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  • adam 00:15 on 2011/07/14 Permalink  

    Government “waste”? 

    CT Lawmakers "goofing off"

    I received an email today from someone, which included a photo:

    As you can see, it’s government at work – someone is talking, and then there’s a bunch of people listening – including at least two people playing solitaire. Nothing really out of the ordinary, when you think about it: you’re stuck at a meeting, someone is going on and on about something or other, and you decide to zone out for a bit. No big deal, right? Wrong. Like many other Government activities, there was press there. All over the place. Some of them have cameras…. And some of them work for the AP. Oops!

    The email also included this text:

    Can you believe this??? This picture is worth a trillion $$

    House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, pictured standing, far right, speaks while colleagues Rep. Barbara Lambert, D-Milford and Rep. Jack F. Hennessy, D-Bridgeport, play solitaire Monday night as the House convened to vote on a new budget. (AP)

    The guy sitting in the row in front of these two…he’s on Facebook, and the guy behind Hennessy is checking out the baseball scores.

    These are the folks that couldn’t get the budget out by Oct. 1, and are about to control your health care, cap-and-trade, and the list goes on and on….
    Should we buy them larger screen computers – or – a ticket home, permanently?

    This is one of their 3-DAY WORK WEEKS that we all pay for (salary is about $179,000 per year).

    KEEP THIS GOING! DON’T LET IT STOP WITH YOU!

    The problem I have with all of this? The photo was taken in 2009.

    I have no problem with calling out waste or stupidity in government, but at least get your facts right – don’t claim that something’s happening NOW when it’s something that happened two years ago…. Ugh. It also doesn’t help with the current economic woes here in Connecticut……

     

  • adam 13:01 on 2011/04/17 Permalink  

    Is the tide turning? 

    It looks like at least one Democrat might have removed the gloves and is actually take the fight back to the Republicans:

    America’s finances were in great shape by the year 2000. We went from deficit to surplus. America was actually on track to becoming completely debt free, and we were prepared for the retirement of the Baby Boomers.

    But after Democrats and Republicans committed to fiscal discipline during the 1990s, we lost our way in the decade that followed. We increased spending dramatically for two wars and an expensive prescription drug program — but we didn’t pay for any of this new spending. Instead, we made the problem worse with trillions of dollars in unpaid-for tax cuts — tax cuts that went to every millionaire and billionaire in the country; tax cuts that will force us to borrow an average of $500 billion every year over the next decade.

    To give you an idea of how much damage this caused to our nation’s checkbook, consider this: In the last decade, if we had simply found a way to pay for the tax cuts and the prescription drug benefit, our deficit would currently be at low historical levels in the coming years.

    But that’s not what happened. And so, by the time I took office, we once again found ourselves deeply in debt and unprepared for a Baby Boom retirement that is now starting to take place. When I took office, our projected deficit, annually, was more than $1 trillion. On top of that, we faced a terrible financial crisis and a recession that, like most recessions, led us to temporarily borrow even more.
    – President Barack Obama (via Just the Simple Truth | Mother Jones.)

    On top of that….

    Rep. Crowley (D-NY) is…. well, watch the video for his speech.

    What I have to wonder is: is the nation finally figuring out that the Republican’s aren’t really there for them? Are the Tea Party members going to realize that the “unfair taxation” that they’ve been fighting was really the taxation of themselves? Is there finally going to be a backlash against the wealthy?

     

  • adam 14:48 on 2010/11/12 Permalink
    Tags: , , democrats, , graphic, , republican, , taxation, taxes   

    Comparing Democratic and Republican tax plans 

     

  • adam 09:31 on 2009/11/25 Permalink
    Tags: , afghanistan, , iran, , pelosi, , ,   

    Pelosi keeps door open on war tax????? 

    Pelosi keeps door open on war tax.
    What.
    The.
    Fuck.
    I’m sorry, but you’re considering a “graduated surtax” on the American people to pay for a war that many of the people in the country don’t want in the first place??
    How about we stop paying Halliburton and Black Water the outrageous amounts of money we’re giving them? How about we get some of the other members of our “Coalition of the Willing” to pony up some cash??

     

  • adam 15:44 on 2009/01/19 Permalink
    Tags: , , , ,   

    Binary message… 

    0100011101100101011011110111001001100111011001010010000001010111001011
    10001000000100001001110101011100110110100000100000011010010111001100100
    00001101111011011100010000001101000011010010111001100100000011101110110
    00010111100100100000011011110111010101110100001000010010000001010111011
    0000101101000011011110110111100100001
    (If you need to translate it, I suggest that you use the almighty Google)

     

  • adam 11:16 on 2008/10/16 Permalink
    Tags: , , , blink, , , , john, johnmccain, , morse code, morsecode, , , , pow   

    Morse code, anyone? 

    I don’t recall why or when, but I used eBay to sell off my Bakelite Morse code telegraph key (very much like this one). I honestly don’t even remember WHY I had it – I just did. It was cool, especially since it also had the Morse code “key” right on it – making it easy to learn.
    I regret never learning Morse code. Sure, I know SOS (… — …) but that’s it. It was like French in high school – seductive, alluring, but out of my reach for reasons I didn’t understand. I understand now, but thanks to the internet, I don’t need to learn it.
    .- … -.- / .- -. -.. / –. — — –. .-.. . / .– .. .-.. .-.. / .–. .-. — …- .. -.. . .-.-.-
    But the point of this post? John McCain. If you’ve watched him in the debates recently, you might have noticed the same thing I did: he blinks. A lot.
    If you think about John’s service to this country – something that might have come up at some point in this election season – you’ll find that he was a POW. And one of the things that POW’s were often made to do – by coercion or even by simply breaking them – was to record a propagandized “confession.” In some cases, such as Jeremiah Denton, they were able to use Morse code to send a message to people watching the video. John McCain made one such message, although it apparently didn’t include a “secret” message.
    I bring this up because of the blinking. Is John McCain sending us all a message? There’s hours of footage of him talking, both at debates and just doing stump speeches and campaign stops. Does anyone have the time to look at a video or two and see if there’s a pattern? If we can get a “transcript” of his blinks, perhaps we can figure out his message to his “friends”….
    Interestingly, when I was writing this, a Google search on the terms “morse code pow film” and the first result was “Film Shows McCain’s Release as POW.” There is also a forum post on Snopes that discusses McCain possibly using Morse code during his propaganda film – apparently he didn’t.
    Over on Democratic Underground they discuss his blinkiness – and someone mentions Morse code there. They seem to be joking about it, but I don’t see any evidence out there that anyone has done any actual checking on this.
    Leaving the politics out of this for the moment, I think it’s an interesting challenge: look at his blinks and see if he’s sending a message – consciously or sub-consciously. While we’re at it, we could take a look at Barack Obama’s blinks, just to make things far.
    Anyone up for the challange?

     

  • adam 09:58 on 2008/09/25 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , sarah palin, sarahpalin,   

    Palin treatment is not sexist: it's realist 

    Commentary: Sexist treatment of Palin must end
    Oh PLEASE. They’re not being sexist – they’re just afraid of what she’ll say when she opens her mouth. Why else have they been so controlling about her public appearances?
    I think that at this point in the campaign – especially with McCain now “suspending” his campaign to worry about the economy – we’re all past Caribou Barbie and pitbulls wearing lipstick. She gives bad interviews. Deal with it. Let’s move on to our failing economy, shall we?

     

  • adam 10:16 on 2008/09/16 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , , fey, , nbc, , , , snl, tina, tinafey, ,   

    Politics on TV, TV in Politics? 

    If you haven’t seen it yet, go over to NBC and watch the SNL skit with Tina Fey as Sarah Palin and Amy Poehler as Hilary Clinton. Go on, I’ll wait.
    You liked it, right? Funny stuff. I’ve said for a while – although apparently not here – that I think that Palin and Fey look alike. Especially when Jen and I watched “Baby Mama” this weekend. Very funny movie, by the way.
    In other TV news…. The BBC has an article about how the current campaigns between Obama and McCain seem to mirror those found in the sixth season of the West Wing, when Arnold Vinick (played by Alan Alda) ran against Matt Santos (played by Jimmy Smits). They eerily mirror the current candidates, and many of the issues brought up in the tv campaign are being raised today. And while Vinick did choose a very conservative running mate, he did NOT choose “Caribou Barbie”. His loss.
    I wonder if the McCain camp has watched the West Wing election episodes to see who won? And if they did, are they aware of the outcome?

     

  • adam 12:31 on 2008/09/10 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , , , ,   

    Lipstick on a pig 

    Barack Obama recently described McCain’s gum-flapping about how he’s different from King Bush II as “Putting lipstick on a pig” – it may look better, but deep down, it’s still a pig. See the Urban Dictionary definition if you’re not sure I’m right. Or any of the thousands of pages that come up when you search the phrase.
    The problem is, as CNN points out….

    Sen. Barack Obama’s reference to “lipstick on a pig” has Republicans demanding an apology and Democrats accusing Sen. John McCain of a “pathetic attempt” to play the gender card.
    McCain’s campaign said Obama’s remarks were offensive and a slap at Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin — despite the fact that the Arizona senator himself used the phrase last year to describe a policy proposal of Hillary Clinton’s.

    So if McCain says it, it’s ok, but if Obama says it, then he’s insulting Palin apparently – but mostly due to Palin’s recent remarks about Hockey moms and pit bulls.
    Whatever. The campaign should be about the issues, not the personalities. I look forward to the first – possibly only – Vice Presidential debate, if only to see just how much new knowledge the Republicans have managed to cram into Palin since they chose her….

     

  • adam 23:57 on 2008/09/09 Permalink
    Tags: , , , , ,   

    Republitards…. 

    2008_thursconvention.jpgLike many people, I have multiple email addresses. I’ve been having a small problem with one address – it’s apparently tied to some demographic profile of my wife and I, so I occasionally get crap sent to it. It’s one thing when it’s a local car dealership – at least it’s quasi-local, and makes some sense.
    But how is it that I am getting emails from the John McCain campaign, asking me for money? Technically, I’m an Independent voter – perhaps that’s why?
    I’ve commented before about the junkmail before, but this is the first time it’s invaded my Inbox. And I have to say that opening an email titled “57 Days Until Election Day” that allegedly comes from John McCain, and then finding his lying face in the message – that was a bit of a shock.
    Click here to donate to Barack Obama…..

     

  • adam 13:01 on 2006/11/20 Permalink
    Tags: absentee, ballot, broward, county, , inverted, jenny, philatelist, stamp   

    The most expensive absentee ballot. Ever. 

    BBC NEWS | Americas | Rare stamp ‘used on US post vote’
    A rare stamp worth as much as $200,000 may be on an envelope sealed in a ballot box after the US mid-term elections, poll officials say.
    Officials in Broward County, Florida, say they saw a famous “Inverted Jenny” stamp while reviewing postal ballots.
    About 700 of the stamps were mistakenly printed in 1918 with an upside down illustration. Just 100 went on sale.
    But it will be 22 months before laws will permit the box with the envelope to be reopened and the stamp checked.
    The original stamps bear a picture of a Curtiss JN-4 plane, known as a Jenny, which was used for training pilots in World War I and later became an airmail plane.
    I can only imagine that any and all philatelists (stamp collectors) in Florida are rushing to their collections to see if their stamp is missing. Well, if they had one in the first place:
    Four “Inverted Jenny” stamps sold for almost $3m last year

     

  • adam 11:14 on 2006/06/01 Permalink
    Tags: amendment, censorship, education, first, firstamendment, freespeech, fuck, legal, research, taboo   

    An interesting idea… 

    SSRN-Fuck by Christopher Fairman
    This Article is as simple and provocative as its title suggests: it explores the legal implications of the word fuck.
    I haven’t had time to read it yet, but it looks like it will be quite interesting.

     

  • adam 15:29 on 2006/05/16 Permalink
    Tags: , , , ,   

    Network Neutrality 

    Save the Internet: Click hereThe Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement Act (COPE) Act is supposed to be a good thing. Turns out that it’s been hacked quite a bit by various people (aka special interest groups) to allow them to disregard the network neutrality agreements. What is network neutrality? Check out the wikipedia link (new window) for more info.
    Basically, the way things are worded now, if the bill becomes a law, then your ISP will be able to “tax” websites for access to their customers. If, say, Google doesn’t pay the fee, then an ISP could slow customer access to the website, or block it entirely. They could even, theoretically, make it so that when you go to Google, you end up at their own search engine. And blogs that are critical of the ISP? Oh darn, you no longer have access to that site – it’s now on the black list.
    It would also allow companies to do whatever they wanted on their own networks – in the mid-90′s, Cox Cable blocked the common ports used for VPN access – “forcing the state of Washington, for example, to contract with telecommunications providers to be sure its employees had access to unimpeded broadband for telecommuting applications.” (Wikipedia).
    If you enjoy the internet the way it is now – where you can access a wide variety of information in a timely manner (based on the level of your internet access, of course), then you need to take action.
    You can:
    Contact your Congressperson (via the House website, or MoveOn.org)
    Sign the Save the Internet Petition
    Spread the word.

     

  • adam 14:01 on 2006/05/11 Permalink
    Tags: 1984, big, bigbrother, brother, , cia, , montoring, nsa, surveillance   

    The idiocy continues… 

    Daily Kos: The President Speaks, Americans Demand Answers
    It would seem that while Bush is talking about how the nations intelligence activities are being targeted at “al-Qaida and their affiliates”, the new nominee for CIA Director is saying that “we cemented a deal with another corporate giant to jointly develop a system to mine data that helps us learn about our targets” – aka everyone in the country.
    Add to that the fact that the NSA Knows Who You’ve Called and you have a nice comfy feeling in the gut of Joe American, who hasn’t done anything wrong but has Big Brother breathing down his neck….

     

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