jimtbj

RIP Robbie

2008-08-15T07:19:56Z

Just heard of Robbie Greenberger's passing. Condolences to his family. Parents shouldnt bury their children. There has just been too much death of friends and family recently. Too many good people too soon. I was glad I got to meet Robbie at Shore Leave.

Shore Leave 30 Photos

2008-07-27T18:32:26Z

Within the next week I will be posting my Shore Leave 30 Photos to a Flickr account. I figured this was easier than burning cds. I will post a LJ entry when they are posted.

Gas taxes and taxes in general

2008-07-20T13:26:45Z

With oil at record levels and gas at all time highs per gallon Congress is seriously considering raising gasoline and diesel taxes from 18 cents per gallon to 28 cents per gallon and some are calling for raising it to 40 cents per gallon. Talk about windfall profits. Oil companies make 8 cents per gallon and they have to produce the product and take all the risk. The Federal government who takes absolutely no risk already gets 18 cents why should they get 10 to 22 cents per gallon more. The average american tax burden is already 31 % of total income. We dont need higher tax burdens of any kind. Government be it local, state, or federal is very inefficient in providing services. They simply need to learn to do with less and how to become more efficient. We dont need to end up like Germany whos tax burden is almost 51% or France whos burden is almost 54%.

Shore Leave

2008-07-07T05:35:12Z

Well it seems way back in Novemeber when I modified my reservation at Hunt Valley Inn that I was given an updated confirmation number but they didnt email it to me. The fine shore leave folks had all the proper information so Im good to go

Shore Leave Hotel SNAFU

2008-07-06T20:02:57Z

Well somehow Marriot cancelled my reservations for Hunt Valley Inn for this year so since I cant stay at the hotel and Im pretty sure all the surrounding hotels are booked Im cancelling my trip up this year. I never even got an email notice of the cancellation. All the hotel people could say is Im sorry

Pissed off in Louisiana

Jim

Inappropriate AIM away message courtesy of Marc

2008-02-27T01:30:02Z

Auto Response from August 22 1979 (7:24:59 PM): Taking A Dump. See You Soon.

How nice to read.

Holy Crap! Unholy Crap! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No its Marc

2008-01-02T01:35:14Z

http://www.myfoxny.com/myfox/pages/InsideFox/Detail?contentId=5364706&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=5.7.1

Taxes

2007-12-18T18:02:02Z

News Item the rich are paying more than their fair share of taxes. The top 50% pay 96.7% of all taxes. The top 1% pay 36.89% and since the Bush tax cuts that has gone to a bit more than 39%. The top 25% of income earners pay 84.6% of all federal income taxes. The income share of the top 1% rose from 16.12% to 16.77% while at the same time the tax rate dropped from 27.25% to 24.31%. Isnt that amazing the income taxes increase as the taxes were cut. This always happens. When people get to keep more of their money they use it to produce more wealth and productivity. The wealthy are extremely productive. They provide goods and services and more importantly jobs for others. Raise their taxes as democrats want to do and the economy suffers. The wealthy become less productive people are laid off.

Less than $3.50 cents of every $100 of income taxes paid in the US is paid by someone in the bottom 50% of the wage earners. The top 50% of wage earners is defined as individuals or couples filing jointly who earned $29,019 in 2003. The top 1% were those earning 295,495 and up. Also the income brackets are not set in stone. Those who are in the bottom 50% move up while some in the upper 50% or higher move down. Also most of the wealthy earned their money from a standing start they didnt inherit it.

The CBO analysis, Effective Tax Rates Under Law, 2001 to 2014, shows that the income tax remains highly progressive, the top 5% of earners paying more than half of all federal income taxes. As a result of the tax cuts since 2001, all taxpayers face lower effective federal income tax rates than they would have without the tax cuts. While many characterize the CBO report as evidence that the tax cuts shifted the burden of taxation to the middle class, the CBO data show precisely the opposite effect. The tax cuts actually made the tax system more progressive. The highest 20% of earners now pay a larger share of federal income taxes than they would have without the tax cuts.

These statistics are available from the IRS and CBO. I find it very interesting. I think perhaps rather than raising taxes our Congress should spend the money more efficiently. Look at the Social Security Trust Fund. There is no trust fund its all U.S. I O Us. Congress be it Republican or Democratically run spends that money faster than it comes in rather than investing it for the future then the "bastards" have the nerve to ask us to pay more taxes. The Congress spends about $1.59 for every dollar of taxes paid the last time I checked. If you look at the monies spent on Social Security, Medicare, Medicade, education and other federal programs and see how much of it is absorbed in admistration of the programs you would be amazed.

Random comments

2007-12-12T03:22:14Z

I have no problem with any enemy of the United States being water boarded if it saves American lives. None whatsoever. We should use any means at our disposal to protect our country and our citizens. Water boarding has been used 3 times and it has worked 3 times. I dont give a damn if it caused the subject any distress. Its not used wholesale nor is anyone saying it should be. There is a real problem when people are more concerned with the rights murderers and enemies of our country. Do I mean use wholesale torture. Of course not but water boarding doesnt damage the subject. Scare the hell out of and cause some distress yes.

R I P Its been a rotten 18 months

2007-12-09T05:02:21Z

Louis Pratt June 2006                                            aunt                    stroke   age 90
Joe Haley   November 2006                                  cousin                murdered age 17
Nora Lee McCain January 2007                           mother               congestive heart failure age 82
John Michael Haley January 2007                       cousin                stroke age 53
Hannah Beth Ann Peterson May 2007                good friend        auto accident age 23
Barbara Ann McCain Self McCole Nov 2007      cousin                choked on aspriated food after surgery age 62
Dave Farmer Nov 2007                                          friend/minister stroke age 71
Rebecca Self Dec 2007                                         cousin                 complications from diabetes 29

From Slate

2007-11-28T06:18:29Z

human nature: Science, technology, and life.

Created Equal

human nature
entries

1 2 3

from: William Saletan

Liberal Creationism

Posted Sunday, Nov. 18, 2007, at 7:57 AM ET

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights …

—Declaration of Independence

Last month, James Watson, the legendary biologist, was condemned and forced into retirement after claiming that African intelligence wasn't "the same as ours." "Racist, vicious and unsupported by science," said the Federation of American Scientists. "Utterly unsupported by scientific evidence," declared the U.S. government's supervisor of genetic research. The New York Times told readers that when Watson implied "that black Africans are less intelligent than whites, he hadn't a scientific leg to stand on."

I wish these assurances were true. They aren't. Tests do show an IQ deficit, not just for Africans relative to Europeans, but for Europeans relative to Asians. Economic and cultural theories have failed to explain most of the pattern, and there's strong preliminary evidence that part of it is genetic. It's time to prepare for the possibility that equality of intelligence, in the sense of racial averages on tests, will turn out not to be true.

If this suggestion makes you angry—if you find the idea of genetic racial advantages outrageous, socially corrosive, and unthinkable—you're not the first to feel that way. Many Christians are going through a similar struggle over evolution. Their faith in human dignity rests on a literal belief in Genesis. To them, evolution isn't just another fact; it's a threat to their whole value system. As William Jennings Bryan put it during the Scopes trial, evolution meant elevating "supposedly superior intellects," "eliminating the weak," "paralyzing the hope of reform," jeopardizing "the doctrine of brotherhood," and undermining "the sympathetic activities of a civilized society."

The same values—equality, hope, and brotherhood—are under scientific threat today. But this time, the threat is racial genetics, and the people struggling with it are liberals.

Evolution forced Christians to bend or break. They could insist on the Bible's literal truth and deny the facts, as Bryan did. Or they could seek a subtler account of creation and human dignity. Today, the dilemma is yours. You can try to reconcile evidence of racial differences with a more sophisticated understanding of equality and opportunity. Or you can fight the evidence and hope it doesn't break your faith.

I'm for reconciliation. Later this week, I'll make that case. But if you choose to fight the evidence, here's what you're up against. Among white Americans, the average IQ, as of a decade or so ago, was 103. Among Asian-Americans, it was 106. Among Jewish Americans, it was 113. Among Latino Americans, it was 89. Among African-Americans, it was 85. Around the world, studies find the same general pattern: whites 100, East Asians 106, sub-Sarahan Africans 70. One IQ table shows 113 in Hong Kong, 110 in Japan, and 100 in Britain. White populations in Australia, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States score closer to one another than to the worldwide black average. It's been that way for at least a century.

Remember, these are averages, and all groups overlap. You can't deduce an individual's intelligence from her ethnicity. The only thing you can reasonably infer is that anyone who presumes to rate your IQ based on the color of your skin is probably dumber than you are.

So, what should we make of the difference in averages?

We don't like to think IQ is mostly inherited. But we've all known families who are smarter than others. Twin and sibling studies, which can sort genetic from environmental factors, suggest more than half the variation in IQ scores is genetic. A task force report from the American Psychological Association indicates it might be even higher. The report doesn't conclude that genes explain racial gaps in IQ. But the tests on which racial gaps are biggest happen to be the tests on which genes, as measured by comparative sibling performance, exert the biggest influence.

How could genes cause an IQ advantage? The simplest pathway is head size. I thought head measurement had been discredited as Eurocentric pseudoscience. I was wrong. In fact, it's been bolstered by MRI. On average, Asian-American kids have bigger brains than white American kids, who in turn have bigger brains than black American kids. This is true even though the order of body size and weight runs in the other direction. The pattern holds true throughout the world and persists at death, as measured by brain weight.

According to twin studies, 50 percent to 90 percent of variation in head size and brain volume is genetic. And when it comes to IQ, size matters. The old science of head measurements found a 20 percent correlation of head size with IQ. The new science of MRI finds at least a 40 percent correlation of brain size with IQ. One analysis calculates that brain size could easily account for five points of the black-white IQ gap.

I know, it sounds crazy. But if you approach the data from other directions, you get the same results. The more black and white scores differ on a test, the more performance on that test correlates with head size and "g," a measure of the test's emphasis on general intelligence. You can debate the reality of g, but you can't debate the reality of head size. And when you compare black and white kids who score the same on IQ tests, their average difference in head circumference is zero.

Scientists have already identified genes that influence brain size and vary by continent. Whether these play a role in racial IQ gaps, nobody knows. But we should welcome this research, because any genetic hypothesis about intelligence ought to be clarified and tested.

Critics think IQ tests are relative—i.e., they measure fitness for success in our society, not in other societies. "In a hunter-gatherer society, IQ will still be important, but if a hunter cannot shoot straight, IQ will not bring food to the table," argues psychologist Robert Sternberg. "In a warrior society … physical prowess may be equally necessary to stay alive." It's a good point, but it bolsters the case for a genetic theory. Nature isn't stupid. If Africans, Asians, and Europeans evolved different genes, the reason is that their respective genes were suited to their respective environments.

In fact, there's a mountain of evidence that differential evolution has left each population with a balance of traits that could be advantageous or disadvantageous, depending on circumstances. The list of differences is long and intricate. On average, compared with whites, blacks mature more quickly in the womb, are born earlier, and develop teeth, strength, and dexterity earlier. They sit, crawl, walk, and dress themselves earlier. They reach sexual maturity faster, and they have better eyesight. On each of these measures, East Asians lag whites and blacks. In exchange, East Asians get longer lives and bigger brains.

How this happened isn't clear. Everyone agrees that the three populations separated 40,000 to 100,000 years ago. Even critics of racial IQ genetics accept the idea that through natural selection, environmental differences may have caused abilities such as distance running to become more common in some populations than in others. Possibly, genes for cognitive complexity became so crucial in some places that nature favored them over genes for developmental speed and vision. If so, fitness for today's world is mostly dumb luck. If we lived in a savannah, kids programmed to mature slowly and grow big brains would be toast. Instead, we live in a world of zoos, supermarkets, pediatricians, pharmaceuticals, and information technology. Genetic advantages, in other words, are culturally created.

Not that that's much consolation if you're stuck in the 21^st century with a low IQ. Tomorrow we'll look at some of the arguments against the genetic theory.

More taxes

2007-11-22T17:34:17Z

41 percent of whites, 56 percent of blacks, 59 percent of American Indian and Aleut Eskimo and 40 percent Asian and Pacific Islanders had no 2004 federal income tax liability. There are roughly 122 million Americans -- 44 percent of the U.S. population -- who are outside of the federal income tax system.

TAXES, etc

2007-11-22T16:03:31Z

For those out there that think the rich dont pay their fair share of taxes.
In 2005, the top 1 percent of income earners, those with an annual adjusted gross income of $365,000 and higher, paid 39 percent of all federal income taxes; in 1999, they paid 36 percent.

In 2005, the top 5 percent of income earners, those having an adjusted gross income of $145,000 and higher, paid 60 percent of all federal taxes; in 1999, it was 55 percent. The top 10 percent, earning income over $103,000, paid 70 percent. The top 25 percent, with income of over $62,000, paid 86 percent,

The "wealthy" pay more that their fair share of the income taxes and social security taxes and medicare taxes. Not only that but they are much more productive than the lower income earners, providing thousands or jobs and billions of dollars of goods and services for others.

Politicians confiscate wealth earned by productive citizens and turn around and give it to the least productive members of society while requiring them to give nothing in return. Congress needs to live with in their means.

Social security will go broke with in a few decades because congress cant stop their irresponsible spending.    There is supposed to be a social security trust fun. That would be nice save for the fact that our wonderful government be they democrat or republicans have spent it all and its nothing but IOUs in the form of government bonds.

The government never should have been in the business of providing retirement accounts ( social security ) health care benefits ( medicare, medicaid ), education funds etc.

The people have allowed the U S Constitution to be so corrupted that it no longer has any meaning at all. Its simple to understand. Get it and read it and read what the framers said and ment and then look at what corrupt Supreme Court justices have done to it by imposing their own beliefs instead of applying it as they should. Its disgusting totally disgusting.

carbon dioxide and global warming

2007-10-17T05:25:13Z

If one takes time to check facts about carbon dioxide and global warming one will see a definate relationship. The earth warms and CO2 goes up about 100 years after the warming takes place. So Global Warming causes CO2 levels to rise. Not the other way around.

Global Warming

2007-10-17T05:08:46Z

Well once again the fools in Sweden have proved how meaningless the Noble Peace Prize is by awarding it to that absolute fool and idiot Al Gore. Scientific data really hard data in no way supports MAN MADE GLOBAL WARMING. Computer models are not accurate and intellectually honest scientist know this. Try reading the book Unstoppable Global Warming. There is global warming always has been. Its a good thing. Warmer weather equals longer growing seasons. There is a cause for global warming. Its a big ball of gasses undergoing a fusion reaction. Its called the son. Al Gore is no fool or an idiot- he has an agenda promulgating the fraud of man made global warming. He is appealing to the vast ignorance of the public concerning hard science.

Pathetic use of Vets

2007-10-04T23:19:41Z

How pathetic things have gotten now a website is using a injured veteran of the war to tell lies about Rush Limbaugh. Of course the truth never has mattered to leftist. Power is the name of the game and anything they can do to get it is fair game. It goes to show that serving ones country and being seriously injured doesnt preclude lying. Its pathetic really pathetic using soldiers to lie. I dont mind soldiers opposing the war as long as they are truthful but lying well that goes beyond the pale. You know when I listen to people criticize Limbaugh its so obvious they have never listened to him other than sound bites.

Pathetic Defense of Democratic Members of Congress

2007-10-03T21:32:24Z

Several folks have made pathetic attempts to defend the democrats who signed the letter that Harry Reid wrote concerning Rush Limbaugh. Ignorance abounds. I listened to the first mention Limbaugh made of MacBeth on the day before the phoney soldiers comment was made. I didnt intentionally take out of context his comments from the radio show and distort is like defenders of the democrats have. Today we can add General Wesley Clark who has told out and out lies in his statements about the conversation Rush had. He said Rush has denigrated soldiers for years. Thats not just a mis statement that is an intentional lie. Rush is supporter of the military and always has been and has helped raise millions of dollars to support them. Democrats are no friend of the constitution and they havent been for a long time. Liberals cant stand fact. They resort to the tactics of Stalinist of old. Tell a lie long enough and people will believe it. Dont waste your time replying to this your responses would not be worth reading and would just prove my point.

Pathetic morally bankrupt demagogues one and all

2007-10-03T01:21:48Z

These following US Senators are pathetic excuses for human beings and the worst examples of whats wrong with the government in this country. They signed a letter condeming talk show host Rush Limbaugh for saying things he didnt say and if they had been listening the would know that but then they do know what they have signed is a lie. In fact they accuse Limbaugh of saying the very things they do every day. You see thats whats wrong with most of the democrats in the senate they dont give a damn who they hurt or destroy so long as they can maintain and increase their power in Washington. They for the most part give lip service to support of the military, They make me ashamed of being an American.

Senator Harry Reid, Majority Leader
Senator Richard Durbin, Assistant Majority Leader
Senator Charles Schumer, Vice Chairman, Democratic Conference
Senator Patty Murray, Secretary, Democratic Conference
Senator Daniel Akaka
Senator Max Baucus
Senator Joseph Biden
Senator Barbara Boxer
Senator Sherrod Brown
Senator Robert Byrd
Senator Benjamin Cardin
Senator Tom Carper
Senator Bob Casey
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
Senator Kent Conrad
Senator Christopher Dodd
Senator Byron Dorgan
Senator Dianne Feinstein
Senator Tom Harkin
Senator Daniel Inouye
Senator Edward M. Kennedy
Senator John Kerry
Senator Amy Klobuchar
Senator Mary Landrieu
Senator Frank Lautenberg
Senator Patrick Leahy
Senator Carl Levin
Senator Blanche Lincoln
Senator Bob Menendez
Senator Barbara Mikulski
Senator Bill Nelson
Senator Barack Obama
Senator Jack Reed
Senator Jay Rockefeller
Senator Ken Salazar
Senator Bernie Sanders
Senator Debbie Stabenow
Senator Jon Tester
Senator Jim Webb
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse
Senator Ron Wyden

Hannah Beth Ann Peterson '05 Memorial Scholarship

2007-09-29T02:26:40Z

As most of you know a good friend of mine Hannah Peterson lost her life in a tragic auto accident in may just as she was finishing her internship in education. I have just received the signed scholarship document. Hannah was a wonderful hard working young woman with a wonderful future ahead of her. She was one of the rare people who never saw a person by race, religion, nationality , social background. She just saw individuals and judged them if you can call it that on the content of their character. I have set up an endowed scholarship at Texas A&M where she went to school. It will benefit undergraduate or graduate students persuing a degree in education and who exhibits Hannahs character traits. If you are so moved you may make a tax deductable donation to the following address. Be sure to mention that it is for the Hannah Beth Ann Peterson '05 Memorial Scholarship

Susan Gulig '81
Director of Development
College of Education & Human Development
Texas A&M Foundation
4222 TAMU
College Station, TX 77843-4222

Jim McCain

Jena 6 again

2007-09-21T23:52:11Z

The Students at Jena didnt have to ask anyone to gather under the tree on campus. There was no segregation in force. While this was no typical school yard fight with 6 students beating another unconscious, it certainly didnt justify initial charges of attempted murder. The demonstrations were totally misguided. We have so called black leaders supporting 6 students at least one of who already has a criminal record and whom no one is saying are innocent. Whats the problem here? Justice so far has prevailed and the one erronious charge was negated. I just dont understand the reasoning. What do these leaders want -absolution for beating a person senseless? Generally in Louisiana when students in high school are involved in a fight they are arrested and charged. The students involved in the hanging of the nooses from the tree were identified and suspended. Our upstanding Jena 6 were not satisfied with that I guess so they had to attack a student. Does that criminal act justified people coming to support these students. If so called leaders want to really help they would defend the innocent ,not students like these. Of course its became clear years ago that people like Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton are self aggrandizing and pick situations where emotions are high and they can play on prejudices of the people involved. Where are leaders like Martin Luther King and Ralph Abernathy today?

Jena 6

2007-09-19T22:32:31Z

I have watched with some disgust the situation in Jena which is about 150 miles south of where I live. Its been amusing watching Al Sharpton and Jessie Jackson pimp the situation. Both are pathetic excuses for black leaders. The 6 black high school students did in fact beat a young white student. The only thing that was done incorrectly was to try one of them as an adult which according to our state law is not permissable. It was over turned. Now we have outsiders coming in stirring things up to what end. There was no injustice here. I have seen a lot of prejudice on display mostly from the supposedly wronged people. One would think these so called Black leaders would pick people to support who were actually innocent of wrong doing. Obama was a lone voice of sanity saying its not a matter of race its a matter of right and wrong. It was wrong for nooses to be put on a tree at the school and it was wrong and illegal to beat a student. Hillary Clinton used the situation to prostitute herself at an NAACP meeting and by calling Sharptons radio show and playing to the prejudices of the blacks in the area and nation.

Firefly story

2007-09-13T05:49:12Z

http://www.talesfromtheverse.com/files/Episode04/ChristmasCargo.html This is the link to a Firefly story my daughter Jennifer wrote a couple of years ago. I just found out about it today. Let me know what you think of it

Jim

Man Made Global Warming Farce

2007-06-18T21:25:17Z

The salient facts are these. First, the accepted global average temperature statistics used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change show that no ground-based warming has occurred since 1998. Oddly, this eight-year-long temperature stasis has occurred despite an increase over the same period of 15 parts per million (or 4 per cent) in atmospheric CO2.

Second, lower atmosphere satellite-based temperature measurements, if corrected for non-greenhouse influences such as El Nino events and large volcanic eruptions, show little if any global warming since 1979, a period over which atmospheric CO2 has increased by 55 ppm (17 per cent).

Third, there are strong indications from solar studies that Earth's current temperature stasis will be followed by climatic cooling over the next few decades.

Hannah Peterson Memorial

2007-05-16T04:05:40Z

My good friend Hannah Peterson whom I thought of as a daughter was killed in tragic auto accident Friday May 11th while coming home to attend a wedding shower in her honor. If you have face book there is a group "Remembering Hannah" where one can read memorial statements about this amazing young woman. You can read other statements at this link. http://www.legacy.com/shreveporttimes/GB/GuestbookView.aspx?PersonId=88049194 She was very gifted and had just completed requirments for her masters degree at Texas A&M and had almost finished her first year teaching.

Sad Sad Day

2007-05-12T09:40:53Z

Sometimes things happen that make us sit back and re evaluate things. Today was one of those days. A good friend of mine is sick in the hospital being treated for bronchitis and other aliments. I went down to his sister Joyce's house to pick up some greens to take to him to eat and spent some time talking with her about her daughter Hannah finishing her masters degree and getting her teacher certification and of her wedding shower tomorrow. I took the food to the hospital and visited a while then I got a voice mail from Joyce saying that Hannah had been in a wreck with an 18 wheeler. As I was leaving the hospital Joyce called back with word that Hannah was dead. She had been killed instantly when an 18 wheeler driving too fast lost control on wet streets and jacknifed hitting three cars.