Arrogant Ass

I was thinking about my Internet habits and population demographics as I walked through Wal-Mart yesterday and most of the men I saw looked like me and I was in costume as an amalgam of Todd Palin, Joe 6 Pack and Joe the Plumber. I realized that while I was thinking "arrogant ass" that an immage search for "arrogant ass" would yield the following:

Despite the fact that what I had in mind was this:

I had to change my search from "arrogant ass" to "laughing donkey."

With proclivities like that and the decided possiblity that most don't even know what a proclivity is (and no -- it isn't someone you have to pay to lick), I realized that the potential audience for my words is extremely small. Personally I'm going for 0.01% of the world population, which should give me an audience of about 500,000.

Harry Reid -- Mormon, Democrat and Nevadan

I'm not going to make any puns on Harry Reid's name, but look at the title of this post.

Oxymormon.

Trickle Down Economics

I know the argument that if you are going to tax the wealthy they won't share and if you let them move the money around, the serfs will get the trickle down. There is some merit in allowing for the flow of capital, but I find it incomprehnsible that it is difficult to make the rich move their money around.

I have an idea -- call me crazy, but don't tax income, tax wealth. If you go after the rich man's principal above a certain amount -- say a hundred million, money isn't going to coagulate at the top. I'm no economist, but there has to be a better way to move money around the economy than letting us get "trickled" on.

A Vote Against Self-Interest

I heard an interesting thing on the "local" BBC radio broadcast. The reporter with his British Accent was touring "real" America. He noted the hard scrabble life that most of these mid-Westerners were living and noted that their passion for the McCain/Palin ticket was decidedly a misguided one, since McCain's policies were most likely to make their life more difficult.

In his lovely European way, the reporter noted that discomfort and living a hard scrabble life was a matter for pride for these people and a rough life just showed how tough they were and this is why they voted against their own self-interest.

I guess it was either that or they were masochists.

The United Socialists of America

The United States is a socialized democratic republic with a regulated market economy.

A few socialized services our federal government offers:

1. Military
2. Law Enforcement
3. Fire Protection
4. Education
5. Space Exploration
6. A large portion of scientific and artistic endeavors are done on the government dime (Even the Internet which allows me to post this blog is a direct descendant of a government funded scientific endeavor and it is being transported to you on subsidized and taxed and regulated telecommunication lines.)
7. Roads and Transportation Services
8. Water
9. Retirement (Social Security)
10. Customs and Border Control
11. Land (Bureau of Land Management, National Parks)
12. Water (Lake Mead, Lake Powell, Reservoirs, etc.)
13. Postal Office
14. Public Welfare for the Poor (Housing and Food)
15. Wildlife and fish
16. And as of a couple of weeks ago -- Banks (although deposit insurance was always socialized since the Depression)


In addition to socialized services, we have highly regulated industries:

1. Utilities
2. Banks -- sort of
3. Securities -- sort of
4. Food and Drug Inspection
5. Energy Production
6. Environmental Protection
7. Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
8. Patents and Copyrights
9. Telecommunications

I heard something on the news this morning that 1 in 13 adults in Utah work for the State government. This does not include federal employees (HAFB, military, federal courts, etc.). We have socialized employment. My entire family was raised on money that was contributed by tax payers.

Reconciliation -- Yes

Once upon a time, I denied reconciling with another author/blogger. My new version of Zion includes a one-ness that would require a complete reconciliation of male/female, past/present and two humans -- and I don't think it can be done without sex among other things.

The Dark Mind of God and Judges

"Including but not limited to" is a lawyer-ism, in which we can include everything and the kitchen sink and everything in the imagination of the judge without actually having to enter the dark recesses of the judicial mind. Scalia=scary.

My Reedemer

Actually, I have been redeemed by my wife, kind of like you used to be able to do with empty glass bottles that you took back to the store for a nickel or a dime.

Return from the Dead

I know, I know – God the Father, Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, Peter, James, John, Elijah, Moses, Elias, the three Nephites, John the Beloved and numerous apparitions at the foot of the bed of dying people all supposedly came back, but I’m a fucking non-believer.

With the possible exception of literary fiction/scripture and the blogosphere, I tend to agree with Shakespeare’s Hamled about the undiscovered country from which no traveler returns (and he said that after seeing his father’s ghost.)

What is in a Title?

One of the most enjoyable aspects of thinking about writing this post was thinking about the possible double entendre titles:

The Rise and Fall of Elder Wanker
My Blog’s Back Up
Reader’s Come . . . Back

Suggestions?