Jeff's Stuff

I really was going to keep quiet about the election for the rest of the week. But when I hear John McCain over on CNN, telling us that the Democrats must be lying because they have cited three different numbers ($150,000.00, $200,000.00 and $250,000.00) as the definition of "wealthy" Americans, I have to say something.

This really isn't all that hard to understand (unless you're behind in the polls and looking for an excuse to rail on your opponent). Barack Obama's tax plan calls for a tax cut to families earning less than $200,000 a year. He also said that he wouldn't increase taxes on families making less than $250,000 a year. It really is simple. One number reflects the people that would get a tax decrease and the other reflects those people whose taxes wouldn't increase

The comment about $150,000 comes from Joe Biden who, erroneously said $150,000 instead of $250,000.

See everyone, nobody lied. Nobody keeps changing the numbers. There is no deception. Everything is clear to those open-minded enough to see it.

On another related topic, I did watch the Obama infomercial last night. I thought it was very well produced and, for those who haven't been following the campaign, very informative. One thing that I did find very interesting was that, during the entire 30 minute duration of the commercial, Barack Obama did not mention his opponent, his opponents party, or the sitting president a single time. He did not say anything negative. He simply stated what he would do if he were elected. In this regard, I found the presentation refreshing.

Minutes later however,on CNN, John McCain was there trashing his opponent. Maybe that's why so many people want to vote for Obama. In fact, just about every time I see Senator McCain, he is talking about all the evil things Senator Obama is doing. I guess that is what you do when you are behind in the polls and recognize that you have nothing better to offer.

I'm Back! Okay everyone, I haven't posted much in long time because my hands had been bothering me more than usual this summer and then, I never quite got back into it. The hands aren't right but at least they are better than they were all summer.

Is taken a great deal of self-restraint to keep from writing about the upcoming presidential election. Well, my self-restraint is at an end.

I was uneasy about John McCain before he chose Sarah Palin to be his running mate, now I'm absolutely terrified. Here is someone who has no apparent redeeming value other than the fact that many people consider her to be attractive (I'd say a MILF but this is a family-friendly site).

For those who have not seen her interview with Katie Couric, I invite you to watch this short clip
which, I feel sums up my reservations quite nicely.

If that isn't enough, today, Sarah Palin explained at a rally, what she really said.

Continued...

Well folks, as the title suggests, today I have some random silliness.

The Church Van
The other day, I was out with the family, when we came upon the van pictured below. Now, I have always suspected that religion was a dangerous thing. Still, I never thought that they would actually admit it. I certainly didn't think they would include a warning sign like this one.

I always suspected that religion was a dangerous thing. Now I guess I have proof.

Now, I realize that the warning was not meant as a caution against religion. Still, I fail to see what the warning is for. I mean, are church bus drivers as a group, more reckless than other drivers? Are church bus riders more likely to throw projectiles at the other cars? Are church vans somehow likely to spontaneously explode?

The answer to this is obviously "no", "no" and "I hope not". Still, I wonder about such things. Why the warning? Do the owners/occupants of the van feel that because they are in a church vehicle that they are somehow entitled to more consideration on the road? Do they feel that I should be a more careful driver because of who they are?

Well that seems just as silly as the first three ideas. It reminds me a lot of the obnoxious "baby on board" signs that used to grace every SUV and minivan on the road. It seems to me that, since the van is occupied by "believers", they should need less protection from me since they are clearly obtaining it through divine intervention. If God is looking out for them, I can spend more time looking out for the other cars. Now, if the car said something like, "Atheist on Board" I might cut the guy a little more slack. After all, nobody is looking out for him.

The 101.89% Solution

My son and I went into the woods the other day for a short hike. I strongly recommend this to other parents as it is much healthier than sitting around eating chips and playing video games (like way too many children today do). Anyway, after about 10 minutes, I realized that some insect repellent would've been a really good idea. Unfortunately, it was a really good idea that I didn't have until 10 minutes into the trip.

Continued...

Have you noticed that everything these days has to do with 9/11? This became apparent to me the other day when, while in Manhattan, I decided to take some photographs.

Every once in a while I play around with HDR photography. For those not familiar with this sort of photography, it involves multiple exposures made at different shutter speeds. For these photographs to work, the camera cannot move between the individual exposures. The usual means of accomplishing this is a tripod.

So here I am in Times Square. I set up my tripod and begin shooting. Now before I go on, let me state that this is a small, lightweight tripod. Anyway, I was there for a minute or two when two of New York City's finest came storming over to me and insisted that I leave. They told me that tripods were not permitted.

I asked them to clarify. I asked them if tripods were allowed anywhere in the city. At this point, one of the officers replied that tripods were not allowed anywhere in New York without a permit. Later, after they realized that I was not a naïve tourist, they revised their statement to cover only Times Square.

So I asked why I couldn't use a tripod in Times Square. I was told that the only way I could do it was with a permit. I would have to call 311 (the city's information number) to obtain a permit. This of course, does me absolutely no good at dusk on a Friday night.

Continued...

It's been a while since I've posted an update but I have a couple unrelated rants. The first thing is something I noticed at the supermarket last week.

I like ice cream a lot. As a result, I buy a lot of ice cream. In case you haven't purchased any yourself recently, let me let you in on a little trick the marketing staffs at the dairy's have been using. For as long as I can remember, ice cream was sold in half gallon cartons. Suddenly, one day, the cartons shrank and now only hold 1.75 quarts. This was irritating, not just for the implicit price increase but because they tried to pull one over on the consumer.

Continued...