The budget explained in simple English

December 22, 2011 By

(I’m not sure who the original author is. Found this being shared on Facebook)

I love it when complex things are simplified so that we can all understand.

  • United States Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
  • Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000
  • New debt: $1,650,000,000,000
  • National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
  • Recent budget cut: $38,500,000,000

Now, remove 8 zeros and pretend it’s a household budget.

  • Annual family income: $21,700
  • Money the family spent: $38,200
  • New debt on the credit card: $16,500
  • Outstanding balance on credit card: $142,710
  • Total budget cuts which some politicians are proud about: $385

Stop the insanity now. Vote them out and demand a balanced budget.

Filed Under: Politics

Christopher Hitchens tells us what he really thinks about the Tea Party

February 2, 2011 By

From a December 2, 2010 interview with Christopher Hitchens on Lateline, Mr. Hitchens pulls no punches on what he thinks about the Tea Party in the US

Filed Under: Politics

Fox News Teaches Us How to Make Super Biased Opinion Polls

March 4, 2010 By

Logical, rational, and sane people already know that Fox News is the media talking head, and lie spreading feux news channel, for people who are controlled by fear, promote hate, and are in a perpetual state of playing follow the leader (aka Conservative Christian Republicans). One of the things they’re very good at is relentlessly promoting their narrow-minded message, in spite of differing, more reasonable opinions. However, I admire their ability to be so blazen in their bias – it’s definitely a sight to see, even if just to witness the pure destructive spectacle of it.

One of the best things Fox News is good at is spinning a poll. Not only can they throw around poll numbers that are completely different from other news organizations–numbers that are always in favor of their message–they can also craft a damn good biased poll. They recently did a poll called Does the ‘Reconciliation’ Gambit Make You Angry?.

The three options they included (there were actually four, but the “Other” option is just there to filter out trolls) would have been fine if they were expressed without their tacked on opinions. In its simple form–without opinions–it was Yes, Not Sure, and No. Simple enough. However, the opinions that came after each option were cynical, biased, and designed to fuel the moronic angst of the type of people who actually go to Fox News to get their news.

  1. Yes. This is outrageous! They’re using rules to bypass the clear voice of the people – payback in November, guys.
  2. Not sure, but if they have to resort to rules loopholes to pass a law, doesn’t that indicate that a lot of people oppose it?
  3. No. Look, we need health care reform and we need it now. Let’s get started, even if it means using a rules loophole.

The “Not Sure” and “No” options were sabotaged with dickishness.

“…doesn’t that indicate that a lot of people oppose it?”

“Let’s get started, even if it means using a rules loophole.”

I mean, really? Not surprisingly, most people chose yes ;) If you preach to a choir, can a tree in a forest hear the preaching?

Filed Under: Politics Tagged With: , ,

The Truth Hurts

April 15, 2008 By

Here’s another reason why I’m voting for Obama…he’s intelligent. This is a case of I wish I could have said that, but it’s not politically acceptable. He may be getting a beating from his political foes, but we all know that what he said is true.

Referring to “these small towns in Pennsylvania,” Obama told his wealthy audience that the views of these voters on a variety of subjects should be understood as responses to decades of economic distress. “It’s not surprising,” he said, “then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.”

From The rubes and the elites

Filed Under: Culture, Politics

Should Thanksgiving Day Be Atonement Day?

November 22, 2007 By

While the vast majority of U.S. Citizens celebrate Thanksgiving Day to remember the things we’re thankful for — including being thankful for our country — it may be better spent as a day of atonement. As Robert Jensen suggests in his article Why We Shouldn’t Celebrate Thanksgiving, he reminds us that what we should really be remembering is the genocide of America’s indigenous peoples.

After years of being constantly annoyed and often angry about the historical denial built into Thanksgiving Day, I published an essay in November 2005 suggesting we replace the feasting with fasting and create a National Day of Atonement to acknowledge the genocide of indigenous people that is central to the creation of the United States.

The sentiment of Thanksgiving Day is certainly an honorable one. We gather once a year to remember and show gratitude to the many things we’re thankful for. However, as Jensen implies, it may be a shameful exercise if we make the main focus of Thanksgiving Day based on our revisionist, white-washed history of how our country was founded and how we treated Native Americans.

Filed Under: Politics