Hi. My name is Talia. And I have road rage.

Seriously. It's bad. I get very angry when people go way too slow in the left lane or cut people off to get in the far left lane for no reason or when people make stupid choices that risk other people's lives. All valid concerns... not worth rage though.Today, driving into work, the traffic was gross. There was a 5 car pile up and it was nasty. I was trying to merge from the HOV/toll lane onto the highway and get to the right because the accident was in the left lane. This nice guy in a bright blue pickup truck saw me trying to get over. He had been sitting in the mess longer than I (short cut through the HOV/toll lane) but he said to me (our windows were down), "Do you want to get over?" And I said yes. So he didn't blaze forward, he waited patiently for me to be able to drive forward and get in front of him. He wasn't obsessed with beating the other drivers on the road or totally in his own world. It made a huge impact on me.My carpool buddy, Chad, always laughs at me when I drive. Well, he laughs at me even when I am just the passenger. I get mad when people cut us off or do things that could cause an accident or are just stupid. He just drives along without strong emotion, just trying to get home safely to his family. And I wonder, why can't I be like that?"What's your rush? We will get there." OH! So annoying! My dad still lectures me on driving. In the past year we had a few opportunities to travel together where I drove. Don't tailgate, don't pass so crazy, you are going to fast... Didn't he see that I had somewhere to go and these people were in my way? He told me, "Some drivers are like children, they want to play games with you. Slam on their brakes, cut you off, speed up. Some drivers are like parents thinking, you cut me off and I need to teach you a lesson. And they bait the drivers." Okay fine, dad... then what kind of driver am I supposed to be?!"A safe one. I just want you to get home safely and in one piece. And I don't care if you are late. You are with me."Thanks dad.Thanks Mr. blue pick up truck driver.The road rage isn't cured but I think I am on the right path.

I FOUND A FREE REDIRECT FROM BLOG TO BLOG!

Okay, sorry for shouting but this is awesome!!If you are on Blogspot and you need to redirect your blog to a new location (website or other blog url) here is ALL you have to do!On Blogger:1. Go to your Dashboard2. Click on the Design tab3. Click Edit HTML4. At the top of your template, find where it says <head>5. Insert this code after <head> -<meta HTTP-EQUIV='REFRESH' content='0; url=http://YOURNEWWEBSITE/'></meta>6. Click save and test it!How do you test? Well, silly, just type in the OLD URL and see if you were redirected to the NEW URL.Couple things... you HAVE to have the close tag - </meta> to make it work. And the number after content='0 is how long you want it to take to redirect. In this case, 0 (zero) seconds.Questions? I will try to help ... leave me a comment.

Dancing Brings Joy... Even in the Face of Sorrow

A new Portal Manager and contributor to the Catholic Portal at Patheos, Elizabeth Scalia, writes over at the First Things site on the blog The Anchoress.Recently she wrote a post about a Holocaust survivor who danced at Auschwitz and several other locations of horror in Europe with his daughter and three grandchildren.There have been some broad criticisms of him as well as of his daughter, mainly accusing her of exploiting him and making claims that he "appears" to have dementia (which is false, according to his daughter). I don't feel that he is ill or sick for wanting to celebrate his life, especially in a place that knew so much death. I don't feel it is disrespectful, and frankly, I think it is wrong for us to judge this man. He lived through it, we have only read about it. If he chose to spit on the grounds or dance or cry or laugh... he has certainly earned the right to do so without the armchair critics attacking him or his family.He seems like an incredible man who is intensely loved by his sweet family. I wish him a long and happy life, G-d willing. There are actually three videos in this series. I recommend them all. In the third, he goes back to the time in his mind and recalls the conversations they had with passing villagers while piled into the box cars, conveying them to their death.Here are the videos:Part 1[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUvo5OHH6o8&rel=0&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&fs=1]Part 2[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_Np3aZh6sU&hl=en_US&fs=1]Part 3[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpfID7pLe7M&hl=en_US&fs=1]

The Bonds of Sisterhood

I don't know if I can say that I was never a joiner... really I felt like I was always on the outskirts of the groups I was in... Cheerleading, Drama Club, Youth Group... but I was always looking for some broader connection. I think a lot of this came from my family. When I was very little we lived with my grandparents but as I got older, my dad found work away from the Northeast and we were our own unit. My aunts and uncles didn't visit and my mom's family was just significantly older. My best friends were my closest family, my parents and brother. But I always wanted sisters and I wanted to be a part of something bigger than me.

I just returned from the 74th biennial Gamma Phi Beta convention. There were 850 women present who were MY sisters. I didn't meet all of them but if I ended up by the pool, in an elevator, or on a bus to Harry Potter world with one (or 10) of them, we always had something in common to talk about. Not only am I a part of something bigger than my small unit, I am a leader in that bigger picture. I take pride in the women who I call MY girls. They have adopted me as a big sister, mom, mentor, and annoying adult who interferes sometimes. And I am so thankful for those women. (GO BETA RHO!) :)

I find myself still searching because I am looking for that bigger picture with my faith as well but the connection I find within Gamma Phi Beta is a special one. No matter where I go in the world, there is a good chance that one of my 170,000 sisters is probably there and took a picture with any crescent moon present!

I joined Gamma Phi Beta at Jacksonville University to connect to something bigger than myself, bigger than the theatre department. It wasn't always easy (being a collegian never is) but it has paid off in spades. Recently, I met my fourth little legacy/faux niece and we are waiting on number five any day! I have a group of women I graduated with whom I call my dearest sisters and who will serve as my children's aunties, as I never had any blood sisters. I have cried on their shoulders, attended their weddings, held their babies, and inducted their husbands into our boy club. I met women from all over the US and Canada that shared my love of pink, crescents, and carnations last weekend, many of whom I will stay in touch with for the next two years until I see them again at our 2012 convention in DENVER. Which, by the way, will be our 75th.

I honestly don't know what Frances E. Haven, Mary A. Bingham, E. Adeline Curtis, or Helen M. Dodge were thinking when, in 1874 they decided not to be Alpha Phi's and create Gamma Phi Beta. We can guess and wonder and I am sure they could never have envisioned what GPhi looks like today but I am SO thankful for our founders.

Dear Pop. A Letter From My Father to His.

I asked my father, Rebahir Davis, to write a piece about how his father inspired his Judaism for Patheos. His response was overwhelming to me as it brought back a flood of memories of my grandfather. However, it also gives a beautiful insight into the evolution of Judaism.

June 30, 2010

Dear Pop

Your granddaughter has been nagging me to write about what you taught me, how you directed my growth as a Jew. It has been hard for me to put this into words. But this morning when I could not sleep it came to me. To say that Judaism was a vehicle for social action is too easy. For to you, social action was a vehicle for Jewing. I know that term is unexpected to you. When you walked this earth it was only used in the pejorative. But a teacher of mine since your passing has helped me reclaim it from the haters and baiters and bring it back into the light.

For you, coming out of the end of the ‘classical Reform’ period, we were American Jews who applied our Judaism to our lives as good citizens of this country and this world. The words “social action” were not to be separated from our process of Jewing. See how the term Jew can be used as a positive verb? I learned early at your knee that the Synagogue was our recharging station. If, in the world our role was Tikun Olam as in to repair, then in the Synagogue we were to re-form, re-state, re-new and re-charge our batteries for the good fight. It was our place to sing and pray and listen to your magnificent calls to action. You spoke of brotherhood week in a way that made us want to be brothers with all people. You spoke of the American dream and made it Jewish. You spoke of civil rights as a Jewish ideal and you spoke of a war on cults as a war to save the souls of a generation.

I learned at your knee that Jewish HolyDays are not times of separation but of celebration. They are the times to celebrate freedom and unity of purpose. Passover powered our fight to free slaves everywhere whether bound by chains or by poverty. Sukkot sang the song of the earth and our relationship to her and to all who walked upon her. We gleaned Dr. Efromsyn’s farm and you read to us from Torah about our responsibility to the poor, and the stranger. Hanukah was lit with the lights of difference and acceptance. We proudly lit the lights and comically sang the songs. And you told the story in your own way. I learned that the lesson of Hanukah was not political power, it was religious rights. It was ringing the bell of freedom throughout the land.

You sat with priests and ministers and spoke of the priestly benediction and ministering to the downtrodden. When you marched with a Reverend in Selma, it was a joyous religious duty. When you spoke to congress on the dangers of cults your words rang out in religious fervor to protect the children and the idealism of youth. You spoke with love of the two Abrahams, he of the Bible and he of the Gettysburg address, sharing your love of the land and people and the faith of the one and your love of the land and people and the hope for the other. Pop, you always walked the walk, and showed me how that walk was the Jewish walk.

Much has happened since you passed from this plane of existence. I have found another teacher, not to replace you, but to compliment you, and comfort me. He has helped me find my own place of balance my own place on the path. I Jew the lessons that you taught me and they guide me on my own path. There is more Hebrew in my teachings now, that sacred tongue motivates me and teaches me. There are more traditional trappings too, for they fulfill me when I return to re-from, re-state, re-new, re-charge and re-focus. I focus my faith with the lens of Jewish philosophy as you taught me. And I am mesmerized by the mysteries and sit in council with Kabbalah.

How I wish you were here to share in the good conversations. I would love to listen and laugh and learn and argue with you again and especially to be hugged and held by you. But your teachings are with me. They are in my heart and in my mouth and on my hand and between my eyes. They may manifest themselves in different ways but you would recognized them and maybe smile at the stories I tell for they are of you and from you. And Pop, I have reached this point along the path because of you, for above all you taught me to be open, to listen, to learn and to love. You taught me to examine and extract and make the mission mine. This I have tried to do Pop.

Oh, by the way, you would be so proud of your grandchildren. They carry your stories, each in their own way and live them each in their own way as they walk along the path that you laid out for us. Thank you Pop for the path and for teaching that we must all follow the path in our own way.

Your loving son

Jay now known as Rabbi Bahir Davis

Organizing Nerd Alert!

Okay, I must rant for a minute.

So my friend over at CasaCullen has gotten me all inspired to spruce up my wee home. I've enjoyed planning out many projects and (so far) executing a few.

One thing I always go round and round about is organizing my stuff... Shoes, sweaters, clothing, books, movies, etc.

And then I got an email from my heaven/hell... The Container Store.

I can spend hours there, picking out new storage ideas and then I finish, realize I will not spend $30 on a rack to organize my scarves and $25 on another lunch solution, put it away where I got it (because I worked in retail and that concept is seared in my brain) and walk quickly to the exit to prevent myself from coming up with another (costly) storage idea. I am fortunate to have a dear friend, Zeina, who has helped me see outside the (expensive) (but useful) (plastic) (storage) box. She always has great ideas on how to do things cheaper.

Anyway, back to the email. This email was aimed right at my weakest weakness... Shoes.

The headline was - SASSY Shoe Shoe Storage on SALE! Yeah. I knew I was in trouble from the minute I read it. I scanned the image and found the perfect solution for my shoes and in the milisecond it took me to click the image and get to the webpage, I said to myself (very fast) "Self, you KNOW its going to be like $8 per thingie and you KNOW how many shoes you have." Then I told myself not to be silly... it can't hurt to look.

Drop Front Shoe Boxes - regularly $6.99... on sale for $4.99... awesome. Cool. Give me... wait let me count... oh... roughly... 25 or so. WHAT?! Do we realize that comes out to $124.75 (I used a calculator, don't judge... I was a theatre major)!!! And why does this stuff have to be sold individually? What woman, in her right mind, only owns ONE pair of black heels (or brown, or silver, or red, or yellow... yes I said yellow)?

So yeah. I love them. They would be just perfect for my closet and mountain of shoes but I don't have $124.75 to throw around willy nilly on shoe solutions... So back to my Zeina I go... for an "on the budget" idea... and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Not kidding. She makes the best PB&J in the world. For reals.

My Daddy Always Said There’d Be Days Like This…

Just had a lively dispute on Twitter with a very conservative fella who told me I'm a Marxist because I believe in helping my fellow (wo)man.

He was kinda abrasive and rude (and I'm not gunna lie, I was rude back) but despite being annoyed and wanting to leave the convo, I stayed and chatted.

With plenty of parries and repostes, we tossed 140 characters back and forth. And I am sure he still doesn't like me and frankly, I'm not super thrilled about him but at least it was an intelligent conversation (though I could have done without him calling me all the 'ist' names in the book that he didn't agree with).

I simultaneously HATE discussing politics (or the negative aspects of religion for that matter) and am motivated and inspired by it. I truly believe that none of us knows all and we all must keep learning and moving. I guess that's one of my problems with the 'ists - (just like in Judaism, as my father says - when you call yourself a movement, you stop moving) - in politics, when we decide that something is Capitalist or Marxist or Socialist or Blahist... we lock that idea into a box and never let it develop.

What if we threw the titles out the window and just picked up the good ideas from each? What if we didn't have to take each 'ist to the horrible conclusion that each reaches it we go to the extreme?

I don't know. But I do know that the way people are acting right now... conservatives, liberals... I don't like it. It is pushing us further and further from a solution. And people like Glenn Beck and, yes, liberals too that jump to the most horrible conclusion and scare the people who listen to them out of their wits AREN'T HELPING. They are just preening and prancing and trying to promote themselves, not liberty or safe and healthy living.

Oh well. Dad always said, "We have to agree to disagree." Not always satisfying but makes for a much better life than fighting everyone.

I really do love this video. The first 14 minutes really hits home... http://bit.ly/daCPM0

WOW! Plane crash in Austin…

WOW! I really am at a loss of words. Wow... There was a plane crash in Austin this morning. A man flew a small, single engine plane into a building. But then I learned more.

The "man" was a human being who was much maligned and the victim of our country. He was a throw away person to our tax system. And the building was an IRS building. His name was Andrew Joseph Stack. 53 years old, I believe.

Now, please don't get me wrong, I don't approve of his methods. He has probably cost the life of many innocent people, however, I feel for this man. How could he continue to live when the greedy government attacked him. Honestly? He was small potatoes but that is what they seem to go after. Now, I know how I sound but believe me I am a Democrat and I believe in social services and everyone pitching in to support those among us who cannot support themselves. But in this situation, he followed the rules. He made more of an effort than I ever did to learn the rules...

More than anything I feel for his loved ones, because I know he had to have been loved. How sad that he was driven to this. I think our whole country needs an overhaul.

I also want to preserve his final words for all to see because undoubtedly his website will be ripped down when they get wind of it. The website is www.embeddedart.com ... oh and as I write this... it has been removed by the FBI. Here is what it says now -

"This website has been taken offline due to the sensitive nature of the events that transpired in Texas this morning and in compliance with a request from the FBI.  Regards,
T35 Hosting"

Here is the text of his manifesto after the jump.

If you’re reading this, you’re no doubt asking yourself, “Why did this have to happen?”  The simple truth is that it is complicated and has been coming for a long time.  The writing process, started many months ago, was intended to be therapy in the face of the looming realization that there isn’t enough therapy in the world that can fix what is really broken.  Needless to say, this rant could fill volumes with example after example if I would let it.  I find the process of writing it frustrating, tedious, and probably pointless… especially given my gross inability to gracefully articulate my thoughts in light of the storm raging in my head.  Exactly what is therapeutic about that I’m not sure, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

We are all taught as children that without laws there would be no society, only anarchy.  Sadly, starting at early ages we in this country have been brainwashed to believe that, in return for our dedication and service, our government stands for justice for all.  We are further brainwashed to believe that there is freedom in this place, and that we should be ready to lay our lives down for the noble principals represented by its founding fathers.  Remember? One of these was “no taxation without representation”.  I have spent the total years of my adulthood unlearning that crap from only a few years of my childhood.  These days anyone who really stands up for that principal is promptly labeled a “crackpot”, traitor and worse.
While very few working people would say they haven’t had their fair share of taxes (as can I), in my lifetime I can say with a great degree of certainty that there has never been a politician cast a vote on any matter with the likes of me or my interests in mind.  Nor, for that matter, are they the least bit interested in me or anything I have to say.

Why is it that a handful of thugs and plunderers can commit unthinkable atrocities (and in the case of the GM executives, for scores of years) and when it’s time for their gravy train to crash under the weight of their gluttony and overwhelming stupidity, the force of the full federal government has no difficulty coming to their aid within days if not hours?  Yet at the same time, the joke we call the American medical system, including the drug and insurance companies, are murdering tens of thousands of people a year and stealing from the corpses and victims they cripple, and this country’s leaders don’t see this as important as bailing out a few of their vile, rich cronies.  Yet, the political “representatives” (thieves, liars, and self-serving scumbags is far more accurate) have endless time to sit around for year after year and debate the state of the “terrible health care problem”.  It’s clear they see no crisis as long as the dead people don’t get in the way of their corporate profits rolling in.

And justice? You’ve got to be kidding!

How can any rational individual explain that white elephant conundrum in the middle of our tax system and, indeed, our entire legal system?  Here we have a system that is, by far, too complicated for the brightest of the master scholars to understand.  Yet, it mercilessly “holds accountable” its victims, claiming that they’re responsible for fully complying with laws not even the experts understand.  The law “requires” a signature on the bottom of a tax filing; yet no one can say truthfully that they understand what they are signing; if that’s not “duress” than what is.  If this is not the measure of a totalitarian regime, nothing is.

How did I get here? 

My introduction to the real American nightmare starts back in the early ‘80s.  Unfortunately after more than 16 years of school, somewhere along the line I picked up the absurd, pompous notion that I could read and understand plain English.  Some friends introduced me to a group of people who were having ‘tax code’ readings and discussions.  In particular, zeroed in on a section relating to the wonderful “exemptions” that make institutions like the vulgar, corrupt Catholic Church so incredibly wealthy.  We carefully studied the law (with the help of some of the “best”, high-paid, experienced tax lawyers in the business), and then began to do exactly what the “big boys” were doing (except that we weren’t steeling from our congregation or lying to the government about our massive profits in the name of God).  We took a great deal of care to make it all visible, following all of the rules, exactly the way the law said it was to be done.

The intent of this exercise and our efforts was to bring about a much-needed re-evaluation of the laws that allow the monsters of organized religion to make such a mockery of people who earn an honest living.  However, this is where I learned that there are two “interpretations” for every law; one for the very rich, and one for the rest of us… Oh, and the monsters are the very ones making and enforcing the laws; the inquisition is still alive and well today in this country.

That little lesson in patriotism cost me $40,000+, 10 years of my life, and set my retirement plans back to 0.  It made me realize for the first time that I live in a country with an ideology that is based on a total and complete lie.  It also made me realize, not only how naive I had been, but also the incredible stupidity of the American public; that they buy, hook, line, and sinker, the crap about their “freedom”… and that they continue to do so with eyes closed in the face of overwhelming evidence and all that keeps happening in front of them.

Before even having to make a shaky recovery from the sting of the first lesson on what justice really means in this country (around 1984 after making my way through engineering school and still another five years of “paying my dues”), I felt I finally had to take a chance of launching my dream of becoming an independent engineer.
On the subjects of engineers and dreams of independence, I should digress somewhat to say that I’m sure that I inherited the fascination for creative problem solving from my father.  I realized this at a very young age.

The significance of independence, however, came much later during my early years of college; at the age of 18 or 19 when I was living on my own as student in an apartment in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  My neighbor was an elderly retired woman (80+ seemed ancient to me at that age) who was the widowed wife of a retired steel worker.  Her husband had worked all his life in the steel mills of central Pennsylvania with promises from big business and the union that, for his 30 years of service, he would have a pension and medical care to look forward to in his retirement.  Instead he was one of the thousands who got nothing because the incompetent mill management and corrupt union (not to mention the government) raided their pension funds and stole their retirement.  All she had was social security to live on.
In retrospect, the situation was laughable because here I was living on peanut butter and bread (or Ritz crackers when I could afford to splurge) for months at a time.  When I got to know this poor figure and heard her story I felt worse for her plight than for my own (I, after all, I thought I had everything to in front of me).  I was genuinely appalled at one point, as we exchanged stories and commiserated with each other over our situations, when she in her grandmotherly fashion tried to convince me that I would be “healthier” eating cat food (like her) rather than trying to get all my substance from peanut butter and bread.  I couldn’t quite go there, but the impression was made.  I decided that I didn’t trust big business to take care of me, and that I would take responsibility for my own future and myself.

Return to the early ‘80s, and here I was off to a terrifying start as a ‘wet-behind-the-ears’ contract software engineer... and two years later, thanks to the fine backroom, midnight effort by the sleazy executives of Arthur Andersen (the very same folks who later brought us Enron and other such calamities) and an equally sleazy New York Senator (Patrick Moynihan), we saw the passage of 1986 tax reform act with its section 1706.

For you who are unfamiliar, here is the core text of the IRS Section 1706, defining the treatment of workers (such as contract engineers) for tax purposes.

Visit this link for a conference committee report (http://www.synergistech.com/1706.shtml#ConferenceCommitteeReport) regarding the intended interpretation of Section 1706 and the relevant parts of Section 530, as amended.

For information on how these laws affect technical services workers and their clients, read our discussion here (http://www.synergistech.com/ic-taxlaw.shtml).

SEC. 1706. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN TECHNICAL PERSONNEL.

(a) IN GENERAL - Section 530 of the Revenue Act of 1978 is amended by adding at the end thereof the following new subsection:

(d) EXCEPTION. - This section shall not apply in the case of an individual who pursuant to an arrangement between the taxpayer and another person, provides services for such other person as an engineer, designer, drafter, computer programmer, systems analyst, or other similarly skilled worker engaged in a similar line of work.

(b) EFFECTIVE DATE. - The amendment made by this section shall apply to remuneration paid and services rendered after December 31, 1986.

Note:
·      "another person" is the client in the traditional job-shop relationship.
·      "taxpayer" is the recruiter, broker, agency, or job shop.
·      "individual", "employee", or "worker" is you.
 
Admittedly, you need to read the treatment to understand what it is saying but it’s not very complicated.  The bottom line is that they may as well have put my name right in the text of section (d).  Moreover, they could only have been more blunt if they would have came out and directly declared me a criminal and non-citizen slave.  Twenty years later, I still can’t believe my eyes.

During 1987, I spent close to $5000 of my ‘pocket change’, and at least 1000 hours of my time writing, printing, and mailing to any senator, congressman, governor, or slug that might listen; none did, and they universally treated me as if I was wasting their time.  I spent countless hours on the L.A. freeways driving to meetings and any and all of the disorganized professional groups who were attempting to mount a campaign against this atrocity.  This, only to discover that our efforts were being easily derailed by a few moles from the brokers who were just beginning to enjoy the windfall from the new declaration of their “freedom”.  Oh, and don’t forget, for all of the time I was spending on this, I was loosing income that I couldn’t bill clients.

After months of struggling it had clearly gotten to be a futile exercise.  The best we could get for all of our trouble is a pronouncement from an IRS mouthpiece that they weren’t going to enforce that provision (read harass engineers and scientists).  This immediately proved to be a lie, and the mere existence of the regulation began to have its impact on my bottom line; this, of course, was the intended effect.

Again, rewind my retirement plans back to 0 and shift them into idle.  If I had any sense, I clearly should have left abandoned engineering and never looked back.
Instead I got busy working 100-hour workweeks.  Then came the L.A. depression of the early 1990s.  Our leaders decided that they didn’t need the all of those extra Air Force bases they had in Southern California, so they were closed; just like that.  The result was economic devastation in the region that rivaled the widely publicized Texas S&L fiasco.  However, because the government caused it, no one gave a shit about all of the young families who lost their homes or street after street of boarded up houses abandoned to the wealthy loan companies who received government funds to “shore up” their windfall.  Again, I lost my retirement.

Years later, after weathering a divorce and the constant struggle trying to build some momentum with my business, I find myself once again beginning to finally pick up some speed.  Then came the .COM bust and the 911 nightmare.  Our leaders decided that all aircraft were grounded for what seemed like an eternity; and long after that, ‘special’ facilities like San Francisco were on security alert for months.  This made access to my customers prohibitively expensive.  Ironically, after what they had done the Government came to the aid of the airlines with billions of our tax dollars … as usual they left me to rot and die while they bailed out their rich, incompetent cronies WITH MY MONEY!  After these events, there went my business but not quite yet all of my retirement and savings.

By this time, I’m thinking that it might be good for a change.  Bye to California, I’ll try Austin for a while.  So I moved, only to find out that this is a place with a highly inflated sense of self-importance and where damn little real engineering work is done.  I’ve never experienced such a hard time finding work.  The rates are 1/3 of what I was earning before the crash, because pay rates here are fixed by the three or four large companies in the area who are in collusion to drive down prices and wages… and this happens because the justice department is all on the take and doesn’t give a fuck about serving anyone or anything but themselves and their rich buddies.

To survive, I was forced to cannibalize my savings and retirement, the last of which was a small IRA.  This came in a year with mammoth expenses and not a single dollar of income.  I filed no return that year thinking that because I didn’t have any income there was no need.  The sleazy government decided that they disagreed.  But they didn’t notify me in time for me to launch a legal objection so when I attempted to get a protest filed with the court I was told I was no longer entitled to due process because the time to file ran out.  Bend over for another $10,000 helping of justice.
So now we come to the present.  After my experience with the CPA world, following the business crash I swore that I’d never enter another accountant’s office again.  But here I am with a new marriage and a boatload of undocumented income, not to mention an expensive new business asset, a piano, which I had no idea how to handle.  After considerable thought I decided that it would be irresponsible NOT to get professional help; a very big mistake.

When we received the forms back I was very optimistic that they were in order.  I had taken all of the years information to Bill Ross, and he came back with results very similar to what I was expecting.  Except that he had neglected to include the contents of Sheryl’s unreported income; $12,700 worth of it. To make matters worse, Ross knew all along this was missing and I didn’t have a clue until he pointed it out in the middle of the audit.  By that time it had become brutally evident that he was representing himself and not me.

This left me stuck in the middle of this disaster trying to defend transactions that have no relationship to anything tax-related (at least the tax-related transactions were poorly documented).  Things I never knew anything about and things my wife had no clue would ever matter to anyone.  The end result is… well, just look around.

I remember reading about the stock market crash before the “great” depression and how there were wealthy bankers and businessmen jumping out of windows when they realized they screwed up and lost everything.  Isn’t it ironic how far we’ve come in 60 years in this country that they now know how to fix that little economic problem; they just steal from the middle class (who doesn’t have any say in it, elections are a joke) to cover their asses and it’s “business-as-usual”.  Now when the wealthy fuck up, the poor get to die for the mistakes… isn’t that a clever, tidy solution.

As government agencies go, the FAA is often justifiably referred to as a tombstone agency, though they are hardly alone.  The recent presidential puppet GW Bush and his cronies in their eight years certainly reinforced for all of us that this criticism rings equally true for all of the government.  Nothing changes unless there is a body count (unless it is in the interest of the wealthy sows at the government trough).  In a government full of hypocrites from top to bottom, life is as cheap as their lies and their self-serving laws.

I know I’m hardly the first one to decide I have had all I can stand.  It has always been a myth that people have stopped dying for their freedom in this country, and it isn’t limited to the blacks, and poor immigrants.  I know there have been countless before me and there are sure to be as many after.  But I also know that by not adding my body to the count, I insure nothing will change.  I choose to not keep looking over my shoulder at “big brother” while he strips my carcass, I choose not to ignore what is going on all around me, I choose not to pretend that business as usual won’t continue; I have just had enough.

I can only hope that the numbers quickly get too big to be white washed and ignored that the American zombies wake up and revolt; it will take nothing less.  I would only hope that by striking a nerve that stimulates the inevitable double standard, knee-jerk government reaction that results in more stupid draconian restrictions people wake up and begin to see the pompous political thugs and their mindless minions for what they are.  Sadly, though I spent my entire life trying to believe it wasn’t so, but violence not only is the answer, it is the only answer.  The cruel joke is that the really big chunks of shit at the top have known this all along and have been laughing, at and using this awareness against, fools like me all along.
I saw it written once that the definition of insanity is repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to suddenly be different.  I am finally ready to stop this insanity.  Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let’s try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well.

The communist creed: From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.

The capitalist creed: From each according to his gullibility, to each according to his greed.

Joe Stack (1956-2010)
02/18/2010

Bathroom Habits… RESULTS!

Thanks to everyone who took my bathroom habits survey. I was bummed that I didn't get more of a response but here is the data...

empty bathroom by limonada.Demographics -
54 respondents

70% were women
30% were men

76% were between 19 - 29
22% were between 30 - 39
2% were between 40 - 49

40% from the Southeast
35% from the Central US (Colorado, Kansas, etc)
11% from the Southwest
7% from the Northeast
4% from the Mid-west
4% from the Northwest

Bathroom habits -
When asked what stall you go to, it was an even split between the first, middle, and last, as well as other. Some responses were -
"Disabled/handicap stall"
"Closest one to a solid wall"
"At least one away from other people"
"The one where the door swings out"
and the best of the group - "There are elaborate man rules about this"


When asked about a bathroom you frequent (i.e. work) a trend did emerge. 69% of respondents always tried to use the same stall every time. As one person put it, "there's no place like home."

This survey also dispelled a rumor about stall selection when others are in the bathroom. There was a pretty even split here too.
39% said they skipped one stall
33% said "who cares, I have to pee!"
28% said they pick the furthest from being occupied.
Responses? "Cleanest always wins!" "I'm a guy, so it all depends. #1, skip a stall. #2, find another bathroom or wait until later. I'm not pooping next to anyone."


public bathroom by herbstkind.The next question asked for their response on the question "why do you pick the stall you pick."

  • "Handicap stalls usually have more room to maneuver, are more private, and have taller toilets"
  • "i pick the ones with the best doors"
  • "I've heard that people tend to use the middle or last stalls most often; therefore, the first stall is usually cleaner. Also, I've noticed that people usually don't go for the first stall, so it's kind of like an act of bravery to go into the first one."
  • "Don't want to be too close to 'my neighbor's' sound effects :)"
  • "I've always thought (for no rational reason) that the ones closest to the door are the least used....so I use those"
  • "It's a combination of I feel tall at the little urinal and I feel its always cleaner"
  • "Generally because somebody is always in the first stall, or the first stall is usually clogged. Odd but true."
  • And the ever useful - "Just cause"

We also asked - "Do you take longer to "finish up" if someone else is in the bathroom to avoid seeing people?"
46% said yes!
35% said no
and 20% said other
"Yes, at work, because there aren't separate staff stalls and I don't want to run into patrons."
and "It depends. Public restroom I take longer. A more familiar restroom (like work), I might try to finish sooner to see who it is I can talk to for a few minutes."

Lastly, I asked the age old question... did you wash your hands! :) I don't know that people were entirely honest but I hope so, because that means we have some clean people out there!!
57% said all the time
24% said 75% of the time
15% said 50% of the time
4% said 25% of the time
and no one said never... whew!
Some responses -
"3 A.M. not so much -- too sleepy"
"sometimes at home I just do a quick pee and have to run. always in public because i have been near other people"
"Always in a public restroom"
"But I don't always use soap (I have very sensitive skin, so I can't use some of the cheap bathroom soaps without my hands turning bright red and itchy.) Sometimes I just rinse, dry and use hand sanitizer later."
"110%, and use a paper towel to open the door."
"Always when in public, rarely at home."
_____________________

Very interesting responses. It has showed me that we all have a lot of unsubstantiated ideas about the restroom and the first stall may not always be cleaner... since we all saw that news report that it is less used. :) And a lot of people don't wash their hands after going to the bathroom at home... interesting.

Thanks for playing along kids!