Cut What?

budget.deficit

So this link is not an entirely scientific survey. But still, 60% of nearly 35,000 people who read CNN.com want the federal government to cut spending. Of course I can't precisely answer that question, since there is no follow up poll. But my guess is that of those 60% few would--

Want to spend less on education. Most people do recognize that the goverment should provide education, and that their school needs more money. After all, its everyone else's school that has a bloated budget. In either case, education is a fairly small portion of the federal budget, and not enough money could be cut to make a significant dent.

Want to spend less on social security. Everyone feels they are entitled to it, since afterall, they've been paying into it for years. It does make sense. yet by far, social security is one of the highest costs to the federal government.

Many of that 60% would probably say "cut bloated government." or at least something along those lines. But they are probably the first people to complain when they have to wait on long lines to get a passport, or file a complaint. let's face it, the federal government might have a lot of employees, but they also provide us with lots of services. Trimming just 1% of the workforce might mean getting rid of that extra person to process your IRS tax return a month earlier. Or get your passport to you before your european vacation.


Let's cut our military spending, another huge segment of the federal budget. Wait, we are fighting two wars. that's probably not such a good idea.

So to you 60% of the readers out there who want to cut the federal budget, I would love to hear what you want cut.

Instead i suggest we allow Bush's tax cuts to the rich to expire. That's what they are, plain and simple. Read about my tax cut and compare to yours. Then tell me if you are better off with the money you saved.

Attempting to Ban To Kill A Mocking Bird

heraldsun.com: Family's goal: To kill book using e...

An eighth grader didn't like the word "Nigger" in To Kill a Mockingbird. He and his parents support pulling the book from the school system, essentially, they want the book banned. Poor fools are too stupid to understand they are trying to ban a book that fundamentally characterizes race relations in the 1950's. Let's ban everything that's offensive! If we did, then no one would hate anyone else ever again! Woohoo.

Of course it doesn't work that way, so I will continue to channel my disgust in ignorant people through the internet.


PS Thanks to Erik Kennedy for blogging this story, so i could find out about it too.

Was Bush Double dipping?

CNN.com - White House releases Bush's military payroll records - Feb. 10, 2004: "WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The White House released payroll records Tuesday it said demonstrate that President Bush fulfilled his obligations to the Texas Air National Guard in the early 1970s, hoping to defuse lingering election-year questions about the president's service. "

The whitehouse released "Evidence" that Bush served his time in the national gaurd. I'm not questioning the legitimacy of those pay slips. There is no doubt in my mind Bush collected his paycheck, but that doesnt mean he reported for duty. More than likely, Bush, the son of prominant and wealthy parents, collected his pay while never really fulfilling any duty to the national gaurd. this is not an uncommon practice in government, and it would not surprise me in the least.

School Board oversteps its bounds.

CNN.com - School board: No credit for Hooters work - Feb. 5, 2004: "SAVANNAH, Georgia (AP) -- A 17-year-old high school senior working at a Hooters won't get class credit for her job because the restaurant, known for its waitresses in tight T-shirts and hot pants, is too racy, school district officials decided Thursday.
Laura Williams wanted her hostess job, for which she wears long pants and a collared shirt, to count as part of a work-study program that lets students leave school early so they can work for vocational course credit. "

Here again we have a conservative school board passing judgement on legitamate business. This is perhaps the single worst decision made by a school district yet. If the school is going to have a program that takes students out of the classroom (not that this seems like a good idea anyway, but), then they should have no ability to pass judgement on whether the job suits their moral sense.

There is nothing to say that working at hooters is more or less constructive then say a part time job working at McDonalds. Indeed, as a hostess at hooters, the girl may learn more about business than a peer slopping grease at a fast food joint or working as a cashier in the mall. Family restaurants, which hooters is (as much as Fridays, Bennigans, On The Border, Olive Garden, or Macaroni Grill) are fast paced work environments where employees learn to put the customer first (ok, maybe not, but certainly the service is better at a family restaurant than at McDonalds). The bottom line is, even if a student wanted to work as a stripper, that is no less respectable than if a student were working as a paralegal.

Board of Educations need to learn their place. They need to respect individuality and allow families to decide what is right and what is wrong. Working at hooters may not be right for every high school student, but if this girl and her family have decided it is her best choice, and best option, then there is no reason why the school board should interfere.

The Greatest scheme i have ever heard of!

eBay item 2985284893 (Ends Feb-12-04 05:49:23 PST) - Hot Young Imaginary Girlfriend: "My name is Destiny, I'm 18 years old and I would love to be your imaginary girlfriend. You can use me to fool friends, family, other girls, or just for fun. The winner will get from me.... A minimum of 1 letter per week either in your email or postal. I can use my own imagination or you can tell me what you'd like to hear from me (your choice). Regular emails (at least 2 per week) telling you about my day and all the things I'd like to do to you or anything else you'd like. I will send you sexy pictures of myself."

I only wish I had thought of this first-- women who pretend to be a girlfriend for a price (also see the CNN article)

So fake girlfriends are all the rage because there are a great number of lonely and depressed people out there who want to be popular. Or at the very least, appear popular to their equally unpopular friends.

It seems this topic is not significantly different from the recent reports of the SIMs online being a place for virtual teenage prostitution. The sims, the online world where meet and gather and play out real life online was recently criticized for terminating the account of a player, who in turn, criticized the publisher for not cracking down on virtual whores in the game. it seems in this case that poeple looking for virtual love and cyber sex are only people paying for the game that cost millions to build.

So the bottom line is, products will always sell if they can somehow appeal to the loneliness and isolation that mass market culture has itself created.

Betting on chance

Man Who Killed the Mad Cow Has Questions of His Own: "Is this the magic burger that's going to kill me?'" -- Dave Louthan

The man who shot the American Mad Cow claims that it could have easily slipped through the cracks along with the rest of the cows meant for slaughter that day.

The beef industry in America is like any other business, worried about profits above all else. Even if beef is killing us, would it stop agribusinesses from shoving contampinated beef into our hot dogs and beef burgers? Probably not. Even if people did starting dying from the human version of mad cow disease, individual beef producers would probably not be liable-- there is no threat of a costly lawsuit to slap the beef manufacturers into doing the right thing.

Of course, as consumers we are probably no better off eating fresh vegetables sprayed with pesticides.