The View from the Las Vegas Strip...

This just in: God has cast his vote for...Michelle Bachman.

Apparently, she prayed and came away with a "sense", whatever that means.

I have two problems with this. First of all, if God want's her in, why doesn't he simply smite all of the other more qualified candidates (which includes all of them). By whispering into her ear "you're my favorite" he has put her in a position to "claim" divine selection, thus nailing down the entire religious-right who will believe anything so long as it moves them up a notch or two on God's "good' list.

Secondly, God shouldn't be allowed to vote until after the polls close in California - 18 months from now.

I'm in Las Vegas today. This is an interesting place. The moment you step off the plane, they stick a vacuum (<-hard word to spell) in your wallet and set it to "steady suck." There are two type of businesses here: trinket sellers and buffet. The trinket sellers sell little plastic replicas of the worlds most plastic city. The buffets...well they are pretty darn nice.

There is also gambling here. Actually, it's everywhere.

I am staying in the Clarion Hotel-Casino which is near the McDonalds'-Casino and Target-Casino.

Thus far, this hotel is under performing. I got up this morning and took a shower. I got out only to notice there were no towels. Dripping wet, I walk to the phone and called down with my situation. They said, "You'll have to come down to get some."

I dried off with my bed sheet instead.

I watched the Bloomberg channel this morning. It's the same old story. The Democrats what to increase taxes on the rich and the GOP responds with "Americans want jobs." When the lack of a link between taxes and jobs is pointed out, the GOP quickly snaps back with "Pop Tart."

Elsewhere, the just found a tribe in Brazil that has never been in contact with modern man.

New York stepped up to the plate and voted in Gay Marriage. Good for them.

In the sequel to the book Eat, Sleep and Pray, the protagonist tells of her problem getting her fiance into the United States. The two most fouled up organizations in the country: TSA and the Department of Immigration are both part of the Department of Homeland Security. This is the department who idea of stopping terrorism is waiting for someone to phone in a suspicious lunch bag. Remember, they gave citizenship to the New York bomber who spent his vacations "snorkeling" in Pakistan.

If you want to cut spending, get rid of this department and hire a couple of good private eyes.

I have a conference to attend so gotta cut this short.

Up, up and away...

jim

No Zombies for you...

This just in: Zombie attacks are less imminent that we'd originally thought.

However, if zombies do attack - there's an app for that. Well, at least a website designed to help us prepare.

Here is the website's Mission Statement: The United States Army Zombie Combat Command guarantees the survival of the United States in the event of any Zombie emergency.

Thank God someone is paying attention to this potential threat. So many are preparing for a tsunami to wipe out Germany's nuclear facilities that some of the more likely threats are being overlooked.

Speaking of nuclear facilities - ours are leaking. These sites were originally designed for 40 years of service. It was anticipated that we would replace them with new, more efficient and safer sites after that time. Now, 40+ years later, they are still running and have had their licences extended for another 20 years.

The problem is that no one told the metal-fatigue elves about this change. So the plants are leaking. We need to either fix these or build new ones. Where is the money going to come from? I'll let you know in a minute.

They are trying to build a giant solar power plant in the Mojave desert. It will cover 5 and a half square miles and will help the state meet its goal of 35% renewable energy by 2020. Some are against it because there is a famous hill nearby or something.

I'm in favor of it. Here is what it comes down to: "Either get serious about energy or learn to walk."

Congress is passing a new law that says you will go to jail if you stream a copyrighted video. People against this say that all of our 14-year-old male children will end up in our overcrowded prisons. People in favor of it say that copyrighted material should be protected.

Here is what I say, "This is just another platform for ambulance chasing lawyers to threaten families so they will settle out of court and make lawyers rich. Find another solution."

The GOP has a new entrant. His name is Huntsman. I watched his "I'm running for president" speech and felt embarrassed for him. Just a bag of clichés. Before I vote for this guy, I'll vote for my son's Xbox controller.

Update: Lulzsec has taken down the two top government websites from Brazil. As long as I can still watch Family Guy on Hulu, I'm okay with this.

Has anyone else out there noticed that websites that sell stuff try to "help you out" by filling in some of your order information for you? Be very careful of this as it can cost you plenty. For example, Travelocity defaults to the idea that you want "trip insurance" and includes it in your final bill unless you notice the charge and ask them to remove it. Here is another one. Fedex-Kinkos allows you to send printing jobs in over the internet. Their default selection is for you to use Color Printing on Resume quality paper. This can cost you hundreds of dollars if you aren't paying attention and tell them what you really need.

Now, how to pay for things like nuclear power plants or public education...

A little math here:

In 2006, about 4 million people made over 200K per year. Some made way more than that so I am going to use a weighted average of $1 million per person (it will be higher for 2010)

If those people all paid tax at the 35% rate they would generate $1.4 trillion in revenue.
If they all paid 25% that the GOP wants, they will only generate $1.0 trillion in revenue.
If they paid the 17% that the top 400 earners paid in 2010, they will only generate $680 billion.
If they pay the 70% rate from the 70's, they will contribute $2.8 billion in revenue.
A simple 3-4% increase in the tax rate for the richest Americans, for just one year, will enable us to double the number of nuclear facilities in the country.
So, if the rich pay the pre 80's tax rate (70%), they will generate 1.8 trillion more PER YEAR than the GOP proposal (25%). This balances our budget tomorrow - with some left over.

There is your money for the new nuclear power plants.

Now, compare a tax increase for the rich to the overall GOP plan of slashing education, NASA, research, family planning and Medicare while cutting the tax rate for the rich.

I hope I have managed to sway a few people with these facts. The United States is a world power because of its economy. The size of the military means nothing as far as power goes.

Here is your quote for the day: "We cannot continue to have an excellence gap with the rest of the world and intend to remain the economic superpower and military superpower of the planet. That's just not going to happen, ... We're in a position where unless we take action, we'll end up being the France of the 21st century: a lot of talk, but not a lot of strength behind it in terms of economic capability." Mitt Romney. He signed a No-Tax pledge in 2008 but is wavering on doing that again this time around.

Mitt...I couldn't have said it better myself. If only you were as good as your word.

I have a world to say and I need to get it done before it gets too hot outside.

Up, up and away...

jim

And here is Jon Stewart on Fox news. Jon is so smart that it just doesn't seem fair.