1:36am: apathy is for those who deserve to be victims.
apathy is for those who deserve to be victims.

-=T=-

1:52am: Happy birthday Max!
Happy birthday to my son, Max! he's a big 8 today.

-=T=-

8:19pm: GM To Import China-Built Cars To U.S. (AP)
GM To Import China-Built Cars To U.S.

Manufacturing.Net - May 13, 2009

http://www.manufacturing.net/News-GM-May-Export-China-Built-Cars-To-US-051309.aspx

6:22pm: value-added tax (VAT); "chains" we can believe in.‏

The tax cut for 95% of Americans really meant a new tax on 100% of Americans.

LEONARD BURMAN, URBAN INSTITUTE: The value-added tax is a sales tax basically, but it's collected in stages from each producer. So the farmer would pay 10 percent on the value of the goods that he sells to the wholesaler, who would pay 10 percent on the amount that they add. And then the retailer would collect 10 percent on that margin as well.
It adds up to, in that case, a 10 percent sales tax.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,523937,00.html

Half of America Strongly Opposed to
VAT to Pay for Socialized Medicine

From Ryan Ellis on Tuesday, June 2, 2009 3:01 PM http://atr.org/half-america-strongly-opposed-tobr-vat-a3331 Half of Americans are opposed to any sort of sales tax (including a VAT) to pay for government-controlled health insurance, according to Rasmussen.  Only 18 percent support a national sales tax at all, but:

There is more support for the concept if sales tax revenue is used to provide health insurance for all Americans. In that scenario, 40% favor a national sales tax and 49% are opposed.

********* strongly support a national sales tax to provide universal health insurance coverage. ******** are opposed by a three-to-one margin, and those not affiliated with either major party are opposed two-to-one.

Comments

Americans don't want socialized health care! I am scared that if the government gets involved with my care, I may be "rationed" like other countries. Even though the United States does not seem to be going to drastic measures anytime soon, the fact that the issue is up for debate is enough to worry patients, providers, and taxpayers. Free health care will be anything but free.
>> I'll pay my own way, thanks Tuesday, June 2, 2009 4:15 PM

8:30pm: Unhallowed Metropolis (Game)
(reposted from darkvictoria  for you guys)

Hallows Eve Designs is proud to announce it is the future publisher of Unhallowed Metropolis, the gas mask-chic roleplaying game of Neo-Victorian horror. Written by veteran game developer Jason Soles (Privateer Press, Eos Press) and Nicole Vega, the book details a world set two hundred years after the advent of the zombie plague. Inspired by the works of Mary Shelley, Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson and other Victorian-era visionaries, Unhallowed Metropolis details London as an apocalyptic Neo-Victorian dystopia.

The first publication will be Unhallowed Necropolis, a supplement to Unhallowed Metropolis, available in May 2009. Unhallowed Necropolis narrates the secret history of the Paranormal in the grim future of 22nd-century London. It will include complete rules for psychics and spectral entities, new sciences and technologies as well as providing five new character Callings.

Unhallowed Necropolis is a painstakingly researched alternative historical setting designed to provide a rich role-playing experience.

Unhallowed Necropolis is a 260 page, black-​and-​white book that features an elaborate interior design with photographs and illustrations by Melissa Uran, Eliza Gauger, Robert Tritthardt, Aron Dittbrenner, Chris Walton, Angel Ceballos, Marc17, Bloodengel Photography, David Russell, and Colleen Mathis with cover art by the incomparable George Higham.

Hallows Eve Designs has a quarterly release schedule for 2009 that includes new scenarios, settings and backgrounds, Callings and Character options. ”We are excited about our partnership with Hallows Eve Designs and have all faith that they will provide the support necessary to take Unhallowed Metropolis in amazing new directions,” said Jason Soles.

Unhallowed Necropolis and Unhallowed Metropolis will be available in hardback and downloadable PDF from http://www.hallowsevedesigns.com beginning May 2009.

*************************************
thought it might be interesting.

-=T=-

10:07pm: MY BRAIN OVERSHOT THE MARK
Today I had to take another test for upgrading my water distribution certificate, so I did the stuff I do to make sure my brain was ready. But, I left the house with a headache, so I had to go to the store to get some of my preferred migraine stuff from Longs, and they were out. Not only were they out, but the seem to have discontinued the stuff.

Yay.

Anyways, I got the next best, oh so mediocre medicine in line, and proceeded to do my thing.

Five minutes later, I had $25 worth of junk food in the checkout, with 20 minutes to get to the test.

I couldn't cram that much brain food (sugar, caffeine, and electrolytes), on the road to the site, which by luck just happenned to be here in Modesto for once. What I was able to stuff down my face, I later had to concentrate so I wouldn't puke back up during the test. Luckilly, the headache went away, while I ran over the dictionary in the back of the book, from A to T-1/2, before I figured I had only a little time left, say about 5 minutes, to find the site much less get in line for admittance.

Breathing exercises kept the food down, as I burped, waiting for 15 minutes to be shown the seat I'd own for the next 2 hours and 45 minutes.

Yes, I was properly wired, and, after being seated, indulged in arranging the testing materials 3 different ways, one in utter chaos, until the testing proctor finally instructed us all, at extreme length, on how to fuck up our tests and get kicked out, to the point where getting sent to Gitmo seemed and increasing probability.

And then, the test. As stated before I perused the dictionary section, but that left out the purpose of each defined entry. And the purpose was vital. During the last test, for my water treatment 2 certification,  there were about 150 multiple choice questions, and the longer i took on the test, the less I functioned. It's been said before, but at that point, I actually experienced UNLEARNING for the first time in a long while. Not pleasant. And then during the 50 math portion, they threw so many twists on formulae and compounded the equations backwards it wasn't nice to tell me to bring a non-programming calculator to the test, it was pure cruelty at it's most self-entertaining.

This test proved how unfair the last test was.

This time there were only 50 multiple choice, and only 10 math, and those were for the most part single equation, and maybe 5 of them needed some modification for not more than 2 additional variables. I used only 3 equations, though I could have used 4, but one was the same way only backwards. (Not supposed to say specifics about the test. Gitmo, shhh!)

I mastered the math, again, and I'm sure I got far enough into the multiple choice to get the cert upped. And I feel cheated. This test was so freaking easy, I don't know why the other one needed to be like taking such a beating. The contrast was so damn stark, there really isn't any blurred line they warned us not to trip over, when they said "the d2 is a little easier than the t2".

Well, I celebrated afterwards. I bought a battery for the chevy blazer, got some fiber supplements, and forced myself to shop, for 3 hours, at FYE, a store like the local Rasputin's. It's so damn hard, when there so much stuff I'd like to waste some money on, and so little stuff that I'd actually love to own and meditate to. I looked for Faith No More's first album, didn't find it. Found Marilyn Manson's "greatest hits", but couldn't justify spending $20 on music that would just piss me off. There was Enya's Watermark, and that was just a 180 of where I wanted to take my mind.

I settled for soundtracks. "Hackers" and "Queen of the Damned", and picked up "Fiddler on the Roof" the movie. And I don't know why I haven't bought the QOTD soundtrack before, because I knew it was badass, but I've listened to it twice, and it was so freaking good, I had to walk away.

It was that fucking good.

(or am I that dull?)

(yeah, maybe.)

peace,

-=T=-
 

1:31pm: POINTLESS POST
The headache goes away when I take the medicine.

-=T=-

6:21pm: I FOUND THIS VERY FUNNY


Actually, I laugh everytime I see it.

-=T=-

11:11am: AFTERBURN THRUSTS OF SUPERHUMANITY

Dealing with the wake of a holiday, a Monday/Tuesday 1-2 combo punch, has made me loopy, since I've had to go at 200mph this morning, and now that I'm semi-caught up, I can't seem to slow down to catch my breath.

Reminds me of yesterday. I was still sick this weekend, from something closer to death than I've had in a long time, and maybe a little worse. So, I tried to pace myself, but I just couldn't, and it ended up a weekend of herky jerky hin and thither, which included:

yard work and fixing the holes dug by the dog;

driving the nieces and nephews alot;

driving to the coulterville house to repair the shower and faucet;

packing and unloading 7 bins of books and then other things (filled up the car);

(and I got to take about 300 pictures, edit some, and load them onto my webshots, from Stockton, Modesto, );

And I wonder where I get the energy. Consciously, I know, but subconsciously, I ask if it comes from where it used to come from, if somehow I've gained some measure of it back, like I had when I moved out there, before I used it and burned it up, painfully. I know this strength now comes from taking migraine medicine, which removes the encumberances that drags me down, and to a fault, enhances my capacity for the day. I took it once each day this weekend, as the headache from last week persisted. And, I've looked forward to the day when the medicine, a simple off the shelf Long's label variety, is no longer effective, just so I know I'm working on my own power. As of now, it feels like a crutch with one drawback, it wires me up so evenly, I usually stay up into the night, bored and unable to sleep, which isn't good because I already have a hard time sleeping.

This weekend, however, has been fruitful in that I have gotten much done, and I even got much rest done, too.

This is a lot to be grateful for. Minor details of how and why merely inhabit the effect, populate the result with aspects of abstract artifice that have little combined relation to the end. They do not coalesce into a storyline, or divine some chaos in the wind. This portends nothing. Rather, I am content with what has transpired, and longlingly intend to continue this progression, as much as I am able.

And, lately, I find myself more and more able. This weekend was a pleasant surprise.

-=T=-

11:00am: OLD FAVORITE SPOT ON CATHOLIC SCHOOL PLAYGROUND
OLD FAVORITE SPOT ON CATHOLIC SCHOOL PLAYGROUND

4:51am: New Bunch o' Pix
Mostly taken Sunday.




Enjoy!

-=T=-

11:18am: ON ELIOT SPITZER
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliot_Spitzer

He was on a warpath to clean up Wallstreet, and I was all for him. In the manner that Bush sent federal prosecutors after Enron and Worldcom, and afterwards attacked crooked accounting like Arthur Anderson that sheltered those companies, (all in the wake of the 9-11 charities investigations), I had high hopes for Spitzer. In fact, I still do.

The wife has real problems with this guy, because he hired a hooker. Whatever. Even if I look at it that Spitzer as crooked, what more can you ask for than the crooks to take down worse crooks, and the world is better, cleaner for it?

-=T=-

7:18pm: NEW HAMPSHIRE RESOLUTION VOIDS FEDERAL AUTHORITY OVER STATE(?)
NEW HAMPSHIRE RESOLUTION VOIDS FEDERAL AUTHORITY OVER STATE:

Article cites "future acts will be viewed as a “breach of peace” with the states themselves that risks “nullifying the Constitution.” "

Some call this the first shot in a new civil war. I wouldn't go that far, but it's a clear indication of the priorities of state legislators in not easilly giving up the to what they see as a possible federal authoritarian rule.

Here they have drawn the line in the sand.

-=T=-

(similar article: Lawmakers in 20 states move to reclaim sovereignty

11:01am: PASQUAL OROZCO PICTURES, GENERAL of the MEXICAN REVOLUTION

PASQUAL OROZCO, MY GREAT GREAT GREAT UNCLE, GENERAL IN THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION

-=T=-

11:41am: COMPUTERS, UPON THE TWILIGHT OF GENERATIONS

on the verge of getting my 7 and 8 year olds computers. need to plug them in asap. i was writing in basic before i turned 9, almost 26 years ago.

-=T=-

10:11am: PAKISTANI TALIBAN MURDER POLISH GEOLOGIST
Beheaded, on video.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,489805,00.html

Why? Apparantly they want some 60 of their comrades released.

"The insurgents are reportedly holding at least four foreigners — including a Chinese engineer and Afghan and Iranian diplomats."

-=T=-

8:13am: went to NOSTIMULUS.COM, found this

"Due to the overwhelming traffic, NoStimulus.com is temporarily down. We will be back up and running as soon as possible.
“Congress should not enact an expensive spending bill under the pretense of stimulus or recovery. Reckless spending of borrowed money was at the root of the financial crisis, and this bill is more of the same. We cannot spend our way to prosperity, and such an expansion of the federal government will put a crushing burden on taxpayers in the long-term.” "

OK, PEOPLE, WE'RE BEING SHUT DOWN. OUR VOICES ARE BEING SILENCED, AND THE ATTEMPT TO CONTROL OUR INFLUENCE IN OUR POLICIES IS BEING THREATENED.

LET'S REROUTE AND GO AT THEM AGAIN!

-=T=-

http://www.nostimulus.com/

4:55pm: OLD HOMESTEADS; THE TOUR
marilyn had a class for the bypass surgery, so while she was in that, the kids and i drove around newark as i told them about places, and told them stories about what i did and where.

i kept remarking about how much had changed. heather caught me when i said things looked the same. i had to explain to her that once, this was my whole world, and little changes, even now, make a big difference.

when we drove by the hospital, and i told them i was born there, max said, "cool! we're driving in the past!" heather later on said it was a cool "tour".

schools, foxwood, jacaranda, 7-11, the overpass, old places that don't exist anymore, field now full of townhomes, and most importantly, once open paths now blocked by gates and fences. one big change was an entire old shopping strip, long ago torched by the police in a "training exercise", plowed over and replaced with more townhomes, or, as i call them, "middle income projects", excluding, of course, the cyclone fenced portion that used to be a gas station.

at one point we were some lost place in fremont where i once spent a toll of film taking pictures of one of three ancient cemetaries, this one being unobtrusively accessible, just a mere block away from the major road. now it's unobtrusive and completely secured by razerwire.

i bought them a Double Gulp, just for fun. and after a little more driving, headed back for kaiser to pick up marilyn.

on the way back through niles canyon, i noticed more signs, "no stopping", lined up for miles, about 25 feet apart.

-=T=-

10:23am: LITERALLY OUT OF THE WOODWORK

picked up a nightstand off a curb, perfect for computer, and had to kill 36 roaches 6 hours later.

tonight i'm laying out traps for any that i might have missed.

not a fan of bugs.

-=T=-

9:57am: UNHINGED BILL GATES THROES MOSQUITOS AT CROWD

11:18pm: TRAILING THE SURPRISE VISITOR, smoke and ruin.
Got home, relaxed, got the kids fed, started my own meal. I was cooking something that never really had a chance to be edible, while nuking something that wasn't going to help it, and toasting something that i was going to waste with the rest. The light in the kitchen dimmed when I turned the fan on over the stove, so I had to wonder how much I was pulling through the wires.

Before this, I had just changed a light bulb in the front bathroom, at which I noticed the wiring was really really old, to the point where I'm going to have to change the whole fixture.

On top of this, every time someone dealt with the wiring of another fixture or a random dimming switch, things were burnt or corroded behind the plate, caused by this house having been wired with aluminum wire.

Not good.

So, when we had a surprise visitor, my wife's dad's ex-wife, (basically, a neighbor), and she and the wife went into the garage to talk "shoppe", or whatever, really it's the smoking section inside the house, I didn't think twice when she came back in and hugged me goodbye, I thought nothing of the hint of smoke I smelt. Fine. Wait, it's not cigarette smoke. Stronger, and she's gone, okay... Not marijuana smoke. Not any plant. A strong hint of hard plastics. Um, I better check.

It was the dryer in the garage, burning up at the cord plugged into the receptacle.

Dude, a fire was starting in my garage.

I pulled a nono, but it was the first line of reasoning, because I really didn't know what was happening yet, and I unplugged the dryer plug. It was a little hot, not exactly too hot, and I've handled hotter live cords. If it was a little too mushy, I wasn't going to pull it out. But, it came out, mostly intact, but barely intact, and there was a glowing ember in the receptacle, while the plug was charred and swollen. They both are pretty useless now.

Right after I figured the severity of the situation, I went to the meter box and realized I couldn't see what breaker was the dryer. So I had to get a flashlight and then switch the dryer circuit off.

After about a half hour of random sniffing to make sure the burning wasn't too bad, I checked the wall on the inside, which was fine, no hot spots, but the smell continued, and I checked the wall on the outside, in the garage, and there was a section above the receptacle that was definitely warm enough to demand a slight, tiny, little obsessive compulsive reaction.

I got a steak knife, a hammer, and a screw driver, and tore into the sheetrock around the receptacle. Yep, mega crusty, black on black, extra well done. Looked like a whole had blown in the side of the small box it was housed in, and, you guessed it, more aluminum wire.

And, I have a plan from here on, but I won't have access to the parts until I get to work tomorrow. Habitat for Humanity (did Tweety Bird name that?), here I come.

We'll see what kind of damage I can do.

-=T=-

12:37pm: The Bailout Is "Poison", per Soros;
Soros Says TARP Is Poison; Crisis Worse Than 1930s

WASHINGTON -- The stimulus plan the U.S. government is currently considering is necessary to help American citizens, but it will likely not reverse the country's economic decline, hedge fund manager and billionaire philanthropist George Soros said on Monday.

( Story continues ... )
----

Basically, I see that he doesn't endorse it as a strategy, despite who he backed in the Congress and the President himself during the last elections, people that are ardent supporters of the New Bailout.

I'm wondering if is a simple matter of "they've got theirs, anymore would ruin their supply." The biggest banks and ancillary institutions up and down have that their fill of the bailout, and now they've started seeing to controlling the feed on it to make sure they maintain sole rights to it.  Is it so much "Poisoning the well" as "Salting the Earth?"

Commoners and serfs aren't allowed the privileges of the superior classes, and this is one way they aim to prove it, by denying the people who they call "Main Street", those they rely on for votes and taxes, milking us like cattle, so that they WILL NOT SEE ONE RED CENT, if they can have their ways. Big Business and Big Government are the same shiney side of the same rosey coin; we are the other side, stuck to the peice of gum under a subway seat.

Question: who would be rich if everyone had a common measure of luxury?

Have enough of the euphoria in your high hopes in our government? Get back to work.*

Seriously.

-=T=-

*(Work in this case watching those who farm us, getting ready to oust them at the right time.)

1:57pm: FACETS OF DAVID LYNCH
Someone mentioned David Lynch, and I starting thinking about the different versions I've seen.

Ah, a "Twin Peaks/Mulholland Drive/Lost Highway" David Lynch.

I consider the other one as "Dune" David Lynch.

Honestly, thinking about it, Dune just seems to be an abberation in his retinue. As great a movie as it is, it doesn't appeal to the direction the rest of his movies go.

-=T=-

10:18pm: (BIG) MAC TURNS 25
I ran across this a few minutes ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8&eurl...



hopefully that's the link for the 1984 commercial for the Mac.

Watching it for the first time in years, I remembered it, specifically for being at the time so heavy with Soviet/Proletariat overtones. It didn't dawn on me then, but it might have served as a double entendre, reflecting freedom from an Orwellian fate of civilization, and possibly equally espousing purely Soviet ideals for possible sales to the USSR and satellite nations. (Hammer, red shorts, Olympic athlete of Nordic stock, even similar to Rocky IV's Ivan Drago.)

(Also interesting to note is the Olympic theme, as it was done in early 1984, and that year the Olympics were everywhere. Alas, they DID avoid a red, white and blue attired "liberator".)

I hope posted the link right, so you get to watch it.

-=T=-

11:49pm: YESTERDAY I GAVE THE WIFE HER 9TH ANNO PRESI
wasn't much, money's tight. just some choco candy for the moment.

she asked what it's for.

i told her for making babies.

and that she could earn some more.

somehow, i think it made her enjoy it a touch more.

-=T=-