Have you ever heard of the Fair Tax Act? It is a proposed bill which would (with parallel legislation) repeal the 16th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, abolishing the IRS and federal income tax, replacing the system with a national sales tax. I am still reading up on the Fair Tax Act and the organization behind the movement, so it would be irresponsible for me to offer an opinion about either at this time. At first glance, however, it seems like an interesting idea that deserves some attention. (more…)
Is the Fair Tax Act a fair tax act?
Childhood obesity? What about starving children?
Michelle Obama recently launched a new campaign to fight childhood obesity and I can’t help but feel frustrated, angry, and a little disgusted.
Yes, I know that childhood obesity is a serious issue which faces the youth of America, but there is a far more serious issue which needs to be addressed NOW. There are millions of people in the United States who do not have enough food. In 2008 the USDA reported that 17 million children lived in households where food was scarce, 1.1 million of them starving. Add the adults into the mix, and we’re talking 49 million people struggling for food. If you consider that the population of the United States in 2008 was just over 300 million people, that means approximately 16.3% of all Americans struggled for food in 2008.
During Barrack Obama’s presidential campaign, he pledged to eliminate hunger among children by 2015. What is being done to bring about the end to childhood hunger in America? So far, the answer has been to throw more money at existing programs (which are not working) and wait for the economy to recover. (more…)
Shots fired! Shots fired! (not really)
This morning, CNN reported via Twitter that a suspicious boat was in a river near President Obama with shots fired:
Minutes later, CNN reported that a the United States Coast Guard attempted to prevent a boat from entering a security zone on the Potomac River near the Pentagon, where President Obama was at an event commemorating the 9/11 attacks, and again mentions the police scanner reports of shots fired: (more…)
You’re quitting on your country
As you may well know, President Obama gave a televised speech to America’s school children yesterday. The speech was deemed controversial by some, and concerns that political agenda would be included in what should only be a “stay in school” style speech were voiced by many. I was one of the many.
Before the White House released “Remarks by the President in a National Address to America’s Schoolchildren,” I was not sure what to expect from the speech. In today’s politically charged environment, I could not help but wonder how much agenda would make its way into the speech. I was happy to have the opportunity to read the speech before it was aired, and while my initial concerns were quelled, a couple of new ones took their place. (more…)
Review: Seesmic Web, web based Twitter client
While I personally prefer to use a desktop client to access my Twitter account, I do sometimes find myself utilizing Twitter’s website to post Tweets to my timeline. I am not the biggest fan of Twitter’s web interface, as it is limited in functionality compared to desktop clients such as Seesmic, Twhirl, and TweetDeck. Fortunately, there is alternative. (more…)
Review: TweetDeck desktop Twitter client
TweetDeck is arguably one of the most popular desktop Twitter clients currently available. With the number of features available in TweetDeck, there is a little bit of something for everyone.
Perhaps that is the problem. In my opinion, TweetDeck’s user-interface appears to be a work-in-progress waiting to progress as new features are developed instead. Recent updates haven’t done much to improve the interface, and it certainly could use some love. The tiny buttons which are the key to most of TweetDeck’s features look a bit out of place, and the default color scheme is as dark and gloomy as the TweetDeck website. While you can change the color scheme in the settings window, the default colors are not my idea of a good first impression. (more…)



