Sad Survey Stats

This was the survey question today on StartSampling; I voted for "No, not at all" but it was sad to see the "Yes, absolutely" percentage and even sadder to see the "Not familiar with the issue" numbers.

"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."

 - Ben Franklin

Bering Sea Bullies

I've been a fan of the Discovery Channel show Deadliest Catch since it first aired.  Here lately, though, it's started going the way of most reality shows with less focus on fishing and more about creating a good guy/bad guy dichotomy between the different boat captains and highlighting the dissension in the crews.  The producers of the show also seem to be "creating drama" where none needs to be; after all, as the show title says, it's one of the deadliest jobs in the world.

The show has slowly been losing my interest;  where I couldn't wait to watch it, I simply don't care now.  I won't go into all the drama that's happened over the last few shows but it was the last episode that's making me think I will probably start watching something else.  I'll try to explain why in as few words as I can.

Most of the captains are superstitious and have rituals they do.  That's fine, although when they pray to the "crab gods" I have to cringe a little bit.  (I'm not an expert on Greek or Roman mythology, but I don't recall any crab gods) One boat, the Northwestern, has a crew member bite the head off a fish that they use for bait.  I've never seen anyone really "forced" to do it and one of the part-owners, the head deck hand, will often do it.

Keith, the captain/owner of the Wizard, is more superstitious than most and that's saying something.  One of his deckhands (Freddy), while on another boat, once shaved his head in a Mohawk cut to change their luck when the pots were coming up empty or nearly so and afterwards they started catching more crab.  On the last episode, Freddy insisted a new hire (a "greenhorn") shave his head and the young man refused.  Freddy went ballistic, threatening the kid and it's easy to see the greenhorn's days are numbered on that boat. (see excerpt from the show)

It's been disturbing to me to see the majority of the comments on the show's Facebook page about the incident; most people are saying they would have done it, that you should "do what the captain says you should do".  What great little Nazis those people would have made!  Several idiots said the young man's refusal to get his head shaved was an indication of how far our society has fallen while others said he should have done it "for the good of the team".  I could rebut that on the post or in this one, but won't.  It's really too asinine to try to explain why and how wrong they are.

I've been around hazing a lot;  it started in junior high, when the eighth graders decided we younger ones had to be initiated into that level of school.  The same thing happened when we entered high school and also in football.  "Worms", the oil field term for "greenhorns" were also hazed during their first days on the job with practical jokes and the ritual of "doping" (a pipe lubricant) their privates. 

I've already written more than I should have on the subject, but I don't understand how tormenting or bullying someone makes them a part of a team.  After my jr. hi. initiation (being held down and punched in the chest with their knuckles, leaving a bruise that lasted for months) I swore I would never let it happen again....and it didn't.

People who like to haze or bully others all for the sake of supposed camaraderie or because of some asinine superstition are nothing short of psychopaths.

The Lottery is Racist!

I read posts every day, some which make me furious, others make me literally laugh out loud and some that do both and have me SMH.   This is one of that sort, one in a lottery forum I belong to but don't participate in very much.

why do black americans rarely win big jackpots

I wanted to chime in, but didn't.  Others have pointed out the idiocy of the OP more than enough.  Someone went to the trouble of finding official photographs of black lottery winners and others broke down the demographics.

I don't like to get serious in here all that much and won't this time either (or at least blather on interminably about it) , but just say that I'm getting tired of the racist label being thrown out there all the time.  I'm tired of being called a racist because I don't care for this President, tired of being called one because  - in most cases - I support the death penalty and sick to death of being called a racist because I believe something should be done about illegals flooding into this country...and am especially against granting amnesty to those who broke the law coming here and continue to break it by staying and/or using false identification to get benefits they do not deserve.

Using the word "racist" at every turn devalues the true meaning of that word, diminishes the insult when it is directed at people who truly deserve the term.  I don't think they've coined a word or phrase about it as they did "Godwin's Law" regarding using the word "Nazi" in a discussion, but they should.  

Another AT&T Rant

Went to my AT&T page to check the status of a recent order. They were supposed to be sending me another modem, but I got an email announcing they were sending out a repairman. I want the modem but don't want the repair call. They've been out here before, no need to come back and pretend there's something wrong w/ my connection when all the problems stem from their DNS servers.

After waiting ten minutes for the page to load, I finally get this error message:

'Bout time they owned up to their problems.  After their outage back in Jan/Feb, they finally admitted the problem. The outage started a couple days after I signed up for the service and the online help techs were swamped and when I finally got through I was instructed to power the modem on/off, reset it to the original settings, yada yada yada.  I had already tried all those things or I wouldn't have put myself through the frustration of calling technical support. I estimate that, with wait time and listening to instructions that I had already done, they wasted five/six hours of my time.  If they had only admitted the problem was on their end, I wouldn't have become so angry. 

Guess I'll call them tomorrow to cancel the repair visit.  I've had pretty good luck all weekend w/ my connection;  it was only down for a few times late last night and has been up all day today, but it's getting close to time for it to go out again, regular as clockwork.   The last tech I spoke to told me that was prob. because of interference from street lights.  Good grief, the lights have been on for hours before I start having problems.  I'm really tired of their runarounds.

Just a Quick Note

To say if I don't post for a while, it's because the power keeps going out.  I've also had problems w/ my internet connection.  I'm just waiting to see if it sorts itself out because I've done everything here on my end that I can.  I've run a troubleshooting tool, changed settings (and changed them back), rebooted the modem and done the ubiquitous "clear cache and cookies".  I KNOW it's not on my end, but AT&T refuses to admit that there's something wrong on THEIR end.  No, they'd rather go through the sham of sending someone out and then charging me for a visit.

Oddly enough, the connection plays up at nearly the same times every day...that's why I don't think it's anything to do with my wiring.  Sick of it, wish I had never "upgraded" my connection because the old DSL, while slower, was much, much, much, much more reliable. 

/rant off (but to be continued)

One Thing is Certain

Since I've been online, the level of discourse has degraded to appalling levels.  I used to frequent a lot of political forums, starting in MSN Groups and then elsewhere.   Most sites have filters that catch most of the vulgar language, but people have learned to bypass them by substituting characters or blank spaces.  Other sites have active moderators that delete the worst posts, especially those with violence or obscenities, but far too often some manage to get past the censors. 

YouTube is just about the worst and it seems to be up to the person who uploaded the video to police the comments section.  Some care, some don't.  I had an extension for Firefox that blocked all comments, but it quit working with one of the latest updates for that browser.  I've learned to just watch the video and ignore the comments, lest I have an otherwise good experience spoiled for me.

One site that does a pretty good job of deleting nasty comments is IMdB.com, the movie/television review site. Still, even without obscene words, it has to be one of the rudest forums on the 'net. Religion or politics gets inserted into nearly every thread, it seems, even if the movie has absolutely nothing to do with either of those two subjects.

I wish I could give the URL to one instance I saw a few months ago, but I either didn't save it or accidentally deleted it in one of my periodic "cleanings" of files on my computer. I did save part of the conversation, though, in a Notepad file named "Stupid Sh*t". The person was blathering on about religious messages in some movie (I've forgotten which one) and after rambling on for several paragraphs, he closed with:

"BTW, I'm agnotick."

I wanted to reply, but didn't.  Others took him to task, though but strangely enough, not for his fractured sentence structure and poor spelling but for misinterpreting the movie's message.  I wanted to say to him: "First of all, it's "agnostic". Second place, it's one thing to be agnostic (OR agnotick) but there's really no sense posting on forums if you're functionally illiterate."  One thing was certain, though...he's a dumbass.

Oscar Talk

Without going through each of my picks on the Miramax Oscar Challenge contest, it looks like I did fairly well but probably not enough to win anything. I got the two Best Actor awards correct, as well as some lesser awards, but I'm sure I wasn't close enough to have a chance.  Oh well, I wasn't expecting to win anyway...as I said in the linked post, I hadn't seen any of the movies except for the one short "Paperman". (and I read that the producer of the short was thrown out of the ceremonies for a brief time because, when the award was announced, she threw several paper airplanes from the top balcony)

I didn't watch a single moment of the show, but checking the Drudge Report to see who had won, I decided I wanted to see the "We Saw Her Boobs" song Seth McFarlane did that caused such controversy.  I thought it hilarious.

I am a conservative, but enjoy McFarlane's "Family Guy" as well as "American Dad!" (to a lesser extent)  Both shows poke fun at traditional values but it would be disingenuous to say they only slam conservatives. (that's another post for another time)  I really enjoyed the skit with William Shatner as Captain Kirk calling from the future to tell McFarland he was rapidly ruining the show.  I wouldn't be able to compare any recent hosts with McFarland, but from what I saw, he did a fairly good job.  He wasn't as good as Billy Crystal, but he was much better than the abomination that was David Letterman's performance.

I'm really glad I missed the Best Picture award presentation, the Oscar announced by Michelle Obama.  I have no love for President Obama, but am growing very weary of seeing her mug on the news or anywhere two or more celebrities are gathered together. (It seems I'm not the only one)  I've ranted about this before, but it's sickening how Hollywood and the progressive leftists are in bed together. (I suspect most in the audience were top donors to Obama's campaigns) It's bad enough that far too many movies mock Christianity and conservatives, but to have politics take over the awards show that honors those films (even more than usual)...well, it's just one more reason I'm glad I didn't watch. 

60 Years of CBS Actresses

Hat tip to TYWKIWDBI

Too bad CBS has morphed from a once credible and respected news organization into the mouthpiece for the progressive wing of the Democratic party.

The People Vs. Winter

I'll admit to have been a drama queen about certain things before. With that disclaimer out of the way, I'll also confess that I have raked people over the coals for saying they loved winter and the snow. I usually just tell them it's a sure bet they never have had to work out in it or had to drive miles and miles in it. Sure, snow is "pretty", if you can sit by the roaring fireplace looking out at the winter wonderland with a glass of brandy in one hand. It's also a certainty that people who say that never fretted about their heating bill or had their pipes freeze. Go ahead and love winter if you want, it's a free country, but as for me, I'm always looking forward to spring.

This video serves as a reminder why I don't like winter.

Data Usage

A few months ago, I received a warning that I had gone over the 150GB limit AT&T had imposed upon people using their Internet service. I was warned that they would give me three warnings and after the third one I would be charged an extra $10 for each 10GB over the limit. The very next month I got another warning, saying I was within 65% of the limit. The email gave a link to a page where I could view my data usage, but it didn't work.

They did give examples of what that amount of data could be:

(click for larger view)

 

I saw what they were trying to infer, that no "normal" person - the average Internet user - would use such huge amounts of bandwidth.  There was also this explanation:

AT&T has experienced a dramatic increase in the amount of data that is sent and received over its wireline broadband networks. This dramatic increase is driven primarily by a small fraction of our customers. In fact, the top 2% of customers use about 20% of the total capacity on our network. A single high-traffic user can utilize the same amount of data capacity as 19 typical households. Lopsided usage patterns can cause congestion at certain points in the network, which can slow Internet speeds and interfere with other customers' access to and use of the network.

150 GB is far more data than most customers ever use in a month. Our average AT&T High Speed Internet customer uses only about 21 GB per month.

What they were not-so-subtly saying was that slobs like me were responsible for the restriction, not only for myself but for others.  Nice try, but no cigar.  I understand that the company can change their policies - I don't agree with it, but I understand how these large corporations operate.  I didn't agree to it when I signed up for it, but I'm sure there was some wording in the "contract" I "agreed to" by using their service that the agreement can be changed at any time without notice to me.  I resent that, but I also resent being made out to be the bad guy.

After having connection problems for nearly a year and not being able to get satisfaction from AT&T, I finally took matters into my own hands.  Without going into details (because I'm sure I broke several company rules) I finally managed to get my problems sorted out.  After getting my promised speed back, I made up for lost time, downloading all sorts of videos, movies and music.  (acquired legally)  I could finally view the videos and listen to podcasts from the Dallas Cowboy website, catch up on YouTube videos I had bookmarked and watch all sorts of programming such as movies on Hulu, program episodes I had missed on Discovery and The History Channel and other network websites.

(in case you're thinking that my usage STILL seems excessive, just let me add that just an audio only mp3 podcast from the Cowboys site can be 40-50mb with the videos being in the 2GB range.  During the season, the site would have two radio shows and sometimes 6 or more videos posted each and every day, plus interviews and highlights after games.  I also bought quite a few mp3 albums from Amazon, d/l a few movies I had been wanting to see from the same site.  A fairly low-resolution movie on Hulu can be 4-500MB.  As you could tell from the graphic posted above, 25HD movies can account for a significant part of the entire total.  That can add up, maybe not in a hurry, but over the course of 30 days it can be a significant amount.  I would also make the mistake of leaving my Internet radio on even when I lay down to sleep)


I've not received another warning and since I've signed up for U-Verse, the cap has been raised to 250GB. I also found out the bandwidth meter is working for me now.  Here's a screen shot of my data usage history over the last few months: (I've snipped out my phone number)

Anyone else notice the similarity between the graph and a certain obscene gesture? It's pretty much my sentiments towards AT&T.

U-Verse Woes

If I don't have a post for a while, it's because U-Verse is playing up again. I was without internet for a good bit of yesterday evening and I finally called tech support and a recorded msg. told me the outage had started up again and to NOT reboot my modem. So, I didn't.

After being without Internet all day today, I called again and got a real-live person who told me to reboot my modem. So, I did.

All was well for a while until about an hour after getting back online when I was knocked off again. I did the modem thing again and so far, so good.

Yesterday I got an email about my telephone bill.  It was nearly twice the usual amt. and I was floored.  I went to the AT&T site and paid my last month's bill (not due for a few more days) and tried to find out why it was so high, but the site is really hard to navigate (for me), esp. trying to find detailed information about the bill.   I made yet another call and yet again had to wade through the computer prompts to find out what the deal was. 

After being put on hold - again, for the umpteenth time this week- (I think I've spent more time on hold than I have online since Friday) I got to speak to another real-live human.  I voiced my displeasure as politely as I could (my tongue is still bleeding from biting holes through it) and found out I had been charged $49 for service connection and $100 for the modem.  I was not told about either when I signed up for U-Verse.  I mentioned "Deceptive Trade Practices" and "Duplicitous" several times and reminded them they were "not the only game in town", telling them I could get phone, Internet and cable from the cable company for about what they had been charging just for phone and 'net PLUS they offered much greater speed. I  managed to get a credit for twenty bucks for the outage and half the service connection fee reduced off the bill.

During the brief time when I was online, I did some research about the outage and AT&T is blaming it on a software upgrade that "only" affected 1% of their customers. I was in that 1% but it didn't make me feel special.   I read a post by a woman in the AT&T forums that said she had been offline, surprising to her because she had had U-Verse for three years and only been knocked offline a couple of times.  Me?  I had had U-Verse for six days and been offline for four.

They'll not be getting any recommendations from me.

Across the U-Verse

"Oh boy!" I thought. Twice the speed for half the cost. That's what I was told by the AT&T representative and I believed her...and for one brief day, it was true.

Then came the outage.  At first it was annoying, getting knocked offline, then after an hour or two, all the lights on the modem were green and it was clear - and fast - sailing again.  Then came Black Monday (which started late Sunday afternoon into the early parts of today) when I didn't have any access at all.

AT&T spokespeople and techs are being deliberately vague about what's causing the problem; some articles I've read are blaming it on various conspiracies, while others say they think it's the work of hackers angry at the "Six Strikes" policy.  I don't care WHAT is causing it, but I just want my Internet.

I guess I'm lucky; I only have U-Verse for my Internet;  others have also been without their cable TV and phone if they've signed up for the complete package.  Made me glad I decided to hold off on that for the time being.  At least I could get on the phone to complain and although my cable is outrageously expensive for what I get, it was good that I could watch TV while I was offline.

I even took the time during a short window of opportunity when U-Verse was up to go register on the AT&T website forums to see if there was a workaround;  I saw a few and will try them if the outages persist.  Reading a HUGE thread of complaints on the subject - well, I didn't read ALL of the complaints, but was glad I skipped to the very last posts in the thread - and saw this.  One holier-than-thou jerk said this, a message I've seen at least a hundred times before in some form or fashion:

(excuse the caps, that's the way it was written)

BACK IN MY DAY WE HAD TO USE DIAL UP, TOOK 5 MINS TO LOAD IT UP AND COULDN'T TALK ON THE PHONE WHILST ON THE INTERNET, YA'LL AINT GONNA DIE NOT HAVING INTERNETS FOR MORE THAN A DAY, QUIT YA GRIPING, BELLYACHING, AND MOANING AN GO OUTSIDE YA VARMINTS!

The outage has almost been worth getting to read the reply to it:

Look. No internet, TV, or PHONE. OK? Couldn't even call 911 if there was an emergency. It's 6 degrees outside. So why don't you go out there?

Anyway, this is the tune that used to go through my head when I'd see anything about U-Verse;  if the outages persist, it will be AC/DC's "Highway to Hell".

Across The Universe - The Beatles

I Love You, Cassandra

Even though I've never seen you.

Just spent a couple of hours on the phone trying to deal with AT&T.  My phone bill has been steadily going up for a couple of years, ever since I called them and tried to reduce the monthly cost.  At that time, I was told by getting a certain bundle, I would save five dollars/month, yet when I got the next bill, it was five dollars MORE.

It was maddening going through the hassle of doing all that, so I just let it slide.  After getting the last bill and having it be nearly five dollars more than the previous month, I decided enough was enough.  I tried to alter my plan online, but after jumping through hoops, I got a page saying the service wasn't available and giving me a number to call.  Funny, you can add all sorts of services online - for an increase in cost - but you can't do anything to lower your bill.

So, earlier today I called the number;  as is almost always the case on these things, I get the computer.  After having to repeat my information multiple times, I'm finally connected with a human.  In India.  With a thick accent.  After telling her I could barely hear her and when she made adjustments (prob. just putting the microphone closer to her mouth) I then couldn't understand her.  I told her so, not once but several times and I could hear the frustration in her voice.  (and I was making no attempt to disguise my own frustration)  She finally said she'd transfer me and did so...but to the California branch, who told me I'd have to deal with the Texas office. 

Oh, did I mention I was put on hold with each and every transfer?  Each took at least five minutes.  I've been on the phone for over an hour now without having accomplished a single thing.

I finally get the Texas office, but I can barely hear them.  I complained about it and they told me their volume was up as high as it could go, that it must be MY volume at fault. I took the phone away from my ear to check my volume and saw it was at the maximum, but when I held it back to my ear again, there was nothing but silence.  We had been disconnected....but I think they just hung up on me.

Letting out a scream (yes, I did, I was full of rage) I redialed the number, got Mr. Computer again and was connected again to a human "Hello, this is Cassandra, how may I help you?"  A sweet voice, one I could hear.  Thank God.

Long story short, she listened to my complaint and what I wanted done with my service and I wound up with the options I wanted, a fiber optic connection, free equipment, much faster Internet speed, all for $30 less than I've been paying.  I also found out that I can drop the phone land line and get a cell phone (you could have DSL and not have the phone service, but the speed was reduced to a minimum) and she's going to call me back tomorrow to discuss plans and phones. 

I may get a cell phone, not sure.  I also may ask her to marry me.

The Oldest Woman in the World

Has a radio show.

Am listening to sports talk radio at the moment and the hosts are talking about the Academy Award nominations. They're raving about Lincoln, a movie I want to see but not enough to break down and go to the theater.  I'll wait until it comes out on video or go to one of those sites that doesn't much care about copyright infringement.



They're especially gushing over the performance of Daniel Day-Lewis and from the short trailers I've seen, he does resemble President Lincoln. One of the male hosts asked the woman on the show if the actor did a good job portraying Lincoln and she said "Spot on! Captures him perfectly!".

Uh, I can understand saying he LOOKS like Lincoln, but how the hell would she know anything else about the man?  Lincoln had his photograph taken several times, but there's no recordings of his speech or film of him.  Photography was still in its infancy;  there were certainly no movies, records or tapes then.

Aw, hell...these idiot talking heads don't know much about sports, why would I expect them to know much of anything about movies?

Yep, they're stupid...but maybe I'm more stupid for listening to them. 

amygdaliform

From the Word of the Day:

amygdaliform a·myg·da·li·form [uh-mig-duh-luh-fawrm] adjective

almond-shaped

She is naturally blonde, pale, with amygdaliform eyes and high cheekbones. 
- Gulnar Nazarkhan, The Secret World

---

This is a word I didn't know and don't think I've ever seen it. I know I've never heard it used in conversation. It's also a word that I think is unnecessary. Instead of saying someone has amygdaliform eyes, why not just say they have almond-shaped eyes? At least people would understand what you meant and not have to go look it up.

The Crying Towel

Opened up my mailbox just now and found the usual junk mailings but there was also a small padded mailer from Proctor Gamble, the company that makes Tide (tm) detergent.  I ripped it open to find a freebie I had requested over a month ago, a Dallas Cowboys hand towel similar to the smaller of these:

It's only appropriate that I get it the day after Dallas lost to Washington. It's a nice little towel, but it's not big enough to soak up my tears.

Just kidding. As disappointing as that loss was to a division rival, the sun still came up this morning, I'm still alive and life goes on. I WOULD like to have a few thousand more of these towels to stick in the mouths of those who call in to sports talk shows, griping about the coaching staff, the quarterback, the owner and "know" how to fix what ails the Pokes. If they are so smart, why aren't THEY coaching a pro football team?

agape

From the Word of the Day:

agape \ah-GAH-pey\ , noun:
1. Unselfish love of one person for another without sexual implications.
2. The love of Christians for other persons, corresponding to the love of God for humankind.

When I first saw this word in the Word of the Day module, I immediately thought of this definition:

agape a·gape [uh-geyp, uh-gap] adverb, adjective
1. with the mouth wide open, as in wonder, surprise, or eagerness: We stood there agape at the splendor.
2. wide open: his mouth agape

Both definitions: agape

Normally, this would be where I'd insert some snarky comment or try a feeble attempt at humor with the word, but I just don't feel like it today. It makes me sad that we consider the U.S. to be a Christian nation, but in most respects we are not. We export war to all corners of the globe, for one, and when we try to combat evil, we wind up killing innocents. Surely there's some better way to spread freedom throughout the world.

Even our attempts to take care of the poor and less fortunate are filled with fraud and waste, futilely throwing money at the problems in hopes they'll go away.

I love my country, but want it to ACT like a Christian nation, not just give the title lip service. 

My mouth is agape at the lack of agape. -sigh-

cahoots

From our Word of the Day module in the right-hand column:

cahoots (kəˈhuːts)— pl n

1. ( US ) partnership; league (esp in the phrases go in cahoots with, go cahoot)
2. in cahoots, in collusion

---

I've never been one to engage in conspiracy theories; I believe it was just Oswald who shot JFK, I believe we landed on the moon and I'm sure it was Islamic extremists who flew into the World Trade Center towers and not some diabolical plan by Bush and his evil henchmen. (and if you DO think that about Bush, then get the hell off my blog, you're too damn stupid to read what I write.  There's a lot President Bush should answer to and take the blame for, but that's not one of them.)

That said, I am beginning to think that the Democrats and Republicans, for all their public squabbling that would have you think differently, are in cahoots. Honestly, I can't tell the difference.

Time to Reboot

Dear Republicans,

You've got a problem:



I really don't think it's possible to "continue normally".

Clear cache, cookies, run HijackThis, look through the logfile, fix the errors, reboot.

Install True Conservatism...you know, the one that's for limited government, lower taxes, personal responsibility, etc.  Open up the big tent, kick the RINOs out, along with the racists, the gay bashers and religious extremists. Let in the conservative libertarians and stop harping on the social issues. Stop it with the anti-abortion and anti-gay stands; neither are illegal, haven't you heard?  Abortion is here to stay and gay marriage won't be the downfall of this great nation, but the continued loss of our liberties very well may be.  If you don't back off on these two issues, you'll never get the future generation on your side.

Lead by example, don't preach down to people. If you're going to talk the talk, you'd damn well better walk the walk.

There's really not much wrong, after all.




Of course, you can ignore my advice and continue down the losing path, but don't expect another vote from me.

Victory!

Of the Pyrrhic sort.

national debt

Since the election was called for Obama several hours ago, I've been doing a little research on the national debt, the most pressing issue facing our country and the next term of the President. I won't give links or explain my math - I'm tired from the tension of following the returns, plus if you want to double-check the figures, you can look 'em up yourself, but from what I could find out, each single U.S. citizen owes over $50 thousand as our share of the national debt.

That figure is staggering, but the figure that's alarming is that Americans under the age of 18 inherit over 200 thousand as their share of the national debt.

That's what's so distressing about the election results. I saw people gloating over Obama's win, but I don't think they realize the implications. I'm not saying a Romney presidency would've been any better; he has a history of being a big govt. politician, too.

I wouldn't have been overjoyed if Romney had won; to me, he was the lesser of two evils. I don't understand the celebrating, esp. by those people with children. Thanks to the last half-dozen presidents (actually more than that), we've saddled the next several generations w/ a mountain of debt and if Obama's first term is any indication, it will only get worse.

The National Debt has continued to increase an average of $3.86 billion per day. Let that sink in;  nearly four billion a day increase. (or will be four billion very soon) Listening to a radio show just now, I heard that our debt is over 30% more than Greece's...and they're on the verge of collapse.

The only way to even begin digging our way out of this crushing debt is by raising taxes...not just on the rich, but on the main body of taxpayers, the middle class. Sure, corporations can have (and probably will have) their taxes raised, but anyone with even the most basic understanding of economics should know that cost is passed along to the consumer. From there it becomes a vicious circle - taxes go up, prices go up, the consumer has less money to spend on other things, other industries suffer, etc. and so forth.

Just raising taxes won't cut it, however. The military budget can be cut, but I don't see that helping much, so...that leaves only benefits to be pared and who thinks that will be done?  History shows it won't.  So, that puts the burden on the taxpayer and it will be impossible to retire this debt in ours or our children's lifetime...and in fact, the debt will even grow larger until our economy collapses.

So, celebrate while you can, "congratulations" on your "win". Eat, drink, and be merry, fiddle while Rome burns. The bar tab will come due sooner than you think.

I think I'll go on to bed.  I'm sure the sun will come up tomorrow and the world won't end on Dec. 22.*  I just hope my country can survive the people we've elected and the fools that elect them.

What I'm really afraid of is when the Chinese come to collect on the I.O.U.'s we've been giving them.

*Edit to add:  That's the Mayan calendar date the world is supposed to end.  The official Inauguration Day is January 20th. However, as that date falls on a Sunday in 2013, the public swearing-in ceremony will be held on Monday, January 21, 2013.

Sorry for any confusion.  I just woke up after a few hours of fitful sleep.  I thought I'd feel better after resting.   I don't.