Who Gets the Loot?

A quick post to get back into posting...

The extreme polarity that so many keep labeling the U.S.'s two dominant parties is a facade foisted on the American citizen to keep them focused on other things while the proverbial fox is plundering the chicken coop.  The sad truth is that, when it comes to fiscal responsibility, the real difference between the Democrat and Republican parties has nothing to do with the level of spending, only where the money will go.

Ron Paul says it like it is: "you can't have a budgetary solution if you don't change what the role of government should be. As long as you think we have to police the world and run this welfare state, all we are going to argue about is who will get the loot."

Cool Functionality with jQuery DatePicker

I was recently tasked to resolve an issue with the speed of the Telerik RadDatePicker in a RadGrid (ASP.Net c#).  Apparently, if a RadGrid with more than 100 rows uses a RadDatePicker in one of its columns, then it can get pretty slow and unresponsive.  I am assuming that this is because of the unidentified overhead that comes with the Telerik object.  Please correct me if I am wrong about this.

Here was an easy solution, though, I dropped the use of the RadDatePicker.

To use the common jQuery "datepicker" object, in the .aspx I created the references to the jQuery scripts and coded the javascript function:

<script src=Scripts/jquery-1.4.1.min.js"type="text/javascript"></script>
<script src="Scripts/jquery-ui.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

<script type="text/javascript">
        $(function () {
            $(".myFauxClass").datepicker();
        });
</script>

Then, for any of the textboxes, whether Telerix or standard ASP, I referenced the "fake" CSS class:

<asp:TextBox ID="TextBox1" runat="server" CssClass="myFauxClass"></asp:TextBox>

The client-side function will be executed whenever the textbox receives focus and the datepicker calendar will be activated to use with that textbox.  This seems to do the trick and fixed the lagging load time for the RadGrid.

Enjoy!

BTW, I am actually very fond of the Telerik tools, which can be found here: http://www.telerik.com/

RNC Threatens Ron Paul

RNC Preempts Ron Paul Win in Nevada, Threatens to Shut Delegates Down

From the Las Vegas Sun....

RNC to NV GOP: Don’t let Ron Paul delegates take over national convention slots or don’t bother coming to Tampa

In a letter delivered Wednesday to GOP Chairman Michael McDonald, the RNC's chief counsel said if Ron Paul delegates are allowed to take too many slots for the national convention, Nevada's entire contingent may not be seated in Tampa.

Drone Use Takes Off on the Home Front

Awesome!  We have been looking for the next craze that will propel the economy out of our currenty bleak and dire circumstances and into a stage of unmitigated and steady growth...AND HERE IT IS. 

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, all the way from our own multi-trillion dollar military industrial complex, you wanted it, you got it, developed and perfected in all other countries to help with "security," the long awaited (sing to the tune of Born in the U.S.A. by Bruce Springsteen):

Drones in the U.S.A.
We got, Drones in the U.S.A.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304331204577354331959335276.html

From the Wall Street Journal:

The University of North Dakota uses drones in connection with an undergraduate degree program in unmanned aircraft systems it started in 2009. Al Palmer, a university official involved in the program, said about 78 students have declared majors in the field and that graduates have found jobs with drone manufacturers or operators.

Wow, they even have majors in the field.  See!  Spying is good for the economy - "graduates have found jobs with drone manufacturers or operators."

And, don't forget, drones don't require the hassle of those non-sensical warrants.  See:

Drones Moving From War Zones To The Home Front

From NPR:

"public navigable airspace" were fair game, were not violations of the Fourth Amendment and didn't require a warrant.

So, get ready to be observed everybody...and remember, if you see something, say something.

Buffet Rule Ridiculousness

It is a sad state of affairs when the media is not even interested in fact-checking anything that comes out of the President's mouth.  OBFUSCATION, OBFUSCATION, OBFUSCATION!  That is all this is... "Let's focus on the 'rich' rather than telling everyone what the real problem is."  SPENDING!

From the Washington Times

The legislation would require people with incomes of more than $1 million to pay at least 30 percent in federal income taxes. It’s named for billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who says it’s not fair for him to pay a lower percentage of taxes than his secretary.

On the face of it, somehow this seems legitimate, especially with the Omaha billionaire tying his name to it.  But, let's look slightly beyond the surface... that is usually all it takes.

So, at 30%, if this legislation was to pass, let us compare the increased tax revenue to the current deficit.  Remember boys and girls, a deficit is the amount that was spent over and above what was generated through tax revenue.  In other words, we (United States) spent more than we made.

Here you can see that lo and behold, at 30% there is very little impact to that killer of economic viability, the deficit.

Let's see what happens if we taxed them (evil millionaires) at 50%.

Huh?  Not much impact at all.  The deficit (over spending) still appears to be greater than 1.2 trillion dollars.

How about at 75%... I know that is ridiculous, who would give 75% of their income to taxes?  Actually, during the Great Depression, the highest tax rates were for people making over $200k - they were taxed at a whopping 94%!!!  Additionally, it wasn't until the late eighties that the tax rate got down into the 30s.  Compare that with the first personal income taxe that was put into place under the Revenue Act of 1861/1862 - 3% for incomes over $600 and 5% for incomes over $10k - these were rescinded just 11 years later. (heavy sigh) Oh, the good old days. 

Now, let's get back to 75% of income.

Holy credit-crunch Batman!  If every person that made over $1 million paid 75% of their income in Federal taxes, we would still have a deficit (over spending) of about $1 trillion.

What about at 100%?  What if we said, "Hey, all you rich and privileged, above average, good looking, jet-setters... we want you to sacrifice this year.  You know that you can live off of savings alone... so, we want you to pay every dollar that you make to the Federal Government."

Jimminy Cricket!  WTH?!!!  This is insane!  The problem isn't millionaires being greedy!  The problem is over spending!  Isn't it obvious?  Never mind the facts - let's get on with creating a common enemy through class warfare!

Thanks to Global Economic Analysis for posting the widget for exploring the "Buffect Effect".

Debt Growing Faster Than GDP

Seriously, who did not see this coming?  Does it take a freaking financial genius to understand that if you spend more than you bring in... umm.... gee, I wonder what "surprises" are coming: (think Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal...)  Perhaps, it just requires a complacent people to allow those who are in-the-know to violate and financially sodomize them into interest-bearing enslavement.  I see more shirts and bumper stickers declaring "Free Payton" than "$ Free America $."  Just sayin...

Greenpeace Equals Hippies? Shocking!

Perusing the Internet I stumbled upon the blog of Brian Fitzgerald, a long-time activist and employee of Greenpeace International.  He had some interesting inside-info assertions equating the members of Greenpeace with hippies; a designation that he seems rather proud of.

From Dictionary.com
hip·py
1. adjective, hip·pi·er, hip·pi·est.
having big hips.











2. noun, pl -pies
a.(esp during the 1960s) a person whose behaviour, dress, use of drugs, etc, implied a rejection of conventional values
b. ( as modifier ): hippy language





From the Blog of Brian Fitzgerald

I’m Brian Fitzgerald, and I lead the campaign-winning and (multiple) webby-award-winning digital communications team at Greenpeace International. This blog is (mostly) a glimpse behind the scenes at Greenpeace and a repository for lessons learned and experiments in online activism and social media. It will also occasionally mention iPhones and bicycles. I am a digital hippy. I believe that Planet Earth is evolving a mammalian brain, and that the internet is knitting the neural cortex. We are the synaptic nerves that constitute its conscience.

Below is the opening of the speech that he would like to give (if allowed)...

Greetings, Hippies!

Aha, I see a few of you cringing — but you’re in Greenpeace now, and they’ve wheeled me out as the honorary dinosaur. I’ve been asked to tell you a little bit about your past — about the organization’s past. I know a lot of you who have never known a world without the internet, DVDs, or Super Mario (and some of you look like you’ve never known a world without Facebook, which is profoundly scary) — you may think that Greenpeace is a multinational corporation born in the marketing department of some slick PR firm, or the result of dot com boom startup.

I’m here to tell you, kids, a hard truth: your parents were hippies.

And I hope you’re sitting down, because it’s genetic. Which means you’re hippies too....And if you, dear hippies, are going to make a difference in this organization, you’re going have to embrace that madness. You’re just gonna have to honor your hippy roots, find your inner mystic, and believe in the magic of making impossible things happen.

Makes me want to start a round of Kum Ba Yah... anybody... anyone... on 3... 1, 2....