I've been reading "Schulz and Peanuts - A Biography" by David Michaelis. As you might guess it is about cartoonist Charles Schulz.

There is a passage about an early job he had at a printing company that had some resonance for me, and I thought I'd share it here.

(I wanted to post about this...but Craig beat me to it.  It's all good man.  Great diary! - promoted by faultguy)

Read all about it HERE
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Question: Which of the following could be considered "Humanitarian Aid" items?

1. 300 wheelchairs
2. 300 new mobility scooters
3. 100 special mobility scooters for the disabled
4. Hundreds of crutches
5. 250 hospital beds
6. 50 sofas
7. Four tons of medicine
8. 20 tons of clothing, carpets, school bags, cloth and shoes
9. Various hospital equipment - closets and cabinets, operating theater equipment, etc.
10. Playground equipment
11. Mattresses

Answer after the fold...

Spring has sprung, as we've had our second April 15th Tea Party Protests Over Taxes That Haven't Been Raised.

As Spring prepares to yield to Summer, it is once again time for the annual Obama Doesn't Have A Valid US Birth Cerificate Nonsense.

Quote:

PHOENIX - Arizona lawmakers expressing doubt over whether President Barack Obama was born in the United States are pushing a bill through the Legislature that would require the president to show his birth certificate to get on the state's 2012 ballot.

snip

The measure's sponsor, Republican Rep. Judy Burges of Skull Valley, said she isn't sure Obama could prove his eligibility for the ballot in Arizona and wants to erase all doubts.

"You have half the population who thinks everything is fine, and you have the other half of the population who has had doubts built up in their mind," Burges said.

Judy, Judy, Judy.  That is s-o-o-o 2009!  

Really, now.

HALF the population doubts that the fairly-elected president of the United States has a valid US birth certificate?

You're pegging the needle on the foil-hat-ometer.

Does anyone here remember the late, great Morey Amsterdam?

I would imagine his pop culture immortality has been ensured by his role as Buddy Sorrell on the Dick Van Dyke Show.

But he was also known as "The Human Joke Machine."  The idea was that Morey would be able to instantly provide a joke on any topic that was thrown his way.

For instance, let's say someone demanded a joke about shoes.  

Morey might reply:
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Keep the people of Poland in your thoughts, prayers and hearts. What a tragedy for them.

I'm trying to work out some math problems, as they relate to life in these United States.

The baseline is a family of three:  Mother, Father plus one child.  Hey!  That's kinda like MY family.

1.  Poverty Level - Hourly Rate:
According to THIS information, the 2009 poverty level for a family of three is $18,310 a year.

So:

$18,310 divided by 52 weeks/year, divided by 40 hours/week = $8.80/hour.

2.  Minimum Wage - Hourly rate:
According to the Department of Labor the federal minimum wage is $7.25/hour.

3.  $250,000/Year - Hourly Rate:
$250,000 divided by 52 weeks divided by 40 hours/week = $120.19/hour.

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Conclusions:

1. Minimum Wage < Poverty Level

BUT the minimum wage is too high!  We're creating a lazy class of over-paid grunt workers while also reducing job opportunities for people who crave living below the poverty level.

2. $120.19/hour = 13.7 times the poverty level and 16.6 times the minimum wage.

BUT "$250,000/year" is not "wealthy."

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"Do the math, people!"

Courtesy of Daniel Larison at The American Conservative Magazine's blog here is an essay entitled Irrational Tribalism. It concerns the curious embrace of one Sarah Palin by the conservative movement.

preview quote:

How can it be a point of pride that one would prefer an ignorant political failure because she happens to say the right things? It may be true that expertise in international affairs is "no guarantee of wise leadership," but I don't believe staggering ignorance has ever produced wise leadership. No doubt, Palin's lack of expertise is extremely useful to national security conservatives who wish to direct her to accept their view of the world, but that is yet another argument against letting Palin occupy a position of important leadership. The second Bush was famously uninformed, incurious and inclined to go with his gut instinct, and his foreign policy record was largely calamitous. The areas where his administration did the least damage and even some good (e.g., relations with India) were those in which the U.S. was least activist and Bush was least directly involved. I don't expect Palinites to accept this assessment, as they were as foolishly confident in the merits of invading Iraq and provoking Russia as they are now sure that Palin is an acceptable national leader, but it is worth remembering that they rehearsed all of the same defenses for Bush when his critics pointed out that he was clueless about the rest of the world.

Look for Mr. Larison's sudden "resignation" from The American Conservative Magazine, later this week.

Thinking of which...

As I have mentioned, I am here at Left Take because I am disgusted with what "mainstream" conservatism has become.

A dear friend of mine told me that I can't trust the MSM and that he gets all his news from listening to nine hours of "Rush, Sean and Laura" every day.

Uh, no thanks.  I'll stick to the newspaper.

But you know which conservative pundit I might consider listening to?

....

Mark Evanier's newsfromme blog is usually about his adventures as a writer in the realm of comics, cartoons and other stuff.

He does spinkle comments on current event throughout and here a couple of recent favorite quotes.

I keep getting e-mails from people who...well, I'm not sure if they actually oppose Health Care Reform or they simply believe in opposing anything Barack Obama is for. But they keep sending me poll results that suggest most Americans are already satisfied with their health insurance. A couple of these seem to simply ignore that part of the crisis we have in this country is that so many people don't have health insurance. It's like saying, in a land where many are starving to death, "Well, the ones who are eating like what they're eating." Also, a lot of people are perfectly satisfied with their health insurance because they haven't gotten sick lately and so have never tested its value to their lives.

And:

Back in the Reagan administration, Bruce Bartlett was one of the architects of the theory that if we cut taxes (especially for rich people), that would force a shrinkage in government spending. He is now writing pieces like this one saying how that idea has never worked.

I was especially impressed with this line which I came across in Bartlett's comment section. Couldn't have put it better myself...

"Republicans depend on this message (or think they do) because it is essential to the coalition Reagan built, which enabled them to pass off a fundamentally corporate-friendly worldview as a populist appeal to the average American (who hates taxes)."

Someday, the average American will wake up to the revelation that their taxes would be a lot lower if the wealthiest Americans paid some. One of the things I find amazing in our national debate about taxes is that discussions of raising or cutting them are usually only about raising or cutting them for rich people. Even folks who are maniacal about slashing taxes give Obama very little credit for lowering them on the lower and middle class. It's like a tax cut isn't a tax cut unless the folks who own Walmart get it. And you can still be hailed as a great cutter-of-taxes, as per George W. Bush, if you raise them on those who work at Walmart and/or drive up the debt, which of course will lead to higher taxes on someone at some point.

Mark's blog is always a fun read.

Just thought I'd point you kind folks his way.

P.S. Today is the first day (ever!) I've found myself wishing I could watch CSPAN all day.  The chopped-up sound bytes that will undoubtedly be pulled from this marathon are sure be of little use once they've been removed from their original contexts, spun and re-spun.

Fayetteville, NC has a free weekly "Arts 'n Entertainment" magazine called Up & Coming Weekly.

The "Publisher's Pen" segment in the latest issue was titled "The Message From Massachusetts."  It actually prompted me to write my first letter (well, email) in response to an editorial.

Of course, I managed to screw it up.

Read on...

I have been threatening to write another diary from my not-very-progressive viewpoint and here it is.  I hope you don't think I'm getting all JZ on you.  I'm posting this in good faith to offer a different "take" on an issue.  You know I love you all, right?  Right..?

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In the closing chapter of "The Death of Conservatism," Sam Tanenhaus writes that "Culturally... these are conservative times."  He then goes on to state

[C]onservatives should savor the embrace of "family values" by the nation's homosexual population, who seek the sanctuary,
and responsibilities, of marriage and child-rearing, a development unthinkable a generation ago, when gays personified the excesses of the "alternate lifestyle."

So, why the resistance from my conservative bretheren to the idea of the gay community redifining marriage to include any two consenting adults, same-sex or otherwise?

The final section of the sentence contains an important clue:

[C]onservatives should savor the embrace of "family values" by the nation's homosexual population, who seek the sanctuary, and responsibilities, of marriage and child-rearing, a development unthinkable a generation ago, when gays personified the excesses of the "alternate lifestyle."

Indeed, if someone was to do some "market research" one might find that the "gay" brand has poorly positioned itself here after decades of unfortunate media messages.  

Of course, I can only ever speak for myself on such things, so here are my two cents.

Due to popular demand I have decided to gin up a diary entry.

I read these two bits within the past twelve hours and I figured I'd share them here.

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I've been getting anti-Obama e-mails from an erstwhile co-worker since before the election last year.

You know, the stuff with the doctored Air Force One photos, the Obama toilet paper, etc., etc.

The latest gotta-go-check-Snopes missive is beyond incoherent.  Whoever wrote it (supposedly Buddy's Hackett's widow?!?) can't even decide if Obama has been in office 9 months or 6 months.

This is just another example of the current media-fed circus-clown conservatism that has pushed me way from the Republican party.

My apologies for stinkin' out the joint with this claptrap, but let's make the most of it.  

How's about we treat this like like one of those games where you have to look at a crazy picture and list all the things you find wrong with it?

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What the..?

The Right Wing media kept harping on this Saul Alinsky guy so much, I did an internet search on him.

Apparently, it is his Rules For Radicals idea that Rush, Sean, Glenn et al like to invoke as "proof" of the evilness of their opponents.

Yet, they (and practically everyone else, these days) embrace these principles in putting forth their talking points.

Do they protesteth too much?  Read on...

As a result of some discussions in the comment section, I have decided to post something that does not represent a very progressive viewpoint.

I was contemplating starting up a blog to vent my spleen on some editorials I was reading in the newspaper, but after two entries, I decided it was a path I really didn't want to travel.

I'm posting one of them here, not to convince anyone of my own awesome righteousness, but rather to offer my "take" on a specific editorial.

I thought I'd throw this question out again.  What are you reading right now?

I've been trying to educate myself on this here "progressive agenda" and, as a conservative Christian guy, it has been tough sledding.

Several books I've taken out of the library seem so over-the top angry and single-issue focused, I just can't get through them.

Yeah, yeah, I get it!  Senator Craig is a self-hating, closeted queer who was trying to solicit public sex in an airport bathroom.  Great.  What else ya got?  Oh.  Nothing.

Well, I have found the book I have been looking for this past week.
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I'll take it!

Obama's Nobel Peace Prize triumph hailed by many

"In less than a year in office, he has transformed the way we look at ourselves and the world we live in and rekindled hope for a world at peace with itself," ElBaradei said. "He has shown an unshakable commitment to diplomacy, mutual respect and dialogue as the best means of resolving conflicts. He has reached out across divides and made clear that he sees the world as one human family, regardless of religion, race or ethnicity."

(10/2 - promoted by leftake)

Something that Garry Moore would do on the old "I've Got A Secret" show was to ask the panelists what books they were currently reading.  Amazingly enough, everyone would actually be in the middle of reading a book and they'd give a few sentences about it. (I can't imagine how the dim-bulbs on the "American Idol" panel would respond to such a question!)

So, who is currently reading what?