Always My Favorite Companion

Leela could always take care of herself.

Reignite

Nice music video.

Nemesis

I actually meant to save this for October, but since I was careless about the scheduling, I might as well leave it up.

German Longsword Drills

I really need to practice more of this stuff.

The Nuclear Option

Senate Democrats and Republicans managed to find some kind of agreement to vote on Presidential appointments, so Reid won’t be implementing the “nuclear option” today.

Why is it taking so long? I think the “nuclear option” should have been exercised ages ago. What the Senate has right now is not a filibuster: a filibuster requires effort. A filibuster requires politicians to occupy the floor and keep debate open endlessly to keep a vote from happening. It requires the kind of effort that Wendy Davis put forth in Texas and Rand Paul put forth in the US House.

What the Senate has is an “obstruct” button, and it needs to be taken away.

On the Trayvon Martin Case

I suppose that everyone with even a fleeting connection to the media has learned by now that George Zimmerman was acquitted of murder and manslaughter in the death of Trayvon Martin.

I hope that everyone realizes that being acquitted of these charges doesn’t mean that Zimmerman did nothing wrong and/or wasn’t being an idiot. This case isn’t over: there will be a wrongful death suit, and there’s a good chance he’ll lose that one.

I’m not terribly surprised by the verdict. I’ve been a juror in a criminal case, and the bar to convict is pretty high. For any given charge, there are several criteria that jury must agree have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. If and only if all of them have been proven beyond a reasonable doubt, the jury must find the defendant guilty. If there’s a reasonable doubt about even one of the conditions, the jury must find the defendant not guilty.

I’m willing to bet that the jury just followed their instructions and did what they had to do based on the evidence presented in court. Don't blame them: blame the politicians who set up this situation with Florida's insane gun laws.

Politics: Tax Policy Revisited

In a previous post I discussed how I would revise personal income taxes, if it were up to me. I also have a few ideas about corporate taxes that I would implement, if I had supreme executive power!

One of the arguments that I hear a lot is that corporate taxes hurt the economy and the people by discouraging employment. The corporations have less money available to them due to taxes, so they have less to put into payroll. I think that can be handled by letting corporations deduct legitimate costs of doing business from their income, payroll being one of those costs. Money that goes to payroll is subject to personal income tax, anyway, so there's no need to "double-tax" it.

Now, I would try to limit that by putting a "salary cap" on the payroll deduction. No more than $200,000 in compensation for an individual employee can be deducted, for example. That should keep the payroll deduction from being used as a tax loophole by giving outrageous compensation packages to executives; they would have to pay a lot of people good salaries to avoid taxes that way.

(Edit: To account for inflation, I think calculated value would be better than a fixed number. Instead of $200,000 as the deduction cap, make it ten times the compensation of the lowest-paid person in the organization.)

Other legitimate costs of doing business would be materials used in making a product, utilities, equipment purchases, and equipment maintenance.

Things I would not include are payments on corporate debt, be they loan payments or buying back stocks or bonds. I just don't want to encourage a lot of borrowing. Stock dividends would also be right out. Payouts to shareholders are things that you do with profits, not expenses.

Charitable spending I would make deductible, but only for the amount that actually goes to charitable work. There would be no such thing as a "non-profit organization" that was untaxed: just money used for charitable purposes that's deductible.

That's what strikes me as a fair corporate tax system that encourages investment and employment and doesn't reward stuffing the bank accounts of corporate executives.

"Aquaoir"? Really?

I'm sure that aging a wine under water will give it a different character than aging it in a cellar, but the descriptions in this article are typical of the kind of pretentiousness we've come to expect from "wine connoisseurs".

Ocean-aged wine is 'more complex' says Napa winery

You know its pretentious when they make up a new word -- "aquaoir". That's a play on "terroir", which describes subtle differences in wine derived from the soil in which the grapes were grown. A zinfandel made from grapes grown in France, for instance, can be distinguished from a zinfandel made from California grapes, even if the wine-making process is otherwise the same.

Of course, Mira Winery has invented the word "aquaoir" to describe flavor variations that occur during bottle aging, meaning that it really has nothing in common with "terroir" at all.

Sommelier Patrick Emerson produced some lovely nonsense after sampling some of the water-aged wine.

‘I am quite surprised – shocked at how quickly these two wines have changed paths – something magical has happened with “aquaoir”. The signature difference might be in the riddling motion of the tides.’

Mira winemaker Gustavo Gonzalez made the much humbler and more believable claim that...

‘It’s not better, it’s not worse and it is definitely different.’

Unfortunately he followed that with wine mumbo-jumbo rivalling Emerson's.

‘The land wine is tighter versus aquaoir-aged wine, which is more complex and broad, more open and relaxed.’

I love wine myself, and would love to do some taste-testing of water-aged versus cellar-aged wine, but wine descriptions tend to leave a bad taste in my mouth.

Checking My English Major Cred

Created by Oatmeal

I wish it were more specific about what I screwed up.

Internet "Censorship"

As I've occasionally mentioned in posts before, comments to the Saga are screened before they are published. Yes, I reserve the right to decide what appears on my blog.

I seldom refuse to publish a comment. If someone disagrees with me, I usually want their comments to be seen. Either they made a good point that I should address, or they helped me make mine through their absurdity. Most of the comments that I've refused to publish have just been spam.

But let's make no mistake: if I don't publish your comment, I'm not infringing on your freedom of speech. Respecting your freedom of speech does not require me to let you stand on my soap box. You can start your own no-cost blog just as easily as I did. That's why I have multiple blog articles that respond to Allecto: I understand that she blocks critical comments and that she has every right to do so. I can be critical of her on my own blog.

This is not a response to any complaints about my actions: it's a general broadcast. I've seen people complain that so-and-so screens comments on their blog or doesn't allow comments on their YouTube videos or "unfriends" people on Facebook. So what? It's their blog, their channel, their Facebook account! They have no obligation to publish anyone else's opinion. If you want to say something, you can start your own blog or channel. Your freedom of expression is not infringed just because someone else doesn't give you free access to their media channel.

End of rant.

"ME3: Citadel" Review

I finished the "Citadel" DLC last night, and I have comments. Naturally they'll be spoileriffic, so I'll do the real discussion after a jump, but overall I enjoyed the main plot.

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Mass Effect 3: Citadel

The timing of this release is really going to make it hard for me to get packed for Gulf Wars.

ME3: Reckoning

BioWare is determined to squander more of my time. They released the "Reckoning" DLC for Mass Effect 3 multiplayer yesterday.



Yes, of course I downloaded it. To my credit, I only played one mission before going to bed instead of staying up until some ungodly hour.

They very kindly give you one of the new characters as a gift when you download the expansion, and I scored the Krogan Warlord. It's the first Krogan character I have had the chance to play. I must say that I rather like him. He's designed to perform well without any worries about "cooldown" times on "powers". His powers are all things that you can start and then forget, as they're all armor enhancements or weapon enhancements.

He's quite the brute in play, too. I equipped him with a nasty shotgun, but I hardly ever use it, preferring to smash things with a power hammer. He's also a brick when it comes to durability: the game I played was against the Collectors, and it took a Praetorian to get him down. He was going toe-to-toe with Scions and winning (on the low difficulty setting, Bronze, of course). Quite a change from the other characters I've played: he's very much a "run up and smash it in the face" sort of character.

Good times.

Is That A Fact? - Gun Statistics

The Sandy Hook school shootings started another wave of interest in gun control legislation in the United States. Naturally, there are people who oppose tighter gun regulation, and I understand their view point. That doesn't mean I'm going to give them any slack on abusing statitics, though. This image is a recent example from Facebook.

In 1996, there was a mass shooting incident in Australia. It triggered a wave of interest in gun control legislation much as Sandy Hook has done in America. In Australia's case, new gun regulations were passed and implemented in 1997. Anti-Gun-Control activists like to cite some damning (but unsubstantiated) statistics about the effects of those regulations.

What we get are reports like those in the image: lists of percentages with no explanation of where the data was obtained or how the statistics were calculated. A scientific paper would require that kind of information, as scientists expect to be able to check each others' work. A bunch of percentages in a vacuum tell us nothing.

Gun legislation in Australia has been more restrictive than in the USA for decades, and gun ownership rates there have likewise been lower for a long time. The 1997 laws placed new restrictions on semi-automatic rifles and shotguns. Gun violence in Australia was declining before the new rules were passed, and gun violence has continued to decline since. There are disputes over whether the new regulations made a difference, because there has not been a significant change in the rate of decline since their passage.

I don't expect the "assault weapons" ban to have a major impact on gun crime in the USA. According to FBI statistics, rifles of any kind are used in less than 6% of homicides in the USA (this figure includes homicides involving a firearm of unspecified type). The most prevalent weapons by far in homicides in this country are handguns, accounting for nearly half of all homicides.

I'm annoyed with people who share these kinds of statistics, since I'm pretty sure that they don't do even a small amount of fact-checking before they start spreading this kind of misinformation (otherwise, they wouldn't be spreading it). I'm downright angry at the people who initiate this kind of "viral" disinformation, because they are shamelessly lying to people about the effects of gun legislation on society.

Politics: The Election Process

I think that the way we choose candidates is one of the biggest problems with our current political system. It’s bad enough that we have a two-party system, but allowing them to choose our nominees from strictly within the parties lends itself to extremism.

As I see it, the party primaries encourage extremism on both sides. The most extreme members of the electorate tend to be the most likely to participate in the primaries, which means that candidates have to appeal to the extremists to get nominated. There were Republican candidates that I actually would have voted for if they’d been nominated in 2012, but they weren’t hardcore-conservative enough, so they were eliminated early in the primaries.

The party primaries always set up moderate, centrist candidates for failure, even though (in my arrogant opinion) the moderates would have far better chances in the general election, where most of the voters are moderate independents. The candidates with positions closest to the general population are always pushed out by the extremists.

The solution I see is to have open primaries instead of party primaries. On a specific date (probably in August), there’s a general election, and the two candidates with the most votes go to a run-off in November. If someone gets more than half of the votes in the primary, there’s no need for a run-off; that position is already decided.

The open primary would force candidates to try to appeal to the entire electorate during the “primary season”, instead of trying to appeal to the subset of their own party that they consider most likely to get them nominated, and I think that would result in better elected officials.

Movie Review: Hansel & Gretel – Witch Hunters

I’m way overdue for a blog post, so I’ll throw out a little movie review.



I’d have to say this movie is about what you’d expect: an excuse to throw some action scenes and special effects in front of an audience to make money. That’s not always a bad thing. Sometimes you want a movie to just be fun, rather than some kind of emotion-wrenching drama or thought-provoking social puzzle.

Hansel & Gretel follows the premise that after they survive their experience with the witch of the gingerbread house, they grow up to become professional witch hunters. Their work eventually brings them full circle to the area where they were born, where they will discover what was really happening the night their father lead them into the woods and abandoned them.

It’s pretty much Van Helsing with witches instead of vampires. If you like that sort of thing, then you’ll like Hansel & Gretel.

Invaded

Before I digress (at length) into video game videos, I offer this short live-action horror flick to my fans who will hate the rest of this post.



And the rest of the last day of the video spree is dedicated to the game that has had me semi-obsessed for seven months: Mass Effect 3.


Even after seven months, it still keeps me entertained, and there are a lot of solid fan-made trailers, too.


And -- because today is Halloween, and because I love it so much -- I also give you this little spoiler of the payoff you get if you bust your ass for three games.


Of course, if you don't bust your ass, things can go horribly wrong.

And finally, you can modify the game to create a zombie apocalypse scenario in multiplayer.

The Dark Knight Returns

I've actually been expecting this for years.


I wonder what took them so long.

The Grim Reaper

Needed to lighten up a bit after "Happy". Best make this one a double.

Happy

Who ever thought they were funny, anyway? Studies show that kids, in particular, really don't like them.

Prepare for the Future

Another of my time wasters.

Lil Cthulu

He's adorable!

Aw, Dang!

Poor Lance: didn't realize he wasn't actually the hero.

In Chambers

I had no idea what was going on until the very end.

Zombie Apocalypse Problems

Nena and I were watching Walking Dead last night (Season 2, Episode 2 - "Bloodletting"), and events started her on a short rant.

Spoilers follow, so don't jump if you don't want to know.

Read more »

No Different from Anybody Else

Has everyone seen this deleted scene from The Avengers?


And, since there wasn't any costumery in that clip.

So Lonely

Where are the brains?

Get the Door

An American Werewolf in London did great nightmare sequences.

Ninjas vs Vampires

Saw it. This is actually one of the best bad movies I've seen in a while.


Beats Syfy originals by a longshot, at least.

Thriller

My lovely Nena suggested a far better video than what I originally had scheduled. The ultimate music video.

Dishonored

Another one that looks very promising.

Presentation

Super-villainy 101, really.

Do You Fear Death?

I wasn't as fond of the second and third installments as the first, but Davy Jones is still a great villain.

Ominous

You just know nothing good will come of this.



Perhaps a little context is in order...

Mann vs Machine

Video game companies are making the best trailers these days.

Hail Seitan!

I actually want to make this, as instructed.


And because I love Firefly, and today is the 13th...

Death Lives

I might even be interested in getting this game.

Dead Snow

A strange little zombie movie from a few years back.

King of the Monsters

You can't have too many variations on "This Is Halloween".

Franchise Warfare

This is a nice little piece of editing.

The Blight is Coming

A trailer and cutscene from Dragon Age: Origins.


I squandered quite a bit of time on this game. That's why it gets double videos.

The Key to Time

I'm a Doctor Who Hipster.

The Danger Must Be Growing

There's no Earthly way of knowing...

Pets, Of Course

Now this is a real Star Trek villain.


And today is a good day for an extra video.

This is Aperture

There are some rhyme scheme problems, but it's still fun.

Killer Beasts

I nice rundown of movies involving animals turned into monsters. Not sure I'd agree with the ranking, but it's still fun.

Gabriel

The Prophecy is a surprisingly good low-budget horror/fantasy flick, and it's sequels aren't too bad either.

Cthulu!

It's what's for dinner!



Seriously, I would actually like to try this someday.

On a different note, how did I never see this?

Firefly and Feminism: Reflection

The various articles I wrote about feminism and Firefly in response to Allecto's rants continue to be among the best hit-getters for the Saga. Consequently, I tend to reflect upon the topic when I see that new visitors have come to the blog to see one or more of those articles.

On one of these occasions, I considered one of Allecto's questions.

The women who ‘choose’ to be ‘Companions’ are shown as being intelligent, accomplished, educated, well-respected and presumably from good families. If a woman had all of these qualities and opportunities then why the **** would she ‘choose’ to be a man’s **** toy?

I wondered, why would Inara choose life as a Companion? What other opportunities would she have in Alliance society? Are they so limited that they make high-class prostitution look preferable?

That's when it occurred to me that I've never seen a woman in the Alliance in a position of authority. Not on the core worlds, at least.

Out among the "border moons," there are women like Patience who have taken charge. Patience apparently runs the entire moon, but the Alliance really doesn't care what's happening on the more remote colonies. They certainly seem to have the means to assert their authority if they so desire, but the border colonies have small populations and negligible industrialization. They don't have anything to offer the Alliance, and they would expect a lot more support if the Alliance imposed a lot of restrictions. The Alliance apparently doesn't consider them worth the trouble, choosing to ignore them until they do have something of value.

Among the highly-developed core worlds, there are plenty of wealthy, well-educated women, but I can only think of one who was an authority figure of any kind. Inara entertained a female Councilor in "War Stories," and she's the only female politician, military leader, or business leader I can think of.

We certainly see women in working roles -- there were certainly female doctors and nurses in "Ariel" -- but not so much in leadership roles.

And when you get to the Alliance aristocracy, the only role available to women seems to be "trophy wife." Maybe Inara chose life as a Companion to becoming one man's "kept woman."

I don't know how that should be interpreted in the context of whether Firefly should be considered feminist or misogynist (the Alliance does tend to be villainous most of the time), but I hadn't really noticed it before.

Halloween Celebration Prepared

Halloween-themed video posts have been queued for the entire month of October. Check daily (in October) for a dose of amusement.

Bad Movie: Survival of the Dead

Nena and I watched Survival of the Dead this week. This is the latest in George Romero's Night of the Living Dead series of movies. They've always been hit-or-miss in quality, and this one is about as far from the bull's-eye as Romero's zombie films get.

This is nowhere near as bad as Abraham Lincoln vs Zombies, of course, but it's nowhere near as good as Land of the Dead, either. The acting is spottier than in most of his movies, the writing isn't nearly as tight, and there are some serious continuity problems with its predecessors. Upon reflection, maybe it's not far above ALvZ, after all.

Most offensive, perhaps, is the tendency of characters who have been dealing with zombies for an extended period of time or have applicable training or both (and who therefore have no excuse) to do incredibly stupid things that get them bitten or completely torn to bits by zombies.

Another offense that occurs with annoying frequency is the sudden appearance of zombies from nowhere. It's not like they're stealthy, and there's usually no place they could have been hiding, but they still manage to end up standing right behind someone without warning in scene after scene. A couple of still-alive guys manage to do the same thing to one of the lead characters at one point, as well... on horseback... in the open... in broad daylight.

Yet another peeve is the FX department obviously straining to find innovative new ways to destroy zombies. We don't need a new effect for every dead zombie, guys, just whacking them in the head is okay.

It has a decent premise, but the execution is sub-par, even for zombie movies. I'd say this is at least a five-beer zombie movie (the number being the number of beers needed to make it tolerable).

September 11, 2001

I was on my way to work and listening to the news on the radio. A plane had crashed into the World Trade Center, and it was a terrible accident. Then a second plane hit the other tower, and it wasn't an accident anymore.

Spices That Heal

I saw this picture going around on Facebook recently, and it struck me as one of those "don't believe everything you hear" types of claims. Herbs and spices certainly can have health benefits, of course; many modern medicines are derived from such things. On the other hand, it should be possible to find supporting evidence for claims like these pretty easily.

A little web browsing doesn't find much supporting evidence.

Cumin: Unsurprisingly, Organic Facts supports the claim that cumin helps prevent cancer, although it doesn't cite any studies. Sources that I consider less biased, like LiveStrong.com and WebMD, don't mention cancer prevention as potential benefits.

Ginger: Studies referenced by the University of Maryland Medical Center show that ginger is more effective than a placebo at reducing nausea. It's not as effective as medications, but it also has fewer side effects.

Thyme: There doesn't seem to be any conclusive evidence for thyme helping treat coughing. Some preliminary studies suggest it may be helpful, but there's nothing solid.

Rosemary: I remember Gingko being the big herbal solution to memory problems a few years ago. It turned out to be nothing. Similarly, I don't even find mention of memory benefits being connected to rosemary on the internet. It's best recommendation is for treating hair loss.

Nutmeg: Several sites mention studies showing that nutmeg helps to reduce blood pressure, but I've yet to find one that gives a reference that says who conducted such a study, where it was done, or when it was done.

Basil: My search did not produce any support for claims that basil helps to reduce the severity or duration of colds, although it apparently does contain an assortment of vitamins and minerals.

Clove: I don't think Organic Facts is an unbiased source, but even they don't list relief of arthritis pain as a benefit of cloves.

Cinnamon: Studies have been conducted on the effects of cinnamon on blood sugar, but they have not yielded anything conclusive: some show a benefit, others don't.

Tumeric: Tumeric is apparently being studied for possible medicinal value, but there doesn't seem to be anything reliable about reducing inflammation.

Garlic: Studies on the effects of garlic on "bad" cholesterol are, so far, inconclusive.

I use every one of these herbs and spices frequently, but not for any supposed medicinal properties. Some of the claims made in the "RawForBeauty" image have some support, but even that tends to be tenuous. Enjoy herbs and spices for the enjoyment they can add to your meals, but don't get them expecting any particular health benefit unless reliable studies have been done to show that those benefits are real.

Bad Movie: Abraham Lincoln vs Zombies

This movie is typical of the B-grade stuff produced by The Asylum studios and aired as Syfy Original Movies. As you might guess, it's a cheap rip-off of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

Without delving too much into the details, Abe survives a zombie outbreak in his home community as a child and goes on to become President of the United States. When a secret mission to control a Confederate fort fails, and the sole survivor reports walking dead cannibals blowing the whole thing, Abe decides to personally lead a unit of Secret Service men to contain the infection.

An assortment of 19th Century personalites whom Abe never met in real life make appearances, and -- to spoil something that doesn't deserve special protection -- his conversations with them all produce sound bites that end up going into the Gettysburg Address.

The story concludes with an act of astronomical stupidity that was foreshadowed greatly.

You will be appalled by the abuse of history, predictable script, wooden acting, and cheap effects. Not recommended for sober movie watchers.

Special mention for the following:

• Zombies sleep standing up.
• Hopefully the background checks for the Secret Service are better today.
• Farm implements are awesome tools for fighting zombies.

Jury Duty

I got picked for jury duty along about the beginning of August. Lucky me, I was seated on a jury the first day I was required to be present. Note that, in my county, I'm on call for two months. I check with the county clerk to see if I need to be present on any given morning; there are multiple jury panels, they tell us which panels need to report on any given day. Panels get called up for jury selection, and jurors who aren't seated can go to work or home or wherever they normally go during the day. Jury selection will typically eat up all morning, even if you don't get picked.

So I got seated on my first reporting day for a criminal trial. It was a multi-count indictment.

1. Aggravated Burglary: Using a firearm in the commission of a felony in a residence.
2. Aggravated Assault: Using a firearm in an assault, which is harming someone or causing someone to be in fear of imminent harm.
3. Aggravated Domestic Assault (3 counts): Using a firearm in a domestic assault, which is an assault where the victim is a family member.
4. Aggravated Animal Cruelty: Causing needless harm to a companion animal.

There were a couple of additional charges, but I've let this wait long enough that I don't remember every one.

Basically, a man was charged with going to the home of his ex-wife and their children and shooting his way in with the intent to at least threaten and possibly harm one or all of them. He was also accused of shooting the family dog while there. The ex-wife, daughters, and a house guest hid in the bathroom when he arrived and started shooting the door until the lock broke. They said they saw him walk by the bathroom door (which was ajar), and then heard him moving into the far part of the house. At that point, they ran out the back door to a neighbor's house.

The eldest daughter had been on the phone to 911 since he first arrived at the house and started knocking on the door, claiming to be a sherriff's deputy. No one was fooled by that, and they went into hiding before he started shooting his way in.

He apparently gave up and left the house, heading back to his car, because a deputy sheriff intercepted him on the way to the car. He was detained and then arrested. The family was told they could return to the house. While gathering things they needed to spend the night at a friend's house, they found the dog shot.

The district attorney provided ample evidence that the man had gone to the house with a gun and performed the various acts described. The defense didn't make any serious attempt to challenge that evidence. The defense case hinged primarily on whether he performed these acts "intentionally or knowingly".

The suspect had a history of substance abuse, although he had been through clean periods in his life. He had, reportedly, been clean for about nine years before going to a clinic and being prescribed anti-depressants. The medications, according to the defense, were strongly contra-indicated for someone with his medical (alcohol and drug abuse) history, and they triggered a substance abuse relapse. Consequently, they argued, he was not in control of his actions at the time of the events of the case.

The instructions that the judge gives the jury after closing arguments are ironically simple. A charge has a number of elements. If all of the elements have been shown by the prosecution beyond a reasonable doubt, the jury must find the defendant guilty of that charge. If any of the elements has not been shown beyond a reasonable doubt, the jury must find the defendant innocent.

That the defendant was there and did the alleged things was never in doubt. Whether he did these things knowingly or with intent was the question.

To do these things, he had to get a rifle (which he identified to the deputies who arrested him as belonging to his "girlfriend"), load it, put it in a car (along with a box of additional ammunition), drive from another county to his ex-wife's home, park down the street, walk to the house, lie about his identity when knocking, very systematically shoot around the dead-bolt lock until it failed, and then kick the door open, enter and wander through the house looking for inhabitants, shoot the dog (which showed no evidence of hostility), leave the house, abandon the rifle in a ditch, and then head toward his car to leave.

He never actually saw his ex-wife or any other person at the house, so the defense did ask whether he could be "intending" to assault someone he never actually saw, but do you really drive to someone's house from another county with a gun "intending" not to find them at home?

No. He had a plan (if not necessarily a good one) to go to his ex-wife's house to threaten or harm her. If you put a shot of whiskey in front of him and told him not to drink it, I might excuse him for giving in to temptation, but what he did went far beyond what his addiction might compel him to do.

So a man is probably going to prison (the jury is excused before sentencing, I don't know exactly what penalty he will get), in part because of me.

Not a good day, really. A lot of things went terribly wrong for a family. I hope they recover from it.

More Like a BS Extractor

I saw one of the most absurd infomercials I've ever seen while having breakfast this morning. It was for something called the "NutriBullet", which was described as "not a blender, not a juicer, but a Superfood Nutrition Extractor".

Sadly, it was painfully obvious that this device is just a Magic Bullet being sold under a different brand name (update: and apparently with a more powerful motor). Sadder still is that some people will probably buy the hype and pay $120 for one of these things. Ordering the Magic Bullet from a TV ad is bad enough at $100. I actually have a Magic Bullet, and it's quite useful, but I think I only paid about $50 for it at an outlet store.

But the BS content of the sales pitch was astounding.

"Unlike everyday juicers and blenders, the NutriBullet completely breaks down ingredients in to their most nutricious, most absorptive state."

Atrocious spelling aside, any decent blender or food processor will do that if you use it correctly: the NutriBullet is not doing anything that special.

And the glowing testimonials about how the NutriBullet changed people's lives! Really? You didn't change your diet in any other way or start any kind of exercise program? You only added one "NutriBlast" a day to your diet and nothing else?

My eyes almost rolled out of my head.

At least it inspired me to get off my butt and write a blog entry.

Politics: Tax Policy

It looks like tax policy is shaping up to be a big issue this election year (which is rather typical, really), so I figured that I might as well address it. I’m long overdue for posting something around here, anyway.

I’m fiscally conservative in the sense that I don’t think the government has any business spending money that it doesn’t have. The US has been borrowing like crazy since the 1980’s, only running a surplus briefly during the late 90’s before going back to deficit spending after 2000. Based on that spending pattern, you can see why I don’t really consider the Republican party to be a bastion of fiscal responsibility.

I’m not particularly in favor of “soaking the rich” to fund the government. I do think everyone should be helping pay for the services we expect of the government. I think everyone should have basically the same tax rate, so there should be no need for a “millionaire surtax” or the like. If we’re going to have an income tax (and I don’t see that changing), we should have an income tax. I don’t care whether you get your income from a salary, selling widgets, collecting interest, or playing stocks; no matter where your money comes from, it should be taxed at the same rate.

On the other hand, I don’t see the sense in trying to get tax money from people who don’t have any to spare. Our current tax system recognizes that there are certain basic living expenses that should be deducted from your income before your tax is calculated.

So my idea of a fair tax is one where everyone’s income is taxed at the same rate, and everyone gets the same cost of living deduction. I don’t necessarily know what that should be, other than it should be the least amount you can reasonably expect to live on; it may even have to vary somewhat by location (although if you have more than one residence, you only get one cost-of-living deduction, for the lower of the two locations). Note that this means the effective tax rate for a low-income person will be less than the effective tax rate for a high-income person.

If you have a domestic partner (who can get “married” is another post), then you can effectively combine your two deductions, so you don’t take a big tax hit if one of you is a stay-at-home parent. I'm not sure how I feel about additional deductions for the children.

And that’s all: one tax rate for everyone, one deduction for everyone. What the rate should be and how much the deduction should be would both need to be determined based on the needs of the nation and what the people will accept; the main restriction being that the revenue should be enough to pay for all the services plus bring down the national debt. Both the rate and the deduction can be easily adjusted by Congress, if necessary.

Live Mammoth?

There's a new viral video making the rounds.


Is it a live mammoth? Is it a bear in some odd activity that makes it look that way?

How about it's a complete hoax? The fact that the focus is crappy and stays crappy is something of a giveaway. Looks to me like some footage of an elephant slapped together with some footage of a river. Unprofessionally.

There are some arguments for it being a grizzly bear with a fish hanging out of its mouth. That's not entirely out of the question, but still puts us in hoax territory, as it's surely shown out of focus on purpose.

Try harder next time, guys.

A Nigerian Rental Scam?

Oh, look! Interesting material for a skepticism post!

While I can’t say that I’m surprised, this is a scam that I had not previously heard about. Some friends of mine recently bought a house. While they were doing some remodeling one day, they got a peculiar visit.

While we were working at the new house today a couple showed up asking about renting it. When we said it's not for rent they asked, "why do you have it listed on Craigslist?" We looked. It is, including a picture and accurate description of the house. The cops told us that this is a popular new scam. People are pretending to rent houses they don't own and collecting deposits.

I’m curious where the scammer got the picture of their house. Perhaps the scammers are cruising real estate listings for likely targets; those would have pictures and other information about the house for use in fake ads, and some of them – at least – won’t actually have anyone living there to warn the marks.

V sent an email to the address provided on Craigslist to see if she would get a reply from the scammer. It actually didn’t take long for this reply to come:

"we were transferred to West Africa and we will be away for 5 years or more and this is why we are actually renting out the house,so if you are interested and will take good care of our house then we will be ready to accept you as our future tenant and family friend. If you really impress me by taking good care of our house then you will be allowed to stay as long as you wish okay."

V looked up the phone number provided: it’s literally a Nigerian number. Way to boost the national stereotype, dude! In the response, the scammer also asked for a litany of personal information and a $500 deposit, so this one qualifies for both advance fee fraud and identity theft.

So, if you’re looking for rental property on Craigslist or some other open sales site, you should be a little bit wary. Certainly don’t go giving away your social security number or a big deposit to someone in a distant country who you’ve never seen (and never will).

Zoo Run Run

On Saturday, I completed a 5K run around the Nashville Zoo in a little under 38 minutes. My goal was 36, so I'm a little disappointed.

Also, running in 37-degree weather SUCKS. Why couldn't it have been up in the 50s, like it was on Friday and Sunday?

More ZombieFit

We did the ZombieFit workout of the day for 1/16 this morning. Including warm-up, that includes:

• Running 1/4 mile
• 75 push-ups
• 75 squats
• 45 crunches
• 45 burpees (oh, how I loathe the burpees!)
• 30 jumping jacks
• 300 meters of sprints (which is guesstimated at three laps around the gym)

And because we're gluttons for punishment, we also did 45 pull-ups and 10-15 meters of "kong walk".

Zoo Run for me on Saturday. Come on out! Share my pain!

Politics: Healthcare

Given what the Republican candidates have been saying about “Obamacare”, I figure now is as good a time to vent some ideas regarding how Americans, as a society, view health care and how the costs should be paid.

On one hand – we’ll call it the right hand – you have the conservative/libertarian notion that paying for health care is an “individual responsibility”. This is the “private sector” system where people with health issues (be they diseases or injuries) pay the provider (doctor, nurse, hospital, clinic, or whatever) for whatever they need to make them healthy, or at least keep them going.

On the other hand – which we’ll call the left – you have the liberal/socialist notion that health care is a right, and everyone (via taxation) pays into a national system that provides everyone with the health care services that they require.

Those are the extremes, of course. What we have now is somewhere in between, as purchasing insurance is something of a compromise between the right hand and the left hand. We’re not completely averse to a “socialized” medical system. After all, a health insurance company can only charge a “reasonable” premium if there are plenty of healthy people on the rolls paying premiums without getting many medical services. They need to have lots of people who are paying more than they cost in health expenses to cover those who are paying less than they cost, especially if they want to make a profit. That’s why insurance companies lobbied for that clause in “Obamacare” that requires everyone to buy some kind of health insurance.

But I want to consider another way of looking at healthcare. Just for a moment, let’s look at health care the way we look at police protection and fire protection.

If you look at them from the “right hand” perspective, then police protection is a service that has a cost, as is fire protection. If you call 911 to get a response to a burglary or a fire, the dispatcher will ask you how you plan to pay for the police car or fire truck that will be sent to your home. In the extreme-right scenario, they won’t come at all unless you assure them that you can and will pay them.

From the “left hand” perspective, the police department and fire department are government services, and the salaries of the officers and the costs of their equipment are paid for by everyone’s taxes. Surprisingly, that sounds an awful lot like what us capitalists already expect.

If you look at health care the same way, then doctors are government employees with salaries (good ones, I should think, given the many years of education they need), and the machines, hospitals, medicines, and so forth are government expenses paid for by taxes. Sounds terrible!

Except for the fact that no one has to pay insurance premiums or copays or doctor bills.

“But health care under a single-payer system will be inferior and rationed!”

I guess that depends on whether we’re all willing to pay enough into the system to still have top-level health care.

I expect to get lots of feedback on why both scenarios suck, but I bet that most of it will be conservative/libertarian “why socialized medicine sucks” posts. It will be interesting to see if they have objections that I haven’t considered.

Two Miles in 22 Minutes

Surprisingly, the fact that I haven't actually gone on a two mile run in over a month has not drastically reduced my time.

ZombieFit Morning

Did the ZombieFit Workout of the Day for 1/7/2012 this morning. After the warm-up (which I did slightly wrong, I only ran the 100m sprint once instead of all three times), I did the main workout at the "avancée" level: 100 push-ups, 140 air squats, 180 jumping jacks -- broken out into 20 sets.

Not feeling as worn out as I expected, even throwing in 20 crunches onto the end of each cycle for the last three. Maybe I should have done the "traceur" level routine.

Dollar Coins

This may be old news, but the issue of the Presidential dollar coins that are piling up in government warehouses just keeps bugging me, so I'm finally going to clear the air on it.

The government keeps trying over and over again to introduce dollar coins into the currency system, the reason being that the useful life of a coin is vastly longer than the useful life of a paper bill, so changing from paper dollars to coins would be a long term savings for the treasury department.

The problem is that coins are different. People don't really like changing the way they do things, so there is inevitable resistance. The Susan B. Anthony dollar didn't see widespread use, nor the Sacajawea dollar, nor the Presidential dollar coins.

And the reason that these coins aren't catching on is simple. The idiots in the government keep printing paper dollar bills. Get a clue, guys! If you want to make a switch from bills to coins, make the switch. Stop printing the bills and start taking them out of circulation. People will adapt, even if they're resistant at first.

Of course, I happen to like the things, so no one will appreciate my opinion.

Weary - In a Good Way

Nena and I continue to look for ways to keep exercise interesting. We were going to do the ZombieFit Workout of the Day today, but someone at ZombieFit apparently forgot to pay the webhost, so the site was down. Nena found an alternate crossfit exercise for us to do today, though.

So today we did 100 pull-ups (assisted, in sets of 20), 150 kettle-bell swings (in 5 sets), and 200 rope skips (without an actual jump rope, in 5 sets, of course).

And then, because I felt like I needed it, I suggested we do some crunches, as well. Three sets of 30, and I put extra weights on the crunch tables at the gym for the second and third set.

I'm betting I feel that tomorrow.

Mango Chicken Curry with Rice and Lentils

I’m way overdue for a blog update, so I’ll ease myself back into writing with a simple recipe. This one came about when I discovered canned mango slices at a closeout store.

• 1 can of mango slices
• ½ cup brown basmati rice
• ½ cup red lentils
• 3-4 chicken tenderloins
• Curry spice (2 tbsp cumin, ½ tsp turmeric, ½ tsp cardamom, 2 tsp chili powder)
• Cayenne pepper (optional)
• Rum (optional)
• Water
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Drain the juice from the canned mango slices into a measuring cup. Add water and (if desired) rum to make 2-½ cups of liquid. Add the rice, lentils, and half the curry spice and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes.

While the rice and lentils cook, add a little olive oil to a frying pan and cook the chicken over medium heat. When the chicken is done, roughly dice the mangos and add them to the pan with the remaining curry spice.

When the rice and lentils are done, add them to the frying pan with the chicken and mangos. Stir together on low heat for a few minutes.

Wanna See Something Really Scary?

Wait for it...

And, of course, Halloween itself gets an extra video...

Not So Fair

This seems a bit contradictory.

Seriously? You're overwhelmingly concerned about your appearance, so you cast a spell to make yourself ugly? Did you even check to make sure it wasn't permanent?

Crowded Sky

Don't let them take you alive.

Magneto Plays Rough

He can do so much damage with so few resources.

The Crate

Scenes from the original Creepshow, which is a magnificent horror comedy.

Down to Business

Time for a little X-Men action.

Maleficent

You have to wonder if all the trouble could have been avoided just by sending the invitation. She might have refused to attend out of contrariness.

Vampire's Kiss

Very hot, but maybe a little too kinky for me.

Angel of Death

Gabriel has the annoying habit of keeping people alive when he needs them.Mostly because he doesn't understand modern technology.

No Capes!

Quite possibly the best sequence in the movie. But the movie is so full of WIN! that it's hard to be sure.

The Changeling (1980)

Showing this at an all-nighter when I was a teenager earned me some fingernails in my shoulder. Totally worth it!

Darth Maul

He's one scary, badass Sith lord.

Voyager Nightmares

Poor, Harry... most embarrassing nightmare scenario EVER.



I can't really even call this scary. Voyager just fails at that.

Found a bonus for today.

Super Battle

I'm not generally a DC comics guy, but this music video using the DC Online trailer is pretty cool. Seems like the villains always win in trailers.

Stalker

A pretty good short film. Be sure to go to youtube and compliment the filmakers.

Saturn 3

I barely remember how this movie went, but the "monster" is creepy enough.

Dragonslayer

A pretty good monster movie for its time.

Maximillian

When I was a kid, Maximillian creeped me out.

Captain America (sort of)

This one talks to me a bit.Because, yeah... it's not at all clear why he had to go down with that plane.

Bonus for today!

Oh, Cyrano!

Yeah, this is silly. But there are some costumes involved. It was time for something lighter.

Shatwow!

Yes, it really is Garrett Wang.
That's Harry Kim from Star Trek: Voyager, if your geek-fu is weak.

Dinoshark!

Some Roger Corman movie badness.

Kirk Fu

Not that the Kirk Fu is helping much in this situation...

A Message from the Prince of Darkness

Back in the day, this movie creeped me out.

There's a Vampire Out Here!

Classic Fright Night.

Akira: Evolution

Scenes from Akira (in no particular order) made into a music video.

The Thing

There's nothing it won't do to escape. Why not a double dose?

On the Subject of Daleks

Good advice!

It also says "Panic!"

No Escape

Arguably old news, but exquisitely done...

Alien

One of the classic gruesome moments of horror cinema.

Vincent

Let the Halloween video extravaganza begin, starting with a recitation by the master...

October Approaches

Two more days until the third annual Halloween video marathon begins here at the Saga.

Dara O'Briain

This guy is always hilarious.