Politics

Private Accounts

Daniel

I think private accounts for Social Security are bad. I just saw on the cover of USA Today today a poll asking what people think of Bush’s plan, with results broken out by age. The trend was that younger people like it and older people don’t.

My opinion? They’re going to give every taxpayer something like three options as to what to do with their Social Security money. Which people are best suited to take advantage of this option? People living in trailer parks? The inner city? Or people who already invest and know what the hell they’re doing, people with money to spare? The fact is, wealthier, knowledgable people are going to do better, on average, with this system than poorer, less-educated people. It will widen the gap between haves and have-nots.

And who really needs Social Security? People who are investing in the stock market? Or people who don’t know the difference between a stock and a bond? It’s the latter. And they are not the people who will see the benefit from this system. Therefore I think it’s a poor solution. In fact, I don’t think it’s a solution at all.

Also — I have strong concerns about what effect will occur on these three or so funds when one third or more of the entire US population invests in them. Will their prices plummet? Will the skyrocket? Let me tell you what I think. People want to diversify. It distributes risk. So if I put my Social Security money in fund A, I’m probably not going to put the rest of my money in it. Therefore, I may be more inclined to sell it if I already own it. I might sell it for a lower price, its value might fall. Then these three funds that the government just spent billions of dollars buying will lose a lot of value quickly.

Private Accounts

CyberBleh

Daniel1 Comment

Is anyone else tired of the “cyber” prefix? I think I stopped using it in 1994. No, wait — I never used it.

I think if you were to graph the respect for the term on the y-axis and age on the x-axis, you’d find that people older than 25 or 30 think it’s the most appropriate word, and people younger than 25 or 30 realize that it’s cheesy and ambiguous.

Look at this URL: www.securecyberspace.gov. When you click on it, it redirects you to a page on the White House’s site: “The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace.”

Can we all just agree to replace the word “cyberspace” with the word “Internet?” Please? I could see an argument that the Internet is public and “cyberspace” could encompass corporate intranets …. but most intranets are accessible through the Internet, so I think due to the definition of the word Internet, via connection to it they inherently become part of it.

So let’s retire the word “cyberspace.” And any word that contains “cyber.” It’s okay if we do this. People no longer say “motorcarriage” or “iron horse” or “dirigible” — oftentimes the first attempt to name something … isn’t the best attempt.

While we’re talking about cyberspace, why don’t we examine words used to describe parts of the Internet and their persistence in the vernacular. On second though, make that “vernacular of informed people from the ages of 13 to 38.”

I was a little torn over which term to explore first, but I had to go with email. It’s what people use the Internet for more than anything else. It’s how individuals connect with other individuals. This expands the scope of my discussion slightly, but I find it worth pointing out that the inconsistency with the term “email” is how to spell it. e-mail? E-Mail? Email? email? courriel? There’s also the term for an individual email message. I often start emails with something like, “I’m writing you this message because …” So the possibilities are: message, email, letter … maybe those are the only possibilities.

I was going to write more … maybe I’ll pick this up later.

CyberBleh

Election Night

Daniel1 Comment

Kerry conceded about twenty minutes ago. How the hell is somebody like George W. Bush a two-term President? Doesn’t this country care about our standing in the world?

Our economy?

Our jobs?

Our liberties?

Our privacy?

I’m pretty sick about this. Four years was bad enough. Four more? What does a President have to do to get voted out of office?

And it’s not just Bush. The Crossfire crew was talking about it last night: The Democratic party is going to wake up today and take a good hard look at itself. I mean, Tom Daschle — the Senate minority leader — lost his seat. WTF? Where is the Democratic Party headed? Things aren’t working. We don’t have the house, we don’t have the senate, and we sure as hell don’t have the Presidency. We’re outnumbered 5-4 on the Supreme Court. Most of the Governors are Republicans. Things have to change.

Election Night

Go Balloons

Daniel

Just watching the Democratic National Convention coverage on CNN. Immediately after John Kerry‘s speech, several thousand balloons were supposed to fall from the ceiling of the Fleet Center. CNN had a mic on the guy whose job it was to say “go balloons.” He was flipping out. He was so frustrated he actually dropped an f-bomb. (“Where the f— are the balloons?!”)

Also, I just read Lewis’s site. You know — I like to visit it once a month or so to keep his hitcount up. Lord knows the poor kid needs the boost. Anyway, Lewis ripped on the Morrison pics. In response, I will point out the fact that at the top of his site, Lewis points out a “Redesigned Look & Feel.” And I will point out that that’s pretty gay.

Go Balloons

Brian Lewis

Daniel

You know what really scares me sometimes? Just how similar to Brian Lewis I really am. For the last year or so I’ve read pretty much nothing but classics and the occasional new Michael Crichton book. Brian Lewis’s favorite books? All classics. Son of a bitch. Now I’ll probably have to read Lewis’s favorites just so I can tell him that they’re not all that good.

Oh, and Lewis doesn’t like Bush, either. Gotta give him credit on that one, even if I’m not sure that W. will be the worst President ever.

When the hell is Donald Rumsfeld gonna resign?

Brian Lewis

Update

Daniel

I haven’t posted in a month. I started a post a few weeks ago, but decided to can it. It was about the RIAA’s amnesty letter … what a bunch of BS. In that killed post I was actually going to drop an f-bomb. It’s just totally ridiculous. Anyway …

The Bills are outstanding so far. Go Buffalo! The Dolphins are actually favored for the Sunday night game. It’s hard to believe, seeing as how the Bills wiped the floor with the Patriots and the Jaguars. But I’ll admit — it’s still too early in the season to tell who’s really good, whether teams have just played against stinkers, etc, etc. But I think the fact that the Bills have put up 30+ in both games says a lot. They also shut out New England and allowed 17 against Jacksonville … and that 17 should be 10 or even 3. Jacksonville’s last touchdown was against Buffalo’s second string defense, and their first touchdown came after Buffalo blew a fake punt (the only real complaint of the season). So … I’m looking for Buffalo to beat Miami 27 – 10.

What else … Summer 2003 is wrapping up and I’m still in Allegany. Dear Mr. Bush … I don’t need a tax cut – I need a job. You know, there might be something to the whole idea that the economy was good when Clinton was President because of things Reagan and Bush enacted, and the economy slowed because of things Clinton enacted … but there is a serious trend over the last century showing that when a Democrat is in office, things tend to be good. Demand side economics? Socio-economic debate, anyone?

Update

Today’s News

Daniel

Today’s news:

At Arlington, VA bar Mister Day’s Saturday night, the DJ (or playlist or whatever) played Mark Morrison‘s “Return of the Mack.” If you’re unfamiliar with this song, just know that it’s maybe the single greatest piece of music produced in the last 200 years. But the song played was not just “Return of the Mack.” The song I heard was the extended/piano version. It clocks in, if I remember correctly, at a hefty 5 min 46 sec, rather than the 3 min 43 sec that the standard version lasts. After it was over I jumped on a table and chanted for an encore, but there must have been a problem with the equipment, because my requests went unanswered. Now, to the real world …

Missing pregnant woman Laci Peterson’s husband is looking more and more guilty all the time. When stories like this are in the news the families of the accused always say something like “the police are going after the family because they make the easiest targets.” Of course, statistics show that murders are mostly committed by friends or relatives of the victims. So I suspected the husband from the start and I’m sure the police did, too.

Now George W. Bush is going after Affirmative Action. And he holds the press conference on Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday! What an idiot. I wish Colin Powell would resign over this. Anyway – why do I think Affirmative Action is a good idea? Well, Bush says that A.A. doesn’t treat people equally, which was MLK’s goal. Except MLK’s goal wasn’t for people to be treated equally — it was for people to exist equally. To live equally. Blacks and whites in this nation do not live equally. Ask yourself some questions: Who is more likely to be considered a second class citizen – A black person or a white person? Who is more likely to be dead by the age of 22 – A black male or a white male? Who is more likely to be an officer of a Fortune 500 company? – A black person or a white person? Who is more likely to be on the janitorial staff of a Fortune 500 company? – A black person or a white person? Who is more likely to be President of the United States? – A black person or a white person?

The inequality does not exist because of the way whites are treated and the way blacks are treated. One problem that I am less qualified to say exists for certain is a cycle of violence. Violence breeds violence, and a lot of young black men are killed by other young black men. But violence also rises from despair and poverty.

Take note of this. Despair and poverty breed violence. It happens in the United States, and it happens in the Middle East. It happens everywhere. One of the factors that contributes to poverty is lack of education. (Note: I spent about twenty minutes trying to find an atricle or study on the internet to back this up, but I couldn’t really find anything solid. However, if you go to Google and search for “literacy rate” “crime rate”, you’ll see a lot of tourist crap telling you to visit Australia or retire in Guatemala because they have low crime rates and high literacy rates.) The worst schools in the US are found for the most part in inner city neighborhoods. Most of the people who live in inner city neighborhoods are black. Therefore, the children in this country who are getting the worst education are black. Additionally, a lot of violence occurs in inner city neighborhoods, discouraging quality teachers from taking jobs there. Again, there is a cycle here:

Violence discourages education. Poor education produces poverty. Poverty leads to violence. Repeat.

It’s a little more complicated than 2+2=4, and I think that’s why it’s possible for politicians to dance around it with such ease. (For instance, W. has suggested a plan to replace Affirmative Action. He calls it “Affirmative Access.” You know, I could take a shit in a pie tin, call it Sprinkleberry Pie, and says it’s a great alternative to Blueberry Pie, but you know what? It’s still just a bunch of shit. That’s what Affirmative Access is. Its name makes it sound like it’s similar to Affirmative Action, but it’s basically just a bunch of shit.) Also, people who aren’t educated tend not to vote as often or write letters to their Congressmen. Or write checks to their Congressmen.

Apologies for not using the term “African American.” It’s easier to type “black,” plus I kind of think “African American” is an inaccurate term. And it’s no more appropriate that the phrase “European American.”

What else. Lewis emailed me with assistance for that table a few posts down. With his advice I managed to get it looking just how I wanted it. Thank you, Brian.

Finally, I went to the Washington Wizards game Saturday when they hosted the Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers got ’em, but I didn’t particularly care who won. I took about sixty pictures, and tomorrow I plan on cropping the best and posting them here.

Until next time, keep it real.

Today’s News

Fourth Straight Day of Posts

Daniel

Four straight days of posts.

Today’s first topic: War on Iraq. Watching CNN today, I heard some things that I had kind of forgotten about, and I remembered what I think about going to war with Iraq. I’m one of those people that think we should have gotten rid of Saddam Hussein in 1991. I’m also one of those people that thinks that if Saddam Hussein is a legitimate threat now, we should get rid of him. I also think that he probably is, in fact, a legitimate threat. But, like most of the citizens of Europe, I want proof that he’s a threat. I want to know why George W. Bush is so hell bent on sending in the troops. Frankly, I think there is a reason. But if we go in and the world still doesn’t know why, I won’t like it.

Today Colin Powell indicated that by the end of this month, the evidence will be there. We’ll see.

Topic two: Hot and Spicy Chex Mix? Don’t buy them. They should be called hot and tasteless.

Fourth Straight Day of Posts

Three Days, Three Updates

Daniel

Three days. Three updates.

I’ve been doing some thinking on the “War on Terror.” I think it’s got all the makings of a Second Cold War. For one, the way I often think of the first Cold War is as a time of paranoia, of worry over the threat of war. It was also a time of sides. Nations were either on the side of the Commies, the Reds, the Iron Curtain, or they were on the side of the US of A, the West, NATO. Finally, it was a time of an economy weakened by all the money spent on military escalation, with no political resolution to assuage the anxiety.

Now, we again have all those factors. National worry and paranoia. The possibility of war. The new sides are still a little blurry, especially with nations like Saudi Arabia and even Turkey riding the fence a bit. But a few possibilities are: The US vs everyone else; The Muslim world vs everyone else; Al Qaeda vs everyone else; The US, Britain, and Israel vs the rest of the Middle East; etc, etc. Things are still shaking out. I think it’ll still be a while before we see what Afghanistan is going to look like in the long term. And Iraq might look totally different politically in a year. Or, it might look exactly the same. I suppose another possibility of Us vs Them could be US vs Independent Rogue Nation A, US vs Independent Rogue Nation B, US vs Independent Rogue Nation C. Wait — I forgot. George Bush already summed up every possibility I’ve listed here. The US vs the Axis of Evil.

We managed to get from 1991 to 2001 with no Cold War. And it was also a time when we had a pretty good economy. Now we’re right back in Cold War mode: weakened economy due to military escalation and an economy waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Three Days, Three Updates

Two Updates in Two Days

Daniel

That’s right. Two updates in two days.

Made some editorial changes to last night’s post. Just a few words and one sentence. If Lewis doesn’t tell me how to fix that table, it ain’t gonna get fixed.

Back to Bush’s stimulus package. It’s supposed to lift the stock market. That’s a nice idea, but the stock market is more of a de facto indicator of how the economy is going. The stock market is not the economy itself. Additionally, money put into the stock market is money invested. Money invested is money not spent. Money not spent makes for a slow economy. A slow economy is a bad economy.

Additionally, what percentage of Americans make their spending decisions based on the last month’s change in the Dow Jones Industrial Average? Maybe zero. Like I said — the stock market is a gauge of the economy. It’s not the other way around.

Hoo … getting tired again. Too much thinking of late? Or four and a half years of not thinking enough?

Two Updates in Two Days