Taxes and Economic Growth

A little reading:

Tax Rates Compared to Economic Growth

Do tax cuts lead to economic growth?

Snarky - Post Election Comments

I had indicated on "the faceboob" the night of November 6 that gloating and “snarkyness” was reserved to that night and civil discourse would be offered by me going forward on Nov 7.  I will attempt to live by that rule on "the faceboob", but I’ll offer snarky here.  

You have the choice to read it or not.  If you are a republican - I warn you - Do NOT to read.

I would like to be one of those people saying “we all need to come together and work together for the good of the country”.  I would like to believe that will happen.  But, I’m partially a realist.  Already seeing the nasty, bigoted, intolerant speech propagating through the inter-tubes one cannot actually believe this is going to happen.  I’m also partially a Pollyanna at heart and would like to believe constructive dialogue and compromise can happen.  However, the craziness of the last four years and what I see already today from the "right" (and left) tells me nothing will change.

I encourage the real Republicans out there to purge your party of the religious zealots and racist.  Return to the real Republican core.  Your party has accomplished great things for the country in the past.

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Note:  I reserve the right to return snarky back to "the faceboob".

So!  Without further adieu, a little snark:

1.  Let me be sure I have this correct...  He is such an excellent business man that he could fix all of the problems in this country, however, he could not run a successful operation to get elected. 

2.  Religious Right - how's the prayer working for you?

3. The congressional republican caucus met on the morning of Nov 7 to commit to the proposition that Barack Obama would only be a two term president.  Ha!

4.

5.  Mittens - May you rot on the trash heap of failed political campaigns.  How's the Fox News contract look?

6.  Whispered across the country on Nov 7 - "God, where are you?"

7.

 

8.  Just a simple - "FUCK YOU" - to Fox News.

9.  And another simple - "FUCK YOU" - to Rush Limbaugh.

Interesting Articles:
WSJ - Money 

Biggest Looser 

Rove - Senate Candidates 

The Politics of Monochromatic Marketing

It just hit me today looking at the most recent Cover photo on Ann Romney's Facebook page.  How could I have missed it.  The heart of the Republican strategy - Monochromatic Marketing.

I'm guessing that is not the specific business term (some of my Marketing MBA friends can provide the correct term.)  But you've seen it.  I believe this theory of product presentation is often used at Target and many other retailers.  You know the displays - a group of sometimes totally unrelated products that share the same basic color scheme are put together in a display.  Marketers know that putting products together by color makes all of the products more interesting and appealing to the shopper.  This drives sales.

Look at that picture!  White, white, and more white.  It is a perfect marketing color scheme.  Not a bit of color to be seen.

Perfectly "monchromatically" grouped.  Looking at this one picture you begin to understand how the Republicans have been able to bring together conflicting constituencies to form a whole - The NRA, Evangelical Right, Oil and Industrial Billionaires, Wall Street Executives, Mormons, Heartland Voters (aka rednecks), Catholics (60% white - they add a little color).

Below, notice how color confuses the marketing message.


No one will buy that...

Brilliant!

Rich Kids for Romeny - Ha!

Funny satirical video.

Redneck "Red Cup" Wine Glasses

Do you feel like a sell out because you like to enjoy a nice glass of chardonnay every once in awhile?  Your vino just tastes better when you drink it from a wine glass but your buddies give you a hard time because you’ve given up your classic plastic red cup and you look like you're trying to be one of them high class, hoytie toytie folk!

Next time you uncork a nice bottle of wine, drink it out of our Red Cup Wine Glass Set and keep up your rugged, party goer image.  The red cup has always been your friend so include it in your vintage Bordeaux experience as well!

Set of 2. Ceramic.  Each measures 8 inches tall x 3.75 inches in diameter.

> Click Here To Order <

Amazing Art! Swimming Pool

Swimming Pool was conceived by Leandro Erlich in 1990. It is an art installation with a permanent home at the 21st Century Museum of Art of Kanzawa, Japan. Swimming Pool allows visitors to look down into a seemingly full pool of water with fully clothed visitors walking around the bottom of the pool. From below, the blurry vision of looking up when underwater is recreated using a thin piece of glass with water running over top of it.

Christianity and Polytheism - An Agnostic's Confusion

 A Little Background

I'm an agnostic.  I don't know if there is a God.

I was raised in the Baptist church till about the age of 9.  Attended Sunday school and church approximately 3 Sundays out of every month.  Received the full childhood indoctrination.  My family moved to the Presbyterian church around the age of 10.  Continued to attend church regularly till the age of 15.  During my teenage years I read the bible from cover to cover twice (ok - I'll confess.  I skipped Numbers and Judges the second time through.)  In my college years I took 4 semesters of bible studies - 2 on old testament, 2 on new testament.

While I do not "believe", I think I have a basic understanding of Christian doctrine and dogma.

 An Agnostic's Confusion

This leads to my confusion and being perplexed.

I truly don't understand how the Christian right can endorse and accept a polytheist for president.

Based on my basic understanding of most non-Mormon Christian doctrine and dogma, polytheism is direct the opposite of one of the basic tenants of Christianity which I believe is monotheism.

I'm basing this on my understanding that Mormonism is polytheistic.  I'll admit my understanding of Mormonism is limited.  I believe Mormons prefer the term "henotheism".  Basically the definition of henotheism is:  the belief and worship of a single god while accepting the existence or possible existence of other deities that may also be worshipped.  I believe Mormons also believe that the Christian God has a father and mother, and his father had a father and mother and so on.

There are many sources available to study the Mormon belief system.  I will not attempt to justify the statement "Mormonism is polytheistic" in this post.  I encourage you to do your own research.

Let me be clear, as far as I am concerned polytheists are just as entitled to hold office as gays, lesbians, atheists, agnostics, Jews, Christians, Catholics, monotheists, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhist.   

I hope someone can tell me I can see this open-mindedness on the part of the Christian conservatives to accept a belief system that is antithetical to their core beliefs as encouraging.  I am further hopeful this acceptance gives hope for our nation’s first agnostic, Hindu, atheist, gay, Muslim, and Buddhist presidents.

 Paths to Understanding - Remove My Confusion

The first way you could remove my confusion is to convince me that "Mormonism is not polytheistic".  I would be happy to admit I'm wrong.

The second way you could remove my confusion is to demonstrate how a polytheist can be acceptable to a Christian conservative.

 Response Parameters and Understandings

I get that the Christian right does not like liberals, Democrats and Obama.  You don't need to tell me how bad and evil liberals are and what a devil Obama is.  I get that.  What I don't understand is how the Christian right can accept a polytheist when they do not accept so many others like - Christian liberals, Christian homosexuals, Christian Democrats, Pro-choice Christians.  (You get the point, there are a lot of unacceptables.  Or, as I have been called heathens.)

I also recognize the U.S. does not have a Constitutional requirement for a religious test to hold public office.  I'm not saying that we should.  However, based on what one hears from conservative and evangelical Christians there are basic docternal beliefs that are necessary to hold office. (Those regularly precluded include:  gays, lesbians, atheists, agnostics, liberals, Muslims.)  

Daily we are bombard by the Christian right proclaiming the righteousness of their causes and direction for our nation.  Media and pulpits are filled with their hatred and disdain for anything that does not meet their standards of belief and behavior.  Daily I am bombarded with "friends" demonstrating their deep seated Christian beliefs on Facebook and often their hatred for those that do not adhere to their beliefs.  I get all of that.  (Well not really, but that's another post.)

What I don't get is how can Christian conservatives find a polytheist acceptable as an office holder?

It seems hypocritical.  Why is it not?

Confusing.  Perplexing.

Facebook Rant: Lesson Learned (I hope.)

I decided today to take a better path (or at least to try) in order to preserve my own serenity:

Step 1:  Don't say something if you can't say it nicely.

Step 2:  Block the asshole who percipitates these types of responses from you.

Step 3:  Repeat Step 1.

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Two Facebook responses not posted as a result:

Post 1:

Yay!  Predictions are fun!  This is kind of like sports talk for politics.  Thanks for clarifying where the prediction came from.  Really had me wondering - Did it come from a data driven, mathematical model?  No, could not be that, can’t trust data and math.  Maybe seer stones (there’s someone very popular with access to a set).  Or maybe a vision, tarot cards, divination, crystal ball, Liu Ren, astrology.  So many faith based systems used to produce predictions. 

 

Post 2:

Oh ye of little faith in your conservative Christian fellows.  Once the brothers and sisters of the Republican party take power and establish the United Theocracy of America, all of the non-believers will miraculously become believers (or will be forced to believe by law and constitutional amendment or at gun point.  Any remaining aberrations will be deported or put in camps to die with the LBGT crowd).  Take a leap of faith, go forth and bring the word to those heathen countries.  Fear not, the plan is in place to deal with all of the heathens here.

One Facebook Block as a result.

I feel better already.

Releasing Tax Data is a Religious Issue

Come on Mitt, what's the real reason?


"Our church doesn’t publish how much people have given.  This is done entirely privately. One of the downsides of releasing one’s financial information is that this is now all public, but we had never intended our contributions to be known. It’s a very personal thing between ourselves and our commitment to our God and to our church."

Some more detail and thoughts:

> Salt Lake Tribune: Romney says his Mormon tithing shouldn’t be public <


> Class Warfare Exists <

Amazing Design - Peel Wall Lamp

These designs are amazing.  A light that looks as if wallpaper was peeling off the wall and light is behind it.  And, shelves that look like blowing paper. 

See more of both > Here <

Design team is YOY.  Very cool guys!

Stop Motion Excel

Finally!  Something useful done with Excel...










Start video >

How was it done?  A lot of filled cells.

Michele Bachmann Swiss Citizenship?

Sorry I'm late.  How did I miss this?

From the Atlatic:  The Swiss Appear Largely Relieved as Bachmann Renounces Her Citizenship

"U.S. Republican Michele Bachmann doesn't want Swiss citizenship anymore," read a headline from Swiss paper Blick on Wednesday. The past week of Michele Bachmann-Swiss citizenship news has been pretty weird even for Americans. But it seems to have been even weirder for the Swiss.

Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and her family, it was recently revealed, have been claiming Swiss citizenship through her husband's immigrant parents. Bachmann became a dual citizen automatically upon marrying her husband in 1978. It only became a story Tuesday due to what appears to have been re-registration as part of her children's claim to Swiss citizenship. After a two-day media frenzy, Bachmann announced Thursday that she was renouncing Swiss citizenship.

The town that the Bachmanns were claiming as their home, it turns out, is a tiny parish called Wigoltingen, population 2200, according to the amused Swiss papers. Amusement -- and bemusement -- appear to be the principal reactions from the Swiss and the Swiss media. "I hardly believe Ms. Bachmann would want to get mixed up with the circus in Bern," a web commenter wrote on a Bachmann story Wednesday, referring to the Swiss Federal Assembly. He offered the joking advice that, if she did participate, the right-wing populist Swiss People's Party would be a good fit. A French-speaking commenter on the Tribune de Genève's site had the same idea: "company for Blocher!" the commenter pointed out, referring to Swiss People's Party Vice President Christoph Blocher.

> More Here < 

From Slate:  Bachmann Accused of "Treason" for Swiss Citizenship

Michele Bachmann’s short-lived experiment as a Swiss citizen ended awkwardly this week, when her beloved philosophy of American exceptionalism came back to bite her in the tushy. It turns out the far right concluded that her brief bout of dual citizenship made her anti-American. Remember that this is the congresswoman who skyrocketed to fame on an accusation that Barack Obama was anti-American. Oh, the irony!

A little background for anyone who tuned out of Bachmann’s adventures after she dropped out of the presidential race in January. Bachmann’s husband, Marcus, he of the alleged pray-gays-straight therapeutic philosophy, was born to Swiss immigrants, which made him, the congresswoman, and their children eligible for dual citizenship, Politico reports. In March, according to reporting by Politico and a Swiss reporter, and seemingly confirmed by a Bachmann spokeswoman, Marcus, Michele and three of her children decided to add Swiss citizenship to their American citizenship. (More recently, Bachmann’s famously disorganized office changed this account, claiming that she’s actually been a dual citizen since she married Marcus in 1978, and that it happened “automatically,” as if without her consent. Whatever.) In any case, news that Bachmann had opted to become a “Swiss miss,” as Politico delightfully termed her, upset pundits on the right wing, who called her dual citizenship “an insult to both countries,” “political bigamy,” career-ending,” “egregious,” and tantamount to “treason.”
> More Here <

Biology From the Tea Party

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/20/us/politics/todd-akin-provokes-ire-with-legitimate-rape-comment.html

Lobbying $s Spent in Congerss

Here's an interesting infographic published by GlobalExchange which shows how the financial industry invests in congress.  There is an accompanying report containing extensive research tracking Wall Street’s investment in political power, and analyzes exactly how Wall Street has secured industry-loyal voting practices of members of Congress using whopping amounts of money. 

The FIRE Sector (Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate)

Since 2006, FIRE sector, has poured around $4.2 billion into efforts to maintain influence in the halls of Congress, according to a report by Elect Democracy, a nonpartisan effort by human rights organization Global Exchange. That comes out to $1,331 a minute.

Of that total, $879 million has gone to the campaigns of lawmakers. Like most influence peddlers in Washington, the FIRE industry takes positions on legislation that affects the way it operates. Donations can't guarantee that a lawmaker votes a certain way on a bill, of course, but the intrinsic goal of lobbying is to encourage them to support the cause, in part by padding their campaign coffers.

http://www.globalexchange.org/
ED LegislativeScorecard

Religion Is Confusing: Christian and Polytheistic?

If you're Christian, can you be Polytheistic?

Religion Is Confusing: Wow! Mormons get their own planets?

Is it true that Mormons become gods of their own planets after death?

Here's a response from a Mormon (can't really be verified)  > Click Here <

Another Mormon source:  > Click Here <

It appears that they are Christian but they are not monotheistic.  How do other Christian's feel about Mormons not being monotheistic?  I would think that monotheism is kind of an important tenant of Christianity.

Here's an overview:  

Becoming a god and ruling over his own worlds which he creates is the goal of every devout Mormon male.

In 1840, fifth LDS President Lorenzo Snow declared, "As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become." Besides correctly illustrating the Latter-day Saint teaching that God was once a mere mortal man, this couplet also declares that man has the potential to become God.

Joseph Smith stated: "Here then is eternal life - to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God the same as all Gods have done before you" (JOD 6:4; TPJS p.346). Brigham Young, the second prophet and president of the Mormon Church, delivered a message in the Salt Lake Tabernacle on August 8, 1852, in which he affirmed this teaching when he said, "The Lord created you and me for the purpose of becoming Gods like Himself" (JOD 3:93).

The Encyclopedia of Mormonism concurs with this thought when it states: “For Latter-day Saints, the term ‘godhood’ denotes the attainment of such a state—one of having all divine attributes and doing as God does and being as God is” (The Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 2:553).

Mormon theology teaches that the God of this world was once a man on another planet and that he became a god by “earning” his godhood through obedience to his God-Father who ruled that world. He, in turn, grants his children (the people of this world) the same opportunity to earn godhood through obedience to him.

"If Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and John discovered that God the Father of Jesus Christ had a Father, you may suppose that He had a Father also. Where was there ever a son without a father? And where was there ever a father without first being a son? Whenever did a tree or anything spring into existence without a progenitor? And everything comes in this way. Paul says that which is earthly is in the likeness of that which is heavenly, Hence if Jesus had a Father, can we not believe that He had a Father also?" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.373.)

“Latter-day Saints believe in this progression in eternity until, eventually, we become worthy through knowledge, wisdom, humility, and obedience, to be like God, and then to have the privilege of being made equal in power, might and dominion (D&C. 76:95), and to possess all that the Father hath (D&C. 84:38) as members of ‘the Church of the First-born’” (LDS Prophet Joseph Fielding Smith, The Way to Perfection, p.9).

Religion Is Confusing: True Craziness - Creationist

I'm lost for words...

> Creationist <

Any Dr. Who Fans?

The perfect DragonCon dress.  > Get it here <

  

Southerner's Water Bottle

You can actually buy this.  > Oder it here <

Romney - My First Big Decision. D'oh!

I've been telling you for several years - Elect me!  I have the private sector and business experience and acumen to run this country and turn the economy around.  I will put the right policies in place and will put the right people in place to solve all of your problems.


By the way...

I made my first big decision today by putting all of my business skills to work.  I named my running mate - the person who will step in and run things if something happens to me.  As they say, he will be one heartbeat away from the presidency when I am elected.  He is a career politician, the ultimate Washington insider.  He has little to no experience in the the private sector and little to no experience running a business.  He's never been the chief executive of a state (i.e. a Governor) and never held a "C" level position in the company.  Be assured he's ready to run this country if something happens to me.

He hunts - that's good.  Right?

How to photograph meteor showers

 Shooting shooting stars
As with most low-light photography, shooting a meteor shower definitely requires a tripod and shutter release cable or remote control (though you could also use the self-timer to eliminate camera shake). Make sure you charge your camera's battery fully before you go, and bring extras if you can. A fast, wide-angle lens is your best bet — 21mm f/2.8 or faster will give you the best results. Since there's no way to predict exactly where the meteors will fall, the wider your lens, the more sky you'll get in your photo and the higher the chance you'll catch a shooting star.

There are two schools of thought about ISO. Some say to use the highest ISO you can, so that you can use a shorter exposure time and thus eliminate star trails. But I've found that setting your ISO between 100 and 400 is the best combination of exposure times and less graininess. The faster your lens, the lower the ISO you can reasonably use. Use an aperture a stop or two up from the widest your lens will go; this will let you use a longer shutter speed without letting in too much ambient light.

Shutter speed math
The question of how long a shutter speed to use is somewhat complicated and requires a little bit of math. Don't worry, though — it's a simple equation!

The issue is that you want to use a slow enough shutter speed to capture a good number of meteors, but not so slow that the stars themselves appear as streaks. We all know the earth rotates, but it can be a bit surprising how little time it takes for that rotation to show up in our night sky photographs. For a very long exposure, this can be an intentional artistic choice; but usually for photos of meteors, we prefer that the stars appear as pinpoints of light, and the only streaks are those of the meteors themselves.

Read more at http://www.tecca.com/columns/how-to-photograph-perseid-meteor-shower-digital-photography-101/#Wz8VqGYtBU7vlw6M.99

Art: Lora Zombie

Love her work!

> Click for more <

Gallery:  > Click here <

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Healthcare - US is Last

There is this constant drum beat of disinformation by conservatives relative to America’s healthcare system.  America’s health care system SUCKS compared to so many others; there are some things that we do very well but that’s only if you can afford it.  And we know most can’t.

Read more: http://www.classwarfareexists.com/conservatives-say-america-has-best-healthcare-system-actually-were-last/#ixzz230l3X3Cq

A Day in the LIfe of Big Oil

Geek Fun: LED Throwies

LED Throwies are an inexpensive way to add color to any ferromagnetic surface in your neighborhood. A Throwie consists of a lithium battery, a 10mm diffused LED and a rare-earth magnet taped together. Put them any where to impress your friends and city officials.  Could be very creative for a party or with a special someone instead of candles...

LED throwies consist of only a few inexpensive parts and can be made for ~$1.00 per Throwie. A parts list is provided in the links below.

For the original Throwies project  > Click here <

To make auto on/off Throwies > Click here <

McDonald's Items Around the World!

McDonald's local menu items from around the world are to say the least interesting — from Prosperity Burgers in China to wine in South America to German Sausage in Japan. Sometimes when you're from the US and you're traveling you just need a little bite of home.  McDonald's has always delivered.  I've done it.

There's also something to be said for the idea that you can walk into a McDonald's almost anywhere on the planet and get at least a minimal level of consistent, "tasty", safe food. (Ok - maybe not "tasty".  Lets say consistent.)  And, as an American, you can get a burger and fries (except India - no burgers there.)

The McDonald's restaurants in the Philippines have 27/4 delivery.  Need to know more about the "Chicken McDo with McSpaghetti."  I've not exactly figured out what it is, but there is a commercial below that I and most of my friends will not understand.

Interesting items from Japan here.  

A wikipedia page dedicated to McDonlad's local menu items is here > Click here <

Facebook Rant: Churches Silent on Chicken

The following article was recently shared on Facebook

Dan Cathy And The Silence Of Many Churches | Bob Russell 
www.bobrussell.org

Mr. Russell tells us the wrongness of many churches in the not speaking for the biblical definition of marriage and against homosexuality and same sex marriages.

Here's a little perspective on what the New Testament says about homosexuality. 

> Click Here <    

Its a good, thoughtful read:

"Corinthians 6:9–10 says that certain types of people “will not inherit the kingdom of God.” The list of such people begins with fornicators, idolaters, and adulterers, and it ends with thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, and robbers. Near the middle—between adulterers and thieves—are the two Greek words translated in the New Revised Standard Version as “male prostitutes” (that is, homosexual male prostitutes) and “sodomites.”

Here's what is interesting about Mr. Russell's piece, there's no mention of fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers and robbers.  The christian church and conservatives (mostly led by heterosexual males) has a big problem with homosexuals but not much is said about the other types of people who "will not inherit the kingdom of God".  Why is this?  The list does not rank or call out any of the "sins" above any of the others.  So why are these other types of people not pursued with the same zeal and verve as homosexuals?

There is a huge problem with consistency here.  Mr. Russell uses selective interpretation of the scriptures to determine those behaviors and people they will most viciously attack.  My presumption is this is done because if he condemned the other people in the list he and other churches would loose at least half of their congregation.

Just a little food for thought.    

There are other commentaries available in the "interweb"  :)

Know Your Corporate Friends - ALEC

ALEC - American Legislative Exchange Council
Through the corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council, global corporations and state politicians vote behind closed doors to try to rewrite state laws that govern your rights. These so-called "model bills" reach into almost every area of American life and often directly benefit huge corporations. In ALEC's own words, corporations have "a VOICE and a VOTE" on specific changes to the law that are then proposed in your state. DO YOU?
 

Watch this Video...  Funny!
Learn more about ALEC > Click Here <


ALEC is not a lobby; it is not a front group. It is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, behind closed doors, corporations hand state legislators the changes to the law they desire that directly benefit their bottom line. Along with legislators, corporations have membership in ALEC. Corporations sit on all nine ALEC task forces and vote with legislators to approve “model” bills. They have their own corporate governing board which meets jointly with the legislative board. (ALEC says that corporations do not vote on the board.) Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. Participating legislators, overwhelmingly conservative Republicans, then bring those proposals home and introduce them in statehouses across the land as their own brilliant ideas and important public policy innovations—without disclosing that corporations crafted and voted on the bills. ALEC boasts that it has over 1,000 of these bills introduced by legislative members every year, with one in every five of them enacted into law. ALEC describes itself as a “unique,” “unparalleled” and “unmatched” organization. We agree. It is as if a state legislature had been reconstituted, yet corporations had pushed the people out the door.
Learn more about ALEC > Click Here < 

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) is a 501(c)(3) American organization composed of conservative legislators, businesses and foundations which produces model legislation for state legislatures and promotes free-market and conservative ideas. According to the organization's website, members share a common belief that "government closest to the people" is "fundamentally more effective, more just, and a better guarantor of freedom than the distant, bloated federal government in Washington, D.C." The organization has been described as a "collaboration between multinational corporations and conservative state legislators."

ALEC provides a forum for corporations and legislators to collaborate on "model bills"—draft legislation which the members would like to become law. The model bills are then introduced by ALEC's legislative members, and approximately 200 per year become law. ALEC has produced model legislation on issues such as reducing corporate regulation and taxation, tightening voter identification rules, minimizing environmental protections, and promoting gun rights. ALEC also serves as a networking tool among state legislators, allowing them to research the handling and "best practices" of policy in other states.

ALEC's membership list and the origin of its model bills were not disclosed; BusinessWeek wrote that "part of ALEC's mission is to present industry-backed legislation as grass-roots work."