Margaret Thatcher’s Legacy of Destruction (And How We Haven’t Learned From It)

Posted on by
Reply

Uninformed and/or misguided souls in the United States have been posting condolences for Margaret Thatcher via their favorite social media outlets today.  After all, she’s the female half of capitalism’s favorite duo, the Super Free Marketeers.  Americans have been taught to worship Ronald Reagan and his British counterpart for saving us from the clutches of godless Communism.  As she so eloquently (and ignorantly) put it, “the problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money.” Continue reading →

My online obsessions of the month: TagPro and an old friend

Posted on by
Reply

The past few weeks, I’ve moved away from my former obsession with Haxball, the multiplayer online soccer/hockey Flash game that helped me pass the time when nothing else was going on.  The switch happened when I stumbled upon a Java-based Capture-the-Flag style game called TagPro.  It’s another exceptionally simple online game with a chat interface and up to eight people playing simultaneously, but it adds power-ups, registration, and a leaderboard, amongst other things.  You can also join the conversation with the developer and the player community at the TagPro subreddit. Continue reading →

Our Strange Priorities On How To Deal With Poverty And Low Wages

Posted on by
Reply

You don’t want homeless people living in your part of town.  They look dirty and lower the property values.  Of course, you don’t want them on welfare either, because that’s just “stealing money from your paycheck to buy drugs,” despite the fact that impoverished folks test well below average for drug use.  If they shouldn’t be broke and they shouldn’t use assistance, what should they do?  Ah, of course… they should get a job. Continue reading →

“Write Me Off, Give Up On Me”

Posted on by
Reply

In a very distant time and place, MySpace was of the utmost importance to myself and my much younger peers.  Changing your Top Friends was a major social event and could lead to drama the likes of which TNT doesn’t even know.  Profile pictures, headlines, and profile names were the easels of a generation of quasi-artistic attention-seekers, the generation whose parents were both working and thought one kid was enough, so there was never anyone to show them approval for their latest exploits.  Who better to turn to than each other? Continue reading →

A Good Monday? Apparently, Anything’s Possible

Posted on by
Reply

I barely got any sleep last night.  Two hours would be a liberal estimate.  Today was pretty much a lost cause before I got out of bed, or so I thought, but then I felt a bounce in my step at 7am for no apparent reason.

I think it really started yesterday.  It was a pretty productive day… after a rough start to the weekend, Kristin and I turned the house from a trainwreck into a Continue reading →

Royalties to Plant a Garden? Monsanto Case Has High Stakes

Posted on by
Reply

Over the past several months, a case has been working its way through the system pitting a small-town farmer against agribusiness giant Monsanto.  The case, like 145 others brought by the corporation, hinges on what CNN called “unusual planting methods” by 76 year old farmer Hugh Bowman.  The unusual method?  Planting seeds without paying a royalty.

No, really… they’re suing him for the “unusual” practice of planting the seeds generated by the previous year’s crops because it violates their intellectual property. Continue reading →

Refinancing and hitting the gym: I’m only doing one of them right now

Posted on by
Reply

OK, first… I find it odd that my Love posts are getting more… uhhh… love than my rage posts.  I always assumed the political stuff was far more interesting than the mundane details of my personal life.  Yesterday’s post was one of my favorites, but it’s not really getting a lot of traction.  Not that I care, mind you, but I just don’t see what could possibly be interesting about my day. Continue reading →

Overwhelmed Apathy and the Modern American Socialist

Posted on by
Reply

Free healthcare and education.  Land reclamation for public use.  Labor theory of value.  Union representation and collective contracts.  Freedom from advertising.  Legalization of “drugs.”  Rehabilitation over incarceration.  Strength through peace.  Producing, selling, and buying local.  Public transportation.  The end of discrimination in all directions.

We’ve barely scratched the surface.  Want to take a guess why no leftist political movement ever gets far in the United States before fizzling? Continue reading →

Valentine’s weekend, spring and summer concerts, and the weather

Posted on by
Reply

Wow.  First blog post of February 2013.  I really thought, after such an active January, that I’d maintain some consistency, but I’ve really had some off weeks.  I can’t really explain the differences, but from one week to the next, I can go from hyper-productive mode to super-zoned-out mode, and it affects everything from my blog to my obligations around the house to getting my lists of actual work knocked out from day to day.  I’ve been trying to catalog the differences (did I skip that early cup of black tea?) so I can pinpoint what truly drives me, but it’s still up in the air for now. Continue reading →

Vacation has been booked! -or- Saving thousands of dollars using points!

Posted on by
Reply

(Note: Tonight’s blog is only going to be about the vacation I have booked for early April.  If you have a jealous streak or you tend to think anyone who’s excited about a trip is “bragging,” this post might not be for you.  I recommend coming back tomorrow.)

It’s official!  As of last night, Kristin and I are booked on a trip that will take place in exactly two months. Continue reading →