Vote

Today, exercise your right to vote.

Why? Because if you don't, you're letting others speak for you.

With Apologies to Albert

I was reading some blogs, saw the picture on the right, and it hit me. 2 minutes in a photo editor and there you go.

I'd be surprised if the association hadn't already been made before.

Spreading the Wealth

The Republicans are up to their usual tactics again. They're calling Obama "Barack the wealth spreader" yet they are the ones misrepresenting and distorting Obama's platform and speeches. And they're selling most Americans a lie, and it's that lie I want to focus on here.

Here's the dirty truth: most Americans don't -- and never will -- fall into the category where your "wealth" will be spread around. They talk to all of us "working class" people in the "pro-America" parts of the country and strike fear into our hearts that our "wealth" is going to be taken away. But that's simply not true. Obama's tax plan calls for the status quo or in many cases, tax reductions, on the bottom 95% of tax payers. The only increases will be for that top 5%, those earning $250k/year or more. They have wealth, yes. And some additional amount of their wealth would be "spread" (a.k.a taxed). But the important thing is the lie the Republicans are selling everyone on. It's statistically impossible for most of us working-class "Joes" to be in the situation where we'd be taxed more. They're trying to convince us that we have more than we do!

The truth is that while a very, very small portion of America will have tax increases under Obama, the vast majority of us (including nearly everyone reading this post) will not see a change in our taxes, and in many cases, we'll be taxed less.

If you distort something long enough, eventually people will believe you. Most people's view of politics is on perceived reality, not actuality. And that's the only thing the Republicans have going for them.

You know the guy who goes into the voting booth and makes his decision based on stump speeches, campaign ads, and partisan blogs? Don't be that guy...

I Tweet With Twitter

I use Twitter to follow others as well as make my own "semi-regular" thoughts. It's a little quicker to post there via a Firefox extension, so I update there a little more regularly.

Check it out/add to your RSS reader if you're into that sort of thing.

http://twitter.com/whereisderek

The Way to a Woman's Heart

Saw this as part of a woot.com sale. They usually come up with clever ways to describe what they're selling, but this one is pretty good...

The HP Pavilion s3401f Slimline Dual Core 2.6 GHz Desktop PC:
the Athlon 64 X2 (B) 5000+ 2.6 GHz (65W) base processor says “I like to move fast”, but the 360gb 7200 RPM SATA hard drive says “I’ll give you your space.” 6 USB ports suggest that you’re open-minded. And rare indeed is the woman who can resist a man bearing integrated 10/100 Base-T networking interface with Wireless LAN 802.11 b/g. Everybody hates Windows Vista, so you’ll have a shared interest to talk about during those awkward moments. It’s true what they say: the way to a woman’s heart is through her HP Pavilion s3401f Slimline Dual Core 2.6 GHz Desktop PC.

Dichotomy

Not everything is black and white. For instance, knowing someone, who committed terrorist acts when you were only eight years old, does not make you a terrorist. Just like attending a secessionist church in Alaska and sitting through the preachings of antisemitism and hating America does not make you a secessionist.

Things aren't that black and white.

True Stories

“Yesterday’s luxuries become today’s necessities.”

Sounds like a quote right out of True Stories. But, it wasn't from that movie. I just happened to read it on a multi-purpose blog.