3 things:

1. Calendars are arbitrary.

2. You should check out this blog: http://ampersandseven.blogspot.com/
It's the project of an NU Alum and former student theater castmate of mine.
There is a number for every day in the year.

3: I discovered this a few months ago: it's from a post I wrote about the economy in June 2003. Make of it what you will:

...I'm concerned that the deficits incurred by the [Bush tax] cuts will have terrible consequences for the economy in the long run.

I think this business of trying to stimulate job creation by cutting the taxes of investors is nonsense when it could be done more directly by putting money in the hands of those with the least disposable income, which would immediately increase demand for goods and services. Even though consumer spending has remained fairly steady, in the long run our economic health will depend not on the value of the Dow, but on our capacity for consumption.

The deficit will likely lead to cuts in government spending, which is not, prima facie, a bad thing except that the federal government has taken on certain fiscal obligations toward individuals and the states. The country relies on federal money for education, law enforcement and social welfare programs. These obligations won't disappear as easily as the funding for them, which will leave state and local governments, reeling from deficits of their own, to try to tackle the burden of these obligations. Many states may have to raise taxes to handle these responsibilities or else abdicate them altogether. If it is the intention of the Bush administration to reduce the size of the government, it should be done through program cuts, not by shackling the government to debts.

Hey all you people with various music lists! I refuse to scroll through a dozen youtube links, so please make me a CD that I can take around with me and pilfer songs from. Thank you. Also, if anyone would like me to make a CD, I'd be happy to do so.

Hi there! I got a new microphone a while ago and I've been meaning to get back into the podcasting game. I even made a short podcast a month ago about Herman Cain. (Hey, remember that guy? That was crazy, huh?) So anyway, I made an Album of the Year podcast. It's over on my Tumblr. Here's a link.
The other podcast is posted there too, but not much else. Maybe when I get some free time I'll make more. See you later!

More Than Meets the Eye

The opening of Michael Bay's latest Transformers movie provides an excuse for me to watch the best Transformers movie of them all: the 1986 animated feature. I can say without equivocation that I was never more excited for anything than I was to see this movie when it finally arrived in theaters. I was not disappointed. Just look at that cast! Audiences had waited for so long to hear Orson Welles paired with Judd Nelson! I own this version on DVD and if you have never seen it, I can assure you this one surpasses the Bay movies in plot and performance.

Let's do it again!
Things I learned from Fox News (specifically, from Fox News contributor Stuart Varney):

September 2010
The rich pay too much in taxes. It's not moral.





June 2011
The poor don't pay enough taxes. The EIC is "corrupt," "a scandal," "a welfare scheme."

alpha charlie bravo presents:
The Twitter After Dark Edition of:
The Invocation of the Thaksin Shiniwatra Rule™
for:


U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner

Between Sarah Palin's tweets and this guy's crotch shots, I'm beginning to think that social media will bring about the downfall of civilization. For the last few minutes I've been trying to formulate some rules for public figures using social media, but none of them capture this situation. I think the one rule that needs to be followed at all times is, "Don't do (or say) stupid shit." But if you do, don't lie about it.

alpha charlie bravo once again presents:

Things I learned on Fox News!



There are so many insights in this 4 1/2 minute clip from today's edition of Fox and Friends that I need to make a bulleted list to tell you about them.

• You can't talk about big government subsidies without mentioning subsidies to NPR and Planned Parenthood. The money those non-profit organizations receive from taxpayers should be as much a part of the budget conversation as subsidies to the oil industry as this chart clearly shows:
  


• The move from a "defined benefit" plan to a "defined contribution" plan is great for everybody! Anyone who has ever worked for an employer that has escalated the amount they are required to contribute to a health care plan can tell you how pleased they are to see their purchasing power decrease so that their employer can improve its profit margin. Government should replicate this.


• The dude with the white goatee has played benefit concerts all over the world. I've never heard of him. Maybe that's because I only listen to liberal country music.


• According to country goatee dude, Exxon has only an 8% profit margin. I guess that means we should look after them. After all, ExxonMobil only made $30 billion last year. Grandma can pay for her own hip.

I'm pretty sure I had an anecdote I was going to share with you, but I can't remember what it was. So, instead I'll just leave this here:

For no particular reason, here are two more music related items:

1. I didn't make a "Song of the Year" podcast last year, but if I had you would have heard this song as the victor:




2. This album, along with "Civilian," is an early contender for 2011 Album of the Year:
(Note: I may have already subjected some of you to this song via Twitter.)

alpha charlie bravo also presents:

False assumptions from the Heritage Foundation.

There's been a lot of discussion about Paul Ryan's reckless boondoggle of a budget proposal and that it apparently relies on magical projections from the Heritage Foundation. (Who don't exactly have the best track record when it comes to economic predictions. Q.E.D.)

So my interest was piqued when I stumbled upon some of the easy-to-read and accessible graphs on their website. This graph in particular caught my eye:
Federal Spending Increased Faster Than Median Income

The graph clearly shows what it claims to show. I'll assume the figures are correct. But what about the assumption made in the explanatory paragraph?

"When federal spending grows faster than people’s paychecks, the government’s burden on taxpayers becomes greater."

Oh, Heritage Foundation.
Didn't you forget something? You see that spike in government spending around 2002? That same year the now infamous Bush tax cuts went into effect. Which means that no one bore the burden of increased government spending through taxes. Which is why the deficit ballooned shortly thereafter. Let's look at another one of their graphs:

Current Tax Receipts Below Historical Average

If we had increased tax rates to make up for the decline in receipts and increases in spending between 2002 and 2010, then the assumptions of the first graph would be correct. But, we didn't. So, it appears to me that government spending has had no direct impact on the individual's tax burden. Am I incorrect?

alpha charlie bravo presents:

Things I learned on Fox News.

I don't have cable, so I don't actually watch FNC. But I do get several doses of right wing propaganda daily by following the Media Matters website. Oh, the things I've learned. Like just yesterday, I learned that you can get a pap smear at Walgreens:



I also learned last week that in spite of the fact that Martin Luther King was in Memphis to support striking sanitation workers when he was assassinated, to say that he died fighting for labor rights is "hijacking [his] life and message."



And... I don't really know what to say about this one:

Hi there!
I haven't done much with this space lately, so I thought I'd share some music with you. Again.

Here are my favorite albums from the first quarter of 2011:

1. Wye Oak - Civilian


2. Radiohead - King of Limbs


3. Iron & Wine - Kiss Each Other Clean


4. Lupe Fiasco - Lasers


5. The Decemberists - The King is Dead


Also, I'm excited about the following coming releases:

Low - C'mon
Gretchen Parlato - The Lost and Found
Alison Krauss + Union Station - Paper Airplane