Cranial Soup

What Republicans Do Not Want You To Know About Poverty and Taxes

2011-09-25T23:12:00.001-04:00

The poverty line in 2010 for a family of four was $22,314.

The Fair Labor Standards Act, which sets the minimum wage at $7.25 per hour, is one of the most violated of all the federal labor laws.

About 15% of all wage earners in the US are earning at or below the minimum wage.

The average full time minimum wage worker earned about $15,000. ($7.25 per hour x 40 hours x 52 weeks = $15,080)

She paid at least 20% of her income in taxes.

Even though it might be true that she had no federal income tax liability, she still had other taxes to pay.

Payroll taxes such as

Social Security
Medicare
Disability
Unemployment
State income tax
sometimes local income tax

She also had additional taxes such as

sales tax
excise tax on fuel
USF surcharges on
- telephone service
- natural gas
- electricity
property taxes, even if she rents (it would be hidden in the cost of her rent)

Additionally, she pays for her healthcare out of her pocket because minimum wage jobs do not come with healthcare benefits. She pays a higher price for a doctor's office visit than the insurance companies do. ($75 self pay vs. $35 paid by insurance) If she ever needs to go to the hospital, it could easily cost her over $4500*, even more if she has to be admitted.

She also does not get retirement benefits and is looking at a reduction in her income down to about $600 per month when she is too old to work and begins collecting Social Security, and will be expected to pay a portion of that to receive Medicare benefits. And that is only if there is still a Social Security system by the time she is old enough to collect.

A typical minimum wage worker is not a teenager from a middle-class family flipping burgers for some extra pocket cash to buy CDs, movie tickets, lipstick, nail polish, and video games.

Most minimum wage workers are women, standing on their feet all day working various jobs within the service industry. They are some of the hardest working people in this country.

Many are single mothers with more than one child, and many of those are receiving little or no child support to help offset the costs of raising those children. They also have the additional costs of child care, if they have no family support system capable of providing free care so that they can work.

And Republicans think they make too much money and need to have their wages cut, by either reducing or eliminating the minimum wage. They also want to cut or eliminate the social programs that help them to survive. They actually think this will help the poor and lift them out of poverty.

* I do not have medical insurance. I pay out of my pocket for all of my medical care. Back in 2006 I passed out in my kitchen, which resulted in a head injury requiring 8 staples to close the wound. I was taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital, which resulted in a bill that was just over $3000. This did not include the additional charges for physicians fee, lab work, or the MRI. Those were billed separately and were an additional $1500. My town is one of the small number in this area that provides a free ambulance service to its residents, but if they didn't, the ride would have been an additional $300.

If you don't pay these bills, the hospital may sue you, which could result in garnishment of your wages, which has the potential of knocking a minimum wage worker's pay down to about $150/week until the debt is paid off (with interest, court costs, and lawyers fees). There is also the very real possibility that instead of or in addition to garnishment, the court may seize your bank account (woe to you if you just made a deposit to pay your rent) and/or the local Sherriff may come in, seize and sell off the contents of your home, leaving you with no more than $1000 in personal assets and possessions.

Does picketing family planning clinics really change all of this?

2010-04-20T22:17:00.001-04:00

If you are the kind of person that likes to picket family planning clinics, thinking you are doing something positive that can help make a difference, repeat the following after reading each of the statements in the following list: "Picketing a clinic will help change this."

About half of all pregnancies in the US are unplanned (about 3.1 million each year)
70% of pregnancies to women in their 20's are unplanned.
About half of all American women will have at least one unplanned pregnancy during the course of their life.
About one third of all unplanned pregnancies end in abortion. (about 1 million each year) Very rarely does a planned pregnancy ever end in abortion.
Slightly less than half of unplanned pregnancies are the result of birth control failure.
About 20% of those birth control failures are caused by improper use.
Slightly more than half of all unplanned pregnancies are the result of the failure to use birth control at all.
Many Christian pro-lifers preach abstinence as the best and only acceptable method of birth control, failing to understand that married people also end up with unplanned pregnancies, and abstinence isn't really the best option if you want to stay married.
Christian pro-lifers do not want sex education taught in schools, which includes education on birth control. They only approve of educational programs that preach abstinence.
Christian pro-lifers do not want free condoms distributed to sexually active teens.
Many pro-lifers are also against universal healthcare, which would make birth control more affordable to more people, and make medical care for children more affordable too. They are unwilling to provide any real help to women that choose to keep their babies or help to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
There is a severe shortage of families willing to adopt minority children and children with special needs, and a severe shortage of foster families willing to take those children until adoptive families can be found. Minority women that opt for putting their children up for adoption instead of having an abortion are dooming their children to being raised in institutions. The same goes for any woman that opts to have a baby they know will have severe disabilities, that they know they are unprepared, unwilling, and unable to care for.
Many Christians do not want gay and lesbian couples to have the right and ability to take those children out of those institutions and give them a proper home with a loving family, and a chance to live a normal life.

Still think picketing a clinic is something positive that will help change things?

The Birth Control Riddle

A question to ponder

2009-11-14T01:36:00.002-05:00

I picked this question out of a list of 140 Google interview questions and thought I'd post it along with my answer.

Every man in a village of 100 married couples has cheated on his wife. Every wife in the village instantly knows when a man other than her husband has cheated, but does not know when her own husband has. The village has a law that does not allow for adultery. Any wife who can prove that her husband is unfaithful must kill him that very day. The women of the village would never disobey this law. One day, the queen of the village visits and announces that at least one husband has been unfaithful. What happens?

My answer: The queen is executed.

Here is why...

Each woman, including the queen knows this truth: If all the men that they know about die, (assuming the innocence of their own husband) there will be at most only one man left in the village. They also know it is possible that all the men in the village will die, leaving no men at all for any of them.

Each woman in the village is faced with this question: Knowing that at least 98 husbands have cheated (the queen doesn't know about the king's infidelity and the women all assume the innocence of their own husbands), why would the queen announce this unless she wanted all of them to die? Would it be better for the village to kill off so many men or for the women never to tell each other about what their husbands have been doing?

In the end, they come to the conclusion that the only woman that deserves to be alone for the rest of her life is their evil queen. But if they all go and tell her who her husband, the king, has been sleeping with, she will see that they will not tell each other the truth and have instead plotted against her. And after killing the king, in retaliation, there is a strong possibility she may tell them all that their husbands have cheated.

To save their village, they decide not to tell each other and not tell the queen about the king. Instead they tell their husbands what evil plans the queen had in mind for the village. Then angered, knowing their queen is dangerous and unfit to rule, the whole village gets together and kills her. The king, knowing the entire village has just saved his life, doesn’t try to stop them and is forever grateful to the women of the village.

Do you agree with my answer?

Good Faith is Not for Sale

2009-08-21T06:02:00.001-04:00

I recently came across an article on the company blog of Backstage Technologies, written by Russ Ovans, their CEO.

Here is what he had to say:

We were recently in negotiations to be acquired. Talks lasted about five minutes, but during that time, the VP of Business Development from the prospective acquirer kept warning us not to divulge any of the ingredients in our "secret sauce", lest the deal fall apart (which it did) and we ended up suing them for stealing all our invaluable intellectual property (which hasn't happened... yet).

Every time he used the phrase (which was often) I found myself becoming more and more amused. What the heck is a secret sauce? I assumed he meant competitive edge, or intellectual property, but being a marketing type, he liked using that buzzword instead. Wikipedia tells me that it means any component of a product that is closely guarded from public disclosure for competitive advantage.

So, what is our secret sauce? Do we even have one? We certainly do, and the primary ingredient is the knowledge regarding how to design and build a social game (and its underlying virtual economy) that is both engaging and monetizes well. That certainly constitutes a fair portion of our secret sauce.

But our special sauce (i.e., our sauce that is not a secret to any of our competitors) is our commitment to customer service. Anyone can steal that, but it takes a huge commitment.

This is what makes certain applications and services a joy to use...that human touch by an approachable team.

Without that, your customers will drop you like a hot potato for the first clone that comes along that provides what you do, AND goes the extra mile by listening to them and being approachable.

That human touch makes the customer feel like they are part of the team. It is one of the reasons why services like Friendfeed and the applications from DonationCoder have been as enjoyable to use as they are.

Excellent customer service creates loyalty. Anyone that has made good customer service the corner stone of their business, no matter what line of business they are in, and is considering selling their company to another, should think about this long and hard before making that decision.

There is one thing you can not sell along with the company, and that is good faith. Your customers gave that to you because you earned it. If you sell out to another company that doesn't take customer service as seriously as you have, your customers will jump ship after the sale, and the company you sold out to will run what you have built into the ground.

It might not happen in a day, week, month, or year, but it will eventually happen. The customers will eventually take back that good faith and give it to someone else that deserves it.

Do you really want to see that happen to something you built, something you made such a commitment to, and put a lot of effort and hard work into? Do you want to end up having seller's regret somewhere down the line, wishing you had found a better buyer that would have done the right thing with what you created, by providing the same level of service that you did?

Money isn't everything.

Before you sell out, make sure your prospective buyer is as serious and committed to customer service as you are. It will benefit you in the long run by allowing you to retain the good faith and loyalty you earned. Your former customers will be more likely to trust you in your next venture and be first in line to be your customers again, if they don't feel like they were somehow cheated in the sale.

Sell out to the wrong company and you will very likely be bad mouthed by the very people that once loved you, and they may never be willing to trust you again.

The Most Powerful of All Human Rights

2009-06-22T17:59:00.004-04:00

The heroic photojournalist that is responsible for this incredible iconic photo
has been missing since Wednesday. He is believed to have been arrested.
UPDATE: He has been released!

There is one right that every human being on this planet has, that can only be taken away by death.

This one right, at it's most extreme, takes the most courage to exercise but can cause the biggest changes. It's powerful and those with power fear when people feel compelled to use it.

It is the right to say "No", a word that exists in every language and is usually among the first words a child learns to speak. It is a word more powerful than tanks, or guns, or bombs, and when combined with the voices of many others, shouting it in unison, it is possible to wage war and win, without ever striking or attacking with any other weapon.

Citizens of Iran, keep saying "No"!

Whatever it is that the government wants, keep saying "No", unless and until it is what YOU want.

You can and will win, as long as you keep saying "No".

Do not allow yourselves to be silenced.

Keep saying "No"!

When Grandma died, she took her Christmas cookies with her

2008-08-23T09:33:00.004-04:00

After reading a post on WassupBlog, it got me thinking again about this issue, and I feel that you should take a moment to think about it, too. You have a will and life insurance to take care of the big details, but are you overlooking another big one that needs taking care of and preparing for?

In just about every family I know, there has occurred a similar situation, where a loved one has died and all of the recipes that person was responsible for, that became an integral part of that family's culture and traditions, were lost forever.

When a death occurs in a family, it is hard enough to deal with the loss of that person without adding the loss of family culture and tradition on top of it.

Sure Christmas will never be the same without Grandma, but now you don't even have her cookies to help keep her memory alive and feel like at least that part of her is still here.

I would like all moms, grandmas, and anyone else that has ever cooked any food for their family, from holiday dinners to Friday night pizza, to take a moment to think about what would happen to your recipes if anything ever happened to you. If you are a newly wed, and don't really have many yet, think about what could happen in the future when you have plenty.

Are all of your recipes written down and all in one place? Does your family know where to find them? What would happen if your house burned down, taking your paper copies of your recipes with it? Do you have any of Grandma's recipes that need to be protected so they can be handed down to future generations?

Consider publishing all your recipes to a blog, maybe including photos of the prepared items, or even better, photos of your family members enjoying them. Make sure every member of your family has the URL bookmarked.

You might want to create this recipe blog on a free service like Blogger, so there will be less risk of them being lost by being deleted by a hosting company, just in case something happens to you and the hosting bill doesn't get paid.

The bonus you will get for doing this, besides peace of mind, is that while you are still alive, all your recipes will be in one place, easy to share with family and friends, protected in case a fire or flood destroys your home, and you will be introducing others to creations that could possibly become part of their own family culture and traditions.

But more importantly, should anything happen to you, your family will still have that part of you kept alive. And it will be a big comfort to them to still be able to have that. It will be like you coming back every once in awhile to give them a big hug when they really need it most. All of the good memories that go along with the foods will be well preserved in their hearts & minds, when the taste is still on their tongues.

Finding Inspiration in a Billionaire Without a Home

2008-05-26T12:48:00.008-04:00

Nicolas Berggruen is a multi-billionaire that doesn't own his own home...or a car...or not much else, for that matter.

He lost interest in acquiring and owning material things. At some point, he realized that you can't buy happiness, nor can you find it in possessions...and then he sold off everything he had.

According to Mr Berggruen, “Living in a grand environment to show myself and others that I have wealth has zero appeal. Whatever I own is temporary, since we’re only here for a short period of time. It’s what we do and produce, it’s our actions, that will last forever. That’s real value.”

As a hopeless packrat, I am starting to really feel the burden of possessions and have recently embarked on a whole house de-junking adventure. While I am not too sure why I own most of what I have, I do understand why I can't just toss it away. My frugal nature prevents me. Some of it could be useful to someone else. But I can't locate the someone else that would provide a home for my unwanted things.

I had considered placing an ad somewhere, promising a 'gift' to anyone and everyone that shows up at my house on a particular weekend. If the turnout is good, I should have a lot more breathing space on the following Monday.

Just imagine the look on the face of the person that shows up and gets an Encyclopedia Britannica set, originally worth over $2000. I have been trying to get rid of that, unsucessfully, for the last 5 years!

There are other things that I can't part with, not because I need them, but because of the symbolic nature of the objects. They have a sentimental value to me. It's my feelings for the person they remind me of, that prevents me from discarding them.

Why do humans place such a high value on silly objects that were owned by deceased loved ones & friends, and people they will probably never see again? Is it a thought that by keeping these things that you are keeping a part of them alive? Keeping the good times of the past by keeping the objects of the past? Can the memory live without the objects? How much of a long term impact will it truly have on your life, your memories, and your feelings, if you part with grandma's old worn out sewing box? Or a bracelet that your deceased brother made for you back when you were 9 years old? Or baby clothes that were worn by your child, who is now all grown up?

I am going to use Nicolas Berggruen as my inspiration, and try to learn to let go of "stuff". At the very least, it will make it much easier to pack, the next time I have to move.

Some day I am going to _____.

2008-05-07T12:10:00.002-04:00

Too many times I hear friends make statements about things they want to do and then make stupid excuses on why they can't.

For instance, they see a restaurant they would like to try, but then make the excuse that they don't have a girlfriend or boyfriend, so they can't.

But when they do have one, they sit around banging their head against the wall coming up with ideas on what to do, where to go, etc...forgetting all those things they wanted to do that they previously made excuses on why they couldn't.

The end result is seeing movies they don't really want to see, going places they don't really want to go, doing things they really don't enjoy...or sitting at home on the couch with their date and watching TV shows they don't really like.

They never get to do those things they really wanted to do. They get into the habit of denying themselves and it causes them to miss opportunities to do interesting things.

Why does one have to wait till they have a boyfriend or girlfriend to enjoy life? Why can't you enjoy it now, doing everything you want?

If there is something you want to do, find a way to do it and don't make excuses. Just do it. Don't wait.

You don't need a boyfriend or girlfriend to share the experience with. A friend or family member will do, if you absolutely can't do it alone. You will get into the habit of seizing the opportunities every day to enjoy life, and then when you have someone else to share it with, it will come naturally.

Life should be an adventure, and you should live it, experience it, enjoy it. No more excuses.

Now, what is it that you want to do today?

I am going to _______ today. Fill in the blank while I am out having a picnic and playing my recorder in the park, all by myself. I always wanted to do that, but never did. (I hope the birds don't mind my bad playing. I am more than a bit rusty)

If I could read someone's mind for just one day

2008-05-05T22:50:00.003-04:00

I have an online friend that I am crazy about. I don't know if it's love. I am not sure I even know what love is, any more, or if I still believe in love. But there is some kind of feelings there, I can't deny that, even if I can't define what is.

I know plenty about him, without really knowing anything at all. It all seems so superficial, and kind of empty, and leaves me craving something deeper. He intrigues me.

I don't know what he thinks and feels about me, not really. I know he cares. He has shown that much and made it quite obvious in ways that have touched me very deeply. But his genuine thoughts about me that he doesn't express...and other thoughts about other things. What makes him tick?

I would just want to know what is going on in his head...for just one day.

How about you? Is there someone that you would want to be able to read their mind, for just one day?

A Vision of Students Today

2007-11-23T17:41:00.002-05:00

Here's something to think about: These kids will be running the country in the near future. How prepared are they?

After watching this, I have some really mixed feelings about a lot of things...the internet, in particular.

Paul Adams: The Impossibility of Failure

2007-10-11T20:52:00.002-04:00

I found an essay today, by a musician named Paul Adams. I happen to like some of his music, so I was doing a bit of research on him and found his MySpace page.

Usually, I will visit the MySpace pages of musicians I like, if they have one, in hopes of finding some free mp3's to download. This time was no different.

Instead I found this:

"... Hitting the wall and making mistakes provides us with invaluable lessons. Playing a guitar, driving a tractor, planting seed, painting a picture, etc. blooms best from error. Failing is a great teacher. Its Gods force of nature molding us like clay. BUT, this is a little different. Clay is the perfect deciple or student. Clay has no part in making the DECISION to become what it will be. It completely surrenders to the artist who molds it into form and reality. Man, on the other hand, has choice. Failure offers to mold us. It is a co-op between Man, God, and destiny. An artist, craftsman, or worker, can use life experience (Failure) as an interplay toward growth and learning. Get up, and have at it AGAIN!. Those who have had a completely smooth ride may not have had the opportunity to test themselves. *Those who do not choose to bend and flex with failure, are missing the opportunity to paint w/ nature and circumstance. They are saying no when God asks them to dance and adjust. They are denying an opportunity to seek out a different perspective. They are saying no when God asks them to learn from mistakes and become better at what they do. We are too busy reacting - we are not listening. ..."