"Undermining my electoral viability since 2001."

Outlandish Josh

Published on Wed, 2010-09-22 22:58

Crimefighters Online

Here's postmodern information age empowerment for ya. A woman uses MySpace, Craigslist, and a dating site (and the cops) to nail someone who ripped off her car. It's a good read:

See, aspiring thief, you just never know what you're stepping into when you hit up a random car on a random street. However badass you think you may be, there is someone on the other side of the robbery. And in this particular case it was someone who escaped the Iranian Revolution as a child; who roamed the world alone for five years because her parents couldn't get out; who watched from a dozen blocks away as the twin towers crumbled; who had just barely clawed her way out of that concentration camp known as late-stage cancer, if only because she was intent on raising her babies, come hell or high water. And all of this before she even turned 40. Can you see how that someone might be way more twisted than you?

If big brother ever gets it together, we may be screwed. In the mean-time, there's a big competitive advantage for those with brains.

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Published on Tue, 2010-09-21 19:00

Atrios Summarizes My Experience in Politics

Quite pithy, that Duncan Black:

I'm someone who used to have a bit of respect and deference for The People In Charge. You know, Senators and such. Now I think most of them truly suck and worry that elites are going to destroy the country.

That's pretty much my story too. I don't like/respect authority figures, but when it all got started I sort of assumed that most of the People In Charge (or "P.I.C."'s as we used to call them back at Oasis Natural Food Store) were probably smart, decent and hardworking. I don't believe that anymore. It really is an aristocracy, and it sucks wind on both style and substance.

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Published on Tue, 2010-09-21 02:24

In Which I Personally Respond To Republican Legislative Leaders

I am a small business owner, and (so far) a successful one at that. I'm rather proud of that fact. I look forward to the day when my prosperity is cemented and I can be a new kind of class traitor.

Anyway, the entrepreneur tip is what I'm on right now, and I heard this on NPR and it got me mad enough to yell at the radio. I want to give a big, personal "I Lived Through 9/11 And You Didn't" Scranton-style dick-punch to both John Bohner and Mitch McConnel — and really anyone parroting the GOP party line — for turning people like me ("small businesses") into some GOP hump-fetish to defend the notion that we really need now are tax cuts for the top bracket of earners, those pocketing more than $250k a year.

Let's be clear. It is not many small businesses, or even good ones, that will be affected by these cuts. And those that are, that means the owners are making $250,000 or more, which regardless of your perception, makes you a wealthy individual here in Estados Unidos. Count your blessings. I do.

I'll break it down for you in bare brass tack terms. You only pay taxes on profits, not revenue. This is basic accounting, which I know they don't teach in the Senate, but it's something you learn if you stay in business more than a year: gross is not net, and you need to learn to tell the difference. A small business with six or ten employees may turn over around a million dollars in a year, but most of that is spent before year end.

This is how you roll in real life as you stack that cheese. Here's what I know:

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Published on Sun, 2010-09-19 05:03

On The Road Again

Lighting out in the AM. Oregon-bound, then the old HC on my way back south. It's shaping up to be a pretty busy fall already. Lots of places to go and people to see. Should be fun. The game's afoot.

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Authentic Experience

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Nerding Out

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