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October 31, 2007
Taxes, Taxes, Taxes!
In a pair of posts Draginol (CEO of Stardock) Attacks the "liberal" view of taxation. In these posts, he reveals to things: 1) he has some factually incorrect ideas about taxation, and 2) he doesn't really understand liberals. Interestingly, these things are not related. Point 1 is irrelevant; I'll be focusing on point 2...
Liberals view taxes as.. paying for stuff. Society wants roads, schools, police, fire departments, healthcare, etc. Let's ignore the why. For whatever reason (Wikipedia doesn't have a page for "Collective action dilemma", but that's the reason. See this old post for more), society has decided that government is the best provider for whatever good is under discussion.
Now we need to talk about paying for it. This becomes a simple question: Who is least-hurt by having less money? That's why liberals like to tax the rich. They can afford it...
Post Script: to the best of my knowledge, conservatives want to cut taxes not so they can pay less taxes, but rather so they can "starve the beast"-- cut government services. They do seem convinced that the freer they are to starve, the freer they are as people. I disagree pretty vehemently.
Posted by Andrew at 12:13 PM | Comments (0)
October 30, 2007
Something I've often wondered about...
I often see women walking down the street carrying a Victoria's Secret bag. Since it can't possibly be the case that some woman coming from a residential neighborhood and going to a commercial one, well anyway. These bags are almost always being used for things like lunch, or other type of auxiliary baggage. I never see other types of bags used for this.
Why Victoria's Secret? Is it the status thing? If so, why not Nordstrom? Is it a way of declaring (subtly) something about the woman's sexuality? If so, why do I not see Fredrick's bags? Is it something about the bag itself? Does the bag have intrinsic qualities which make it superior for holding day to day items? This is my leading theory at the moment-- those bags really do seem sturdier than other bags.
Except... Now that I think about it, Apple Store bags are-- very different-- equally sturdy. Perhaps the relative dearth of Apple Store's accounts for this. Still, the "sturdy" theory seems most likely.
So: I wonder Does VS know the use to which their bags are being put? If so, do they encourage this bit of free advertising? Or does it cheapen the brand by making their wares seem more common? The questions never end...
Posted by Andrew at 07:07 AM | Comments (2)
October 27, 2007
Spoilers ahoy!
The closing credits for Portal. If you've played it, you get it...
Posted by Andrew at 07:48 PM | Comments (0)
October 25, 2007
It's only class warfare when the poor do it to the rich
So: congress creates C-Span so that US Citizens can keep an eye on our government. Cable companies are mandated to carry it.
Flash forward to 2007. Comcast is now only offering C-Span to people with a digital box. Those boxes cost extra money, and require an upgraded subscription. Money.
In order to keep an eye on your government, you need to be part of the "owns a recent TV and can afford the extra cash for a digital subscription. Barriers to entry...
Posted by Andrew at 11:45 AM | Comments (0)
October 24, 2007
An obvious frame job
The Associated Press: Dog Saves Family From Fire Blamed on Cat
Posted by Andrew at 09:57 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
October 22, 2007
How many cliches can be used in one post?
It must have been a dark and stormy night when suddenly a shot rang out and Mark Rose was hit with an idea: what if he thought what if I try to use every anti-Democratic smear in the Republican play book in as few words as possible?
I don't know if he succeeded, but I'd love to see someone do a better job trying! Anyway: you've got to love how Mark wants to protect "babies" (actually fetuses), right up until the moment they're born. Once they leave the womb, he's against any efforts to keep them alive by things like: S-Chip. Lovely...
Posted by Andrew at 12:53 PM | Comments (0)
October 21, 2007
Compare and Contrast
Hillary:
Fred:
Hillary Says: There's a problem and I want to solve it. Fred says: There's no problem and Hilliary is a Vampire. The weird thing is that both of these ads are emblematic of the thinking of their parties. The Democrats see an embattled middle (and lower!) class and wish to help. The argument is over who can do the best job helping. The Republicans seem to see an embattled presidency and are arguing about who can best validate Bush's legacy.
At this rate, the Ds are going to beat up the Rs, almost no matter who the respective standard bearers are. It's almost like a replay of 1992...
Posted by Andrew at 09:52 PM | Comments (1)
October 15, 2007
Mere Christianity
I grew up in the Catholic Church, and never rejected it.* The church I grew up in taught me that being fully human was to fully love. They taught me that there are many paths to this, and that going there through Jesus-- the Church, was the only certain way. This song is exactly the sort of Christianity I grew up on:
It angers me greatly that for many people this sort of Christianity alien, weird, wrong. Too many of my friends believe that Christianity is about hate. Based on their experiences, they are right. Christianity has been stolen; the Pharisees are having their revenge. I'm looking forward to the day that someone kicks them out of the temple...
(Youtube video Via
*I did come to realize that I did not believe that Jesus ever walked around. And since that's a necessary precondition for Christianity, I was out...
Posted by Andrew at 08:42 PM | Comments (0)
October 11, 2007
The headline says it all:
Boom Times for Dentists, but Not for Teeth
We Americans are paying more for dentistry and getting less. We're paying more for all sorts of medicine, and getting less for our money. What's wrong here? If the market is broken, of course, we can ask our government to fix it...
Posted by Andrew at 12:53 PM | Comments (0)
October 09, 2007
Why I'm not happy about Ron Paul
If you've been reading these 'nets for the past few months, you'll have notices a good many Ron Paul enthusiasts. Generally: He's the Republican who isn't batshit insane. It's true that, by Republican Party standards, he's not crazy. Still, is "Sanest guy in the asylum" the metric by which we want to chose a major-party nominee? On the other-wrist, if you wish to cling to the idea that we have 2 parties worth choosing between, Ron Paul seems to offer some hope...
Problem is: Guy's been endorsed by David Duke Also: not all that sane:
I don’t need to tell you that our American way of life is under attack. We see it all around us — every day — and it is up to us to save it.
The world’s elites are busy forming a North American Union. If they are successful, as they were in forming the European Union, the good ‘ol USA will only be a memory. We can’t let that happen.
The UN also wants to confiscate our firearms and impose a global tax. The UN elites want to control the world’s oceans with the Law of the Sea Treaty. And they want to use our military to police the world.
Posted by Andrew at 12:38 PM | Comments (0)
October 07, 2007
Let's play: What if?
Posted by Andrew at 11:28 AM | Comments (0)
October 03, 2007
Boot to the head
Posted by Andrew at 09:31 PM | Comments (1)