take a punch to the nose like this. I was a little tired of their arrogance.

Horrorfest coming to a theatre near you?

If you are into horror films, you should check this out. A bunch of horror films are being debuted together in theatres across the nation in November.

A sucker for Walt Disney World...

Despite having a horrible experience at Walt Disney World earlier this year, and seeing that company for what it truly is, I find myself wanting to be able to go there once everything works out financially. No, I don't want to go so badly that I would compromise financial security to do so, unlike trips in the past, because I know better these days, but I still would like to go.

Of course, the family plan is that there are no Walt Disney World vacations until we have managed to pull off a trip to Disneyland for all of us. So, it isn't like Disney is totally out of the picture.

You have an office with your own lights...

...so why do you have to turn on all the other lights?

A Life Plan

It's time to make a life plan. It is time to figure out what is most important. Time to figure out what the ideal life would be. What the things are that will make me happy. Then the challenge is to go after those and make them reality. Corporate America isn't going to make it a reality. I've been riding in their boat and they seem to enjoy rocking it while threatening to sink it.

It's time to build my own boat.

Corporate America Sucks

There is no doubt about it. It totally sucks. There is no soul in there. There is no life to be found.

ESPN Mobile is shutting down...

Who could've seen this coming? They were charging way too much for this service. Now they will just license the content to others, which is what they should have been doing from the beginning. This concept of a 'premium' cellphone provider is a faulty one. I wonder what this means for somebody like Helio now?

Disney outsources the cleaning at Walt Disney World...

A lot of people already thought the cleaning was subpar, so I guess it will get worse. It will be a miracle if outsourced work is an improvement over the original internal work. I've never seen quality go up via this method of passing the buck before.

Kazahkstan doesn't like Borat...so what...

"The Government has expressed its displeasure about Borat's representation of our country.

"Our opinion of the character has not changed.

"We understand that the film exposes the hypocrisy that exists both here in the USA and in the UK and understand that Mr Cohen has a right to freedom of speech.

"Nursultan Nazarbayev has taken Mr Bush up on an invitation to visit this country to help build our relationship with the USA.

"I cannot speak for the president himself, only for the government, but I certainly don't think President Nazarbayev and Mr Bush will share a joke about the film.

"The bottom line is we want people to know that he does not represent the true people of Kazakhstan."

The Kazakh government has previously threatened Baron-Cohen with legal action, for allowing Borat to, among other things, make fun of his homeland, demean women, slander gypsies and urge listeners to "Throw the Jew Down the Well."

Bruce Arena reveals he has no tactics.

After a "1998-ish" World Cup debacle by the US national team, it has been revealed for all to see that Bruce Arena has no tactics hidden away in his mind. They must have accomplished their 2002 feat on hard work and surprising the other teams. Nobody was going to be surprised this time, so you needed some surprising tactics to gain an advantage. Especially if you run into a problem where some players are not properly motivated, or they are outclassed unexpectedly, you need a tactical mind to overcome it. Unfortunately, he was not able to overcome this.

For that reason, he should be sacked. However, the problem we have is that I believe he is clearly the best American available for the job. Fortunately, this is a global game and we can choose someone from afar that can guide the team to the next level. Limited ourselves to only what our own domestic coaches can attain is going to hold our players back. It is time to move on. National pride be damned, because we now have players who are more capable than our coaching.

Ottawa Senators choke and exit the playoffs...

Once again, the Ottawa Senators have underachieved and seen an early exit from the playoffs. Three tries in the playoffs against the Sabres and they have been defeated. The very first time they made the playoffs they pushed Buffalo to 7 games. The second time they were swept. This last time they were almost swept and struggled to take it to 5 games before losing the series with an OT shorthanded goal from Buffalo.

Go figure. The only thing I am certain of now is that Jacques Martin, Patrick Lalime, Alexei Yashin, and Radek Bonk were not responsible for the problems in previous playoff disappointments.

Even at Walt Disney World, thieves rule the day...

There has been a myth going around that nobody does evil things at Walt Disney World. That myth should be shattered forever. While recently attempting to spend several days at WDW, someone got the nerve to steal our camera. Shame on us for bringing such an expensive camera ($1500+), I suppose, but the real shame should be on the thief. Another share of the shame goes to Disney Security and Orange County's Sheriff Department, who were more interested in treating us like criminals than dealing properly with the situation.

No tolerance for "zero tolerance" laws/rules

We have the ability to think and reason. We should be expected to use this in every aspect of our lives. "Zero tolerance" is an attempt to remove human reason and judgment. It is an attempt to turn us into robots and not allow us to make decisions, even punishments, based upon the available evidence. I don't know why they are so popular, but they are certainly not fair. Punishments do not need to be equal across the board for fairness and equality. Punishments should be different based on the incident and those involved.

I've, thankfully, not been caught up in any sort of "zero tolerance" enforcement, but I do wish the concept would die away. Humans are capable of much more and should not be legislating artificial caps on our own abilities.

Free market capitalist no more...

This is no essay, as I am prone to say. I am not documenting anything. I am just posting some thoughts. That's what my blog is.

I used to believe that the answers to all, or most ills, could be found through a free and open market. That people would not do business with bad companies. That the government did not need excessive regulation because people would do business with the companies who did things the right ways. That the companies, their executives, and their shareholders would do the right things because the market would not tolerate the wrong things...

I began to have doubts with the numerous financial scandals that began to break over the past several years. All of that is still shaking out and more are being discovered. I have had to admit that these people were not doing the right things and the market was buying up all their lies and some people made a whole lot of money while others lost a whole lot of money. Some totally innocent people, such as the employees of these corporations, may have ended up with less than nothing thanks to losing pensions, 401ks, their jobs, and then their homes.

Sure, the government is attempting to do their proper job by holding these men responsible for these crimes against society. But justice really takes a long time and these guys have a lot of money to assemble the best defense that money can buy. Meanwhile, the government has made it harder for those who lost their lunch to declare bankruptcy. In the end, big corporations ended up ahead of the average person once again.

Walmart is a company that is busy driving down wages, driving down benefits, driving down property values, and is putting cash in the hands of the Chinese government by being almost-singlehandedly responsible for our ever-growing trade imbalance with China. To further turn my stomach, they drape themselves in the red, white, and blue of the American flag to generate some sort of patriotic feeling amongst the consumers. They benefit, in major ways, from eminent domain land grabs. If they really are such a great company and believe in the free market, why aren't they buying the land for their stores via the same free market?

I no longer think that the market, as a whole, has the ability to rein in problem corporations. The majority of people just are not willing, or do not have the time, to make sure they are properly informed and do business with companies that do the right thing. Another side is that, as a result of this 'race to the bottom' across all industries, a lot more people can no longer afford to do business with the good companies and are forced to do business with, and seek employment with, companies that they would not ideally have anything at all to do with.

I used to believe in Milton Friedman, but a lot of what has happened over the past 5 or 6 years has really changed my mind. The shine came off for good when I found out he may have played a very significant role in the "payroll withholdings" scam that the government employs to steal our money throughout the year instead of submitting taxes at the end of each year.

Just a few thoughts while waiting on slow computers to respond on a Sunday morning at work...

For those of you against "gay marriage"...

...that think a popular vote is the way to determine who gets that right...

Understand that interracial marriage has only been legal, in every state of the US, since 1967. That is less than 40 years ago. It is also quite probable that, if left up to popular opinion, "The South" would have never desegregated its society. There are just some things that cannot, and should not, be decided by popular vote.

I have no horse in this race, but it seems rather silly for people to get so upset about it. Absolutely no one has made a sound case that same-gender marriage causes any harm to any person, nor how any non-consenting adults might end up being forced into one.

From Wikipedia...

In the 18th, 19th, and early 20th century, many American states passed anti-miscegenation laws, often based on interpretations of the Bible, particularly the story of Phinehas. Typically a felony, these laws prohibited the solemnization of weddings between persons of different races and prohibited the officiating of such ceremonies. Sometimes the individuals attempting to marry would not be held guilty of miscegenation itself, but felony charges of adultery or fornication would brought against them instead (Vermont was the only state to never introduce such legislation). The constitutionality of anti-miscegenation laws was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1883 case Pace v. Alabama. In 1965, Virginia trial court judge Leon Bazile sentenced to jail an interracial couple who got married in Washington, D.C., writing:

Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix.

This decision was eventually overturned in 1967, 84 years after Pace v. Alabama, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Loving v. Virginia that

Marriage is one of the 'basic civil rights of man,' fundamental to our very existence and survival.... To deny this fundamental freedom on so unsupportable a basis as the racial classifications embodied in these statutes, classifications so directly subversive of the principle of equality at the heart of the Fourteenth Amendment, is surely to deprive all the State's citizens of liberty without due process of law.

At the time that anti-miscegenation laws were ruled unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court, 16 states still had laws prohibiting interracial marriage. Those laws were not completely repealed until November 2000, when Alabama became the last state to repeal its law. According to Salon.com:

...after a statewide vote in a special election, Alabama became the last state to overturn a law that was an ugly reminder of America's past, a ban on interracial marriage. The one-time home of George Wallace and Martin Luther King Jr. had held onto the provision for 33 years after the Supreme Court declared anti-miscegenation laws unconstitutional. Yet as the election revealed -- 40 percent of Alabamans voted to keep the ban -- many people still see the necessity for a law that prohibits blacks and whites from mixing blood.

The Motion Picture Production Code of 1930, also known as Hays Code, explicitly stated that the depiction of "miscegenation... is forbidden."

A Year at WDW...

You can click on the title above to go to the website.

The basic premise is that this 19 year old saved up $100k and is going to spend 6 days out of every week at WDW for a year. I love the idea and wish I had done it when I was younger myself!

Legal rights for uncredentialed photographers...

If anyone happens to see this, by chance, do you know an expert on the legal rights for photographers at sporting events? Specifically non-credentialed photographers at NHL games?

Just looking for a little help with some questions.

Paint your own house, offshore outsourcing asshole!

I was listening to NPR this morning and heard a story about a surfboard maker who has the foam core for his boards made in China. When confronted that he is a part of the problem, which forces entire industries to go entirely offshore (well, except for the US-based executive team), he makes the (probably trademarked by now) excuse "I am just following global trends."

To make matters worse, he says anybody put out of work by this sort of activity should spend their "unplanned vacation" by "painting their house" or better yet "go surfing."

How about...make your boards entirely in the United States if you are only selling them here. Don't have work done in other countries that you do not sell your service or product in. It really is not that hard, is it?

SPAM STOCK TRACKER

Ever received some of those spams that are promoting a particular stock? This guy, Joshua, started running a stock tracker as if he had purchased the stocks pumped in the spams. As you will be able to see, if you go to the site, there is very little money to be made on these pump and dump campaigns...even in the immediate short term (unless you had a huge amount of money). The only chance is if you could sell them short, but I have little idea if such a brokerage exists that would allow you to do such a thing. This is actually discussed at the site as well. Take a look.

It would be worth checking every week or two...

http://www.spamstocktracker.com/

Baltimore arrests record number of people...

Hmmm. Our government is clearly out of control.

No, asshole driver, you are not entitled to this lane...

Just because your lane is ending, and you choose to ignore the multiple warnings provided to you by the roadside signs, does not mean you are entitled to simply slide into my lane without looking or using your signal. Face it, asshole. A car headed towards a wall with no signal looks like a car that wants to drive straight into the wall.

NHL takes their games to OLN...

ESPN has decided not to match the offer from OLN to broadcast NHL games for the next couple of years (and up to the next 5 years). This is a great thing. ESPN was no longer actually interested in the NHL. They would do anything they could to bore or turn off their viewers. The entire broadcast was poor right from the start, starting with the choice of games to cover. The camera work was below par. The commentary was lacking. Why they were never able to watch a TSN or, even better, a Hockey Night In Canada show, is simply beyond me. Hockey Night In Canada is the best and I would just about watch any teams play on HNIC. The game becomes a REAL EVENT on HNIC, where on ESPN it seemed like it was filler. Gary Thorne was always trying to worship any "superstar" player in a particular game. Hopefully he will be staying with ESPN to do baseball games. OLN does not need him.

The only concern I may have will be getting games in HD. HDNet has not announced a deal to carry NHL games this season. There is a significant chance that any HD games on OLN will not be seen anywhere except on Comcast cable systems, which won't help me with my DirecTV service. Even our local Comcast cable does not yet have an HD package, so we would be out in the cold there as well. Nevermind that the system does not yet offer the NHL Center Ice package as well.

Still, turning their back on ESPN is a great move. ESPN has become more about style over substance. They even thought the NBA deal was going to be a big winner for them, but they have seen their NBA ratings continually come in lower than TNT's NBA ratings. ESPN needs to learn that viewers will go to the competition if they do not put on a good show. The only time ESPN wins is when they have paid their way into a monopoly...and even then it does not always work.

Operation Northwoods

Today I have read something quite interesting, which I am somewhat ashamed to admit I was previously ignorant of. It is a proposed covert operation from 1962 known as "Operation Northwoods."

This did not come through the CIA as you might expect, but rather from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It was a plan to stage terrorist attacks against American citizens in Cuba in order to stir up support for an invasion of Cuba and the deposing of Fidel Castro. Long regarded as a "conspiracy theory", this has actually been verified since the Freedom of Information Act. The one portion of the plan that was presented to the Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, involved the crashing of a "drone airliner." To his credit, McNamara rejected the plan. President John F. Kennedy then re-assigned the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Lyman Lemnitzer, to a different position. He also fired the CIA Director, Allen Dulles (who would later serve on the Warren Commission investigating the assassination of Kennedy).

The most troubling parts to me so far are the somewhat obvious connections to other events since 1962. For starters, why is a man that was fired by President Kennedy, the previous year, selected to be on the Warren Commission investigating his assassination? This is a man who was the CIA Director when they were planning and assassinating heads of state, lost face when Kennedy withdrew support for the Bay of Pigs invasion late in the game, had recruited Mafia members to aid his CIA assassination attempts, oversaw the CIA mind control experiments known as Mk-Ultra, as well as overseeing Operation Mockingbird which was about exerting influence on American media companies. All of this regarding Allen Dulles is known fact at this point. I have intentionally avoided unverified conspiracist claims.

Dulles was a friend of Prescott Bush, the father of George H. W. Bush and grandfather of George W. Bush. It is interesting to note that George H. W. Bush ascends to be the CIA Director as well. So, there are some connections between Dulles and Bush, although they may not mean much (at least that is known to be true at this point).

Another troubling point is the crashing of a drone airliner to instigate support for war, given the events of September 11, 2001. There has been no shortage of conspiracy theories about the events of that day. It is disturbing to know that there had already been a proposal to stage terrorist attacks against US citizens to instigate a war/invasion of another nation specifically involving an airliner. Roughly 39 years later they may have finally pulled it off. I don't actually believe that this was a staged event by the US government, but it certainly seems a little more plausible knowing that "Operation Northwoods" actually exists. I'm more inclined to think they allowed it to happen, rather than having a hand in the implementation. It would then do what "Northwoods" was supposed to do, which was gain support for war and invasions of foreign nations. Cuba was not the boogeyman. It was Afghanistan that had been taunting us for a while, and then of course Iraq that had been taunting us for more than a decade. The loss of a few thousand people is a minor detail stacked up against the chance to funnel record revenues and profits to companies that profit from war (with direct ties to the current administration) and an opportunity to settle the score with a Bush Family enemy (Saddam Hussein). Whether a conspiracy exists or not, there is enough verified evidence available to suggest it is possible.

The actual approved portion of "Operation Northwoods", involving the drone airliner, called for the claim to be that the 'airliner' was full of "college students off on a holiday."

Out-of-pocket maximum...?

So, apparently, when someone tells you about an "out-of-pocket maximum", it does not actually mean the maximum amount of money that could come out of your pocket. It means something different, depending on who is telling you and what they are holding back. For instance, my health insurance provider, Blue Cross of California (they must be a bad one), defines it as such:

"Out-of-Pocket Maximum: Refers to the maximum amount that a covered person will have to pay for expenses covered under the plan. It is a sum of deductible and coinsurance amounts."

However, although my insurance is with them, my employer opted for a plan that has a different definition of "out-of-pocket maximum." This NEW definition of the phrase says that it is not the sum of deductible and coinsurance amounts, but rather just the total of coinsurance payments.

When it comes to words, I expect them to mean the same thing when dealing with the same material. Up means up, and down means down. An out-of-pocket maximum at $1,000 should always mean an out-of-pocket maximum of $1,000. Instead, sometimes it means $1,000 plus your $400 deductible...which is clearly an out-of-pocket maximum of $1,400.