chargirlgenius

The other day, I was lounging in the tub, reading Omnivore's Dilemma, thinking that it might be quite a challenge to try living without consuming corn* for a year. I could blog about it, then they could make a movie about me, a la Julie and Julia, and I'd be rich and famous.

That's why we do social activism, isn't it?

Anyway, I casually look over at my bath salts, and there it is. Zea Mays. Corn. In my bath salts.

I give up already.

*Fresh picked sweet corn eaten directly off the ear wouldn't count. That actually IS food.

Whereas, the powers that be are encouraging sick people to stay home from work or school when they’re sick, and
Whereas the United States has the paltriest sick and maternity leaves among all industrialized nations, and
Whereas individuals will come to work sick because they will either lose pay or vacation time when it is combined, and
Whereas companies will not voluntarily offer better sick and maternity leaves without it being legally mandated, and
Whereas a legal mandate will put American companies on an even playing field with one another, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED that Congress should get their collective heads out of their asses and pass legislation that
1. Requires employers that have a minimum of 10 employees to offer at least 15 paid sick leave to employees.
2. Requires the aforementioned employers to separate sick time from vacation time.
3. Requires the aforementioned employers to provide at least three months paid maternity leave.

I was recently reading a local forum about a town in New Jersey, and clicked on a thread about safety in the town, and how safe people felt on Main Street. The thread quickly turned to a debate on illegal immigrants, which is always, well, interesting.

Somebody on the board complained about a local grocery giving her foreign change:

someone a couple posts back said something about the latin grocer on Main Street. I had to run in there a few weeks ago and pick up a few pieces of produce and thought it was very convenient. I went to pay for my items and the guy behind the counter handed me foreign currency. I mean hello, we are in the USA and it should be AMERICAN money not currency from British Islands or Puerto Rico. I went back to the cashier and said to him you owe me money and he said no he didn't he gave me the right change back. I did not leave the store until he gave me AMERICAN money. I said that his change was worthless to me and wanted the right change back. He eventually gave me what I asked for but I will never shop in that establishment ever again even though it was convenient.

Since it was a local forum, another poster checked the story out:

I went over asked Fruitmex about is incident. They all remember it quite well! Some lady freaked out because they gave them a foeign coin. They said she was quite mean. Oh the coin was Canadian!

And this, folks, is why little anecdotes are generally useless.

In 2004, the day after Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention, I wrote:

"I was impressed with Barack Obama, senatorial candidate from Illinois. His entire speech is available on NPR.org, for those that are interested. He's an excellent speaker, and it made me want to know more about him."

Listen to the speeches from last night, if you get a chance. McCain was gracious in defeat. He was again the man that I wouldn’t have been upset to see president. I like to think that was the real McCain, and that he wasn’t comfortable with the campaign. I truly hope that he can work to move forward, to help heal the divide. I hope that he can help to rein in what the rhetoric has wrought.

Obama’s speech was inspiring, as I knew it would be. Listen to it. I cried.

I'm pleased because I voted for the man who I thought would make the best president. I voted for him because I line up with him on more issues. I voted for him because of the content of his character. I voted for him because, yes, I believe that he has it in him to do great things. Now that he's been elected, I sincerely hope that he will, and can.

I'm pleased because my two sons will grow up in a world where a man with the first name of "Barack" can become president. Seriously, this part made me cry last night, when I kissed them goodnight. I'm pleased that the negative attacks and smear campaign didn't prevail. I have hope it means Americans are demanding better.

I also sincerely hope that it will become increasingly clear what was the truth, and what was rhetoric. I hope that the people who pushed and pushed that rhetoric are able to help contain it. I sincerely hope that Obama is able to have a good term, and not do anything stupid so that people can hold him up as a bad example. I hope that he's able to follow through with what he said during his speech, and will be able to lead this nation, undivided, the United States of America. I don't envy him the job he has now to do.

Also, the day after the election in ‘04, I wrote that I’d vote for Obama in ’08. Honestly, I thought it would be cool, but I’m not sure I actually believed it would happen this year. I did know that I was watching a man who would be president, someday.

Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House - a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, "We are not enemies, but friends...though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection." And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn - I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.

Jon Stewart has just called it for Obama.

:-D

ETA:

John McCain is an honorable man, and gave a good concession speech. It's the John McCain that I thought he was before this campaign.

Drove up to the local school. Parked close to the door. Walked in through an empty corridor, my heels echoing. Went right up to give my name. Stood for about 30 seconds while waiting for a poll worker to finish explaining the machine to an elderly gentleman, so she could lead me to my machine. Voted. Got my sticker, walked out.

Total time, about a minute and a half.

That, folks, is what voting in rural America is like.

And yes, I teared up slightly as I walked out. :-)

Seems a lot of people don’t understand how tax brackets work. I completely understand. I didn’t understand until I researched it about 6 months ago. I’m reposting something that I just posted elsewhere, thought it was worth pointing out:

Here’s how tax brackets work.

2008 tax brackets:

$0 - $15,650: 10% of the amount over $0
$15,651 - $63,700: $1,565 plus 15% of the amount over $15,650
$63,701 - $128,500: $8,772.50 plus 25% of the amount over $63,700
$128,501 - $195,850: $24,972.50 plus 28% of the amount over $128,500
$195,851 - $349,700: $43,830.50 plus 33% of the amount over $195,850
$349,701 - No limit: $94,601 plus 35% of the amount over $349,700

What does this mean? This means that if I make more than the next guy, I’m not being taxed more on the same amount of money. I’m only being taxed more on the amount that I make above and beyond him. If Joe the bus driver and his wife make $63,700, and my hubby and I make $100k, we’re paying the exact same tax rate on that $63,700. I’m only paying a higher percentage on the last $36,300 of my income. That’s not even taking into account the fact that I can likely hire a better accountant with that additional income.

I’ll admit, I haven’t delved into the details of the small business changes, but I’m not a small business owner. But if it works out the same as regular tax brackets, the person making $251k will still be taxed exactly the same percentage on the first $250k of that. Only the 1k over and above 250k will be taxed an additional 3%.

Google how tax brackets work for more info.

Heh. I’m not the only one to be asking “What is ‘Main Street’?”

Fresh Air from WHYY, October 8, 2008 • Much has been made of the effects the recent financial crisis will have on "Main Street." Linguist Geoff Nunberg Geoff Nunberg discusses how this term gained such popular — and presidential — usage.

(it’s just a six minute piece)

I’ve been reading much more about sprawl and New Urbanism, lately. Veddy veddy interesting.

Oh, and completely unrelated, a healthy dose of Scott Joplin sure does wonders for an off day. :-D

Warning, political content ahead. :-D

I am a liberal. I’m fairly moderate in some things, but certainly not in others. I’m very much a social liberal, and a little more fiscally conservative. I would rather see a few people live off of the system than see any starving children, so that probably makes me more liberal that center.

As liberal as I am, I do have to grant that the GOP is *much* better at the spin game and at politics, in general. Dems are much less likely to stick together as a party to get their political agenda passed. Not sure I particularly would want my government to be good at spin and politics, but there you have it.

Caveat: I understand that not everybody out there is as liberal as I am. I might think that people are wrong on certain things, but I respect their ability to hold their own viewpoints. I won’t call people names because of what they believe or how they want to vote. (In other words, I think the icon is funny, but I'm not calling my republican friends "damn republicans.") ;-)

One thing I’ve noticed about the GOP, is that they’re much more likely to talk about how great America is, how American workers are the hardest working in the world, and how strong the morals of are heartland are. They’re great cheerleaders. I’m not the only one who has noticed it – most of you are probably saying, “Duh! You bothered to post about this?”

I heard a piece on NPR a couple of weeks ago, and after listening to two debates since then, I realized that the GOP did, or could have, written their play book based on Terror Management Theory.

What is Terror Management Theory? No, it actually doesn’t have anything to do with terrorists. Simply put, TMT describes how humans cope with being faced with death or danger. The answers are complex, but can focus around religion, human interaction, attempting to feel good about oneself or a group, etc. When you fear for your life, you might find comfort in religion. You might find comfort following a leader who stresses your own good qualities. You might find meaning in these things.

The story on NPR described a study that tracked how people saw political candidates. They created two different types of candidates, who gave speeches to an audience. One candidate provided rational, well-thought out solutions to problems. The other candidate appealed to values, talked about the greatness of the group, etc. When reminded of their own mortality, the group voted overwhelmingly more for the value-focused candidate. Sound familiar?

Though it’s not often talked about, if you google Terror Management Theory and Terror Management Theory Politics, you’ll see a variety of references, blog posts, studies, etc. If you’re interested in reading more, I’ll let you sort through the evidence, and find the best peer-reviewed information, etc. It’s worth looking into more. I’m finding some discussion that some of these TMT studies are being funded by the Administration and the Department of Homeland Security. That could go some interesting places.

But knowing this, knowing that reminding people of dangers around them can make a value-driven candidate look more attractive, watch the debates. Watch the rhetoric from the conservatives. Watch how both sides approach issues (it might be hard – it’s starting to get ugly out there). Watch how McCain uses phrases like “American workers are the greatest in the world”, etc. Watch how he appeals to our identity, and our desire to be the best. Knowing about this can make listing to McCain/Palin almost comical.

Does that mean that everybody who votes republican is simply duped by psychology? Nah. Many hold values that match up more closely to the party. But there is a big segment of the population who votes their “gut”. Nothing wrong with that, but watch how McCain is trying to appeal to your gut. It suddenly becomes very transparent.

Drinking game anybody?

I'm drinking a whole bottle of wine, if either one says "I'll get back to ya on that one."

Eta:
9:05
Ding.
-1 to Obama for saying "Main Street". That's just my little pet peeve.

9:07
Ah! They're even!
-1 to McCain for Main Street.

I need a drink.

9:36
Poor Jim Lehrer. Will they answer his question?

He needs a drink!

9:45
Ooh. Slam. Lookin' like a jerk there?