art, politics, religion: discuss
There’s lots of things to do today, and I’ve been relatively quiet, so here are a few things I’ve been looking at, for whatever reason. Maybe you’d be interested:
From Digg.com:
From TYWKIWDBI:
Personal viewings:
The result of a google search for couples boudoir.
My friend Ryan’s inspiration (example above): These Incredible Aerial Photos of Volcanic Rivers in Iceland Look Like Paintings
From Cynical C: News Reporter Passes Out on Air and Then Finishes Report
Over at the liberally liberal of all liberal publications, The New York Times, there’s a business article called: “New Health Law Frustrates Many in Middle Class.”
When I clicked to read the article, NYTs wanted me to sign up for a subscription fee, but I refreshed the screen a few times and it showed me the article for free.
The lead-in said that a family of 4 with $100,000 income would have to pay $1,000/month for health insurance through Obamacare.
Out of curiosity, I went to healthcare.gov and varified it. It’s true.
The article reported:
The cheapest insurance plan they can find through the new federal marketplace in New Hampshire will cost their family of four about $1,000 a month, 12 percent of their annual income of around $100,000 and more than they have ever paid before.
Later in the article, it explains that healthcare should not exceed 10% or it becomes too taxing on someone’s income.
Ten percent is too much.
Did you read that.
Ten percent is too much, and the article said that people making $100,000 weren’t able to cover 12%.
In response, the wife in the article said, and I quote:
“That’s an insane amount of money,” she said of their new premium. “How are you supposed to pay that?”
Insanity, dear readers, is paying 12% of one’s income to pay for healthcare.
Do you know what Tina and I pay for our healthcare?
We pay upwards of 25%, closer to 30%, of our annual income for health insurance.
I pay out of pocket for mental health care, because our deductible is over $12,000.
Basically, the woman in the article is saying, “Fuck me sideways. That’s fucking ridiculous that I would have to pay 12% of my income on health insurance. Anybody who pays more must be a fucking idiot.”
Our application is pending review and approval right now. And if the preliminary information is correct, we could save over $250 a month to get better coverage, a $1500 deductible, and many other perks.
$250 a month.
That’s $3,000 a year.
So maybe it’s going to suck for those making $100,000, but it seems heavenly for yours truly. I hope that the $100,000 earners get better rates soon.
But for the past 5 or 6 years, having to pay as much as we do, it’s pretty damn awesome.
Christmas next year could be pretty damn sweet.
Where else on earth can children learn vital information to make the rest of the world mock them with great tenacity?
Well, right here in the good ol’ You Ess of Amazing … that’s where.
I mean, look at the above 4th grade test.
That is some doctorate-degree level schtuff!
America, where kids have the freedom to have their parents force them to learn absolute horseshit and stand proud and united because of it.
What? There’s more:
More here at Snopes.
Seen at JMG
In all fairness, the short clip that shows Santorum bash Romney as the worst Republican candidate may not be complete.
Does that warrant the temper tantrum he throws in the clip above?
I’d like to know if the press is taking the quote out of context completely, and where I can find the transcript to make my own assessment, but apparently the journalists in the clip don’t give a shit about that.
Nothing says red-faced awkward like getting a sex lesson from Pat Robertson.
I take that back. It’s a little entertaining to hear him babble about it.
Just make sure it’s between a husband and a wife. What you do between ya’ll and god is sure-fire okie dokie.
Which is why two men and two women can’t marry.
Obviously.
Oh, I found great info on cunnilingus here at the wiki. Sweet pics and everything. You know what they say, wikipedia is a gateway site to porn.
To be fair, here’s fellatio. Now go off and get edu-mah-cated.
So the New York Times says that eventually blogs, tumblrs and twitter accounts could replace your need for that old raggedy resumé.
That means, if this economy ever pushed me out of my place as a photographer slash entrepreneur and I had to go back for a real job, Le Café Witteveen might be my resumé.
Wow.
I might actually have to dumb some of my crass shit down so that I can get to the level of the average American …
If you know what I mean.
Honks-a-donk-a-licious.
Last night, Tina and I watched a documentary on Bill Cunningham, a street photographer who works for the NY Times. He’s an 80+ year old workaholic, who puts me to shame.
He’s an amazing talent, and validates the idea that I try to carry my camera everywhere I go. It made me feel guilty for not carrying it more often.
Sometimes I doubt bringing it. People might think I’m weird. I seriously don’t want to miss an opportunity for a photograph.
Cunningham eats, sleeps and drinks photography. He doesn’t want a kitchen in his apartment so he can have more room for his file cabinets.
I highly recommend this documentary.
From an evil, left-wing propaganda piece out of the New York Times called “Stop Coddling the Super-Rich,” Warren E. Buffett writes:
Last year my federal tax bill — the income tax I paid, as well as payroll taxes paid by me and on my behalf — was $6,938,744. That sounds like a lot of money. But what I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income — and that’s actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our office. Their tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and averaged 36 percent.
Buffett ends with these two paragraphs:
But for those making more than $1 million — there were 236,883 such households in 2009 — I would raise rates immediately on taxable income in excess of $1 million, including, of course, dividends and capital gains. And for those who make $10 million or more — there were 8,274 in 2009 — I would suggest an additional increase in rate.
My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress. It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice.
Read the entire editorial here.
I thought I talked about this a couple months ago. People keep sending me emails about it, and I finally figured I’d write about it.
You know the story, the one about the little boy (Colton Burpo) who got sick, died, went to heaven and declared that “Heaven is real”. Colton’s dad Todd wrote a book of the boy’s stories. Colton was 4 when his appendix burst and now he’s 11. Over the course of a few years, he remembered “new” things that happened while he was in heaven.
And now the world is raising their hands in honor of a little youngster whose story is told through his father’s mind.
It’s magical and mysterious. Isn’t it great how god can work through a four year old’s father’s pen?
Oh, and that father happens to be a pastor of a little church.
All I can think is: if the proof of heaven is coming from a four-year-old boy, that’s a H U G E stretch.
But if that little boy’s pastor father is writing for the boy, fuggettaboutit.
Next impossible story please.
Glenn Beck is a moron Mormon. The video below is a teaching tool that Mormons showed their youth for bible study and learning. It offers all kinds of great information about the origins of Mormonism, including where black people come from.
How in Sanity’s name could you take Beck seriously after learning the load of incredible fantasy that man holds as true and good?
Before you criticize this cartoon as crazy, consider the beliefs you uphold and second guess whether your ideas are absolutely bonker nuts.
And then pat yourself on the back for not falling for Mormonism. What a load of bullshit.
***UPDATE Feb, 9, 2011***
According to this, this video isn’t an accurate portrayal of Mormonism.
Although despite the video being fake, the fact remains that Mormonism is completely crazy, and it would be completely crazy to believe the stuff they teach.
Le Café Wittypoots 