Last Night's Party

Last night's birthday party for Kate was fairly tame as house parties go, but it was a lot of fun. This picture shows Jaime's first ever Keg Stand! Just turn your head 90 degrees to see her Keg Stand properly vertical . :) There was also a permanent batting cage in the backyard. The ball hurling machine wasn't working (or at least their drunk asses couldn't get it to work), so some of the guys switched between batting and pitching. Not smart. I watched as one line drive drove right into the ribs of the pitcher. Funny thang, and funnier that he keep pitching afterwards! lol My buddy Nate randomly meet a girl (Keg Stand Jaime, actually!) who he's only talked to through Myspace and emails before. Must be fate. lol Even with all of this going on, Miriam and I still took off by midnight. I was the double-d, though I don't think either of us had any possibility of getting too drunk.

Teaching Bible in Public School

As a matter of literature and religious studies, elective courses on the bible (covering Jewish, Christian, and secular perspectives) should be available to High School students. Learning about the bible allows people to understand the origin of much of Western Civilization's art and history. The only danger to teaching about the bible is when it is taken as undeniable fact. As long as this isn't happening, education about the bible is beneficial.
I mention this cuz I just read a news article about this topic. The only contrarian point I can bring up is the fact the most High School kids never remember what they learn in High School besides basic skills they end up using in real life. Knowledge about history, art and pretty much any other pursuit is usually forgotten soon after the final exam (if even committed to memory in the first place). This is a different issue though.

Green Day in SF

I kick ass because I was at the Green Day concert in San Francisco. It was awesome. The show was very well produced. SBC Park was totally packed. Green Day had four massive screens that allowed everyone to see the action. Allie and I had a great time! Music was great from both Jimmy Eat World and Green. Green Day put up a great proformance overall too. This is prolly one of the best concerts I've been to.

Another quicky today...

Check this out...Engrish as it's best, only the other way around. http://www.flickr.com/photos/andreasee/45737673/

Oh, and yes, I am actually doing my laundry, as I threatened to do in the earlier entry. lol

Time and bedsheets

Trouble with time is that you never have enough to do what you need if you spend it doing what you like. I need to spend a little time pick up around the house, doing laundry, cleaning out the trunk of my car, re-organizing my bedroom, etc. But am I doing any of that right now. No, I'm typing in this blog and chatting online right now. Ok, maybe I can do the laundry, but the problem there is that I always forget that I started and leave thangs in the washer all day, or even leave thangs in the dryer for days on end. Very annoying that I do this. I think I will start a load right now.

Garbage

The Garbage concert last week was great. The opening act was called The Start. They were pretty good. Shirley owned the stage once Garbage come on! Allie and I had a great time. I hope Garbage is able to put on bigger concerts by next year. It would be great to see how big of a show they can produce.

Next week, GREEN DAY! ::que insane cheering::

Miserable response to disasters

Our government’s miserable response to the recent hurricane disaster is a clear condemnation upon neocon ideologies and cronyism which is currently gripping our country’s leadership. Neocon ideologies depend too heavily on the concept of free market without regard for reality. Our system is based on free market principles, but our system is not an unchecked free market. These neocons try to pretend that it is an unchecked free market (or that uncheck free markets work best). These ideologies have crippled our government from being able to respond to domestic threats outside the realm of security. Neocon ideologies also promote that government take as little of a role in our lives as possible, without regard for the needs of the individual people that make up our nation. The belief is that the free market left unchecked will make any necessary corrections to provide for the populous needs. This, of course, is complete nonsense. The government has a responsibility to provide for its people regardless which economic system is in place.

Unchecked free market leads to instability if centralized forces work to abuse the system for personal gain, as in case of Enron’s manipulation of western U.S. electricity supplies at the turn of the 21st Century. Uncheck free market leads to too many people being hurt in recessions, and not enough people benefiting from booms. This is why America does not have an unchecked free market anymore. We have a Mixed Economy, which is free market based, but utilizes beneficial methods from all forms of economies. We use what works well for the individual, balanced with what is best for the population on the whole. Too much pull by one side or the other in the past has led our nation down roads we should not want to journey again.

Neocons live in a fantasy realm of 100% happy people, perfect conditions always persist, where up-trends never end, and everyone gets at least enough money for participating in the system at any level. They pick and choose events and quotes from American past to justify radical economic experiments. These experiments are ultimately victimizing our modern day populous for the gain of only a few fat cats.

Those fat cats are openly applying cronyism from the White House right now. They put ideological friends in charge of government agencies instead of looking for the best qualified person. This is the other reason for the failure of our government right now. Leadership positions are full of unqualified cronies, putting our country at risk and making dangerous situations much worse.

The current government is arrogant and haughty, bolstered by willful blinders preventing them from seeing their errors and making adjustments to account for imperfections in the system. This has led to a blind faith in an ideology, rather than acceptance of reality. Anything from reality that contradicts their notions is called a fluke, or even blamed on some other factor which they should’ve accounted for but pretend they can’t.

Our inability to take preventive and aftermath action at the federal level in the recent national disaster is a direct result of these flaws in our country’s leadership. This blind belief in disproved ideologies and the cronyism supporting it have led America to repeat the mistakes of our past on a monumentally grander scale. The time to correct these mistakes is soon at hand. I’m not going to say specifically who to vote for in the next elections. I will directly say who not to vote for. Do not vote for neocons or anyone that supports the neocon movement. If you are Republican, take back your party from these lunatics. If you are Democrat, vote for Democrats that have a proven record of taking on these lunatics. If you are an independent like me, vote in a way that stops the neocons from staying in power. Sometimes, this means not voting for the best person, but the best person given the circumstances.

Thank god

Well, thankfully, the number of dead in the Gulf region from Katrina isn't up around the numbers previously suggested. A lot of people may have survived the onslaught. Even still, the behaviour of the State and Federal governments is deplorable. Even though many survived, they lived through something they shouldn't have had to first hand.

Even though the number lost is not as high, the President's lack action early on crossed over the line of what is acceptable for a President to do and not to do. He failed to protect Americans from harm. Yes, the storm is uncontrollable, but how we act if fully in our control. It is dishonorable behavior to not act to protect America. The homeland was under attack, and the very man and agency that the President set up to protect American acted like it wasn't their job to do anything and the President accepted this and tried to defend it. Basically, he failed to carry out his duties as President when it was most important for him to step up. He failed to act when it counted, even though they was creditable warnings up to one year ago about this kind of disaster. Katrina itself posed a threat for days before it hit. Days in which the President needed to ack to make sure everything was in place. Days that he instead spend running around the country trying to collect campaign money. What was he collecting campaign money for anyway? He's not going to be re-elected. In fact, this lack of action to protect American is cause for impeachment.

Ok, enough of that for now.

Garbage

Garbage concert this Sat. I'm excited. Then, the big event at the end of the month, GREEN DAY!!!

Average day and week

I've been quite distracted by another project recently. I can't go into details, except, well, it's related to the origin of the name fcsuper. Anyone that knows how to interpret that clue might be able to figure out what I've been up to.

In other news, I have a trip to Hong Kong planned. Stay tuned!

Also, in even other news, please note the link to Backblog Awards in my left bar menu. Please check it out. The first winner of the Backblog Awards should be announced this week, for Aug 2005's best post.

Seattle I

 

Sometime in August 2005, with Alice Leung visiting Seattle, WA and Vancouver, BC, including Seattle MoMA, Granville Island Public Market and other locations.  (Original post/backup link)

Credit Card charge requirements $5 $10

UPDATE: Due to an agreement that the credit card companies made, vendors are now allowed to charge for fees if you use a credit card.

CORRECTION: This post originally stated a falsehood which I thought was fact at the time. California law does not regulate credit card charges, nor can it. This is solely in the realm of the Federal Government. The truth is that the Card Card companies themselves have restrictions on when a fee can be charged. No fee is allowed for amounts greater than $1. If you come across a store that is charging a fee for any amount greater than $1, report that place of business to your credit card companies.

Original Post:

California has a law that makes it illegal for any place that accepts credit or charge cards to either have a minimum charge or to charge a fee for credit card use. Some stores or restaurants owners a dumb enough to actually post this policy (which is also separately illegal, in of itself). But more savvy owners will simply notify you of their fee when you try to use your credit/charge card for an amount below their supposed minimum. Either way, it's still illegal for them to do so.
If these places are encountered, simply refuse to pay the fee or refuse to accept their minimum. Remind then that they are breaking the law. Remind them that you are not in their place of business as a slave, but there as the customer. You don't need their produce, but they need your money. They don't need the trouble you can stir up by contacting the Better Business Bureau or class action lawsuits can come up from this sort of thing.
Ask them if all that is really worth the 25, 50 or 75 cent fee. Don't be afraid to make a big scene out of it.
Some of these store owners are under the strange impression that they deserve your money simply because you come into their store. They just need to be reminded that they have to earn the right to get your money.

Marine World

Last weekend, my closest friends and I set up for Marine World. I made sure I got on all the rides I wanted this time. Roar, Medusa, and Verticle Velocity for sure. Did tons of walking too. It's pretty much the same as last year though, so yeah.

I'll Stand By You

"Forever is a long time Matty, but I will always be with you."

Tipping in American

Something really strange happened a few years ago in the realm of tipping. Over the counter food preparers and cashiers started putting out tip collection jars, baskets, cups, etc. What’s that about? Has it ever been tradition to tip the cook? Not at all. The reason servers (waiters/waitresses) get tips is because they provide a service as the focal point between the customer and restaurant and its staff. When you tip a server, typically a portion is re-tipped to the host/hostess and the busboy separately. If there is no host/hostess, the server usually doubles as the host/hostess. If there is not busboy, the server has to double as a busboy. In these cases, the server keeps the portion that would normally be given to another person fulfilling those roles. In any case, these are the only three positions in a restaurant that can expect tips. Cashier is not tipped. The cook is not tipped. The owner or manager is not tipped. Basically, if there is no server, there is no one to tip.
So, why tip over the counter food preparers? You’re not supposed to. This is even an IRS relevant matter. If a tip is expected, the person receiving the tips must pay tax on 8% of the sales that person handles, whether they receive the tip or not. Comparatively few people tip over the counter, so this means those cashiers and food prepares are required to pay tax on money which they have not hope of receiving. The responsible restaurant owner should not allow tipping jar placed on their counter, and should even have a no tipping policy. This saves the staff from paying extra taxes, and saves the restaurant from the headache of having the paperwork and labor to track tipping for the IRS.
I tip generously. This is because I live in Silicon Valley, were the expected tip is 15 to 20%. Where service is reduced (you take your own bill up to the cashier, or you seat yourself), the tip may be reduced in kind. In those cases, 10% is acceptable. Where there is no service, there is no tip.