What are three foods that make better pretty much anything that you add them to? Butter, corn and hot dogs.
Frances (our baby) is so cool. She can stand up while holding onto tables or the couch and move along it. Not very far but enough for her to grab what ever it is that she wants.
I'm getting good at pulling things out of her mouth.
I finished all the missions in GTA-SA. I'm still playing. I don't know why though. A lot of the drive has left me, now that the missions are done. But it is still fun to run around and do things. I don't think I have exhausted the fun yet.
I stopped the diet/exercise thing for a little while and have gained some weight back. That sucks. I'm going to have to not do that again.
Now, if I could only combine the powers of butter, corn and hot dogs...
mwz
218
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Bunch of Things
So I haven't written in a while and some things have been gnawing at my mind to get out into print.
Eason Jordon:
He made some pretty terrible accusations that the military targets jounalists. No one really beleives this to be true but he has made similar claims several times. After a big hubbub, he resigned from CNN. Michelle Malkin has a nice round-up in case your interested (or just google Easongate). I don't care go into it but I have this to say:
It sucks that people lose their jobs over random little things that they say. What I think probably happened was that this guy was used to talking to his liberal leaning friends. When they say things like the military targets journalists, everyone just takes it as grim fact that the US military is evil. But then he slipped and said it in some moderately public forum and he really couldn't back it up.
I think a lot of people have had similar experiences. At least I have. That's 100% of my sample size. So this is my tale. I have listened to my share of fringe radio. I'm not talking about Rush or Air America. I'm talking about college radio stations that let community people host shows. I've listened to both far, far left and far, far right shows (although the radio program I occationally catch where I live now is far right). They're a lot of fun. Anyway, if you're not paying attention, it can be confusing which side they are because the fringe people have the same distrust for government and penchance for conspiracy theories. I like to say that when you go far enough left or far enough right they eventually meet.
So, one day I was having dinner with some co-workers. A co-workers child was there. We were talking politics and I made my far left equals far right type statement. And the kid questioned me on it. There was nothing mean spirited, he just really wanted to know what I meant. That flustered me though and I really couldn't explain myself. I had just said something that I thought was understood but I couldn't defend the thought when questioned.
I think that the Eason Jordon thing might be like that. And it sucks that he had to lose his job over it. Everyone knows CNN is left leaning and besides you can't expect the people working there to be politically neutral.
It sort of reminds me of what happened at the college that I went to. The facts may be slightly off but this is what I remember. There was a spree of annonymous, racist threats on some minorities. It was kinda scary thinking that there were people like that (violent and stupid) out around campus somewhere. When they caught the person, it turned out to be an african american woman who was trying to have an excuse to give to her family for leaving grad school. She wanted to say that she was scared rather than she was failing.
So that's the background. When she was caught, a senior administrator said something like she (the administrator) thought it was going to be a white male. Within a month she was forced to resign even though most people thought the same thing. She had had a pretty decent career ended just because of one little thing that she said.
I just think that it's harsh.
John Gannon / Jim Guckert:
This is the guy who used to be a gay prostitute who reported for a conservative paper and was able to get into the white house press room. Apparently, he asked easy questions for the administration spokespeople to answer. Instead of praising him for turning his life around, the liberal blogs have hounded him into quiting his job. (example from the only lib blog left that I read, another bit from a blog I don't read regularly).
No one had ever heard of this guy or the news org that he worked for but now his personal life and his past is being tossed about and he is out of a job. That sucks.
Powerline:
In a related bit, I want to talk about powerline. I read powerline and it is normaly a fine blog. But then I happened apon this post (warning, bad language) . The gist is that this guy sent powerline a polite message about the Gannon story and Hindrocket from powerline wrote him a barely coherent response with lots of swearing.
At first I didn't believe it. I just figured it was a hoax but I couldn't let go of it. So I broke one of my rules, the "Never interact with your entertainment" rule. (I am not a fan of crowd participation.) I had to email him and find out if it was true. Apparently, a lot of people did because he wrote this response, basically saying that he got a bunch of hate mail and he finally snapped, but at the wrong person.
I just find that inexcusable. I don't care how mad you are about the Dems taking your money and blaming you for whatever they can think of, you should never fall into swearing at them. Hate mail comes with the turf of having a popular blog (I think, I don't have any first hand knowledge of that though).
This whole thing has allowed them to say "These are not nice people." and have something to back that claim up with. The left can now feel self rightious for a time because one of ours slipped.
Inexcusable (but he shouldn't lose his job over it).
mwz
218
Update: Fixing some crazy html problems.
Eason Jordon:
He made some pretty terrible accusations that the military targets jounalists. No one really beleives this to be true but he has made similar claims several times. After a big hubbub, he resigned from CNN. Michelle Malkin has a nice round-up in case your interested (or just google Easongate). I don't care go into it but I have this to say:
It sucks that people lose their jobs over random little things that they say. What I think probably happened was that this guy was used to talking to his liberal leaning friends. When they say things like the military targets journalists, everyone just takes it as grim fact that the US military is evil. But then he slipped and said it in some moderately public forum and he really couldn't back it up.
I think a lot of people have had similar experiences. At least I have. That's 100% of my sample size. So this is my tale. I have listened to my share of fringe radio. I'm not talking about Rush or Air America. I'm talking about college radio stations that let community people host shows. I've listened to both far, far left and far, far right shows (although the radio program I occationally catch where I live now is far right). They're a lot of fun. Anyway, if you're not paying attention, it can be confusing which side they are because the fringe people have the same distrust for government and penchance for conspiracy theories. I like to say that when you go far enough left or far enough right they eventually meet.
So, one day I was having dinner with some co-workers. A co-workers child was there. We were talking politics and I made my far left equals far right type statement. And the kid questioned me on it. There was nothing mean spirited, he just really wanted to know what I meant. That flustered me though and I really couldn't explain myself. I had just said something that I thought was understood but I couldn't defend the thought when questioned.
I think that the Eason Jordon thing might be like that. And it sucks that he had to lose his job over it. Everyone knows CNN is left leaning and besides you can't expect the people working there to be politically neutral.
It sort of reminds me of what happened at the college that I went to. The facts may be slightly off but this is what I remember. There was a spree of annonymous, racist threats on some minorities. It was kinda scary thinking that there were people like that (violent and stupid) out around campus somewhere. When they caught the person, it turned out to be an african american woman who was trying to have an excuse to give to her family for leaving grad school. She wanted to say that she was scared rather than she was failing.
So that's the background. When she was caught, a senior administrator said something like she (the administrator) thought it was going to be a white male. Within a month she was forced to resign even though most people thought the same thing. She had had a pretty decent career ended just because of one little thing that she said.
I just think that it's harsh.
John Gannon / Jim Guckert:
This is the guy who used to be a gay prostitute who reported for a conservative paper and was able to get into the white house press room. Apparently, he asked easy questions for the administration spokespeople to answer. Instead of praising him for turning his life around, the liberal blogs have hounded him into quiting his job. (example from the only lib blog left that I read, another bit from a blog I don't read regularly).
No one had ever heard of this guy or the news org that he worked for but now his personal life and his past is being tossed about and he is out of a job. That sucks.
Powerline:
In a related bit, I want to talk about powerline. I read powerline and it is normaly a fine blog. But then I happened apon this post (warning, bad language) . The gist is that this guy sent powerline a polite message about the Gannon story and Hindrocket from powerline wrote him a barely coherent response with lots of swearing.
At first I didn't believe it. I just figured it was a hoax but I couldn't let go of it. So I broke one of my rules, the "Never interact with your entertainment" rule. (I am not a fan of crowd participation.) I had to email him and find out if it was true. Apparently, a lot of people did because he wrote this response, basically saying that he got a bunch of hate mail and he finally snapped, but at the wrong person.
I just find that inexcusable. I don't care how mad you are about the Dems taking your money and blaming you for whatever they can think of, you should never fall into swearing at them. Hate mail comes with the turf of having a popular blog (I think, I don't have any first hand knowledge of that though).
This whole thing has allowed them to say "These are not nice people." and have something to back that claim up with. The left can now feel self rightious for a time because one of ours slipped.
Inexcusable (but he shouldn't lose his job over it).
mwz
218
Update: Fixing some crazy html problems.
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Dropping Some Blogs
Alright, I've just gotten very tired of hearing about Social Security. I'm dropping Talking Points Memo (not affiliated with Bill O'reilly). It's just a waste of time to hear all the minutia of the politics of SS. I can't take it anymore.
Also, I'm dropping Skor Grim. While it is still amusing, it's not nearly as funny as IMAO. I'm adding Powerline because they are pretty well thought out.
I am interested in finding a new liberal blogs. All I have left is Eschaton (Atrios). It's okay but you have to read through a lot of juvenile name calling to get to what they are trying to say. I'm getting better at that. The comments section is pathetic though. I'm kind of used to Slashdot where the comments are self moderating and people say interesting things (usually more interesting than the article itself). But with Eschaton, it's nearly incoherent.
Well, it's gotten late now. Good night.
mwz
Also, I'm dropping Skor Grim. While it is still amusing, it's not nearly as funny as IMAO. I'm adding Powerline because they are pretty well thought out.
I am interested in finding a new liberal blogs. All I have left is Eschaton (Atrios). It's okay but you have to read through a lot of juvenile name calling to get to what they are trying to say. I'm getting better at that. The comments section is pathetic though. I'm kind of used to Slashdot where the comments are self moderating and people say interesting things (usually more interesting than the article itself). But with Eschaton, it's nearly incoherent.
Well, it's gotten late now. Good night.
mwz
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Toilet
Just a quick note to let anyone who happens apon this blog that I fixed our toilet. It wasn't a little "replace some crap in the tank" job either (pun not indended but also not removed).
The problem was that our toilet was wobbly and you could smell sewer gas (well you couldn't but we could). I'm taking a plumbing class and they thought the problem was rotting wood underneat and suggested that I fix it.
So I removed the toilet and like any good home fix-it job, it immediately became more complicated. The problem wasn't that the wood that the flange was anchored to was rotten, it was that the floor was concrete and the flange wasn't anchored at all. The only thing holding it in place was a lead pipe that was fluted out. In otherwords the only thing holding the toilet down was a small ring of soft lead and the weight of the toilet.
So, to make a boring story short, after another visit with my plumbing class, I got me some masonry bits and concrete anchors and anchored the flange. I did it all by myself (with some moral support from Arial).
BTW, I think that my weight is variable based on how hydrated I am. It makes me think that I should go on the no-water diet. Unfortunately, I really like water... and my kidneys. So I guess I should continue my "lose fat" diet.
mwz
213
The problem was that our toilet was wobbly and you could smell sewer gas (well you couldn't but we could). I'm taking a plumbing class and they thought the problem was rotting wood underneat and suggested that I fix it.
So I removed the toilet and like any good home fix-it job, it immediately became more complicated. The problem wasn't that the wood that the flange was anchored to was rotten, it was that the floor was concrete and the flange wasn't anchored at all. The only thing holding it in place was a lead pipe that was fluted out. In otherwords the only thing holding the toilet down was a small ring of soft lead and the weight of the toilet.
So, to make a boring story short, after another visit with my plumbing class, I got me some masonry bits and concrete anchors and anchored the flange. I did it all by myself (with some moral support from Arial).
BTW, I think that my weight is variable based on how hydrated I am. It makes me think that I should go on the no-water diet. Unfortunately, I really like water... and my kidneys. So I guess I should continue my "lose fat" diet.
mwz
213
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Skunk or Burning Eraser
So, Arial wanted me to point out that the night of the Super Bowl, I also had a large quantity of salt and vinigar chips. They were quite good but also very salty. I think they may have exaserbated my sugar induced illness by dehydrating me. Meaning, it wasn't all the fault of her wonderful caramel corn mix. I also think that the salt is holding water in me, making me artificially weigh more.
It smells funny in here, like skunk or a burning eraser. Since I don't see any fire (or pencils for that matter), I'm going to assume that there is a skunk outside the house. That isn't a big assumption, there are quite a few skunks in this area because the neighboring suburb doesn't allow trash cans. The skunks get to live high of the garbage... and we all suffer... particularily me... right now.
mwz
216
It smells funny in here, like skunk or a burning eraser. Since I don't see any fire (or pencils for that matter), I'm going to assume that there is a skunk outside the house. That isn't a big assumption, there are quite a few skunks in this area because the neighboring suburb doesn't allow trash cans. The skunks get to live high of the garbage... and we all suffer... particularily me... right now.
mwz
216
Monday, February 07, 2005
More SB
Yesterday, I had three beers starting at 4pm (I had an early supper before the Super Bowl). In college, I used to get really bad hangovers with surprisingly small amounts of alcohol but three beers should have been fine. Yet, this morning at 4, I was having those weird dreams that you get when your sick (or at least that I get). I got up, threw up, felt better and went back to bed. Three beers...
I actually think that what got me was the caramel corn. Arial made this delicious caramel corn with prezels and pecans in it. I ate too much. I think the large amount of sugar mixed the the small amount alcohol made for a bad combination.
When I was brushing my teeth, in the wee hours of the morning, I realized that we never disinfect our toothbrushes. Day after day, they just sit out and collect bathroom bacteria. But since we put toothpaste on them, they *must* be clean...
Did anyone see the Puppy Bowl on animal planet? It was the most bizarre television I have ever seen. It was litterally a station declaring defeat to the Super Bowl. The premise was that they would stick some puppies into this little pen that was shaped like a football stadium. Then the puppies did whatever they wanted. Some chewed on toys, some just hung out and some play-fought... for THREE HOURS. They rotated the puppies and sometimes did an instant replay of something moderately interesting (like a puppy slipping as it ran). It was almost as if they decided to broadcast a fish tank.
And yet I couldn't stop tunning in. I don't even like dogs but there was something so sureal about it. I never stayed for that long. And even though they repeated the whole three hours immediately after, I didn't watch more than 15 minutes total. Did you catch that? Three hours wasn't enough, they showed it again, back-to-back. Crazy.
mwz
214
I actually think that what got me was the caramel corn. Arial made this delicious caramel corn with prezels and pecans in it. I ate too much. I think the large amount of sugar mixed the the small amount alcohol made for a bad combination.
When I was brushing my teeth, in the wee hours of the morning, I realized that we never disinfect our toothbrushes. Day after day, they just sit out and collect bathroom bacteria. But since we put toothpaste on them, they *must* be clean...
Did anyone see the Puppy Bowl on animal planet? It was the most bizarre television I have ever seen. It was litterally a station declaring defeat to the Super Bowl. The premise was that they would stick some puppies into this little pen that was shaped like a football stadium. Then the puppies did whatever they wanted. Some chewed on toys, some just hung out and some play-fought... for THREE HOURS. They rotated the puppies and sometimes did an instant replay of something moderately interesting (like a puppy slipping as it ran). It was almost as if they decided to broadcast a fish tank.
And yet I couldn't stop tunning in. I don't even like dogs but there was something so sureal about it. I never stayed for that long. And even though they repeated the whole three hours immediately after, I didn't watch more than 15 minutes total. Did you catch that? Three hours wasn't enough, they showed it again, back-to-back. Crazy.
mwz
214
XXXIX
Well the Super Bowl is over and just as I thought, the Patriots are poopy and beat the team I was rooting for. That happens. I feel good though that I didn't have a lot of emotion tied to the Eagles. That would have been maddening to watch them piddle away the clock if they were "my team".
I actually went through that with the Hawkeyes. In the Cap. 1 bowl game, they blew nearly all of the last 20 seconds needlessly, they had a couple time outs left. But on the last play (that they managed to get off) they threw a long touch down to win the game. But if Tate would have missed on the throw or the receiver dropped the ball, it would have been sickening. Clock management shouldn't be that hard. They do it fine all year. Maybe there is something about a big game that screws with your head.
BTW, the next Super Bowl will be XL. Won't that be fun.
mwz
214
I actually went through that with the Hawkeyes. In the Cap. 1 bowl game, they blew nearly all of the last 20 seconds needlessly, they had a couple time outs left. But on the last play (that they managed to get off) they threw a long touch down to win the game. But if Tate would have missed on the throw or the receiver dropped the ball, it would have been sickening. Clock management shouldn't be that hard. They do it fine all year. Maybe there is something about a big game that screws with your head.
BTW, the next Super Bowl will be XL. Won't that be fun.
mwz
214
Sunday, February 06, 2005
Insomnia
So, it's late and I can't sleep. I thought I would write a bit. Why not? Other than that I would probably fall asleep faster if I wasn't writing a blog entry.
Tomorrow/today is the Super Bowl. I'm excited because I got some Salt and Vinegar, Snyders, kettle something potato chips. I really like them. The kettle something (which I can't remember the exact wording of that) makes the chips really crispy. And for some unknown reason, I quite like salt and vinegar flavor. Arial doesn't like them and neither do our friends that are coming over to watch the game. That means that I am going to pretty much have to eat the whole thing (not in one sitting of course... maybe two though). So much for my momentary weight loss.
So this year I am going to root for the eagles. I felt bad for them last year when they lost in the AFC (or NFC, what does it matter? The NFL is just the place where players go when they retire from college football) championship game. More importantly, I had McNabb in fantasy football (until he started sucking it up when I ditched him for Manning (about three weeks later than everyone else did)), so I've gotten used to rooting for them. Plus, their colors are so bad that I would like to see some bandwagon people buy ugly green jackets.
I'm also rooting against the Patriots because they beat two of the teams I was rooting for, the colts (with Dallas Clark) and the Steelers (who can resist cheering for the rookie). So, I have gotten used to rooting against them. They'll probably beat a third team that I was rooting for. Jerks.
I have to say that I am impressed with the bloggers who have something to say everyday. I think for some of them, it's kind of their job. Or at least part. I guess if I was a professional pundit or wrote books or something, I might dedicate more time to a blog.
I think I would still run out of things to say. Although that doesn't stop the folks (or is it just one person?) at Talking Points Memo. If they have nothing else to say, they just play he said, she said with legislators, telling us who has shown support for the Presidents SS plan, who is opposed and who has remained silent. Oooo Excitement... Especially when they report who hasn't said anything... Riveting...
I'm going to bed.
mwz
213
Tomorrow/today is the Super Bowl. I'm excited because I got some Salt and Vinegar, Snyders, kettle something potato chips. I really like them. The kettle something (which I can't remember the exact wording of that) makes the chips really crispy. And for some unknown reason, I quite like salt and vinegar flavor. Arial doesn't like them and neither do our friends that are coming over to watch the game. That means that I am going to pretty much have to eat the whole thing (not in one sitting of course... maybe two though). So much for my momentary weight loss.
So this year I am going to root for the eagles. I felt bad for them last year when they lost in the AFC (or NFC, what does it matter? The NFL is just the place where players go when they retire from college football) championship game. More importantly, I had McNabb in fantasy football (until he started sucking it up when I ditched him for Manning (about three weeks later than everyone else did)), so I've gotten used to rooting for them. Plus, their colors are so bad that I would like to see some bandwagon people buy ugly green jackets.
I'm also rooting against the Patriots because they beat two of the teams I was rooting for, the colts (with Dallas Clark) and the Steelers (who can resist cheering for the rookie). So, I have gotten used to rooting against them. They'll probably beat a third team that I was rooting for. Jerks.
I have to say that I am impressed with the bloggers who have something to say everyday. I think for some of them, it's kind of their job. Or at least part. I guess if I was a professional pundit or wrote books or something, I might dedicate more time to a blog.
I think I would still run out of things to say. Although that doesn't stop the folks (or is it just one person?) at Talking Points Memo. If they have nothing else to say, they just play he said, she said with legislators, telling us who has shown support for the Presidents SS plan, who is opposed and who has remained silent. Oooo Excitement... Especially when they report who hasn't said anything... Riveting...
I'm going to bed.
mwz
213
Friday, February 04, 2005
Rambling post
So, my only reader (Arial) pointed out that last nights post was a little rambling and uninteresting. I was going to edit it but she was right, it was too boring. So instead I'm gong to post this quick little bit more, which is expected to be just as rambling and uninteresting but shorter.
Okay, the Dems say that the Republicans are trying to phase out SS. I don't think that is what the Republicans are trying to do, although deep down inside I wish they would.
Anyway, the Republicans seem to be trying to add more junk to it. The only reason that I can see for doing this is to somehow stimulate wall street somehow. So if you care, that's where I stand. SS is a crazy cover for a welfare plan and the "persenal" accounts seem pointless.
On a side note, have you ever noticed that bloggers shorten democrats to "dems" but never republicans to "reps". That's kinda strange, especially since republican is such a long word.
mwz
214
Okay, the Dems say that the Republicans are trying to phase out SS. I don't think that is what the Republicans are trying to do, although deep down inside I wish they would.
Anyway, the Republicans seem to be trying to add more junk to it. The only reason that I can see for doing this is to somehow stimulate wall street somehow. So if you care, that's where I stand. SS is a crazy cover for a welfare plan and the "persenal" accounts seem pointless.
On a side note, have you ever noticed that bloggers shorten democrats to "dems" but never republicans to "reps". That's kinda strange, especially since republican is such a long word.
mwz
214
Soc Sec
Okay, so everyone is talking about Social Security lately. Since the purpose of this blog is for me to work out what my opinion is (or express it), I'll write about it.
First let me describe the situation as I understand it. This may be completely wrong but this is what I've got to go on.
SS has fewer and fewer people left supporting it. When it was started there were 30-40 people working for every retired person. Now there are 3 workers per retired person and that is projected to dwindle. To me that seems like an issue. In the teens of this century, SS is supposed to finally pay out more than people are putting in. That seems like an issue as well. The big question that everyone wants to argue is whether SS will run out of money in the 2040s or 2050s or 2060s or whatever.
Atrios was talking about the length of solvency. Krugman had argued that it would be solvent for 75 years. Atrios responded to some critisism of the by saying, "how many years of guaranteed solvency do we need to satisfy these people? 5000?" I would answer forever. Putting off the problem is not the right way to handle finances. It's like saying "No payments 'till next year? Next year will never come."
There are some crazy-complex arguments that say that SS will be solvent forever. I get too bored with the subject to actually figure out if these make sense, so I'll just go along with that. For the rest of this entry, we'll say that SS is solvent forever.
But of course that assumes that the "Trust Fund" is real. Talking Points Memo (not affiliated with Bill O'reilly) points out here that the trust fund holds treasury bonds and that those bonds must be honored. Hence the trust fund is real. Of course that puts even more of a debt burden on our government than is already factored in.
I might point out that the Gov't could decide that there is a better way to do things and move the SS trust fund back into the general fund, thus forgiving that debt.
Okay, so that is what I know about SS. Here is what I think about it.
I think that SS is stupid. It is the gov't forcing us to save for our retirement. I would like to take that money and invest it how I see fit with out gov't oversite. The Democrats great legacy basically says that I'm to stupid to save for my retirement. I would much rather have control of my money than allow the gov't to control it.
Dems *great* argument for SS is that it is also a type of insurance for disabled or orphaned people. That's stupid. If we want to have a "safety net" for those people, let's call it what it is, welfare. Make some crazy welfare program for them and we can argue the virtues of that. But including that in SS is basically dishonest.
In the SS sytem, if you earn more, you get more back out (theoretically). That is so dumb. If you earn more, you should have more money saved up. But this allows people to pretend that SS isn't just a well disguised welfare system. If we drop it back down to a welfare system, then people who need it will still get it but people who don't won't be sucking money from the rest of us.
While I'm on the topic, I'm not terribly thrilled at Bush's new plan. It just seems like more government mucking with my money.
Well that's enough for now.
mwz
215
First let me describe the situation as I understand it. This may be completely wrong but this is what I've got to go on.
SS has fewer and fewer people left supporting it. When it was started there were 30-40 people working for every retired person. Now there are 3 workers per retired person and that is projected to dwindle. To me that seems like an issue. In the teens of this century, SS is supposed to finally pay out more than people are putting in. That seems like an issue as well. The big question that everyone wants to argue is whether SS will run out of money in the 2040s or 2050s or 2060s or whatever.
Atrios was talking about the length of solvency. Krugman had argued that it would be solvent for 75 years. Atrios responded to some critisism of the by saying, "how many years of guaranteed solvency do we need to satisfy these people? 5000?" I would answer forever. Putting off the problem is not the right way to handle finances. It's like saying "No payments 'till next year? Next year will never come."
There are some crazy-complex arguments that say that SS will be solvent forever. I get too bored with the subject to actually figure out if these make sense, so I'll just go along with that. For the rest of this entry, we'll say that SS is solvent forever.
But of course that assumes that the "Trust Fund" is real. Talking Points Memo (not affiliated with Bill O'reilly) points out here that the trust fund holds treasury bonds and that those bonds must be honored. Hence the trust fund is real. Of course that puts even more of a debt burden on our government than is already factored in.
I might point out that the Gov't could decide that there is a better way to do things and move the SS trust fund back into the general fund, thus forgiving that debt.
Okay, so that is what I know about SS. Here is what I think about it.
I think that SS is stupid. It is the gov't forcing us to save for our retirement. I would like to take that money and invest it how I see fit with out gov't oversite. The Democrats great legacy basically says that I'm to stupid to save for my retirement. I would much rather have control of my money than allow the gov't to control it.
Dems *great* argument for SS is that it is also a type of insurance for disabled or orphaned people. That's stupid. If we want to have a "safety net" for those people, let's call it what it is, welfare. Make some crazy welfare program for them and we can argue the virtues of that. But including that in SS is basically dishonest.
In the SS sytem, if you earn more, you get more back out (theoretically). That is so dumb. If you earn more, you should have more money saved up. But this allows people to pretend that SS isn't just a well disguised welfare system. If we drop it back down to a welfare system, then people who need it will still get it but people who don't won't be sucking money from the rest of us.
While I'm on the topic, I'm not terribly thrilled at Bush's new plan. It just seems like more government mucking with my money.
Well that's enough for now.
mwz
215
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