November at last!
Just some quick updates in life! Work is meh... I was put on probation due to falling behind on some items, which means I cannot apply to another UF position for 6 months. OUCH! On the plus side, I landed a job with the ZAM network as a news reporter. AWESOME!! It's only a pittance per month, but I get free premium access, administrative rights, and access to some free games (got Aion plus the first expansion for free to try out). Plus, even the little amount of money is a nice boost, so huzzah for me!
Eva and I are doing great, so no real news on that front.
Politically, the Dems got blasted in the 2010 midterms. Fortunately the two races I was really worried over, Delaware and Nevada, both went to Democrats, meaning crazy Angle and witch O'Donnell won't be joining their Tea Party brethren for a few more years at least. Almost all my picks lost for FL, but that's not surprising.
So, let's rant about the Tea Party for a bit. I'll admit it leaves a bad taste in my mouth (pun not intended... ew, teabaggers), mostly because my cousin Aya is an enraged Tea Party supporter, much as she was an enraged Bush supporter earlier this decade. I blame her Cuban heritage for making her passionate and fiery, and her Republican upbringing for making her dumb as a rock. Cough cough. Anyway... the Tea Party doesn't thrill me. But their basic tenets appeal to my fiscally conservative side. Namely, smaller government, balanced budget. Both of these ideas I can get behind, especially the balanced budget idea. The problem is the next part - lower taxes. As anyone knows, if you lower taxes and want to balance the budget, you need to cut spending! And there's where my issues with the Tea Party manifest themselves.
I agree a lot of government items can be cut back. For example - the military. We've stopped "major combat operations" in Iraq... of course, I don't think the Iraq war is over, as we still have 50,000 troops there, but still. Do we NEED new super cruisers, bunker busting nukes, etc? I say no! But most Tea Partiers would argue that the military is one thing we CANNOT cut! What would they propose? Well, Sharron Angle, recently deposed Nevada candidate for Senate, said we should eliminate the Department of Education and return to a private-only school system. Um... no thanks? Other ideas to cut out besides education? Oh, Department of Energy for one? We should just drill in Alaska! Oh wait... turns out that the recent estimates of Alaska's oil supplies are 90% LOWER than what people estimated in 2008. How odd!
Lost my train of thought... oh right, Tea Party!
So, their basic principle is good. Their methods, however, do not make sense. I cannot see it being possible to balance the budget without a combination of reducing spending AND increasing taxes. But then there's the matter of getting past the stated principle and into the movement itself. And who is in the Tea Party now?
... all the disgraced Bush supporters, swearing up and down that Bush was terrible, and they NEVER liked him, but the Democrats are still wrong. Oh, and besides fiscal conservatism, they are against same sex marriage, abortion for any reason, and the separation of church and state ("the founding fathers were all Christians, and we're a Christian nation!"). So in other words, the Tea Party went from a decent, if misguided, fiscally conservative base to a far-right extreme group. On the plus side, it cost Republicans the majority in the Senate. On the other hand, many of the candidates who won are Tea Party candidates now. Oy vey.
Ok, that's my rant, I'm over it.
For Thanksgiving, Joey invited me back to MA! I haven't seen the Sullivans in a year, so it would be great to go back! I need to wait for the final approval from Kim to get Wednesday off, but it'll be quite the awesome trip if I get to go! Apparently Dan will be back too, so yay, Sandwich reunion! I feel kinda bad for walking out on my parents, but it was going to be a small affair anyway because they're going on a cruise that weekend... so it should be fun up in MA! And I get to wear my winter clothing a month early :-P I still use the AC in my car down here...
Ok, that's it for now, all that's good to know. Next time maybe I'll talk about my battle with booze, or review the games I'm playing (GET MINECRAFT! DO IT!). For now, off to enjoy Thursday night! Ciao!
~Paul
Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net
Eva and I are doing great, so no real news on that front.
Politically, the Dems got blasted in the 2010 midterms. Fortunately the two races I was really worried over, Delaware and Nevada, both went to Democrats, meaning crazy Angle and witch O'Donnell won't be joining their Tea Party brethren for a few more years at least. Almost all my picks lost for FL, but that's not surprising.
So, let's rant about the Tea Party for a bit. I'll admit it leaves a bad taste in my mouth (pun not intended... ew, teabaggers), mostly because my cousin Aya is an enraged Tea Party supporter, much as she was an enraged Bush supporter earlier this decade. I blame her Cuban heritage for making her passionate and fiery, and her Republican upbringing for making her dumb as a rock. Cough cough. Anyway... the Tea Party doesn't thrill me. But their basic tenets appeal to my fiscally conservative side. Namely, smaller government, balanced budget. Both of these ideas I can get behind, especially the balanced budget idea. The problem is the next part - lower taxes. As anyone knows, if you lower taxes and want to balance the budget, you need to cut spending! And there's where my issues with the Tea Party manifest themselves.
I agree a lot of government items can be cut back. For example - the military. We've stopped "major combat operations" in Iraq... of course, I don't think the Iraq war is over, as we still have 50,000 troops there, but still. Do we NEED new super cruisers, bunker busting nukes, etc? I say no! But most Tea Partiers would argue that the military is one thing we CANNOT cut! What would they propose? Well, Sharron Angle, recently deposed Nevada candidate for Senate, said we should eliminate the Department of Education and return to a private-only school system. Um... no thanks? Other ideas to cut out besides education? Oh, Department of Energy for one? We should just drill in Alaska! Oh wait... turns out that the recent estimates of Alaska's oil supplies are 90% LOWER than what people estimated in 2008. How odd!
Lost my train of thought... oh right, Tea Party!
So, their basic principle is good. Their methods, however, do not make sense. I cannot see it being possible to balance the budget without a combination of reducing spending AND increasing taxes. But then there's the matter of getting past the stated principle and into the movement itself. And who is in the Tea Party now?
... all the disgraced Bush supporters, swearing up and down that Bush was terrible, and they NEVER liked him, but the Democrats are still wrong. Oh, and besides fiscal conservatism, they are against same sex marriage, abortion for any reason, and the separation of church and state ("the founding fathers were all Christians, and we're a Christian nation!"). So in other words, the Tea Party went from a decent, if misguided, fiscally conservative base to a far-right extreme group. On the plus side, it cost Republicans the majority in the Senate. On the other hand, many of the candidates who won are Tea Party candidates now. Oy vey.
Ok, that's my rant, I'm over it.
For Thanksgiving, Joey invited me back to MA! I haven't seen the Sullivans in a year, so it would be great to go back! I need to wait for the final approval from Kim to get Wednesday off, but it'll be quite the awesome trip if I get to go! Apparently Dan will be back too, so yay, Sandwich reunion! I feel kinda bad for walking out on my parents, but it was going to be a small affair anyway because they're going on a cruise that weekend... so it should be fun up in MA! And I get to wear my winter clothing a month early :-P I still use the AC in my car down here...
Ok, that's it for now, all that's good to know. Next time maybe I'll talk about my battle with booze, or review the games I'm playing (GET MINECRAFT! DO IT!). For now, off to enjoy Thursday night! Ciao!
~Paul
Cyanide & Happiness @ Explosm.net