Blog Pioneer?

Here is a link to my old website, on it, there is a "news" section, which is sort of like a primitive blog.

Old Website

Ive actually been keeping up on it at odd intervals since summer of 2000. So, Ive technically been doing this "blog" thing almost 7 years. I wonder how many people can say that?

Idgits

Have you ever known someone who thinks they know everything, but really has only a very elementary, if that, knowledge of what they profess knowledge about?

Recently, Im posting on a blog, Little David to be exact (link has been deleted since). This guy has no clue what he is talking about, almost ever. He only knows what propaganda his radio and the internet fills him with, but has no clue as to what or how to figure out the ways and whys and whos of his propaganda.

For instance, he is backing up his stone cold opposition to the fair tax, with an equation I SHOWED him. The only thing is, he is using that equation, which showed the total impact of Fair Tax assuming the purchase of the same amount of goods, at a set price, to back up his claim that the real tax amount is lower under the current tax system.

I spent 10 posts trying to explain that if you have 43,000 dollars to spend, and there is a 23% tax rate, 23% of that 43 will be tax, and 77 will be purchases. Not a hard concept for most right?

Wrong.

The concept of fair tax is that the tax is taken from the vender, on top of purchases, so in reality, the price of the good is going to go up about 30%, in order for the merchant to take off 23% as tax.

In other words, a dollar item will cost $1.30.

So this guy thinks the proper way to figure out how much tax you would pay is NOT 43k*.23 (because the price of the item doesnt matter, you can only get so much for 43k), but rather multiplying the 43k by 130%, and then subtracting 43k. There is about a $3000 dollar difference between the two.

Now, even in his own writing, he has shown that he has inflated the income to 55,900. So in other words, what he is actually saying here is that "for 43k in goods you can buy under the current tax system, it would take 55,900 to buy them under the fair tax system". He is saying nothing more then that.

Only problem is, he wont accept that, he still thinks that the difference between 55.9k and 43k, is the tax difference, when really, its just the economic impact given the assumptions that goods cost the same and that 43k was spent on goods.

He finally threw a hissy fit and suggested I stop posting on his blog.

Its one thing to be ignorant of something, but its another to be ignorant and violently portray yourself as being knowledgeable.


You are free to visit his blog if you wish to see the whole conversation.

Dog days of winter

I hate this time of year.

January 3rd to mid April is the worst possible stretch of time on the calendar. There is no holidays (outside of Valentines Day in all its splendid lameness), its freezing, and the time drags. There are no good sports championships, mediocre movies and game titles are released. Many places, including here, its a dry cold, so its not like you can participate in winter sports or activities, which usually include snow. Completely worthless.

On top of that, it compounds on the fact that it immediatley follows the winter holiday period. Crazy.

The period from July 5th-September 30th is as equally bland, but the fact is, atleast you can go swimming, or grill out, or do any other amount of nice weather activities. Summer "blockbusters" are released, Madden football comes out, and the stores start gearing up for the holidays again, which is a tremendous spectacle in itself. You can drive around in comfy clothes with the window down, you can sit out on a nice summer night. Assuming you have screens, you can leave your windows open all day and feel the breeze.

Sorry for the rant. Its currently 10 degrees outside with the windchill, and the only thing I can think about is how much Id like to be a hibernating animal and wake up for the spring.