h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

>>> Trust a nerd to bring mathematics into it.

Thank you for noticing, Ford.

Now, if these boats are abandoned, then can anyone salvage them under maritime law? If the boats are still sound, they could provide better emergency housing than bridges, alleys, and storefronts.

On a personal note:

The head honcha took us into her office yesterday afternoon in twos and threes to discuss the upcoming workforce cutbacks. Before the meetings, she put our salaries into the benefits calculator on the state unemployment insurance website; she told us we were all qualified for benefits. And thanks to the 2009 stimulus bill, we'll be able to receive more monies: $25 added to every unemployment check, payroll taxes cut, the first $2900 of unemployment insurance per year is tax free. The gubmint is coming today at lunchtime to walk us through applying. My 32-hour work week starts next week.

I'm glad everything's out in the open, but still: I'm nervous. I keep having to remind myself everything will be alright.

You're right, FG, everything will be all right.

Both of us are a bit more frazzled than usual. Mr. Nerd has also had his hours cut. In my newly acquired spare time, I've been trying to keep busy doing things that don't cost much or anything. Finishing projects around the house and garden. Skating, lots of skating. Potluck dinner with my friends last Friday night.

And of course getting as much as possible done in the remaining 80% of my work-week.

I learned last week that the other two public libraries in my county are cutting both staff and hours of operation when their fiscal years end. I was really saddened to hear that. I think we'll be ok for another year, but you never know.

Our local library has also had to cut its hours. Ironically, the library's usage has never been higher, as so many people need so much information to compete successfully for the few remaining jobs.

To help fill the gap between hours and usage, the library has been leaving its WiFi on after hours, creating an eclectic sidewalk community of internet users. One night, a cop came by and asked what I was doing. "Sponging off the library's internet."

Ah, Libraries. If communism works there, why can't people accept it elsewhere?

In tribute to Monty Python:

"What's all this surfing then?"

So, tea parties, eh?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/5160071/Obama-faces-Boston-tea-party-tax-protests.html

The last time the Yanks had one of those, the man in charge (George III) came off worst.

Did any Hootoo folks attend one of these parties? Any eye witness reports?

Sorry, no. I don't do Astro-turf.

Here's a Los Angeles, California paper's take on these fake grass-roots affairs.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tea-party16-2009apr16,0,5379706.story

Across the nation, these anti-taxation events, held at tax-funded parks, drew about a hundred thousand or so people out of three hundred million voters. It's safe to say that hardly a one of them understood the "urban" definition of tea-bagging.

In Washington DC, since they were pretty sure they wouldn't draw a million people, they had a truck deliver a million tea bags which they had intended to dump in the tax-funded park. But they forgt to apply for a permit and so they wound up dumping the tea bags in a conference room on the 12th floor of a nearby office building. The employees in the company that offered the space work on a tax-funded government project.

It was stupid on so many levels...

According to the local paper, there were about 1000 people at the "tea party" in Joplin. A conglomeration of fringe groups. I don't personally know anyone who attended. But given theb political climate of this region, I'm not surprised that they had a good turnout.

My take on the "tea parties"

1. The original Boston Tea Party was in protest of taxation *without* representation, not just taxation.
2. The original Boston Tea Party involved the destruction of property that caused economic harm to English companies and theoretically therefore harmed the Crown. These involve purchasing tea bags from a store and then sending the President free tea, which he might rather enjoy.
3. The image of right wing pundit "tea bagging" the architecture of the White House is both horrific and wildly amusing.

That is all.

And it took Jon Stewart to remind us that, in order to protest wasteful spending, the organizers purchased one million tea bags for the purpose of dumping them.

There were about 400 teabaggers downtown here...and not a one of them had the decency to realize that, thanks to their own voting choices over the last eight years, they should be protesting their *own* actions.

(Must keep my mind out of gutter. Must keep my mind out of gutter. Must keep my mind out of gutter.)

Oh well, that mantra didn't work.

"teabaggers"

Just found out today that, starting July 1, MediCal will not cover dentistry if you're over 21. The staff at the clinic will do their best to schedule all needed work before then, but a *lot* of people in this county will be affected. So I'll either be in there a lot, or just won't get everything done... I suppose I should be thankful that kids aren't going to be cut off.

Sorry to hear that, Amy!

What is MediCal? Is it a private insurance firm or is it publicly funded?