It's the Circle of Life

I turn on the news to find one of the more interesting headlines I have seen in years.

"Protesters Teabagging White House."

.......ok, I guess that's one way of showing your displeasure.

All joking aside it is interesting to see the other side protesting now. The most amazing thing to me is how similar it seems. We saw a lot of protests during President Bush as Anti-War etc, and now we have the other side in an Anti-Tax protest. Other than the themes the protests are strikingly similar. It almost makes me wonder if all the protests are done by the same group. The most important thing I guess is that they feel that their opinions are heard. I have a few concerns about the current protests.

1. If you make less than a six figure income your taxes will go down. I can't imagine that the upper class are outside in the rain with signs. Don't they hire people to do that for them? The only explanation is A they make more than 250,000 a year, B they are delusional enough to think they will make that soon, or C they don't understand what they are protesting.

2. Wasn't this the same group of people that said if you don't support the President you can leave the country? If you are going to disagree with the Government that's fine. You have every right to do so. You cannot, however, dismiss another group's arguments as "unpatriotic" simply because they disagree with the current administration, and then disagree yourself a few months later.

3. Isn't the right the party of fiscal responsibility? Isn't the right the party of smaller government? I used to think so. After presiding of amazing deficits and expansions of powers, I think its safe to assume that the small financially responsible government the right invokes is a dream at best and an outright lie at worst. When your expenditures exceed your income you can do one of two things:
A Increase income.
B Decrease expenditures.

That's it. Those are the only options, EVER. Unfortunately, there are few major ways to reduce spending. The largest possible cuts are into Military, Health care, and Education. It is political suicide to touch any of the three. It is misleading and destructive to think that a lot of money is wasted on "pork". A planetarium could be considered "pork" by one group and "downtown revitalization" by the other. The problem is that because "pork spending" is harped on so much even though it is a small percentage. This encourages people's mistrust and dislike of all things related to government. One of the best ways to cut waste would be to switch to a flat tax system, but that probably won't happen. (I am not advocating flat tax, but its potential to reduce waste and simplify taxes is staggering).

So its difficult to cut spending. One of the solutions the current administration is implementing is to repeal the Bush tax cuts. Increasing the top bracket from 36% to 39%. This was the tax level during the Clinton administration. You can dislike it. You can argue with it. You can protest it. You can even "Teabag" the White house. You can do all of these things because of the wonderful and free country you live in.

(although you are protesting wasteful spending by wasting tea????? really??)

Wicked

My wife dragged me to the musical Wicked over the weekend. She has been a Wizard of Oz fan for a long time, I guess, and a fan of musicals for about as long so I was pretty much destined to see it.

It turned out to be really good. I think we enjoyed it for very different reasons, but I did enjoy it. To be honest I did a lot of theatre in high school and went to school on a theatre scholarship my first semester of college, so its not brand new to me. I still have been much more a fan of straight plays than musicals in general.

As I was saying Wicked was really good, strangely enough it reminded me of Spamalot. Not because they are similar in any way, but because I really liked Monty Python as a kid, and they happened to make a great musical out of it. For my wife Spamalot is my Wicked and vice versa.

The reason that I enjoyed the show is because it has a lot to do with one of my favorite subjects. Good vs Evil. By Good vs Evil I don't mean man dressed in white saves the day from the mustached black clothed villain. It is more of a war of concept and an exploration of "Good". The show explores the Wizard of Oz story from the Wicked Witch of the East's perspective. It turns out the WWE was driven towards "evil" and was trying to be good after all, but the wizard is much better at publicity. It isn't a new concept. Richard the Lionhearted was probably a terribly poor king and Richard III probably wasn't that bad, but to the winners go the History books.

I guess the reason I like stories like this is because they reinforce the "Don't believe everything you hear" message. It's important to examine motives when evaluating information. People are always going to be motivated by unrelated external factors that are going to twist their message or perspective. That doesn't mean that all information is bad, merely that a lot of things need to be taken with a grain or two of salt.

So I enjoyed the musical, and would recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys theatre.

Oh well.

I tend to avoid Apple products.

I distantly remember being in grade school and working on an Apple II. That was my only experience with Apple computers for a long time. Later on, when I was old enough to by my own computer I gravitated naturally towards a PC. I like putting together my own computer. It saves a lot of money, and then in a year or so if one component is lagging behind, I like being able to rip it apart and replace it. With my current computer I have replaced RAM twice, the video card once, and will probably add a hard drive, and as much as I am upset about the 3ghz processing wall, its nice that my computer doesn't become obsolete after a day.

Apple is probably great for those who don't like ripping apart computers, and would pay extra for something that works well without having to be fixed.

Then they made the Ipod.

I had purchased an Mp3 player before they were very popular. To give an idea of the time period I was deciding between a Mp3 player and a Sony Minidisc player. My first Mp3 player had 512mg of memory. If i remember correctly that translated to about 20-30 songs. I thought it was awesome. I just popped my favorite songs on there, and I was good to go.

The other day I succumbed, and got my first Ipod. Eventually I believe that phones will have capacity to replace Mp3 players, and I was telling myself I was waiting for that. I also enjoy listening to a few podcasts, and never realized how easy it was to do on iTunes.

So now I have an Ipod. I would say that I was hip, but I think I'm about six years too late. I love the stupid thing. It works perfectly. Is ridiculously small and cool, and iTunes is really nice. Jerks.

So AGAIN I learn to not judge everything before you know what you are talking about. I was a hypocrite because I made a judgment on Ipods and iTunes before I actually used one. I thought I would hate iTunes because I hate Quicktime.

I still don't think I would ever buy an apple computer. I like customizing my PC too much. Besides, being a PC user I know that if Apple has a really great idea Microsoft will be copying it within a year or so, but I do love that little Ipod. (seriously the thing is almost too small.)

AIG Bonus money

Anger is an interesting emotion. It always seems to be the one we turn to when things don't go as planned. If we are confused that makes us angry. If we are afraid it makes us angry. If we don't get what we want it makes us angry. The problem is that anger always must have a target. If one of your friends tells you they are pissed off your natural reaction is to "at what?". Often times we don't really understand whats going on so we pick our easy targets the government, society, kids these days etc.

Currently people are angry with the economic situation we are in, and because no one understands the economy we are on the lookout for someone to blame. Enter AIG bonus money. "How outrageous it is that they pay people at AIG bonuses, how dare they?" We yell in our newly found righteousness. This anger is misdirected as it often is. AIG should be able to pay bonuses and here is why.

AIG is a business, and one desperately in need of competent employees. Why would anyone choose to work at AIG if there was no possibility of a bonus? Why would you not just find a job elsewhere? (assuming you can)Expecting people to do more for less money is a difficult task. (As far as I am aware only public education has been able to do that.)

AIG was bailed out. Lets think about that for a moment. When a ship was sinking you would do your best to scoop out as much as possible, so you had time to plug any holes. The ship was not towed to the dock and torn apart for scraps if it had been "bailed out". The government had some very difficult choices. Basically it could
1. Do nothing.
2. Take over the company
3. Bail out the company.
Being afraid that AIG's collapse would severely damage the market, we chose to bail them out. In essence we said "Yes AIG you screwed up, but instead of killing you or taking control, we are going to let you fix yourself.

This next reason might scare some of you. You have been warned.

AIG didn't do anything wrong. I know, scary huh? "NOTHING WRONG!?" you shout. They almost destroyed the free market. Yep, but they didn't. What it all comes down is that AIG exploited a loophole and made a ton of money before being bailed out. That is what companies do. Make as much money as possible, and exploit legal loopholes. Corporations are legally obligated to make as much money for their shareholders as possible. That doesn't mean that corporations are evil. Far from it. Without corporations we wouldn't have 99% of the conveniences and goods we enjoy today. That is simply the nature of capitalism. To make as much money for yourself as possible, and by looking out for yourself the invisible had raises everyone, mostly.

So thats why I am not mad at AIG for paying out bonuses. I honestly don't think I can be mad at them for anything they did. They were merely playing the business game that all companies do. If you are still mad thats fine. I hope you don't read this and change your opinion without question. I hope you research this a little for yourself.

Poop in the Pie (sandwhich, or whetever)

Every so often on Sunday someone relates a story about poop. Rarely is the animal that created the poop identified, although i have heard it was a bird once. Someone takes said poop, and mixes it into a food item. Sometimes a sandwich, and sometimes a pie. Generally, it is something with a crust or cover. This "poop" sandwich is then offered to a person, because it is a symbol of the filth that is in a rated R movie. Why would you not eat a sandwich with poop in it? Don't You realize that is the same as watching a rated R movie? No amount of goodness can make up for a little bit of filth.

This story and its application are ridiculous. One of the sillier stories I have heard, and there have been some silly ones.

I believe that we can watch movies and television for entertainment. It may seem a silly thing to say, and I am certain that most would agree with that, but have you thought that out? What is entertainment? It is difficult to watch a movie or television show today without some reference to sex. Does that make Movies and TV bad. NO! let me repeat, NO!!!! Being raised in Utah I have been around people who are afraid of sex for most of my life. This fear of sex leads to a lack of dialogue about sex which leads to unhappy and confused youngsters and adults. Whats more dangerous than teens who are experimenting sexually is parents who are afraid to discuss sex with their children. There are some who would like to argue against me, by saying exaggerating my opinion and saying that lewd discussions are all right at the dinner table, etc. Those people are misinformed, and are simply repeating what they have been brainwashed with. Your discussions can vary, but some basic points should be made.

1. Sex is natural
2. Sex is good
3. Pretty much everyone has sex (or wants to)

If you are a family that believes in waiting to have sex until after you are married then please make that known in a constructive, and safe way. I would hope that you still explain that if they do have sex against your wishes then protection is encouraged.

One thing that is mostly good, but contains sex and violence is an oft published book called the Bible. If the Bible were treated as a screenplay, it would contain some very graphic material. It can get very violent, sexual, and if you understand what you are reading profane. This doesn't mean that because the book contains some instances that some dimmer people would label as "poop", that it is not worth reading or studying. The Bible has directly influenced and shaped our culture since it was written, and that alone makes it worth study. Even if you do not believe that it literal, you still cannot ignore its effects.

What I recommend is that if a movie contains content might disturb you then don't go see it. If you are unsure what contain it contains, but believe you may want to see it then research it. That information is readily available. What I DO NOT recommend is that you let someone else, anyone else, arbitrarily make your decisions for you.
I know it is easier, but the easiest path is rarely the best.

Goodness

I believe it is important to begin by saying that few things in life are certain. One of the least certain of these is what makes something "good".

When we are forced to choose between two things, we want to make the "better choice". For example, if I were to offer you a choice between five dollars and one dollar, you would probably pick the five dollars. Five dollars is certainly MORE than one dollar, and so you make the association more=better, and base your choice on that information. Things can get complicated quickly. If I offer you an apple or an orange, your choice will be based on your preconceived preferences, and not an objective factor. Someone who likes apples would say they are "better", but the same could be said about oranges by an orange lover. Both are perfectly acceptable. Certain aspects of the choice are inarguable. If I said Oranges have more vitamin C than apples do, and if you want to know which you should eat to get more vitamin C, then oranges become the "better" answer.

So WHY DOES THIS MATTER? and IS THIS PERSON OBSESSED WITH FRUIT?

This matters because we make a lot of assumptions in our lives related to whether or not something is "good or bad"; most of the time these are labeled good or bad, because of our personal preferences, and not an intrinsic attribute.
I may believe that life is better for Modern Americans than it was for Ancient Greeks. This could be based on my personal preferences for electricity, television, pizza, etc. As opposed to any actual knowledge or understanding. If we were trying to look at “Quality of life” objectively, we would have a lot of things to consider. One thing we would be inclined to look at would be life span. This is often used to determine “quality of life”, but is, in my opinion, rarely valid. If someone lived 30 years and was happy every day opposed to someone living 100 years and was miserable everyday, I think most would agree that the one who lived 30 years had a better life. Which means the only “real” measurement of if people were better off or not is whether or not they are “happier”, and happiness is 100% subjective. You cannot buy it or measure it objectively. Your measure of happiness depends 100% on how happy you think you are. In other words, if you want to know what your quality of life is you have to ask yourself “What is my quality of life?”, and whatever you answer is the answer.

And I am not obsessed with fruit.

The first post.

I have decided to begin displaying my musings for the world to see. It seems to be the thing to do. I have trouble keeping a journal, but believe daily writing is important. (Plus Chris thinks I should and that's good enough for me).

I attempted to choose a title that would best summarize what this blog is going to be. I chose Deliberations of an Opinionated Mind, because I am very opinionated, and these are my deliberations. That is all they are. These posts will be my musings, thoughts, and opinions. Opinions of an Opinionated mind seemed a little redundant. Plus, deliberations seems to convey better that these musings will be thought out instead of merely spouted out.