Life in 3D

You say you want a revolution?

Bring it you bitch.

It figures that MSNBC would give this douchebag airtime and start the whole thing out with:

“From the wrongful wars to the corrupt economy, to the special interests in the six industries that control every politician in this country,the political system itself; 75% of all districts in the most competitive election ever weren’t even up for grabs last week and to clear our problems may require more drastic measures.”

So the wars we are fighting, which Congress voted on and approved, are wrongful because…. oh yeah, they just don’t like it. So, it doesn’t matter if all the laws were followed in the steps leading to these wars, if a lefty doesn’t like it, it’s wrong.

And the economy that is corrupt?  Well, who’s responsible for creating the institutions that (as our Teleprompter Jesus likes to say) drove us into the ditch???  Let’s see – Fannie Mae was created back in 1970 when Democrats had control of both the House (243 – 192) and the Senate (57 – 43).

Fannie Mae is the one that expanded their lending under Clinton so that they gave loans to people that couldn’t afford to pay the loan back and to top it all of, in 2005 when the Bush administration pushed to get some regulatory oversight of them was met with such push back from the Democrats and RINO’s (who again controlled Congress) that it never reached the Senate floor and eventually we watched as the housing market crashed and pulled everything down with it.

As for the “Six industries that control every politician” maybe he should open his eyes a little wider.  Seems to me the ones with the most union money in their pockets have always been the Democrats.  Union money went 90% Democrat. As for what the ‘six industries are’ I won’t play guessing games and intuit what one he is referring to, to me this comes off as a throw away line.  He spouts that and we are supposed to nod our heads and just agree without any kind of names or numbers.

The ‘author’ also likes to use big words like ‘duopoly’ (that means Republicans and Democrats together) and to them the only answer to this political turmoil that could come from within the system is that we need another FDR.  Yeah, we need another FDR like we need another WWII.  There is no problem that can’t be made worse by the government throwing money at it.  If they REALLY wanted money to come from the top 2% and make it to the working classes, government theft of that money isn’t the way to do it.  Instead might I suggest a little remembered solution to a financial crisis that Calvin Coolidge came up with?  He lowered taxes across the board, reduced government spending and gave our country a little time period we refer to as “The Roaring Twenties” which saw the largest growth of the middle class that we have ever seen.

The douchebag author also scoffs at reducing the size of government.  Why?  Well, that would put those poor government employees out of a job which would add to unemployment.  The stupidity is so thick here you would need a chainsaw to cut it. They keep talking and whining, but the part I love best is they go on about how the political system isn’t changing and that there isn’t any “third party” that is stepping in to change things.  I guess neither one of them watched any of the TEA party rallies or saw how many TEA party backed candidates were elected into office across the nation.

Nope, we are a whole crapload of doom and gloom here at MSNBC.  The country is lost and the only way to save it – as a last resort of course -  is to have a violent revolution because no meaningful change every happens without violence.

Yeah, I can’t wait for them to try that one.

Oh, and his so called “political cartoons” are not only unfunny, but the artwork is crap.

Settling in

Well, we’ve been in Texas for about a week or so and we are getting settled in fairly well.  I am very pleased to see that there is a Sonic Drive-in just up the street from us and the local fast food places are all represented well within reasonable driving distances including a Schlotzsky’s Sandwich shop, which I haven’t seen since the one in Hilliard closed down about four years ago.

Another pleasant surprise has been that they all use Styrofoam cups.  Out in California they only allow plastic or paper cups  – saving the environment and all that – so during the summer, 15 minutes after you get your drink the ice is melted and your wonderful, caffeinated, sugar-loaded beverage becomes a watered down disappointment.   Now though, I can go through my fast food place of choice and know that my beverage will last as long as my meal does.

Freedom is good.

In other news, one of the cats got fleas.  Don’t know if it was one of ours or one of Ginny’s, but anyway I have been waging a war against them for the past few days.  All the animals have been given their Advantage treatment and everything has been vacuumed daily for the last two days.

Normally you could just spray some kind of bug stuff and be done with it, but since the wife is pregnant that isn’t an option.  Also, bug stuff and cats usually don’t go well together either so instead I did some reading and found out that if you put salt down on the carpet and leave it for two days it will kill off the fleas.  So, in two days I’ll let you know how well it worked.

Have a phone interview for a job on Friday.  I made it past the first part with the tests and everything so now it’s phone interview and then I expect after that it will be time for an in person interview.  Hope I get it, it will be nice to have some income moving, benefits and all that stuff.  It’s not a job in my field, but it will allow me to keep working on my stuff and chasing a job in my field, which I guess is the most important part.

Went to the store this morning for some basics; Bread, milk, OJ, that kind of stuff.  If I had picked it all up in California it would have been about $30 bucks or more.  Out here it cost me a grand total of $19.21.  Man I love living in a free state.  I could get used to this.

Can’t wait to see what my car insurance is going to look like.

Move em’ out!!!

Today’s the day.  We are finishing the load up and soon the computer will be in a box, the desk will be dismantled and given away (big, awkward to move and really, I just don’t like it) and everything will be inside the truck.  Cat’s will be in crates with their new collars on (which Wicket is trying to get off as I type this) and nestled in the middle seat and off we will go!

In some ways it will be sad to say goodbye to Alameda, I kind of like this town.  Oakland, San Francisco and most of the surrounding area can fall off into the ocean for all I care, but Alameda is pretty nice.  It’s really just a small town crammed in between a bunch of big cities and all the bullshit that comes with them, but Alameda is nice place to live where I have met people that would fit in with any part of flyover country you could name.  Somehow this little island has stayed a conservative haven in the middle of all the crazy.  So yeah, part of me will miss it while the other part of me will be glad to get back to a place where cowboy boots are normal, country music is more common than rap, and wearing a Reagan for President shirt doesn’t get glares.

So long Alameda, it was nice knowing you.

The end is nigh!!!

Posting has been super light because not only is the end of the semester coming next week, but the end of my life as a student (again).  That’s right.  After this all my classes are done and all that is left is for me to finish my thesis and submit it to the committee for review.  So, while classes are officially over, I still have quite a bit of work to finish so I can get the piece of paper.

Now, I came here for the skills, which I have learned, more than the piece of paper but the paper will be nice to have too, so come December I’ll be either flying back out here or video conferencing with the board to get the final box checked.

Why December?

Well, it’s this little thing called “You took on a huge project”.  See, what I thought was going to be a manageable project size turned out to be a lot bigger than I thought the more I worked on it.  Details that I hadn’t thought of came up and items that seemed fairly simple turned out to be pretty complex in the end.   Doesn’t mean I won’t get it done, just means it is going to take a bit longer than I thought it would.

That’s been my problem through school though, really.  I get ideas that are possible but just out of my technical reach.  It does force me to learn and push, but at the same time the goal is to do a project within reason and not dive off the high board to see if you can do it.

In any event, it will get done, it’s just going to take a bit longer.

Oh, and that part about video conferencing the review.  Well, we (meaning the wife and I) have had just about enough of this area to last a lifetime so we are going to be moving out of here and to Austin, TX area.  It will put us right between her family and mine, there is a strong art and game design community there, and Texas allows concealed carry so it fits with my attitudes pretty well.

We’ll take lots of pictures of the drive.