Race to the Bottom

I find myself slowly loosing my cool as the economy once again sits on the front pages of the news. While I think it would be relatively easy for any man to descend into the chaos of ill conceived conspiracy theories, I am made of sterner stuff.

So a while ago I wrote a bit on how the idea about how the average American worker is one of the most hardest working people and experience fewer benefits that other countries of similar stature (read it here: http://stavingoffsleep.blogspot.com/2010/02/strawmen-are-flimsy.html). I figured I'd do something similar and do what the internet does best, which is throw a bunch of information at you in another post.

A look at the entire 2011 budget:
http://www.wallstats.com/deathandtaxes


Trimming the Fat?:

http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2010/04/economistyougov_polling, the thing people want to cut the most only accounts for 1% of the total budget. Brilliant! Lets try using band-aids to cure cancer next.

More on the overworked American:

- 1/3rd of Americans feel overworked
- 39% worked 44 hours or more a week in 2009
- 1 in 5 report doing work from home on a daily basis
- 86% of executives report their company demands more time from their workers
- 36% of employees don't plan on using any vacation
- 37% plan to take a 7 day or less vacation (out of 52 weeks in a year)
- 20% of reported overworked employees stated they make a lot of errors at work
- 39% experience anger towards other employees
- 34% resent their coworkers who work less

Idiocracy:
See: http://www.npr.org/2011/07/31/138862695/north-carolina-cuts-squeeze-education-programs

North Carolina is one of many states who, in an attempt to balance their checkbooks, cut the easiest option which happens to be education. As a result, they've hit 49th in the nation for education funding. While funding isn't the end all and be all of education (far from it) it's hard to get close to that mythical 1 to 1 student/teacher ratio by firing teachers.

Also, enjoy these graphics detailing several interesting patterns in politics.
http://realityliberationfront.com/politics-in-the-american-south-the-800-pound-gorilla-in-the-room/

Reagan: Making all the wrong choices:
http://newsjunkiepost.com/2011/02/06/the-disastrous-legacy-of-ronald-reagan-in-charts/
Suggestions:
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/balance-federal-budget-101310

American Communism

Playwright, novelist, and poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said, “There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action.”

I was reading an article the other day, and it overall tried to argue that the United States of America could have a return to communism and that Reagan was an international hero (a stereotypical fantasy of the stereotypical Republican). Apparently I missed class when we learned about the day the USA became the People’s Republic of America until Captain Reagan defeated the beast with his trusty shield Capitalism and everything was perfect thereafter. It ended with a thinly disguised call to action for the reader to vote Republican or else you are voting for the communists. Sounds a little too much like Bush’s “either you’re with us, or against us” false dichotomy for my tastes, and we already know how America feels on that subject (both economically and politically).

The problem with the article is that the entire argument is reliant on faulty information. During the 1980’s about a third of the world’s population was communist. The biggest players on the block were China, Russia, and Cuba (in terms of popularity, not international influence). North Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and pretty much everything to the right of East Germany didn’t mind sitting at Russia’s lunch table either.

Well thirty years later that table has become a little less populated. Laos took its chair and moved to the opposite side of the table from China at the request of Vietnam where Laos began mimicking the capitalism table. Eventually it was allowed to sit at the Southeastern Asian table even though it is no longer friends with China. Vietnam is actually doing well for itself after it abandoned the communist table for a position between the socialist table and the Southeastern Asian table. And then we have China.

That leaves us with a morbidly obese China and an emaciated North Korea still sitting at the table. North Korea’s survival is completely dependent upon eating the crusts of China’s sandwiches, and begging for scraps from everyone else. That is a pretty lonely table, especially considering how China doesn’t really belong at the table, most of the founding principles have changed. Cuba sits at the table, but he too had to give up on some of the communist table’s principles (they caused economic decline), and with the changing of the guard to Raul Castro Cuba strayed even further.

My point is that 30 years ago there was at least an iota of chance of the Communist Party of the United States of America, which at its peak had 200,000 members, could have gained a few offices of political power, but nothing high enough to create a national movement towards Communism. Even the Socialist Party who managed 900,000 had little to no effect overall on modern politics. The point is only strengthened when you consider how Communist party now has 15,000 members compared to the 72 million and 55 million that the Democrats and Republicans have registered (respectfully). It makes the political shills warning of an invasion of Communists seem rather ignorant.

The American people will indeed have a choice to make come 2012. But it won’t be Communism vs. Freedom, it won’t be Freedom vs. Tyranny, no, it will only be a contest of who Americans believe is the candidate that most represents their ideology. It is the duty of each and every American to educate themselves and vote for the politician that reflects their political views, anything less is ignorance.

Oil Should Be A Black Stain On Our Past Not Our Country

So you have anywhere from 16 to 100 million barrels of oil per day turning your sunny beaches a nice shade of black... Cleaning all that up is going to cost more than $100 million. Companies like ExxonMobile contributed zero tax dollars to the United States last year...

Those who do not learn from history, are doomed to repeat it. Isn't it time we learned? We didn't learn in 1973. Do you expect GM, Ford, and Chrysler to learn? Aren't they still producing mostly useless large ego machines that run on gas? No America, it is up to you, each and everyone of you.

Overdrives and driving stick isn't going to solve the problems. Do you expect Flex Fuel vehicles to solve the energy problems we face? Hopefully not, as they are little more than a joke. Flex fuel vehicles date back to the 1900's with the Ford Model T. You think 100 year old technology is the solution? Flex fuel will solve the energy crisis like washing one's hands would have cured the Black Plague. That's right, in order to make money, car companies exploited society's wants for a more fuel efficient car and sold you a pile of crap. This does not surprise me.

Is the hybrid going to save America? I think not, only a band-aid solution, and a poor one at that. Besides, what is the point of putting hybrid or Flex Fuel technology on a medium to large sized car? It's like polishing a turd, yeah it might be nice and shiny, but it still smells like crap.

What about the politicians? We can expect the Republicans with their slogan of "Drill, baby, drill" to make the problem worse. Isn't that the solution to all our problems? More drilling, more spills, more accidents. All with most major companies proving themselves to be little more than completely incompetent when it comes to anything outside of your wallet.

The Democrats are too busy playing "lets be friends" with the Republicans who are doing the exact same obstructionist routine Democrats pulled during the Bush years.

I listen to what most of you say, many of you seem to think Joe Biden is insane, with more than a couple of you using those exact words. Yet you refuse or neglect to see that McCain, Palin, and Michael Steele are clearly the insane ones. They don't have your interests in mind. They have their own, and their pockets in mind.

Do you want to rely on the free market? HA! This is the lazy, obviously western (largely American) response that allows individuals to not have to care or do anything about a social issue or problem. It does sound rather wonderful, anytime a problem comes up that makes you have to think: Free Market! Someone asks you a question with proven historical facts pointing towards the opposite of what you believe? Free market!

Well, as much as I love a good fantasy story be it in film, book, or game, it isn't going to solve anything for us. The price of oil went right back up after 1973, and for a time the US market moved towards smaller cars. Even then the industry may not have downsized cars if overdrive technology was introduced at that time.

It's been more than 40 years since the US was embargoed and the market hasn't changed much. The top selling car in the US in 2009 is? The Toyota Prius with its 51/48 mpg? The 45/40 Honda Civic? Those small Smart Cars rated at 41/33? What about the Camry or Solara? They did get 33/22!

No, you see, free market capitalism is such a joke that in the wake of 3 different oil embargoes, numerous oil spills, negative political actions, and numerous other problems in the US, the top selling car in 2009 was rated at 19 miles per gallon on the Highway, and 14 in the city. The Ford F-150! And it was by a 10,000 car lead over the 2nd place 31/22 Honda Accord. In third was the super gas efficient Chevy Silverado rated at 20/15.

Yep, apparently last year everyone decided to own a horse or become a farmer, or just decided to haul their junk around all year and bought a F-150 or Silverado. Let me know when the free market thing starts to line up and actually be true, cause from here it is looking like nice bedtime story one reads to their children.

The funniest thing about the whole F-150 thing, is that it the Prius which has a whopping 30MPG lead over it is only about 1,000 dollars (about 14 dollars per month over 72 months), but in purchasing one you become eligible for tax credits.

However, for what I can only imagine is political stupidity to support the failing American automobile industry (hint: gas isn't groovy), it seems tax credits are no longer available for non-American cars, and these credits will be phased out this year. It is such a pity, even more so than the fact people have to be PUSHED into a car that saves you money over time. I've already discussed how going back in time doesn't actually produce solutions. The only thing we can do in the society we have created, is push people with the only motivation we do have, money. Offer incentives to make development in the right areas more appealing. Make goals, and actually meet them. Offer prizes to corporations who actually manage to meet those goals. For example instead of making a 32,000 dollar electric car like the Nissan Leaf, make an incentive for a 20-25K dollar car. Push the industry to do better than it is doing right now.

On a different note, I'm sure there are a few people who sleep soundly at night knowing that the US does have strategic oil reserves in case something should happen. But it won't last more than a month. I wish that was a sarcastic hyperbole, but it isn't.

In truth, the only thing that will fix our problems America, is you. Each of you need to go out and make the right decisions in your future. And doing what is right, isn't always what is easy. Large entities don't listen to public outcry. The only language they speak is money, and their own survival.

So my advice to you citizens of America is that if you truly are disturbed by the BP oil spill, remember: buy a real renewable energy car, and don't settle for anything less.

Strawmen Are Flimsy

I happened to be reading Fark.com, and I happened across The Daily Beast's "article" claiming that America is the laziest country ever (amusingly enough the website is mostly [IMO] internet garbage run by a non-American).

Here to refute pretty much the entire basis of 'Merica being the laziest country ever are statistics:

- Americans are the most productive workers in the world in terms of both wealth generated per year and per hour (thanks to the invention of the interwebs). Here is another fancy version with charts!

- Americans have fewer paid holidays and paid vacations.

- Americans don't experience paid maternity leave.

- Americans are working harder with fewer employees.

- You can't even keep the Americans down during the economic recession. Productivity rises 2.5% while Europe takes a 1% dip.

- In case you were wondering, here is the list of countries listed via nominal GDP.

I have to say my favorite statistic from the original article was about how Canadians use sooooo much internet during the month of December at 43 hours per person... This translates to less than 1.5 hours a day on the internet. And that is during a month when pretty much everyone is home for the holidays.

Far be it from me to start chanting out USA USA (other than a joke), but come on. You could find some of my statistics with a few easy google searches. Just posting an opinion like that without fact checking just seems... lazy.

I Thought You Were A Life-Sized Paper Doll

So February is Eating Disorder Awareness month, and we probably are not going to hear much about it (a few articles here or there). It’s also Black History Month, I’m sure children all over America are being treated to the speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. At the same time, I don’t think kids in the early portions of the education system are being taught a healthy concept of weight in school besides running around in circles in gym class. Also, I don’t believe that Middle/High schoolers are being taught the many facets of the issue (genetics, production of food, cost vs. quality of food, etc) besides throwing the USDA’s pyramid at them.

Anyway, in the modern world of social media, supporting something is as easy as a mouse click away. Support the troops! *click the like button* Support same sex marriage *click the like button* Support Haiti *click the fan button* I guess it is easier than voting, and better than nothing. You don’t need to think beyond “I like this” or “I dislike this”. So I ran passed a few posts in response to an article that throws around some statistics (without actually saying much on the topic) and figured I’d post them up for other people as my contribution (something slightly better than just "fanning" a page about it). My apologies if they are a tad too depressing, but eating disorders don't make the cheeriest of stories.

Side note: the names are from an Internet forum

I've never understood anorexia. George Carlin described it as "rich c*** don't wanna eat? Ah, f*** 'em."

Then I met my half-sister a little over 10 years ago. She was 5'8" and about 140 lbs. She looked great. Pretty, funny and very intelligent. We hung out for hours smoking, drinking and talking.

We lost contact for a few years. Then, she needed help moving so I drove to Seattle to assist. She was down to around 115 lbs but wasn't scary skinny.

We lost touch again for a couple of years. Then I found out her dad had talked her into going to anorexia/alcoholism rehab. She had gotten down to 80 lbs. In two months she was back to 120 lbs and was released. She later told me the place only made her a better anorexic because all the patients traded tips.

After she got out, she immediately lost over 20 lbs. Her fiance left her. I'd always wanted to live in Seattle, so when she asked if I'd like to share an apartment in Seattle, I jumped at the chance. She was around 90 lbs at the time.

The next few years were fun. Even though she was chronically unemployed, I made more than enough to support the both of us. She was a blast to hang out with. She was so smart and funny.

After being let go from her third job in under a year, something changed. She was depressed she hadn't finished her triple major (mol bio, chem and physics) at the UW. She owed them too much money to go back. Also, she had defaulted on over $50,000 in student loans.

I was working a lot of overtime, so I wasn't home much. She spent her days lying on the couch, drinking wine and "looking" for work. She started wearing really baggy clothes. Her cognition started to become spotty. She would tell a story, then tell the same story 5 minutes later.

My other sister has her masters in psychology and is building a counciling practice. She got a social worker to have some crisis workers come over to try to get her to get some treatment. She refused. She was smart enough to talk her way out of being committed as a danger to herself.

Last May (about a month later) I got her to weigh herself. She was down to 73 lbs. My sister and I convinced her to go to the county ER to get checked out. Anorexics can't stand losing control of anything, so we assured her there was no possibility of commitment. Actually, we were hoping they would see how sick she was and give her a 72 hour hold. Nope, after treating her like a crack whore for 14 hours, they diagnosed her as anemic, gave her a script for vitamins and released her.

Over the next months, she tried to eat occasionally but would usually puke it up into a 32 oz widemouth bottle she kept by the couch. My sister and I tried 2 more time to have crisis talk her into treatment but again she talked her way out of it. The 3rd time we were warned we could be charged with harassment.

About a month later she could barely walk. Her face was sunken and her sclera were yellow. She complained of intense abdominal pain. My sister and I decided to risk a harassment charge and get crisis out there again.

After about an hour of talking she was told she could either come willingly or the cops and an ambulance would take her in anyways. We finally got our 72 hour hold. We were sure IV fluids and nutrients would fix her.

Luckily, county ER was full so we got her into another hospital. After some pushback from the ER doc, she was admitted. Or maybe it was the phrase "ward of state" that got their attention. I was subpoened to testify at her hearing in three days.

There never was a hearing. The doctors discovered that she had multiple organ failures. Her kidneys were shutting down, her liver was almost completely gone, her intestines and stomach were not moving at all and she had the pancreas of a "70 year old Ukrainian (WTF?) alcoholic."

In short she was terminal. We organized shifts so someone was always there with her. For the first few days she seemed okay. She talked and joked around with everyone. Then, late one night she aspirated bile into her lungs causing her O2sats to drop. They stuck her on a vent and pumped her full pain meds and Versaid. She never talked again.

After several days waiting for her boomer parents to realize there was no hope and that my sister was suffering, we got them to discontinue life support. They said it would be a matter of minutes.

Nope. It took her almost four hours to die. All the while making this horrible gasping sound. And then it was over. She would have been 35 six days later. She was my best friend.

- Jebus Slaves

Having watched somebody go in a similar manner, I know how you feel but don't know what to say.

The gal I knew wasn't even 30 and it took her days to die. One of the last things she said was that she was worried about how she was going to look at the funeral, she was worried that she was to fat and that people were going to make fun of her.

Didn't go to her funeral.

What makes people do that? It's horrible.

- Veteran of the Cola Wars

Entertaining Alignment

Well I guess if I had to look at the 9 alignments in terms of entertainment:

Chaotic anything (good, neutral, and evil) will make for an entertaining/interesting character. On one side you have V from V For Vendetta (film), the guy who destroys and harms for the purpose of making the world a better place. The V in the comics is much more anarchic, and the comic itself contains more drugs, etc. Essentially, he is a freedom fighter, the part inside of everyone that wants to say “screw the law, screw red tape; I’m going to make the world a better place no matter the cost”. Another example is Iron Man from the recent movie, although not to such a drastic level as V.

On the other hand you have characters like The Joker in The Dark Knight. Essentially just doing whatever evil they can on a whim. Running around blowing things up, killing whoever in whichever way they want, and generally mocking the Lawful characters. I guess some people have an innate sort of feeling of needing anarchy, for whatever reason, but generally these aren’t the types of characters that people cheer for. Granted, I didn’t say they weren’t entertaining.

Chaotic Neutral is generally perceived as anarchy, or living on the whim to an extreme. Their only need is personal freedom, anything else doesn’t matter. Take for example Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean, at one point stealing a ship (generally considered evil) but later killing a murderous bunch of undead pirates (generally considered good) all for his own profit (neutral). In films this is all well and good in the eyes of the audience if it creates some sort of comedy, or as long as the evil doesn’t outweigh the good. Essentially people wouldn’t have found Jack so attractive if he assaulted Elizabeth during their first encounter.

Lawful evil makes for a good villain character. This is essentially the evildoer hiding behind a massive corporation so he can use the profits for more crime. Examples of this would be Tony Stark’s rival Justin Hammer, or Kingpin from Daredevil. These types exploit honest workers, and the very foundations of modern society, resulting in a fairly easy to obtain negative reaction.

Lawful good characters are usually the incorruptible officers of the law type. These are the people with a deep sense of right and wrong, but no matter how hard they wish to rid the world of crime, are not willing to break it themselves to reach that goal. Film versions would be an early Nicholas Angel from Hot Fuzz (he becomes more of a neutral good towards the end of the film) as well as Gordon and Batman from most of The Dark Knight. Essentially the part where Batman is being physical with The Joker in the interrogation room is the explanation where Joker says something along the lines of “there is nothing you can do with all your strength to hurt me” and the “this is what happens when an immovable object meets an unstoppable force” are explanations that the chaotic evil character can go where the Lawful good cannot, in this case, the lawful good must transcend the boundaries of the law, and become neutral good.

Neutral good would be the action movie star that most people are accustomed to seeing. It’s the “good cop that can’t be stopped”, the Batman and Sergeant Angel that the audience sees towards the end of the films. These archetypes are able to go beyond what the law does, in Angel’s case, going on a massive gunfight to free the town. Batman creates the massive cell phone spying device to save Gotham from the Joker. Both acts would violate Lawful Good, because it would create an obvious moral dilemma, but not being liable to the law for damage done or lives lost solves this.

Lawful neutral characters usually undergo some sort of transformation. You have the person that follows the constructs of society, a law abider, someone who lives by one mantra, code, etc. These are typically the people portrayed as complacent with following orders, be they good or bad. For example, a soldier who is ordered to give out candy to children in a village and do it, yet would also carry out an execution of an innocent if ordered is this alignment. The closest character that represents this would be Matt Damon’s character in The Good Shepherd. A differing example would be Hajime Saito of Rurouni Kenshin, a character who follows a concept concerning slaying evil. Many of the soldiers in Avatar fit this category.

The final is true neutral. It is hard to define it as one thing or another, as it can have several meanings. To use a recent background, a neutral in Avatar would be a character who originally joins the fight against a group of Na’vi, but then switches sides in the fight to prevent the species from being wiped out. A true neutral could also exist to balance everything, being good at one moment, and even the next just so that neither extreme could dominate the other.

The Oaths

While sitting outside my dorm, I once noted that a familiar quote was written on several pillars around the traditional area for smoking known as "The Cancer Hut" by most students.

When I asked a friend, he pointed out it was the Green Lantern motto, so I figured I'd post each one for pure interest.

Green Lanterns:
In Brightest Day,
In Blackest Night,
No Evil Shall Escape My Sight.
Let Those Who Worship Evil's Might
Beware My Power-- Green Lantern's Might.

*Side note: The Green Lanterns' powers are based off willpower, odd it doesn't mention this.

Star Sapphires (violet):
For hearts long lost and full of fright,
For those alone in blackest night,
Accept our ring and join our fight,
Love conquers all-- With violet light!

Red Lantern Corps:
With blood and rage of crimson red,
Ripped from the corpse so freshly dead,
Together with our hellish hate,
We'll burn you all-- That is your fate!

Sinestro Corps (Yellow):
In blackest day, in brightest night,
Beware your fears made into light,
Let those who try to stop what's right
Burn like his power-- Sinestro's might!

Blue Lantern Corps:
In fearful day, in raging night,
With strong hearts full, our souls ignite,
When all seems lost in the War of Light,
Look to the stars-- For hope burns bright!

Black Lantern Corps:
The blackest light fall from the skies,
The darkness grows as all light dies,
We crave your hearts and your demise,
By my black hand-- The dead shall rise!

Unfortunately, the Oaths for the Indigo Corps and Agent Orange (and his constructs) have yet to be spoken. Orange's is based off greed, while indigo's is in a language readers can't understand but stands for compassion.

I would like to see a Lantern Corps based off knowledge (i.e. truth, understanding) but that isn't an emotion.