tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-131761002023-11-16T05:40:06.402-08:00Between the BitsJohn Hummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10261544097319634632noreply@blogger.comBlogger589125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13176100.post-88317071122831767342020-04-22T07:37:00.001-07:002020-04-22T07:37:16.043-07:00Boosting Business in a time of Covid<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-21/trump-mega-donor-a-shipping-magnate-pushes-to-end-a-shutdown" target="_blank">Trump Mega-Donor, a Shipping Magnate, Pushes to End a Shutdown</a><br />
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Whenever I see this, I wonder: how much is enough? How much do you need to the point where if your employees (that she claims to care for), her customers (that she claims to serve), if they or their families die, you can say "I have enough money. I don't need any more. I can use what I have been blessed and wait so people don't put themselves in harms way to make me richer."<br />
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I know the answer: It is never enough. All the money in the world wouldn't be enough. All of the praise, the acclaim, the worship, the service, the utter submission of every human being to their every whim wouldn't be enough.<br />
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People like this are like emotional black holes, so no matter how much you feed into the gaping maw of their greed its never enough. Even in this time of trouble where all we have to do is let people who can stay home just be home, she's out there pushing for *other people* to risk their lives to make her richer.<br />
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Is she in her own stores working on the front lines? Of course not. That's for "lesser people." The Glenn Beck's who bravely offer that people should go back out to work even if we lose 1 to 3 percent of the population - while he stays in his basement bunker. The courageous Wisconsin official who told people to go to the street and vote while they were covered in head to toe personal protection equipment. The protestors brimming with empathy to allow hairdressers to dye their hair because their grey roots were showing - the freedom to allow people to risk their lives or the lives of their family because heaven forbid people should see the protestor's natural hair color!<br />
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For them, it's all about Me. Serve Me. Make Me richer. Get sick for My comfort.<br />
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And if you die, I'll call you a hero for nailing yourself to a cross of gold for My insatiable greed.John Hummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10261544097319634632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13176100.post-67949067057815945362012-02-10T18:27:00.000-08:002012-02-10T18:28:58.383-08:00How to Make A Drunken SantorumOk, kids. You might have heard about that guy <a href="http://spreadingsantorum.com/" target="_blank">Rick Santorum</a>. You've heard stuff like about how he hates on gay people, or thinks women can't do shit in the military, or just that he's a grade a douche bad.<br />
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And you're thinking - hey, how can I get something that tastes good but reminds me of this fine, fine man?<br />
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Well you're in luck, sucker. Cause here's this drink. It's called the Drunken Santorum. And it's pretty damn good, even if the man who inspired it an awful son of a bitch that nobody should ever associate with, and who really should just be spit upon and tossed out of polite society until he joins the 21st century.<br />
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Let's start this.<br />
<br />
Ingredients:<br />
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Cold brewed coffee<br />
coffee liquor<br />
cream/sugar to taste<br />
whipped cream<br />
dark chocolate<br />
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1. Coffee<br />
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Make yourself some cold brewed coffee. Why cold brewed? Because that shits good! 1 cup of ground coffee beans, 2 cups of water. Put that shit into a french press cause you're not a fucking heathen, you're a human being who likes taste.<br />
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Let it sit for at least 24 hours. Hey, this is fine shit people. You don't want something that tastes like shit like real Santorum. You want it to taste good.<br />
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2. Filter it.<br />
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Has it been 24 hours? OK, let's filter it. Press down on the handle to your french press. That's right - get that coffee juice out of those beans.<br />
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Now we're gonna use a filter. Mason jars are awesome for this. Oh - you're saying "But we put it through the french press why am I filter it?" Maybe you don't need to cause you like your coffee raw. Whatever, but we're getting out the little particulates. You want to taste gravel? Hell no! Let me guess, you also eat with your elbows on the table, too. Well not at my table or I'll smack them off! How do you like that?<br />
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3. Build the drink.</div>
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Get your coffee. 3/4 cup of coffee, 3/4 cup of some coffee liquor. Now, maybe you like more alcohol cause you're a raging drunk who can't go more than an hour without getting hammered. Why the hell not. Add in some vodka if you just want more booze - it won't fuck with the taste. Or if you want to feel the burn and feel like a motherfucker, add in some rum.</div>
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4. Taste it up.</div>
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How do you like your coffee? Are you civilized and add in some cream or soy milk or almond milk? Or do you think you're a total bad ass and just do it black?</div>
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I don't give a shit. It's your damn drink! Make it how you like! Me, I put in some soy milk. It's got texture. That's right, you little crying baby. I said texture. Like how it feels on your tongue like the skin of a fine woman. Yeaaaah. I thought you'd like that.</div>
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5. Froth and Fleck</div>
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At this point, it's nothing! You've made a cold coffee with alcohol, and that ain't shit! We're making this a Drunken Santorum, and that means we need froth.</div>
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Or just some whip cream. Pile it on. Yeah. Look how creamy that is. Oh yeah. Now get some chocolate. And none of that prissy white chocolate shit. That ain't chocolate - chocolate has cocoa and you know how much white chocolate has? NONE THAT'S WHY IT'S CALLED WHITE CHOCOLATE YOU TOOL.</div>
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Dark chocolate is best. Grate it, put it on the whipped cream. Yeah. That's now looking like a frothy mixture. </div>
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6. Drink that fucker down.</div>
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Now drink it. Don't be a chicken. You might get something that people see on your face. You know what you say? "Yeah, this is some tasty ass Drunken Santorum."</div>
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Oh, and stick your pinky out when you drink it. You're not some fucking heathen you know.</div>
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<span id="goog_771621238"></span><span id="goog_771621239"></span>John Hummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10261544097319634632noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13176100.post-32862356849188070982012-01-26T06:57:00.000-08:002012-01-26T06:57:41.656-08:00White Knight or Sacrificial Pawn<br />
I know there's been a lot of (deserved) angst regarding a potential agreement between the Obama administration, the Justice department, and the biggest financial firms.<br />
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The deal would go like this:<br />
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<blockquote>
Justice Department(JD): Hey, major banks?<br />
<br />
Major Banks(MB): (Looks up from eating a baby.) Yesssss?<br />
<br />
JD: Remember how you made billions of dollars and then crashed the economy, caused massive unemployment and drove people's pension and retirement funds into a downward spiral?<br />
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MB: I kinda remember that. Something before I started making money hand over fist, made record profits and gave out bonuses to the highest people while laying off more people while asking for more tax cuts because without more money I can't employ people?<br />
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JD: Yeah, it was when you got a massive bailout so you were able to survive.<br />
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MB: I was forced to take that I'd have been fine without it!<br />
<br />
JD: Whatever. Look, we did some checking, and looks like some of those billions of dollars you made came from fraud.<br />
<br />
MB: Fraud? What's wrong with that?<br />
<br />
JD: It's illegal.<br />
<br />
MB: Really? Greenspan said that the market would correct fraud, that the market was everything, and Ayn Rand was soooo sexy -<br />
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JD: Nope - fraud is still illegal. Telling people their investment was good while you knew it was bad is illegal. Faking signatures on mortgage documents to change the conditions of a loan - that's illegal. Submitting paperwork showing someone is a good mortgage risk when you know they're not - that's illegal.<br />
<br />
MB: But - I'm innnocent! It wasn't me - it was the one armed man!<br />
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JD: Yeah, well, I got word from my boss. Hold on.<br />
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MB: What are you doing - let me go - ow that hurts!<br />
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JD: I just slapped you on the wrist!<br />
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MB: But it stings so hard!<br />
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JD: Promise never to massively defraud people and institutions again?<br />
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MB: Oh I promise!<br />
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JD: Are you sure - because it seems like you guys are big on the repeat offenders list. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/08/business/in-sec-fraud-cases-banks-make-and-break-promises.html?pagewanted=all" target="_blank">You keep promising to change, get a fine, and then nothing happens</a>.<br />
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MB: Really really we promise this time! Just don't let <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/judge-rejects-sec-citigroup-settlement/2011/11/28/gIQA8KsH5N_story.html" target="_blank">mean judges actually call us out on never actually fulfilling our promise to do better</a>!</blockquote>
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You get the idea. And it looked like the Obama administration was going to create a deal that would basically <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rj-eskow/the-obama-administrations_b_1198298.html" target="_blank">give a slap on the wrist to the financial firms - or even let states investigate the crimes</a>.<br />
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This makes Obama's State of the Union address where he announced <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/business/obama-urges-tougher-laws-on-financial-fraud.html" target="_blank">a financial fraud investigations team so interesting</a>. And it's not just the announcement of this group - it's also who's heading it up.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; text-align: left;">Eric Schneiderman, Attorney General of New York State, has been very adamant about making the financial industry pay for their bad behavior. Only - <a href="http://www.truth-out.org/schneiderman-selling-out/1327519667" target="_blank">it looks like this investigative task group has no interest in really doing anything interesting</a>. Schneiderman might just wind up being a figurehead, lending his name to the project.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 23px; text-align: left;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif;"><span style="line-height: 23px;">So which is it? Will he be the white knight to lead the charge against <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-great-american-bubble-machine-20100405" target="_blank">the giant vampire squid</a> - or someone sacrificed to lend a vener of respectability to the cause?</span></span></span>John Hummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10261544097319634632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13176100.post-78912319033139071072012-01-20T06:26:00.000-08:002012-01-20T06:26:58.017-08:00The Scorched Earth Primaries and Republican TacticsWhen Obama became President of the United States, there was much talk about an era of "new bipartisanship." He came in and started offering the hand of friendship, nominating Republicans for top offices like ambassadors and important policy decisions. His health care plan was crafted to mostly a wish list of Republican ideas - mandated health insurance, for example.<br />
<br />
The Republican response was to basically say "If we don't get our way on *everything*, then you get *nothing*." Ideas they had championed for decades - Pay As You Go legislation to head off deficits, for example, ideas that Republicans proposed were suddenly voted against if Democrats were willing to go along with it. Chuck Grassley proposed mandated health insurance - then attacked it as unconstitutional and dangerous when Obama put it into the health care bill.<br />
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The plan seemed simple: All for me, and nothing for you. Not just nothing for you - the Republicans have spent nearly 4 years saying "Screw you" to everything and anything the Democrats propose, even if 24 hours before Republicans agreed with it. Every vote in the Senate is now cancelled unless Democrats can get a 60 vote majority. Every Obama nomination requires the same. Oh, did we pass a law saying there was consumer protections? Yeah, good luck getting anyone to fill the seat to head it up.<br />
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The idea is by denying Obama anything and everything, they can get what they want. And for the most part, it worked. When faced with blowing up the entire country or giving in to Republican demands, Democrats have decided not to let the entire system fall apart. So Republicans have learned the lesson: acting like terrorists holding a bomb to the United States will get you result.<br />
<br />
And now - that mentality has struck the Republican primaries.<br />
<br />
You have Mitt Romney, the would-be nominee. On paper, he doesn't look too bad. Republican who was in governor of a liberal state. Has enough money. No major skeletons in the closet. Clean cut. Looks nice.<br />
<br />
And yet - he can't close the deal. Maybe it's the "I was for abortion now I'm against it," "My health care plan for Massachusetts which the Obamacare plan is based on is a horrible thing," "Gay marriage is awesome until I'm running for the Republican presidential ticket and then it's awful" issues. Or it's the "I only pay 15% in taxes and I have $200,000,000 in the bank - yet I pay less money in taxes than a secretary because that's totally fair because mine is investments instead of actual work." Maybe it's the Mormon thing - evangelicals have their scrotums vanish up into their bodies at the idea of a Mormon president ordering the US military to send Mormon missionaries two by two unto every doorstop in America.<br />
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Whatever the reason, the scorched earth policy the Republicans took with Obama - is now being visited upon Mitt Romney. Newt Gingrich is totally unelectable, he's been making racist comments about how "black people should stop asking for food stamps and ask for jobs" (Why black people, specifically, Newt? I mean, "poor people" is at least a Republican talking point for the lazy, but why are "black people" the ones not working compared to the what - "hard working white man on medicare who's not on the government dole unlike those lazy black people"?). Same with <a href="http://www.spreadingsantorum.com/" target="_blank">Senator Rick Santorum</a>. You'd think that they'd fall in line, support their candidate's party-<br />
<br />
And yet they are doing everything they can to destroy Romney. Calling him a "moderate liberal." Rick Perry is dropping out and going to support Gingrich. The conservative christian base is nominating anyone but "that Mormon" because well - you know. Mormons aren't Christians (even though they worship Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior from sin forever and forever amen - but that's not Christian enough for those folks).<br />
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From what I'm seeing, the Republicans are willing to destroy even themselves if they don't get what they want. "We don't want Romney, and we have this bomb set to go off if he's nominated."<br />
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I don't know if Romney could beat Obama in the general election. But at this rate, it won't matter if the Republicans are willing to destroy themselves.John Hummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10261544097319634632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13176100.post-45779560422148217582012-01-05T10:19:00.000-08:002012-01-05T11:22:07.712-08:00Life - is like Minesweeper<br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.08676991751417518"><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We like to think that life is like chess. Everything is set up equally on either side, and it’s just our intelligence, our experience, our wits against the rest of the world. Against any and other comers, and we rise or fall based on how well we play.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’ve learned that life isn’t like that at all. Life is more like Minesweeper.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some of us were born under simpler, easier circumstances. Everything charted out for us, already set up with homes and school and contacts that make the decisions to easy. Oh, you have to guess a little - perhaps you’re born with a genetic deformity, but really - odds are, you’re going to come out on top.</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><b><img height="312px;" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/cP_FzoXSLv-64cYK19pdRs62AGHHEcEDW-gGBbsCTuJhf6JvWQ3YXuxWRxjfDu9cTb-yS49CbuB2kbg0KRfZgENdkr-ntAtyIF4mrThUulXl87S6bQg" width="199px;" /><img height="312px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/sEu4OVm1rxOE9HfNXdRP1o9Q-8RyIHQwQpaMbi6hGSRIJ3VOXWFFn6Te-GauKxPJq-HNHUGJm3hqfHYil31mf8a8A48hPT67p-FkL9Mk4jrRmEAU8kg" width="199px;" /></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But for so many of us, life is far more complex. So many choices. You have a strategy, you avoid the mines, use your wits. Eliminate what doesn’t work and find your path. Perhaps you’re smarter than other people and get further.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What you can never escape, though, is that sooner or later - you have to guess. There’s no way to logic your way out of it. You can apply statistics, reason, and all the rest to the problem. But at the end of the day, you’re going to look across your options - and you have to guess. There is simply no. Other.Way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><b><img height="428px;" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/1hhR6DH5xJAPZ1bshRZbRq-EeoLbIm3imh_mqutMn6GZ-3cdz4dl6q7iUwQR9-j4ACxAttU3nmkTvZlG10vn3T-GQ_He8siRE2fImzp_zyZVoMLfEe0" width="546px;" /></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And odds are - you’re going to guess wrong. You’re going to fail if you want to win the game - or else you have to settle with what you have, and just let it be. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Maybe you’ll even guess right this time - but what about next time? Or the next?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><b><img height="428px;" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/OyigFjToVbCTfYqSwKYUDm4ENVAiG8cUH0LUOpTfdsYqmmCbN3F8d1N2v6jBYkJfl7BZV_pPuvKKRNVVVMSzYhT9t7NqjtuubYqob21vsmaAzU3rzdY" width="546px;" /></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Odds are - you’re not going to be on top. There is no luck, there is no destiny - you play every trick and idea and though you have, but ultimately - it comes down to deciding if you’re going to settle - or going to challenge life one more time and hope it doesn’t blow up in your face.</span></div>John Hummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10261544097319634632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13176100.post-65396192442615228792011-12-30T14:28:00.000-08:002011-12-30T14:32:00.052-08:00The Peanut Butter Banana Sandwich Guide for People Who Aren't Whiny Babies<b><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">WARNING TAKE THIS SHIT SERIOUSLY!</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>OK, look, people. </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>This stuff tastes good. In fact, it tastes so good you don't dare eat it.
Eating this food is so good that it can cause men to spontaneously lactate and women to sprout gigantic wieners and impregnate themselves! Under no circumstances do not eat this unless you have approval from a doctor!</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still with me? Now pay attention so you don't get lost and accidentally blow your brains out with awesomeness!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Step 1: Get your shit together. You need a banana. Some peanut butter. Bread. Butter. No, I didn't say margarine - I said butter damn it we want this stuff to taste good.</span><br />
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Now peel that banana. Don't be a chicken about this. Yes I know it's all phallic shaped and you want to put it in your mouth, pervert. Don't. Save it for the sandwich.<br />
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Yeah isn't that sexy? Now slice that stuff lengthwise. Yeaaah doesn't that look pretty. Appreciate the banana - it is after all the atheist's nightmare. Yes, there's actually motherfuckers dumb enough to think that.<br />
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Now slice those suckers up. Lengthwise you tool! Oh, are you gonna cry now? Go ahead. You're not worthy of this sandwich unless those are tears of blood from how good this is gonna taste!<br />
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Now, smear that bread with peanut butter. Don't be Scrooge with this stuff - Jimmy Carter himself might have planted the peanut trees, and you're gonna damn well eat them, enjoy them, and get that protein rush from them RRAAARRRHHH YEEEAAAAHHHHH.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ465egxrnwXBxDGDu73JlXN_8i6QmoxtRI3zafd0x9BmP_-3ZOw41m92cJA8MVtIMhdxVeanY9fnOEUO4KXgXu2yrrrDGkCdYHz3_MKtF46AlVIQ8pI17HgNSLp0FzBVTgOxcgw/s1600/IMG_0094.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ465egxrnwXBxDGDu73JlXN_8i6QmoxtRI3zafd0x9BmP_-3ZOw41m92cJA8MVtIMhdxVeanY9fnOEUO4KXgXu2yrrrDGkCdYHz3_MKtF46AlVIQ8pI17HgNSLp0FzBVTgOxcgw/s320/IMG_0094.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
Lay those bananas down. Get them really close to each other. Look how they're spooning each other. Those bananas love each other the way your girlfriend loves you. Or your boyfriend. Or whatever the hell you date. Better not be a turtle though cause those fuckers bite.<br />
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Where was I? Yeah. Bananas. Put them on, then cut off the edges. Those you can shove in your mouth cause like the buffalo, we don't waste any part of the banana. Except the peel.<br />
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See this? It's called a skillet. Love your skillet it's your best friend now and you will die for it. Put it on the range and heat that sucker up. Not too hot, damn it, don't be a moron.<br />
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Now put butter on the top side of your sandwich. Yeaaahhhhh make that sucker nice and lubricated. I bet you're getting excited now? Well keep it in your pants.<br />
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Put the sandwich onto the skillet. Smell that? It's melting butter. It smells like flavor, sucker. Cook that shit up. Listen to the sound it makes. If your nipples aren't hard now nothing's going to do it.<br />
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Check the bottom - it better be a nice golden brown. I swear to Yahweh you make this sandwich black you shouldn't let yourself live.<br />
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Yeah look at that. The only thing prettier that brown is a Hawaiian girl in a string bikini. Are you paying attention to your sandwich or are you thinking about the girl? Turn the sandwich over you fool and cook the other side too!<br />
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Yeaaaahhhh now get some blueberries because they'll make you grow hair on your crotch. Look at those together. Does that look right to you? Fuck no do it right!<br />
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Cut that sucker into triangles. No, not rectangles cause rectangles are for chumps! Triangles damn you! Split it open. Oh look at that peanut butter all warm and dripping. Touch it. You know you want to.<br />
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Perv.<br />
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Put the blueberries in the middle. Like that sandwich is eating those little tasty balls of antioxidants. That's right - your sandwich is eating the blueberries, and you're gonna eat the sandwich. It's a circle of life thing AND YOU ARE THE TOP PREDATOR JACKASS!<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now eat that shit. I said eat it. Yeaaaahhhh isn't that good. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You're welcome.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>John Hummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10261544097319634632noreply@blogger.com0Land O' Lakes, FL, USA28.2188992 -82.457593828.1629337 -82.5365578 28.2748647 -82.3786298tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13176100.post-2813091741445524462011-11-30T11:44:00.001-08:002011-11-30T12:03:31.753-08:00I got a call from the Sun Trust social media rep<span class="Apple-style-span" font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I've been thinking about this, and decided to talk about it.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Some of you saw and may have commented on my Sun Trust post the other day, <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/102366991977851749675/posts/f8m8Dq4CJVN" target="_blank">how I was annoyed that they had charged me a $17 "monthly checking service fee"</a> (evidently I'm part of the checking account level where you need $5k in assets plus direct deposits to avoid the fee. There's a lower tier where the fee is $7 unless you have direct deposit, which I thought I was part of).</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Now, my solution to the problem is going to be very simple. I've shifted my direct deposits to a different bank, and once things have cleared at Sun Trust, I will simply close the account.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Yesterday, I got a call from the Sun Trust social media representative. I guess my Google Talk comment came up on their radar and they wanted to know how they could help. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Honestly, I kind of blew them off - I was in the middle of working, and really didn't want to have a chat then. And while they left their number, I really don't feel like calling back, either.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Because what would be the point? Will they sit back and say "You know, charging $17 a month for a checking account is rather silly? I mean, sure, if people are writing a ton of checks or something maybe I can see it perhaps possibly - but just to do a blanket 'This kind of checking account costs $17 a month' is silly. Let's stop doing it!"</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">No. They won't.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Used to be the whole point of a bank account went like this: I give the bank permission to hold my money. Some of it would go into a savings account to earn interest, some might go into a checking account to keep it safe but grant me the ability to pay people. There was a relationship there: the bank would use my money so they could make reasonable loans to people, charge them interest. Then, in return, they would hold onto my money, pay me interest on my savings, maybe no interest or minor fees when I ordered new checks on my checking account, and everyone was happy. A banker could make about 1.2 times the national average in income, money was protected, and everyone was happy.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">But - that's not the case. Now, banks just can't "make enough money to pay their employees and have profit for their shareholders." Now it's "We must make a ton of money for the shareholders, via any way we can. Offer crappy loans to home owners so we can sell it up to an ignorant Wall Street and let other people hold the bag? Sure. Charge fees that have no bearing upon the actual cost of the checking account? Go for it. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">"Anything we can do to maximize our profit for our shareholders is a Good Thing, and if we don't do that, then the shareholders will go elsewhere."</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Basically, too many banks have decided that their customer is the shareholder, not the people who put their trust and money into the bank. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I apologize if I seemed rude, Sun Trust social media rep. I didn't mean to be, but honestly I had a hammer in one hand and a screwdriver in the other and didn't feel like chatting. And, honestly, I don't feel it would have done any good. I didn't want to hear your explanations, because I don't care to hear them.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">I have a checking account at a credit union, and somehow, they can figure out a way to pay me more in interest/dividends than I've gotten from a "big bank" in ages. They don't feel the need to charge me fees just for my checking account in a moderate, normal way. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">So if and when banks like Sun Trust, Bank of America, and the like decide to become competitive again, and perhaps decide that the banks customers are the ones giving them their money to hold, and not shareholders who invested in them - then I'll come back.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Until then, there's really nothing to talk about.</span>John Hummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10261544097319634632noreply@blogger.com0Gibsonton, FL 33534, USA27.8254305 -82.372310527.76926 -82.4512745 27.881601 -82.2933465tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13176100.post-17685747262957282132011-10-16T05:03:00.000-07:002011-10-16T05:15:31.202-07:00Bank Transfer Day Danger: LeverageI'm thinking this morning about leverage. This is a financial thing, where you take the money you have, and use it as a base for loans.
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For example, if you have $10 in cash, according to leverage rules you can borrow up to $100 out there. There are other rules involves - if it's a unsecured loan, the leverage ratio you're allowed to go with is something like 1:10 (with $10 you can borrow out $100), while for mortgages you can borrow out 1:20 (with $10 you can borrow out $2000).
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The idea is that each loan has different risks - home ownership -is- was considered safe, so you could offer more loans based on it. Then again, that was when there was no such thing as "subprime", and even FHA loans (which are insured) were rarer. But "in the day" a mortgage required something like 20% down (so the owners had more cash riding on it, and it was easier to get their equity back).
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Anyway. The issue here is that banks have kind of - well, screwed with the system. First by offering more subprime loans, which their leverage is closer to the 1:10 ratio. But that's where out friend bundling comes in, where the investment firms put together a bunch of mortgages and sold "shares" of those mortgages on the stock market. If you bundled enough "good" mortgages with "subprime" mortgages, the entire bundle could be considered "good" so the banks could still leverage the 1:20 ratio.
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Which means they could be riskier with their money, which means when those subprimes crashed so went all of the money the banks had used to make those loans, hence why the financial system blew up.
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There's a lot more to it than that, but there's the issue in a nutshell.
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So why am I thinking about this? Because there's a growing movement of people pegging November 5th as "switch to a credit union" day. The idea here is that:
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1. The big banks blew up the economy, so we want to take away their source of power: money.
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2. Credit unions are membership owned, not stock market owned, so there's less incentive to take those crazy risks for profit.
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3. Regional banks can be bought up by the bigger banks, whereas to buy up a credit union a big bank (like Bank of America) would have to totally redo the credit union's charter, and get the permission of most of the "stockholders" (aka - the credit union members) before they can do so.
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Sounds like a great idea. Only - I'm worried.
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I'm worried because I wonder just what the "big banks" will do as more and more of their cash deposits vanish. What happens to all of those loans that were made? They'll have to sell them off.
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And the problem is there's still a lot of stuff that's toxic, especially all of these home loans that are being foreclosed upon. Now, in an ideal world, the big banks would go out of business, the deposits would be protected by the FDIC and transferred to another bank, the stockholders would lose out and next time form companies that don't take such risks.
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I'll wait for the laughter to die down.
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The downside of this is another wave of major financial collapse. The stock market alone would take a pounding, which means those pensions/retirement accounts would be even further reduced - and things are bad enough already. Not to say all of the layoffs as the big banks died (and my money says while they went on the CEO's and major executives would still get their nice golden parachutes).
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But the other alternative is just as terrible: more bank bailouts. Before, the toxic assets were bought up by the Fed at nearly "paper value" - in other words, if the bank made a bad mortgage for $1,000,000 on a house that is now worth only $200,000, the bank got nearly $1,000,000 from the Fed as part of its toxic asset buy up (this was part fo the "save the financial system from itself" move - and wasn't accompanied by major hard new rules enforcing behavior. Nope - if anything, the financial system has spent millions lobbying congress not to touch them).
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So if people take their money out of the banks en masse and put it elsewhere, my greatest fear is the US government will say "oh noes - Bank of America is going to die! Here, we'll buy your stuff at paper value. Granted, you leveraged $1 to become $20 (or more), so really you're making a massive profit, so it's canceling out all of the people who took money out of you, and now you're just as strong as before - but we can't let you special special too big to fail banks die!"
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If it sounds like I'm saying "nothing might change if people take their money out", I kind of am. I hope not. What would be best is if the US government, instead of rescuing the big financial firms this time, broke them up into smaller parts, enforced hard regulations and took the financial system back about 30 years so they behave better, like they did between 1940 to about 1980 or so.
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Yeah. I'm not confident that's going to happen.John Hummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10261544097319634632noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13176100.post-31188330189463120202011-10-09T08:53:00.000-07:002011-10-09T08:56:21.081-07:00Don't blame the poor, poor bankers!Every so often, I see or hear someone make a comment like this:<br /><br /><blockquote>You know, the government required that banks make loans to poor people, and that's what lead to the real estate meltdown.</blockquote><br /><br />Usually when I hear that, I can instantly guess the person is either a libertarian or terribly uneducated.<br /><br />The government yes, did require banks offer more loans to lower income houses - but the potential home owners had to fall under the FHA guidelines, which meant that:<br /><br />* They had to have proof of income (tax returns, pay stubs, etc).<br />* They had to buy home owners insurance.<br />* The loan itself had to have mortgage insurance - the idea here is that if the borrower couldn't pay back, then the bank got at least most if not all of their money back.<br /><br />Pre-2008 or so, FHA loans had about a 5% failure rate - so the risk/reward for banks was pretty even, and the mandatory purchase of insurance meant that they were still making money overall.<br /><br />However, the real estate meltdown was caused by subprime mortgages. Mortgages that were paid for by creating a second mortgage to make the down payment on the first. Mortgages with variable rates that would suddenly jump. No income proof required mortgages. No insurance required loans.<br />In other words, not the style of FHA loans that the government requested the banks make to a small number of low income people.<br />Basically, saying "Well, the government is to blame not the poor poor banks" is nonsense. If the banks had stuck with the FHA style requirement loans that were asked for on a small group of lower class people, nothing would have happened. If those 5% had failed, they would have been insured.<br /><br />But the banks went insane. They were making toxic, quick turn around, get those homes into mortgages and then sell them up into CDOs to sell on the market fast fast fast ignore the risk someone else will pick up the tab! Now it went from a failure rate (with insurance to protect on it) of 5% under FHA guidelines, to a failure rate of 13, sometimes up to 25% - with no insurance to pick it up. And once those groups started to fall, the ripple effect took out everything else along the way. After all, the banks weren't going to worry about the cost of the subprimes - they were selling them off onto wall street. Wall street didn't bother to check the validity of their CDO investments - that was up to the individuals. The individuals trusted the rating agencies that had been paid to give good ratings. Everyone else was going to pick up the tab for their bad investments.<br /><br />And that someone turned out to be the American taxpayers when the financial systems made loans that were not required by the government, were not properly vetted, were not properly insured, and now we know also contained fraud (such as how much people were actually making) or without proper title backing.<br /><br />Blaming the government in this case is like your doctor telling you to take a couple of aspirin, and then you blame him when you turn into a crack addict selling your body to HIV infected gang rapists. It's not accurate as to the scale, as to the process, or as to the unwarranted thoughtless greed that caused the meltdown.John Hummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10261544097319634632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13176100.post-2604126801458985672011-09-14T04:31:00.000-07:002011-09-14T08:00:16.063-07:00Republicans: Don't Elect Science DeniersToday, I saw a great comment: There are people who stand on the shoulders of giants, and show their appreciation by peeing on them.<br /><br />At a recent Republican debate, Rick Perry was asked about climate change, where 97% of all climate scientists agree that yes, humans digging up ancient stores of carbon dioxide from coal and oil, then burning them to fill the atmosphere with more carbon dioxide faster than the planet can adapt to is causing the world to heat up and weather patterns to change.<br /><br />Perry's response: <br /><br /><blockquote>"The science is not settled on this. The idea that we would put Americans’ economy at jeopardy based on scientific theory that’s not settled yet to me is just nonsense,” Perry said. “Just because you have a group of scientists who stood up and said here is the fact. Galileo got outvoted for a spell, (<a href="http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2011/09/rick-perry-galileo-and-global-warming/">from ABC</a>)</blockquote><br /><br />Think about that statement. Why did Galileo did outvoted? Because the political and religious force at the time, mainly the Catholic church, held a "trial" where they said "You're wrong, no matter what you can provide evidence for," then he was taken down into the basements of the church and shown the torture implements and, at the age of 70, was given a choice:<br /><br />Recent what you've been saying about the Earth not being the center of the solar system, or else we'll use these on you.<br /><br />What a wonderful analogy from Rick Perry. "Remember that other smarty pants scientists who said somethin' different than what religion and the politicians of the time said? Yeah, he took it back when the real people told him to shut up." <br /><br />Then there's Michelle Bachman, who has started telling people that the HPV vaccine causes mental retardation. How did she get to this discovery?<br /><br /><blockquote>“There’s a woman who came up crying to me tonight after the debate. She said her daughter was given that vaccine,” Bachmann said on Fox News. “She told me her daughter suffered mental retardation as a result. There are very dangerous consequences.” (From <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/michele-bachmann-continues-perry-attack-claims-hpv-vaccine-might-cause-mental-retardation/2011/09/13/gIQAbJBcPK_blog.html">The Washington Post</a>)</blockquote><br /><br />Seriously. Some lady came up and said "My daughter got the shot and now she's a moron!" She doesn't remember the lady's name, didn't consult an actual doctor to see if this was possible, doesn't know if the lady is a troll - she just looked at the tears and went "OMG evidence who needs science!"<br /><br />I really don't understand the Republican drive against science. It's what made America strong. These are the people who would have stood outside Ben Franklin's house and shouted about how the mandate to build lightning rods on houses and churches was a government conspiracy, how it was subverting the will of God from punishing people, that it was "big science" seeking to make a bunch of money by putting lightning rods everywhere when just because some guy flew a kite that didn't mean nothing everybody knows lightning is when Yahweh lights a fart.<br /><br />How can anyone vote for these people? You know, at this point, Mitt Romney may be a layoff king asshole, but at least he's not crazy.John Hummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10261544097319634632noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13176100.post-70995624548446499672011-09-10T05:25:00.000-07:002011-09-10T05:46:52.005-07:00Obama Puts Republicans In a CornerYou may have caught President Obama's speech on his job bill on Thursday. If you haven't, <a href="http://www.c-span.org/Events/Washington-Focuses-on-Jobs/10737423975-1/">you can check it out here</a>.<br /><br />Now, here's a rundown of the list of what he's requesting from Congress:<br /><br />1. A <span style="font-weight:bold;">tax break</span> for small business employers who hire people or give them a raise.<br /><br />2. A <span style="font-weight:bold;">tax break</span> who hire people who have been out of work for 6 months or more.<br /><br />3. A <span style="font-weight:bold;">tax cut</span> to middle class families.<br /><br />4. Some job program items championed by Republicans in Georgia who offer temporary jobs to the unemployed (so they're not just collecting an unemployment paycheck).<br /><br />5. Cut tax loopholes for corporations and make changes to Medicare/Medicaid so the entire bill is budget neutral.<br /><br />If you notice right there, 4.5 of the 5 items are <span style="font-style:italic;">things Republicans say they want</span>. You hear from people like John Boehner all the time about how "taxes are killing the small business" and so on.<br /><br />OK - so here's an offer for a tax break for them. And a tax break for the middle class. And those changes to benefit systems like Medicare and Medicaid you always say you want - here you go! Fear the budget after you spent 8 years racking it up - well, this is budget neutral.<br /><br />All you have to do is pass a bill that's full of the things Republicans say they want.<br /><br />And therein lies the trap. These are things that will help the economy. Probably not as good as a real public works program, where all of the roads would be rebuilt and fixed, bridges repaired, schools completely fixed up the way they should be, perhaps hiring writers to write the next generation textbooks and so on and so forth - but these things are a good foundation for jobs. And they're all things Republicans say they want.<br /><br />But if they pass it, it will actually help the economy. But if they don't, they'll be proved as people who are putting party before country. So which is it, Republicans - do you only love tax cuts that are budget neutral if they benefit the top 1% of the country, instead of those small jobs and middle class people you claim to represent?<br /><br />Or do you lust after being the opposition to everything Democrats propose more?John Hummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10261544097319634632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13176100.post-17371752334371385812011-08-29T06:15:00.000-07:002011-08-29T06:17:41.036-07:00Comparative Gaming 101 Episode 002This is something I've been tweaking in my spare time. Let me know what you think.
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<br /><iframe src="http://blip.tv/play/AYLOunsA.html" width="640" height="390" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://a.blip.tv/api.swf#AYLOunsA" style="display:none"></embed>John Hummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10261544097319634632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13176100.post-37133470719894696302011-08-25T07:47:00.001-07:002011-08-25T07:47:27.805-07:00Thinking about ControlTaking a break from sending out resumes and the like, because I have a pointless thought.
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<br />I was listening to a philosophy discussion on the notion of crime and punishment. If you take the approach that people are the culmination of their genetics and their environment, then you start to move away from punishing criminals for the purpose of punishing them, and into trying to correct their behavior. Basically, you take their nature and nurture into account, and retrain their brain to give the correct response (as society defines it) to get the behavior you want.
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<br />This might mean that you put people in solitary confinement - but only to ultimately change their behavior. If this does *not* create the behavior you want, then you have to consider other things.
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<br />If we assume that all actions are coming from the brain, ultimately we're talking about changing people's brain structures.
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<br />In another story I was listening to, it was with an interview of a journalist who had written a book about sociopaths. About how basically - there's no known cure or treatment for people who have this condition. Their brains are damaged, likely from birth, perhaps by something traumatic, but the empathy centers of their brain that let them put themselves into another person's position is broken.
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<br />Here's my question: what if we could fix that by implanting things in people's brains. Suppose someone designs an "empathy chip" that simulates the empathy parts of the brain of a normal person, and puts it into a sociopath. And then they can react like a normal person does. Hurting people doesn't give them a reward, because it emotionally harms them.
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<br />Or pedophiles, who we're told "can't be cured" because they have some sort of damage to their brains whether through birth or environment. If we could give them a chip that would turn off their attraction to children - what then?
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<br />How far would we go with this? How far would society go for a process that - assuming that there's a 90% success rate - turns the worst criminals into people who could have regular check ups to make sure the chip is still working, and they can be productive people.
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<br />What would the prison industry do? Fight it because they'd lose money? Would the public embrace it - or is our thirst for vengeance over correction so strong we'd say "We don't care - put the chip in them and punish them anyway?" Take the case of the "anti-pedophile chip" - what if a state decides that "homosexuality is the same thing" so they have another chip whipped up that removes someone's attraction to the same sex - would we be "ok" with that?
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<br />Ok. Enough random thoughts. Debate this while I turn my resume into a PDF and see if there's other places I should send it out to. Dance, my puppets! Dance!John Hummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10261544097319634632noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13176100.post-20837071325792540992011-08-06T08:13:00.000-07:002011-08-06T08:14:31.224-07:00Balanced Budget BreakdownDuring the recent debt ceiling debate, which helped lead to <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/06/us-usa-debt-downgrade-idUSTRE7746VF20110806">S&P downgrading the US credit because the Republicans have publicly stated that taking the US economy hostage and threatening to blow it up to get their way is a really bad thing</a>, one of the ideas proposed by the Republicans is a concept called the Balanced Budget Amendment.<br /><br />To most people, this sounds like a reasonable thing. After all, if *I* have to balance my budget, why doesn't the government? Make it so the government can't spend more money than they take in! Pass a constitutional amendment that will make them do so!<br /><br />Only the more I looked into this issue, the more I've come to decide that this is the worst idea we could possibly go with. You think the <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44000197/ns/business-stocks_and_economy/t/stock-markets-have-terrible-day-dow-drops-points/">500 point slide on August 04 was bad</a>? <br /><br />Now imagine how much worse it is under a balanced budget amendment. And it would be. Here's a few of my (admittedly inexpert) reasons.<br /><br />First, the government isn't a business. And even if it is - it has to operate like one. Which means having a forced "balanced budget" is still a bad idea overall.<br /><br />1. Expectations and Realizations<br /><br />Every year, the US government tries to figure out how much money is going to come in, and then figure out how much money they should spend on things. This is little different than a business - they're looking at the balance sheets, and trying to look ahead for next year on how much they should spend.<br /><br />But suppose that things go bad that year. Perhaps there's a bad economy so you don't bring in as much as you expected. In the real world, you look at your options - do you raise costs to meet expenses? Fire employees? Or perhaps you take out a loan knowing "OK, if I take out a loan now, continue to keep my employees and finish my upgrades, I can pay this off next year when things get good."<br /><br />It's an option to go into debt. For many companies, it's a valid option to do so that when things go better, you'll be stronger than your competitors and kick their asses next economic cycle. Or you'll hold onto that one really great salesperson or manager or employee. Either way, the best option isn't to limit yourself to only two options: raise prices or cut spending. You want the third option - get a credit extension - to keep you through the bad times.<br /><br />Now imagine how chaotic that would be on the United States level. Year 1 under the Balanced Budget Amendment world you have a balanced budget. Year 2 - oh, that was a great economy we have a lot of money spend more! Year 3 - whoops, revenue projects were too high cut spending or jack up taxes!<br /><br />You'd have such a roller coaster effect that the "business stability" that Republicans like to blame for when businesses don't spend money because "they don't know what the government is going to do" becomes a year to year prediction as taxes and spending go up and down *every year* in order to figure out where the budget should be.<br /><br />2. War and Disaster<br /><br />In a real world business scenario, you make the best plans you can, then through careful risk analysis, you try to either have enough cash on hand to get you through a bad time (like, your servers crash and you need to replace them), or insurance so you can rebuild (like fire insurance).<br /><br />Ultimately, though, some things you just can't plan for. And then, as a business, you have to make a decision: you either say "The losses are not worth the profits," and walk away, or decide you're going to whether through the bad time and make it through any way you can.<br /><br />If you're the United States Government, though, you can't just "walk away." China finally goes crazy and invades Florida? The United States can't just say "Well, we *would* ramp up money to go pay for the war - but we're operating under a balanced budget amendment now. So I guess we have to jack up taxes. Or cut out payments to Social Security or something."<br /><br />Or perhaps a hurricane that destroys a major industrial town in Texas, or a tidal wave takes out Seattle - how do you invoke the power of the US government if you're not allowed to take out a loan to cover these emergency moments of war or disaster?<br /><br />Now, I know some people will be saying "John, that's an easy solution - put in the War and Disaster clause!" Yes. Because the United States isn't involved in a pair of wars now. Or can't declare a disaster at the drop of a hat. Having that clause would let it be exploited every chance that politicians could take.<br /><br />3. Debt is a powerful tool for a bad economy<br /><br />This gets to the heart of the matter of the philosophy behind the Balanced Budget Amendment: the Republican idea that the government is useless to the economy, and if anything, is a necessary evil so people don't get their hands on drugs or birth control.<br /><br />But history has shown differently. After the crash of 1929, Herbert Hoover tried the current Tea Party based Republican thinking: that the US government debt was the problem (not, say, all of the richest 1% of the population engaging in riskier and risker financial shenanigans while the rest of the country had to borrow more and more to keep up, so when the credit bubble finally popped there was no one holding the bag). So based on Hoover's ideals, you cut government spending, balance the budget, and reduce taxes on the richest and things will get better.<br /><br />As we saw, it did jack shit. It wasn't until Roosevelt was convinced that the problem wasn't cutting government spending, but increasing employment by the government spending on investments to the country (roads, schools, etc) that the economy started to turn around. The economy really got going during the biggest government spending in World War II, which employed millions of men and women all across the line.<br /><br />After WWII, the country continued with some of the ideas - high taxes on the wealth (which goes with a previous discussion about why that's a good thing to prevent concentration of revenue into an extreme minority), regulation of the financial industry and methods of keeping them from growing too large (like preventing commercial banks and investment banks from mixing together, keeping banks from having too many branches per geographic area).<br /><br />And one more thing - in good times, you increase taxes, increase the interest rate to encourage people to save and pay off the debt. In bad times, you drop taxes and interest rates to encourage people to borrow and spend, and increase spending in order to make up for the drop in economy. Now, if you're 1950 to nearly 1980, if you have good enough economic policies you don't have big economic disasters, like occurred with the Savings and Loans scandals of the late 80's, then the Internet Bubble of the 1990's, then the major financial collapse of 2008 which has nearly exactly the same symptoms of the 1929 Great Depression crash.<br /><br />You remove the ability of the government to do those things because of the Balanced Budget Amendment - and you've just removed an entire slew of tools the government can use to help fix an ailing economy. Yes, I know - Republicans will say that there's nothing the government can do anyway except "get out of the way." And they can say that as long as they ignore the last 100 years of history, ignore how their own policies enacted since 1980 have lead to lower and lower income for the middle class, and increased recessions.<br /><br />The Balanced Budget Amendment is one of those "it seems like common sense" ideas. Until you think about it. And then discover it makes no sense *at all*.John Hummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10261544097319634632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13176100.post-90829486764684424482011-05-20T04:50:00.000-07:002011-05-20T04:53:11.000-07:00Happy Draw Mohammed Day!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyewUg-qmUCoj6wZcF1iesBQFuKiuHlQoMtPAmFDB7shV2WQ2nZXPG7SmWUQOnSGyZiSwvySKnMLmUq_9ZII3jn5e7BkfCzlCRhv5KZ-dhaO3Q8JAD_Ur1Z2S300GhWPTKPPr0Rw/s1600/mohammed_on_a_bike.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 233px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyewUg-qmUCoj6wZcF1iesBQFuKiuHlQoMtPAmFDB7shV2WQ2nZXPG7SmWUQOnSGyZiSwvySKnMLmUq_9ZII3jn5e7BkfCzlCRhv5KZ-dhaO3Q8JAD_Ur1Z2S300GhWPTKPPr0Rw/s320/mohammed_on_a_bike.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5608764987361410722" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvoXt8elRZADUkBgz2Hj40mNCy0oc555l0iW8Z11XeUJFHlWRrghbDXrsWOgAuhTChI0NHypW4FZZSdS3nGMNfsy_O_U4Nldah70HMtBTVRL-rJ9KWiAJwd_0yBF45eLxwRqr2NQ/s1600/mohammed.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 233px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvoXt8elRZADUkBgz2Hj40mNCy0oc555l0iW8Z11XeUJFHlWRrghbDXrsWOgAuhTChI0NHypW4FZZSdS3nGMNfsy_O_U4Nldah70HMtBTVRL-rJ9KWiAJwd_0yBF45eLxwRqr2NQ/s320/mohammed.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5608764925144099362" /></a><br />Today I'm drawing two pictures of Mohammad, the legendary prophet who gave rise to Islam (just to make sure we have the right guy).<br /><br />One of him just standing, the other he's on a bike. He's so happy he's getting drawn!John Hummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10261544097319634632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13176100.post-18904867242818671062011-02-16T11:35:00.001-08:002011-02-16T11:37:29.096-08:00In the Face of the Mormon Church Silence Brigade<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ygibBz-AsRQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><br />First, read the story <a href="http://www.dovesandserpents.org/wp/2011/02/first-comes-love-then-comes-marriage/">about this woman whom the Mormon church threatened into silence</a>.<br /><br />When I was a teenager, growing up as a Mormon, I remember a story being told of a group of women who met with the leadership of the Mormon church. At the time, the Mormon church was against the Equal Rights Amendment (and still is), and these women were in favor.<br /><br />Both sides laid out their arguments, and the Mormon church leaders put out the "Well, this is the position of the church, and we expect you to follow the direction of the prophet." <br /><br />As the ladies left, one stayed and said "But - my conscience completely goes against what you've just said."<br /><br />This leader then called back in the group, and gave them these instructions: "Above all else, we expect you to vote and act via your conscience above what anyone, even the Mormon church leaders say."<br /><br />I realize this story is apocryphal, but it's a story as a young Mormon I grew up with, and it measured what I felt made "my faith" true compared to the others: the ability to let people vote their conscience.<br /><br />Even when I admitted to myself that I was an atheist, that I did not believe in anything supernatural, I stayed within the church because it seemed benign. It wasn't forcing people to do what they said.<br /><br />And then came along the gay marriage issue, the DNA for native Americans issue (long story there I won't relate right here), and I left the church. The faith that used to be about "everyone worship how where and what they may" and "we encourage members to seek the truth and do what they think is right above all else" is now like nearly every other religious group: <br /><br />Do what we say, don't ever question.<br /><br />I spit on their memory. They had the chance to just stand up, speak their minds, and leave it at that. Now they're spending money to oppose groups because it doesn't fit with their view of the world, and using strong arm tactics to threaten their own members to silence.<br /><br />From the teenage boy inside my mind that used to look upon my faith with such admiration and faith, and sees what the Mormon church does for the sake of power:<br /><br />Fuck you.John Hummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10261544097319634632noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13176100.post-3231312427147172272011-02-04T06:56:00.001-08:002011-02-04T07:01:19.915-08:00Real Conversations: Moral CheerleadersMe: What are you watching?<br /><br />Holli: These cheerleaders dancing. They're the most dressed up and covered cheerleaders I've ever seen. Long pants, no belly showing - <br /><br />Me: Well, I guess they're very moral cheerleaders then.<br /><br />Her: Oh, no way.<br /><br />Me: What makes you say that?<br /><br />Her: Are you kidding? They're from Kansas. Almost none of them are!<br /><br />Me: That's kind of harsh.<br /><br />Her: It's true! The entire state's that way! I should know - I'm from there.<br /><br />Me: Kansas? I'd never thought it.<br /><br />Her: Well, just the way it is.<br /><br />Me: How does that work? You always think of Kansas as being the center of the American heartland, full of goodness.<br /><br />Her: But not Mormons.<br /><br />Me: Wait - I said those are *moral* cheerleaders, not *Mormon* cheerleaders.<br /><br />Her: Oooooohhhhhh. I don't know - I just know they're probably not Mormon.<br /><br />Me: ....John Hummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10261544097319634632noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13176100.post-79881886289750978002011-01-15T09:15:00.000-08:002011-01-15T09:16:44.325-08:00I think I'm a little jadedThe assignment: Introduce yourself, what you plan on getting out of your degree program, and this class in particular.<br /><br />What I turned in:<br /><br /><blockquote>Name: His Royal Imperial Highness of Space and Time, but you may call me John Hummel<br /><br />Current goals: Honestly just getting through my master's degree. I decided it's a lofty goal and why not.<br /><br />How will it help my current profession: Honestly, it won't. Let's face it: your current job doesn't reward you for getting a degree because they'd prefer to hire outside the company. What it will do is make it that much easier when applying for another job, or threatening to leave my current employer unless they pay me more.<br /><br />What do I want out of the course: The ability to dominate databases! To drive them into submission so they obey my every whim! To crush their electronic dreams BWAHAHAHAHA. Or, just make it easier to create efficient resources of information in a database system.</blockquote>John Hummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10261544097319634632noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13176100.post-81661076632320727502010-12-21T10:55:00.000-08:002010-12-21T11:20:01.840-08:00Screwing with AdvertisersFrom: Bryce Newfound <bryce.newfound@gmail.com><br />To: Dpaladin <dpaladin@gamerspress.com><br />Subject: Website Analysis<br /><br /><blockquote>Your web site is really good but you could be missing out on a lot of online<br />business because of where your site shows up on the major search directories. A few<br />simple changes could greatly increase your web traffic and your bottom line. Reply<br />to us and we will give you a free analysis of your site and show you what will make<br />the difference for your business. Include the best way to reach you with the<br />results. <br />Sincerely,<br /><br />Bryce Newfound</blockquote><br /><br />From: John Hummel <dpaladin@gamerspress.com><br />To: Bryce Newfound <bryce.newfound@gmail.com><br />Subject: Re: Website Analysis<br /><br /><blockquote>Dear Mr. Newfound,<br />Thank you very much for your offer, but I'm not sure you're aware of the nature of my web site.<br /><br />My web site is geared towards people addicted to gambling porn. Gambling porn is much like regular porn, only it involves only dice, cards and pool sticks. As a personal victim, I can tell you that few things are as arousing as the feeling of rolling dice in my hands. The way the cue stick slides through your fingers. Or the silky feel of the cards moving. Slipping through my palm. Back and forth. Until you slam it on the table. Hard. Show it! Show your cards! Yes! Flush me, baby!<br /><br />I'm sorry. I got all worked up again.<br /><br />It is wonderful that you're interested in assisting our support group with more notice on the Internet. Perhaps it will be possible for more people to understand this terrible affliction. Those who can't go past Vegas without needing to feel the chips rubbing against their fingers. The people who's eyes move away from the showgirls because they're mesmerized by the spinning roulette balls. So hard and bouncy.<br /><br />But - odds are your service isn't what we need. But hopefully, if you suffer the same way I do, you're ready to find a cute.<br /><br />There is hope, Mr. Newfound. Someday, you will look at a deck of cards without sporting a major erection. Until that day occurs, always know there is a time to hold 'em, and a time to walk away.<br /><br />Sincerely,<br />John Hummel</blockquote>John Hummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10261544097319634632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13176100.post-19889844502440183732010-12-02T05:42:00.000-08:002010-12-02T06:02:23.426-08:00I say Happy Holidays. Deal with it.It's that time of year again, for frenzied shopping and finding that perfect gift. Tinsel and trees, lights and colors declaring that this is the time of the holiday season.<br /><br />And, sure enough, people are already getting offended if you happen to say the word "holiday" instead of "Christmas." Once again you have groups like the AFA saying that they're going to boycott Dick's sporting good store because <a href="http://www.newschannel34.com/content/developingnews/story/AFA-Calls-for-Christmas-Boycott-of-Dicks-Sporting/o8-w4yfSOE2-57U0kSN1Qw.cspx">they dared to say Holiday instead of Christmas</a>. "Jesus is the reason for the season!" people declare.<br /><br />It seems that every time this year, I wish Happy Holidays to someone, and I get a very angry "It's Merry Christmas!" back. And no, I'm not kidding. I've had people tell me very angrily that "Well, I say Merry Christmas, and if they don't like it, then they can just deal with it!"<br /><br />You know - nobody really minds if you want to say Merry Christmas. Really. I don't give a shit. <br /><br />I'm still saying Happy Holidays.<br /><br />I say it because sorry, Christians, you don't have a monopoly on the month of December. Jesus was *not* the reason for the season (considering he was more likely born in the spring than the winter). Christmas itself is an older pagan holiday called Saturnalia that Christians took over from the Romans. That's right - the reason for the season is Zeus's daddy.<br /><br />I say "happy holidays" because I don't know if the person I'm talking to is Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, Christian, atheist or otherwise. I don't care - I want whatever holiday they celebrate to be a good one, and if they (like the Puritans - you know, those Christians who fled Europe to help found the United States) decide not to celebrate any holidays, then I still wish them well.<br /><br />I say "Happy Holidays", and anyone who takes offense to that is a selfish dick. Because for them, it's not about wishing "Peace on earth, good will to men", or heeding the words of the man they claim to follow when he said "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." For them, it's about dominance. It's about "I'm better than you, my god is better than yours and you'd better acknowledge that." The people who protest a company for wishing "Happy Holidays" upon its customers don't care about "Happiness" - they care to remind people that in this season of togetherness, that they don't *want* to be together with *you*.<br /><br />So Happy Holidays, everyone. And for those who want to take offense because I'm not specifying your particular holiday - you can just suck my yule log.John Hummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10261544097319634632noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13176100.post-61652783144066330192010-11-02T18:47:00.000-07:002010-11-02T18:52:00.259-07:00I am a horrible, horrible personTelephone: Hi, this is SomeDude from American Express.<br /><br />Me: Um - ok, sure.<br /><br />SomeDude: Well, we're calling because you qualify for our accidental insurance program - should something happen to you, get laid off, get into an accident, your bills will be covered.<br /><br />Me: Is this a joke?<br /><br />SomeDude: No, sir.<br /><br />Me: Look, I don't know how you got into my medical records. But it's bad enough the doctor tells me that I've only got 30 days to live. I'm trying to get my affairs in order, and *now* you guys call up because you're worried I won't be able to make my credit card payment before - before I - go?<br /><br />SomeDude: No, sir! That's not -<br /><br />Me: I had to tell my wife earlier today that I'm not going to make it to Thanksgiving, and now you guys are already up about making sure you get yours. Well, you can just take me off of the call list. Let me have some peace, all right? I - I just want to have some peace.<br /><br />*click*<br /><br />My Lovely Wife (MLW): You're evil.John Hummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10261544097319634632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13176100.post-83537769405155940522010-11-01T18:00:00.001-07:002010-11-01T18:42:09.551-07:00ABC: You're Demonstrating how the media is failing usBreitbart. If the name sounds familiar to you, you might first need to put the words "liar" and "complete and utter asshole" around the word. Andrew Breitbart is probably most famous for giving the world <a href="http://mediamatters.org/columns/201002170008">James O'Keefe's selectively edited videos that made ACORN look like an organization that supported prostitution and drug trafficking </a>. As the world has since found out, it turns out O'Keefe's "pimp" outfits were staged, and the ACORN employees "interviewed" were trying to stop what they thought were crimes about to be perpetrated by O'Keefe.<br /><br />Of course, Breitbart said it wasn't his fault, it was all the fault of the media for not checking the facts. Which leads us right to the <a href="http://theweek.com/bullpen/column/205190/shirley-sherrod-and-the-shame-of-conservative-media">Shirley Sherrod scandal, where Breitbart released a video acquired through "anonymous" sources that painted Dept of Agriculture employee Shirley Sherrod as a racist black woman who hated white people</a>.<br /><br />You might be shocked to hear this, but it turns out that the video of Ms. Sherrod speaking was edited to make the exact opposite point that she was originally trying to make, that it's wrong to discriminate against people.<br /><br />So we have an established pattern from Breitbart, to have people shoot videos, then edit them to make them look bad. He promotes liars. He targets minorities or organizations that help minorities and works to discredit them through lies.<br /><br />And now <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/andrew_breitbart/?story=/politics/war_room/2010/11/01/breitbart_abc">ABC has hired Breitbart to be part of their election coverage on Tuesday</a>.<br /><br />I'm not going into the problems ABC is having with their new coworker. What I am going to say is that this is the problem with the modern news media. They're not interested in the truth - we know this because they hired Breitbart in the first place. They're interested in controversy, in having monkeys screeching at each other and people watching the poo flinging competitions.<br /><br />There's any number of people they could have asked to participate. Experts in political opinion. Statisticians who can compare polling results against incoming information. Former politicians discussing their views on what went right or wrong.<br /><br />But - no. They hired for "controversy", for entertainment of having people on opposing sides of the political spectrum "fighting it out." They could have brought us useful information, an interesting debate between conservative and progressive ideas.<br /><br />Instead, they opted to serve up a bullshit sandwich slathered with douche drippings and call it a meal. So I'm just letting ABC know:<br /><br />You're cut off. I'm not watching you in any way, shape or form. No web site, no TV shows. Nothing. Because you're not worth it. <br /><br />Call me when you're interested in delivering actual worthwhile information that will help people make intelligent decisions, instead of sitting back with the popcorn watching the equivalent of professional wrestling disguised as political discourse.John Hummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10261544097319634632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13176100.post-86762332359149128572010-10-27T07:37:00.000-07:002010-10-27T08:28:06.315-07:00Dear Tea Party, Stop Supporting RacistsOne thing I keep hearing from people in the Tea Party is "The liberals and the media are trying to paint us as a bunch of ignorant racists to discredit our cause!"<br /><br />I can understand the complaint. If I was accused of being a racist without cause, or being ignorant without cause, I'd be pretty pissed off as well. <br /><br />But the problem is, the Tea Party isn't getting these accusations without cause. Now, I know, "Oh, well, that's just isolated pockets", or "The Tea Party has such a diverse membership you're sure to find some areas with problems."<br /><br />Here's my problem: it's one thing if you have some lone wolf in the crowd being an asshole. That happens within every group. But when it's the candidates you support, when the crowd sits back and cheers it on or refuses to act against the racist violent members in their midsts, then you can't claim it's an isolated problem.<br /><br />When the leader you pick <a href="http://www.news-gazette.com/news/politics-and-government/2010-10-21/reynolds-racial-remarks-stun-forum-audience.html">says its easier for minorities to make money selling drugs than getting an education</a>, then yeah - I'm going to say that the people who selected this man to run for office are racists.<br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/V2yw1s85EmE?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/V2yw1s85EmE?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />Sharon Angle has an ad where Hispanics are patrolling the fence, here to take away jobs and college benefits from an all-white group of college students.<br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2qP3DBLUOeQ?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2qP3DBLUOeQ?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />And another Sharon Angle ad that shows Hispanics as scary gang members and arrested while "US citizens" (aka - white people) live in fear of the scary brown people:<br /><br /><object width="640" height="390"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tIkNAA2y4I4&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tIkNAA2y4I4&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></embed></object><br /><br />Angle, if you may recall, won her Republican primary thanks to Tea Party support. If this is the candidate that Tea Party members pick, then it's perfectly within reach to call the Tea Party movement racist for supporting racists like Angle.<br /><br />When the NAACP issued a <a href="http://www.naacp.org/pages/tea-party-report">report showing how there were elements in the Tea Party movement that were racist</a>, this was the perfect opportunity for the Tea Party memebers to say "Good! We can now find these members within our midst and evict them from the movement." And while there were some token dismissals, you still have some of the largest groups like Tea Party nation <a href="http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/10/24/5344378-the-only-muslim-member-of-congress">call for a Muslim free congress</a> - and still enjoy the support of Tea Party members rather than moving to expel and reject such notions, you don't hear a peep.<br /><br />You can't say that racism and bigotry are isolated incidents when the leaders that your group selects and supports are saying and doing the bigoted things. Now, I know, someone will say "But those are just isolated incidents! You're blanketing the whole party based on the views of a few!"<br /><br />No. I'm basing the whole party based on the leaders that they choose. You may not be judged by the company you keep, but you should be judged based on whom you choose to lead your movement.John Hummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10261544097319634632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13176100.post-85791897379735060962010-10-25T15:34:00.000-07:002010-10-25T15:35:08.568-07:00The Immorality of Security AgenciesLast weekend I got new service with Verizon, and during the shuffle from one telephone service provider to the next my phone number was changed. They say it's going to take a week or so to get back.<br /><br />In the meantime, it seems that our new temporary number has been leaked to every energy, lawn service, and home service company for 50 miles, all calling up to offer their assistance.<br /><br />Most of these I give a "thank you, no, do not call again." A few when they try to push their "Free $50 gift certificate (with a $500 purchase)!", I tell them that it's against my religion to accept gift cards, since it interferes with our ability to worship Miyamoto and his most holy Mario Brothers.<br /><br />But when <a href="http://www.greedy-monkey.com/">ADT</a> called about having a sign on my lawn - even if I didn't have the service, they'd give that to me for free as long as I put the sign on my lawn! I was very blunt that they should not call again, their services were not wanted, and they were to stop calling my house ever again.<br /><br />"There's no need to be so rude about it," the salesman said. "We're not offering the service. We're working with the local police department in a marketing campaign-"<br /><br />"You're working for a fucking evil company that wants to put a sign on my lawn to make people think that I support your taxpayer profiting company when I do not. Never darken my door with your shadow, and never take up my time with your phone calls."<br /><br />And that's when I hung up.<br /><br />Yes. I'm serious. I think that ADT and the other companies of their ilk are evil. They're as evil as health insurance companies, who stand to profit by finding ways to deny people's health care and pay CEO's multiple millions of dollars.<br /><br />Think about what ADT does: they provide a service where you pay them every month, and when a smoke alarm goes off - they call the fire department. If a door opens when the alarm is set or a sensor detects a window is broken - they call the cops.<br /><br />And I sit here asking - why am I paying you - to call the cops?<br /><br />They show commercial after commercial of attractive white women terrified in their homes as a burglar kicks in the door the second their husbands leave. They cower while the alarm goes off, clutching children while ADT calls the cops.<br /><br />And again, I wonder - why am I paying them to call the cops?<br /><br />Why isn't this a basic service, where communities say "If you have the hardware installed, if the fire or break-in alarm goes off, the system auto-dials 911 and puts in a code that either says 'fire' or 'suspected robbery in progress'? <br /><br />ADT is basically making money sitting between your home, and the services that your tax dollars pay for. They take in the profit when they're paid every month. According to <a href="http://prairieweather.typepad.com/the_scribe/2008/01/free-lunch-davi.html">David Cay Johnson</a>, author of the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591841917?ie=UTF8&tag=johhumblother-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1591841917">Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill)</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=johhumblother-20&l=as2&o=1&a=1591841917" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />, 99% of alarms generated by these security systems are false alarms, furthering costing the taxpayers even more money.<br /><br />And there's no incentive to fix it.<br /><br />So no, ADT, Brinks and the rest. I don't live my life cowering in fear. And I think your service should just be a part of a communities fire and police and other emergency systems. You can make money installing or selling the equipment, but after that, be gone.John Hummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10261544097319634632noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13176100.post-11574134889046842122010-10-21T07:47:00.000-07:002010-10-21T09:53:03.887-07:00Crazy Comes Full CircleSeveral years ago I listened to a book on tape <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0812967852?ie=UTF8&tag=johhumblother-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=0812967852">The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=johhumblother-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0812967852" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />. I hope any readers of this blog and the author will forgive me for any mistakes I make in referencing that book.<br /><br />That said, there was a fascinating part discussing how the ideas of Millennial Rule propogated from one group to the next. The idea isn't new, but the most common thread starts with the Book of Revelations in the Bible. It goes something like this:<br /><br /><ul><br /><li>There's going to be a time of great trouble.<br /><li>The world is divided into The Good and The Evil.<br /><li>Eventually, the Evil will be destroyed.<br /><li>Once all evil has been eradicated, there will follow 1,000 years of happiness and joy for the Good people left over.<br /></ul><br /><br />In the case of the original story in Revelations, this was tied into the early Christian church and Yahweh worship. Eventually, everybody would believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of Yahweh and the Redeemer of the World, all the bad people would be cleansed off the earth, and everything would be <em>awesome</em>.<br /><br />Ever since then, various groups tried to use this idea, only with changes, and with each adaptation the concept, the Good and the Evil was changed. You start off with Christians being The Good and everybody else being The Bad.<br /><br />Then came along people like Lenin and Stalin. But in their view, it was the bourgeois (aka the rich and powerful) versus the proletariat (aka the regular/poor people). Once you got rid of all of the rich people and destroyed their power, then you'd have a utopia that would last for at least a thousand years.<br /><br />Then the Nazi's came along, and they said "Oh, no no no. You guys have this all wrong. See, it's the Aryans who are the Good and the pure ones, and the Jews/gypsies/homosexuals/anybody but Aryans who are the Evil - especially the Jews. So if we just kill off all of the Jews, then anyone else non-Aryan, then we'll have a 1,000 year Reich where everyone will be happy."<br /><br />Then, if my recollection of The Crisis of Islam is correct, this idea was then picked up by the Baathists. Certain scholars were in Germany as World War II was starting up,and when they returned to the Middle East they said "You know, these Germans have a great idea - only they got it all wrong. Clearly, the Arabians (or the Persians if you were in Iran) are The Good, and everyone else (especially the Jews!) are The Evil. So if we just get rid of all of the Jews and then the non-Arabians, only Good people will be left and we'll have a thousand years of peace."<br /><br />Guess what happened when Al-Qaida popped up? In their case, The Good were Muslims (at least, their brand of Islam which was much more strict and something like you see the Taliban go by), and the Evil was everybody who wasn't Muslim - or their brand of Islam. Originally, they were attacking <em>other Muslims</em> in the Middle East, since if they could get rid of the "not strict enough Muslims" then they'd have peace. But then they decided that they had to get rid of the non-Muslims first, <em>then</em> go after the not-strict-enough Muslims - so Al-Qaida shifted its attention to the United States.<br /><br />So where am I going with this? Well, it turns out that this crazy, stupid notion that if only you could get rid of (really, kill off) The Evil and then everything will be wonderful has once again returned to Christianity.<br /><br />OK, it never really left it - there have been groups that have been looking forward to The End Of The World and the Destruction of the Non-Believers since at least 50 CE. This has been true in the United States, between the Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses and so on.<br /><br />That said, those groups have been fairly benign compared to the other groups I mentioned. However, the US is now facing a new round of crazy. Take Hawaii, where a candidate for governor <a href="http://www.talk2action.org/story/2010/10/21/9445/8568/Front_Page/Witchcraft_again_Aiona_Hawaii_Candidate_For_Gov_Tied_to_Witch_Fighting_Evangelicals">who's a member of a church that is campaigning against witches</a>.<br /><br />Witches. In the year 2010. And not just witches, but they want to go about and "If you have any idols in your home, we're gonna burn 'em! If you have any witchcraft items in your home, we're gonna burn 'em!" It's what you see in the Tea Party/David Barton/Glenn Beck historical revisionism that tries to convince people that the United States was always meant to be Christian, that the Founders didn't want any other religion than Christianity - and if you're of any other religion, or believe set, or even don't <em>have</em> a religion other than Christianity: then you must be evil.<br /><br />It's a notion that seeks to replace all knowledge such as in the Texas schoolboard system to get rid of the ideas of The Evil (aka - non-Christian), because if we could just get rid of those, then we'd have a perfect country and have 1,000 years of peace and happiness. It's the same thinking that produces people like Christine O'Donnell, a Senate candidate who <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20020296-503544.html">doesn't believe that the 1st Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits government from establishing religion</a>. It's what leads people to make stupid comments like <a href="http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/brian-kilmeade-sez-not-all-muslims-a">"Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims."</a>.<br /><br />The stupidity, the rank fearmongering isn't astounding. What's astounding is how many people are falling for it, and willingly embracing it.<br /><br />It's the same old tribalism that "if only The Other" wouldJohn Hummelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10261544097319634632noreply@blogger.com0