Dingbots, Critters and Clanks

Political Positions

2009-08-14T14:46:00.000-07:00

The government has very specific duties. Provide health care, education, law enforcement, maintenance of infrastructure, and basic defense. However, I would like to see a ton of laws go down the drain. The fewer laws, the fewer criminals, the less it costs to keep order.

Legalization of drugs would provide a TON of tax revenue at all levels of government (I would support a heavy sin tax on the hard drugs like coke and meth), create a lot of small business, and allow the FDA to put quality controls on drugs to prevent things like coke from being cut with borax or whatever. Also, DUI fines/penalties would be increased (let's say quadrupled). Hit a man in his wallet, and he'll behave.
Legalization of prostitution would be another tax source, with careful requirements for the protection of the workers. Regular STD tests paid for by the brothel, mandatory condom use, and protection for the workers in the event of a violent client. Pimping would be illegal.

The military would receive a very limited portion of the federal budget. Let's say 10%. That's still a lot of money, but would probably require them to cut stupid projects and prevent them from going on adventures like Iraq. I'm highly non-interventionist. I don't think isolationism is the best idea, either, but intervention without the country in question asking is adventuring we don't need.
Also, we're really, really doing it wrong when we're dealing with terrorists. Proven methods are being ignored and all we're doing is proving them right. I'm sure you're already aware of this.

Education would be returned to the hands of local school boards and parents, thus reducing or eliminating the need for a federal education department. Money goes to boards, of course, but federal money would go to states who would divy it out appropriately based on need. I'd like to see more school districts do it like CUSD does with community bonds, too. And no more teaching the the test. That is AWFUL, for the teacher and the students as it leaves little too or no time for anything outside the very basics of math, English, and perhaps a little science or history. If they didn't go to school here in California, our parents got a better education than we did.

Intellectual property has it's place but the current system is fucked up. Creative commons is a step in the right direction, but publishers' rights should be limited when it comes to keeping something under copyright. Heirs can request that something remain under their control, but only for two or three generations. None of this crap we saw with Amazon and 1984.

The government has almost no right to limit communication of any kind. If it's not exploitative or a state secret (of which there should be precious few), then it needs to keep its sticky fingers to itself. Also, transparency is of incredible importance. The Freedom of Information act should be amended to speed up the process it takes to get information to those who request it.

Health care would be, obviously, universal. Federal money goes to state health committees, which divide it between hospitals as needed. With private practices, they are paid from federal money and ALL records are put in a database so as to prevent records from getting lost. This insures that you don't have to switch doctors or worry about loosing benefits when you switch/loose your job. You pay something similar in terms of taxes that you would to a private insurer. You can also opt out if you would prefer a private insurer for whatever reason. Let's say I want to keep Blue Cross. I pay Blue Cross and not the feds except perhaps once a year in my federal taxes. That way, if I loose my job I can sign up right away. This is important for people who have serious medical issues or ones that require regular care (bipolarism, diabetes, etc.). Most people aren't going to require constant care however, so until you remove yourself from the program, the money you pay is going to be used for other people. When you sign up, you must remain in the program for a full year to prevent abuses.

If you can't work (like a late friend of mine) and you therefore don't pay much in taxes, you still get your benefits provided you keep treating your illness. If you stop, you get kicked off everything but the very, very basic plan (ie, you go back to the doctor six months from now, you can get back on that plan).

Preventative medical care is encouraged.

Bureaucrats take a doctor's advice into consideration when dealing with your medical coverage. I don't see why it has to work any different than a private insurer at all, actually, and perhaps we can improve their system. If nothing else, hire more people. More jobs, better economy.

I'm pro-union--it's my right to demand certain things from my employer, like safe environments, benefits, etc. if they want to keep me. Businesses can't be trusted to do the right thing because the right thing is the long run and they don't think in those terms. It's always now-now-now--we see that in the way they treat the environment and the way they do business; all businesses do it to varying degrees. Remember September 2008? The free market failed when we got rid of a specific regulation called the Glass-Steagall act. If they had behaved themselves in the absence of that act, we would not be in a downturn like this. They saw the removal as an opportunity to make money in the NOW and not worry about the later. Later always comes and when we don't watch what the hell they're doing, they drive us into the ground.

Also, business will no longer be treated like natural persons. They would go back to existing at the will of the people. Businesses do not breath, think, or have emotions. People do.

I am not a fan of the current model of capitalism we live under. Businesses should be just as controlled as government because they can do just as much damage to people as a nutty government. That said, the government only has the right to control their behavior in order to prevent harm. Other than that, have at.

The Election is Decided

2008-11-04T21:03:00.001-08:00

Obama wins. You have no idea how much that makes me smile.

Still Gotta Vote!

2008-11-01T16:13:00.001-07:00

Please, don't get over confident about election day. That's the thing I'm terrified of. Go out and friggin' vote. Every vote counts, every vote could be the difference between a win and a loss. Whatever the result, whoever wins, know that your vote mattered.

What if Positions Were Reversed?

2008-10-27T15:48:00.001-07:00

What if it was the democrats who had nominated an impulsive, angry, ill man for President? If they had picked a "confused beauty queen" (Chavez's words, not mine) for VP, who consistently showed herself as a putz? What if democrats mocked the republican nominee for visiting his ailing grandmother?
Think about it.

Autumn

2008-10-24T23:52:00.001-07:00

It's coming here, slowly but surely. Despite the 80-degree days, it's coming along. Leaves are changing and drifting to the ground in golden piles with fire colored leaves--orange and smoked ruby--peeking out in the gold mass. Those still clinging to the trees are paling and the fruits are ripening and becoming heavy. Days are shorter and mornings are cooler and wetter, and best of all, the mountains are visible in their enormous majesty. It's times like this that I actually remember I live in a valley.
I take comfort in the eternal (as much as anything is eternal) march of seasons. The rhythm is warm and gentle and I love that after the long blaze of summer days.
I end up having sort of philosophical bent in the fall and all I want to do is pull out my sweaters, drink hot tea, and sit in the sunshine, preferably outside, while the breezes drift in from the country side, bringing the smell of bonfire smoke and crisp mountain air.
But I'm not going to lie, going swimming in October is something of a pleasant novelty.

No No No NO

2008-10-06T09:33:00.001-07:00

Washington Wire - WSJ.com : Political Perceptions: Sarah Palin for 2012? Sure, why not.
I swear, if she becomes a legit candidate in 2012, I'm going to kill myself.

Sarah Palin Supports the Aerial Hunting of Wolves
And a hundred other reasons.

She makes me sick.

Decline of American Power

2008-10-01T16:16:00.001-07:00

SPIEGEL ONLINE - Druckversion - The End of Arrogance: America Loses Its Dominant Economic Role - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International
Oh dear. We are in trouble.

Bush is a broken record stuck on the word 'terror' and that's not the main concern anymore. Or at the moment, anyway. The UN wanted to hear about what we're going to do about Wall Street and all Bush42 could talk about was terrorism.
An important issue, surely, but that won't mean a damn thing if the financial world comes down around our ears.

Our allies in the UN have nothing but contempt for the poor man* and we need them. We need them to help us out, just as they need us--we're the biggest economy on the planet but they're all tied into us. We need them if we're going to face the future on stable feet.

I honestly don't know if we'll ever recover our status as an economic super power. Only time will tell, but if we don't, who's the next in line? India? China? A European nation? That's a power vacuum that will have to be filled.

Somebody called this a post-America age. I'm think that's right, which scares me as part of the next generation of people to inherit the country. I'll be footing the bill for the Me Generation's folly. I've been mortgaged and my grandchildren might pay that off. I don't know if I ever can.

On the other hand, as the author pointed out, America was unjustifiably proud. Sure, we had some bragging rights, but this country went too far. We couldn't admit when we were wrong, couldn't adjust. The US displayed an awful lot of tunnel vision.

Bottom line is this:
Bush, by being out of his depth, fucked up.
Wall Street and the government fucked up.
The next president is fucked.
The next generation is fucked.
We're all fucked for the time being.

*At this point, I pity him. I really do. His puppeteers have found themselves a prospective replacement and his strings are all worn out anyway. He's faded. A faded man used as an illusion by people far smarter than he is. A man out of his depth for eight years who never seemed to even touch bottom. This crisis, the Iraq war, and torture are going to be the biggest smears on his already checkered legacy. He will go down in history as probably the worst president in American history.
He probably could have scrapped by as a care-taker president, handing off a mostly intact America to the next guy, but that's long gone. That died on September 10th. He could have given a cryogenically frozen US to the next guy if he had stuck with Afghanistan, but he allowed that to be melted with a blow torch when Cheney and his other handlers threw the Iraq war at him.

Perhaps a Silly Thought...

2008-10-01T15:38:00.000-07:00

It seems to me that there's a flaw in the Republican view of, well, the world, I suppose.
With the lurverly collapse of the market recently, they blame the Democrats for forcing the government to offer loans to those who couldn't afford it. Allowing them to be irresponsible and that we--read all those with money enough not to worry about loosing the house--are to catch them. Part of being a true adult is having the opportunity to fail and be irresponsible, though I'd prefer that you didn't do it at my expense.

All right, it sucks that taxes are going to bail those Wall Street bastards out, but part of the deal is that the lenders CHOOSE to be irresponsible "(though, to be far, more than half the shit we're in was created by Wall Street). I'd like to let the chips fall where they may, but I dunno if we can do that.

Analysis of Ahmadinejad's chat with Larry King--for Deanna

2008-09-24T21:51:00.000-07:00

Yeah, double standard all right. Israel's an ally, Iran's considered an enemy. Neither one are very open to inspection, though since Israel owes us, I doubt they'll use the nukes without provocation. That would look really bad for us.
He removes himself from the issue of hostility. BOTH countries are to blame for that (though I can see Cheney issuing some threats behind closed doors).
Lol, " AHMADINEJAD (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): No. We do not a preference of any sort... And it's not important to us either."
Disagree with him, but it's still funny how casually he brushes the election of one of the most powerful people in the world off.

I would really like to see Obama have a chat with Ahmadinejad, but that would be feeding into the hands of O'Reilly and Limbaugh.

"AHMADINEJAD (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Our country of Iran has a historical presence that extends to 7,000 years. And never has the Iranian nation taken a misstep against another nation. Throughout history, it has demonstrated that." ORLY? I seem to remember the Iran-Iraq war(s) being instigated by both sides.

Love the sideswipes he makes periodically. "But this defense does not mean that we must infringe on the rights of other nations, not at all."

This is new, "You are aware that in the course of the U.S. attack on Iraq, we were
asked, in fact, to enter into the coalition or the war, to some extent
-- not the coalition, but the war -- just to make up for the war that
Saddam launched against us that went on for eight years." Hadn't heard that before.
This one's new, too, "But let me tell you, 118 member states of the NAM, the Non- Aligned
Movement, have actually supported our peaceful nuclear pursuits.
Fifty-seven member states of the Organization of Islamic States have
also given their support to us in this regard. And there are many other
organizations -- multilateral organizations that have supported our
endeavor and efforts."

He's right, certainly, about Iraq. It's the keystone to the Middle East. Been wondering recently if the Iraq Invasion was a power play, too. Showing bin Laden who's the boss and everything (not that the invasion actually took much effort).

He sidesteps a lot of questions--typical from what I remember of him. And is right about the bomb as a purely state-oriented political threat. States want to be around in the long run, after all.

Focuses a lot on Israel, which will not reassure most Americans. We like Israel, we like having an ally in the region besides Turkey, we like the feel-good of having given the Holocaust survivors a homeland again.
And just as a note, the division of Palestine isn't America's fault--that was Churchill. Whatever you can say about Sharon, he was moving people out of the occupied territories, which was good. Olmert started movin' 'em back in after Sharon became a veggie. And Arafat had the opportunity to have a homeland again through the Oslo peace talks under Clinton, but refused it because it wasn't the old borders again. And Palestine DOES have free elections--that's how Abbas got in power much to the concernation of the US.
Wish he'd give a definition of a Zionist. Does that include someone who lives in Israel, oe just those that support it as a State. What about the people in government or in the army? They don't have a choice about being in the army, you know. Required for all 18 year olds.
Denying the Holocaust doesn't help his case in not being a threat.
"Or in Alaska, perhaps." LOL, chase out the moose! And they can have Palin--nobody will miss her.

"AHMADINEJAD (through translator): I have no concerns in that regard
because they aren't able to do that, because the worst thing the U.S.
government can do would be an attack. I think that in the United States
there are enough reasonable people, smart people, who would not allow
the U.S. government to make a mistake."
Hope so. We can't do a three-front war.
"Iran is an extremely big country and very developed and powerful, too. With big people." Nearly died. Sounds like a little boy describing a fish he caught. If he were to be more explict in what he means (big hearted, he said later), iinstead of sounding like a blaggart, that would be good.
Makes a silly arguement about homosexuality. And ignores some gruesome hangings (hung by a crane until dead).

"AHMADINEJAD (through translator): If it an, it would be the best
scenario. But I think that it needs a timetable. That's what I think. A
clear timetable so that it allows for their withdrawal in the shortest
a period of time. Because the presence of the United States there has
not reduced tension and it has not limited terrorism, either. In fact,
it has increased terrorism."
Agreed. There's blog by an Iraqi woman called Neurotic Iraq Wife who says we need to get our asses out, because it would be best for Iraq (the September 2008 archive, "The Blatant Neurotic Iraqi Truth..." if you're interested).

"...wherever we can meet with the American people and to learn about them
and their lives. We think that having talks is the best way." Dunno if LA is the best place to learn about American culture (it's such an anamoly!), but he's right. If you understand a people, you can communicate effectively with them, and if he wants to convince us Iran is not a threat, he need to do that better than he has. He's also right about saying we need more contact with Iran, because if we understand a country, we can deal with it effectively. And despite being friends with you, I don't know too terribly much about Iranian culture.

NOW . Poll | PBS

2008-09-21T17:44:00.001-07:00

Why?

My decision !

2008-09-19T17:25:00.000-07:00

Not that you probably care.

Politics - News, Opinion and Analysis from CNN.com

2008-09-17T11:05:00.001-07:00

This should not be! McCain is not going to be good for the US and is coniving! >:(

Election Issues and Policies

2008-09-16T08:35:00.001-07:00

I really need to sit down a figure all this out.
2008 Presidential Election Candidates on the Issues
All I can do is sigh. There's seriously minor differences between McCheney and Obama on a good chunk of the issues.

Break down:

Roe v Wade: Mc opposes, Ob supports:
Death Penalty: both support. Ugh
NCLB: Mc supports, Ob has mixed opinions. I am not happy about that. The NCLB act punishes teachers, who are at the mercy of the administration.
Embryonic stemcell research: both support. Fine and dandy.
ANWR drilling: both oppose. Cool beans.
Kyoto Treaty: Mc opposes and Ob's position is unknown. Kyoto is unreasonable for industrialized nations, at least at the pace it demands.
Guns: Mc opposes a assult weapons ban while Obama supports one. Both support background checks.
PATRIOT act: both support. I hate hate hate the PATRIOT act (you heard me!)
Guantanamo: Mc supports it, Ob opposes.
Torture: both oppose it (thank god).
Wiretapping: Mc and Ob oppose it.
Border Fence: Both support. Le sigh
Citizenship paths for illegals: both support. What else are we gonna do with them?
Internet nuetrality: Mc opposes, Ob supports. That counts in Obama's favor, for me at least.
Sanctions on Iran: both support
Iran as a military option: Mc supports it (!) and Ob's opnion is unknown (!). That it's even phrased that way makes me sick.
Iraq war: Mc supports it, Ob doesn't
Troop surge: Mc supports it, Ob doesn't
Withdrawal: Mc opposes it, Ob wants it to be gradual. I personally agree with Obama.
Minimum wage increase: Mc opposes, Ob does.
Gay marriage: both oppose. Sigh.
Civil unions: Mc has mixed opinions, Ob supports
Consitutional ban on gay marriage: both oppose.
Universal healthcare: Mc opposes, Ob supports.

I suppose it depends on your voting issues. Mine are all freedom and civil rights, pretty much, as well as Iraq, so I think I'll be an Obamainator. Need to double check their fiscal policies, though.

Edit: From today's Times:
Obama's approach to Wall street makes me a little unhappy. He wants more regulation and I don't. I DO want the companies to bail themselves out or die, instead of my taxes going to save their asses. As a friend said: Privatized profits with socialized losses is fascist.
In fact, I'd like the whole regulatory system to be flushed.
On the other hand, McCain would treat employer-paid healthcare taxable as part of one's income. That in and of itself will probably kill my family, since he want the employers to estimate how much they're spending on your healthcare and you'll be taxed accordingly. All of us in my house are on some pretty expensive meds, and two of us have themost expanisive mental illness to treat. At the moment, I won't be paying extra taxes as I'm not insured by my employer, but my parents WILL.
That would force a hell of a lot of people into the health-insurance market place and out of the current system--which I admit is flawed, but I would think it better than this other system. I'm one of those who thinks that captialism does not belong in the healthcare arena, at least on an individual level. It workds perfectly well for insitutions and corporations but not to much for families, unless we regulate the hell out of it which would make me unhappy.
Bob Herbert:

"When younger, healthier workers start seeing additional taxes taken out of their paychecks, some (perhaps many) will opt out of the employer-based plans--either to buy cheaper insureance on their own or go without coverage.
That will leave employers with a pool of older, less healthy workers to cover, That coverage will necessarily be more expensive, which will encourage more and more employuers to give up the idea of providing coverage at all."

The $5k credit he would offer doesn't even cover my family's medical expenses in a year, I'm danm sure.
Mm, not good. I need healthcare to function.
That said, I disagree with Bob Herbert on his assumption that I can't understand the insurance market well enough to navigate it if I have to. Give me some time and I can manage it. Actually that might create a whole new division of legal expertise. Yay. More lawyers.
Candidate Tax Plans.
McCain wants to keep and create more tax cuts. Obama doesn't. We're so deep in the hole we can't have that. Obama wants an increase in social security taxes for certain brackets ("Social Security tax would be 12.4% for income from zero to $102,000; 0% for income from $102,000 to $250,000; and 4% from $250,000 and up, effective 2018"). Damn it, I already loose about fifteen bucks (out of my $180 average paycheck) and that would be more. Those upper tax brackets need to pay more than I do. I sincerly doubt that as a teacher I'll make enough not to have to pay.
"Create an "American Opportunity Tax Credit." This universal and fully refundable credit would equal 100% of higher education expenses up to $4,000," is a part of Obama's plan and I like that. I'm going to be in school for the next four or five years, so I'll probably get to use that.

Presidential Candidate Tax Plan Comparison

	John McCain	Barack Obama
Marginal Individual Income Tax Rates View Research Area »	Continue the lower rates enacted in the 2001-03 tax cuts. (Source).	Maintain the current 10, 15, 25, and 28 percent rates from the 2001-03 tax cuts, but allow the top two rates to expire (the 33 percent rate would rise to 36 percent; the 35 percent would rise to 39.6 percent). Eliminate all income taxation of seniors making less than $50,000 per year. (Source).
Corporate Income Tax View Research Area »	Cut rate to 25%, (from current 35%) fully phased in by 2015. (Source).	Eliminate capital gains taxes on start-up and small businesses (Source). "Level the playing field for all businesses by eliminating special-interest loopholes and deductions." (Source).
Tax Reform View Research Area »	No specifics available. Taxpayers choose between the current system or "a vastly less complicated system with two tax rates and a generous standard deduction." (Source).	No specifics available. Instruct IRS to provide pre-prepared tax forms for many filers (Source).
Estate Tax View Research Area »	15% tax rate on estates over $5 million ($10 million for married couples). (Source).	45% tax rate on estates over $3.5 million ($7 million for married couples). (Source).
Social Security Payroll Tax View Research Area »	Opposes increasing the payroll tax from the current 12.4% on wages up to $102,000. Supports supplementing the current Social Security system with personal accounts. (Source).	Social Security tax would be 12.4% for income from zero to $102,000; 0% for income from $102,000 to $250,000; and 4% from $250,000 and up, effective 2018. (Source).
Alternative Minimum Tax View Research Area »	Phase out the AMT (Source).	Extend AMT patch.
Capital Gains & Dividends Taxes View Research Area »	Maintain the 15% rate on capital gains and dividends. (Source).	Raise capital gains and dividends rates to somewhere between 20% and 28%, keeping them equal.
Other Tax Policies	-New refundable health care tax credit ($5,000 for family coverage, $2,500 for individual coverage). Replaces the current exclusion for employer-based health insurance premiums. (budget neutral) - Increase the dependent exemption each year until it reaches $7,000 in 2016 (the 2016 level would be twice the level in 2009) (Source).	- Create a new "Making Work Pay" refundable income tax credit of up to $500 per person or $1,000 per family. It would offset the payroll tax on the first $8,100 of earnings. - Create a 10 percent mortgage credit worth up to $800. - Give full-time workers making minimum wage an Earned Income Tax Credit benefit up to $555. If the workers are "responsibly supporting their children on child support," give those workers a benefit of $1,110. - Create an "American Opportunity Tax Credit." This universal and fully refundable credit would equal 100% of higher education expenses up to $4,000. - Make the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit refundable and increase the maximum credit to $1,500 ($3,000 for two or more children). - Make the Retirement Savings Credit refundable. Reduce the maximum credit from the current $1,000 per taxpayer ($2,000 per couple) to $250 per taxpayer ($500 per couple) and roughly double the phaseout threshold from $16,000 for singles in 2008 ($32,000 for couples) to $32,500 for singles in 2009 ($65,000 for couples). The credit would phase out at a 5% rate when AGI exceeds these thresholds.

OMFG.

2008-09-11T10:28:00.002-07:00

YouTube - Time for Some Campaignin'
Fucking hilarious!

Time for Some Campaignin'

This Might Be Why...

2008-09-11T10:28:00.000-07:00

Think Progress » On 7th Anniversary Of Attacks, White House Claims Bin Laden Was Not The ‘Mastermind’ of Sept. 11
Certainly explains why we haven't really focused on catching him.

OMFG.

2008-08-30T16:03:00.001-07:00

YouTube - Time for Some Campaignin'
Fucking hilarious!

Time for Some Campaignin'

Composed

2008-07-21T09:44:00.001-07:00

The most beautiful suicide (kottke.org)
There's something oddly touching about her and the state of her body (compared to the car) is amazing. She appears to be fairly intact and the dent in the car is significant.

Wow.

California's Ballot Measure Against Gay Marriage Failing

2008-07-19T13:04:00.001-07:00

Reason Magazine - Hit & Run > Lesbians Are Cool, and Straights Are Fools
Fuck
Yes

Modern Slavery: A Primer

2008-07-13T16:42:00.001-07:00

From GOOD magazine, a fabulous online mag that has some really great stuff.
This, however, is saddening--10% of the world's population are slaves, and the ones here in the US are doing the same thing slaves were doing two hundred years ago with manufacturing as an added burden.

Forgotten War

2008-07-13T11:31:00.001-07:00

How the hell did we forget Afghanistan? The Taliban sheltered the man who sponsored and planned September Eleventh and we simply focus on Iraq. Could we just have shot over to Iraq just long enough to disable any possible weapons (we wouldn't have found any) and then go back to hunting for Bin Laden?

BBC NEWS | South Asia | US suffers heavy Afghan losses

Ack.

YouTube - balloons - baloni

2008-07-11T19:31:00.001-07:00

I am never endingly amused by this.

The Last Thing We Need...

2008-07-11T18:39:00.001-07:00

Is more war. We can't handle a two-front, how could we do a three? Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan...
Holy shit.

I keep hearing rumors and concerns--it's all over the blogosphere and the news. And that makes me worry and ache and want to disbelieve all this crap. There is no way in hell we can pull a three front. We'll collapse, without out a doubt.

An Open Letter to Smelly, Pretentious Poser Hippies

2008-07-08T17:49:00.001-07:00

Dear Smelly Poser Hippies,

I can smell you across the counter. Even if I step back. I can tell you don't use deodorant either, and you smell like oil and dirt and unwashed hair and old food, not flowers. Your dreds look like you slathered them with Crisco before you left the house. The stains on your shirt are not attractive and holes generally mean it's time to buy a new one.
And then you prattle on about the art of espresso and how our machines make it inferiorly to your carpal tunnel-causing, tedious preferred method--really, do you think Starbucks would use a Verssimo machine if it wasn't just as good? Yeah, the art is gone, but it tastes just the same--possibly better because it's harder to fuck up.
And you're at a Starbucks for heaven's sake! If you really were a hard-working, mother-earth-loving, real hippie, you'd go to a local cafe, not the sprawling, transnational pillar of suburban society that we are.
But you come groveling to us for a caffeine fix, while complaining about how we don't make it strong enough and how the art is gone and how it's so much better in the Northwest because they make properly strong coffee and how if we really loved coffee, we'd go up there.
We work at Starbucks. We know what good coffee tastes like and we can make it here. Ask for a French press instead of looking like an ass in front of the baristas. Ask for more shots instead of pretend you know what you're talking about, because we know you don't.
Do you know why you think they make it better up there? It's a national myth, started because Starbucks came from there. No other reason, really.
So take yer cup of supposedly inferior coffee, go take a bath and become a real hippie someplace else.

Love,
Every Starbucks Barista That Has Ever Had To Put Up With You

Incredible Surrealist Painter

2008-07-03T22:28:00.001-07:00

Andrew Brandou is probably my new favorite artist. His stuff is amazing--eerie, colorful and weirdly cute. It's like a mad Mexican Tim Burton broke into Disney's animation studios in the 50s.
Here's a couple of my favorites from the gallery sections called "Everyone's Happier Now That You're Gone":

Dingbots, Critters and Clanks

Political Positions

The Election is Decided

Still Gotta Vote!

What if Positions Were Reversed?

Autumn

No No No NO

Decline of American Power

Perhaps a Silly Thought...

Analysis of Ahmadinejad's chat with Larry King--for Deanna

NOW . Poll | PBS

My decision !

Politics - News, Opinion and Analysis from CNN.com

Election Issues and Policies

Presidential Candidate Tax Plan Comparison

John McCain

Barack Obama

Who's Online

OMFG.

This Might Be Why...

OMFG.

Composed

California's Ballot Measure Against Gay Marriage Failing

Modern Slavery: A Primer

Forgotten War

YouTube - balloons - baloni

The Last Thing We Need...

An Open Letter to Smelly, Pretentious Poser Hippies

Incredible Surrealist Painter