ThinkingSkull.com

Normally, I post something like this on August 1st, but support on this has been down this year (I’m talking to YOU, retailers.) With the so-called summer blockbuster season of films spent and kiddies back in school, it’s time to get spooky.

As hobby stores go, Garden Ridge used to be first out of the gate with new decorations and such, but due to being restructured in bankruptcy, it’s hard to roll out new stuff with only a quarter of the staff remaining. Your local Hobby Lobby and other craft stores should be caught up by now while Walmart and Target will start setting up as those local Spirit Halloween shops start to appear.

I haven’t seen anything new or must have for the $100 and below set this year. And (credit goes to Brett for this observation) why does EVERY fake tombstone have to say “R.I.P” on it? Halloween is on a Sunday this year, and a weekend day is always nice for setup. I’ve got four flame projectors to play with this year (acquired during the after holiday sales last year), so I intend to light the entire yard on fire!

What are you playing to do to get a few screams this year?

There’s been a lot of political talk as of late: who believes what, who wants what, and who’s doing what to whom. I’ve had some college, traveled the world on the US Navy’s dime, and have made my name in the work force through the development of the Internet. I believe my point of view in both US and world politics is as important as anyone else, and also I feel that something is very wrong. Here’s why:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Every American should know this, the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence. Everyone should be allowed to live; everyone should be free. And to me, “the pursuit of Happiness” implies that the United States government in no way should prevent any citizen from reaching to better themselves. I also feel it does not, however, imply that everyone should get the same as what everyone else has, that there is a minimum requirement.

Write a book, start a company, fulfill a need, earn a profit, and buy stuff. What’s more American than that? But there seems to be a movement to demonize “the American Dream” (own your house and retire debt free to live out your life as you wish.) How dare you succeed where I fail? Because there is no “fairness” clause in the declaration, only the right to pursue a better share. Failure is knowledge; try again or try something else.

I believe in a strong military to protect these rights. Failure to show the strength to protect something is an invitation to having it taken from you; ask any bully on the playground where he got all that lunch money from. As a world superpower, the fact that America is not bent on conquering the globe (as the British Empire once did) should speak volumes, although we probably should police the world only when called in or directly threatened.

On a side note, guess what the first thing to go is when you cut military spending? Soldiers raises and their families benefits. If there are less bombs and bullets, that means military families are already suffering. I’ve worked military supply; I’ve seen how this works.

In polls, I’ve read that other countries declare that America is the country they hate the most, but it is also the country they wish they could have been born in. It seems intuitive that others want what Americans already have, and it is now becoming evident that it can be lost at the stroke of a pen fair easier than at gunpoint.

Whether you believe in the invisible creator in the sky or not, the idea of Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness is worth fighting for. I wasn’t an economics major, but I know the difference between an income and an expense. A call center (providing customer support) is always an expense because it produces no income, just like a government. It needs to be as small and efficient as possible to do its job cost effectively, allowing more revenue to be freed for expansion and sales.

Some things being done and suggested right now in the name of “boosting” the economy won’t work, and it’s simple to see why at this level. Taxing only the most successful companies actually taxes EVERYONE… because any price increase or tax obligation will be passed on to the consumer. If a company can’t afford to raise the price and meet a government imposed obligation, they can go out of business and take all of those jobs with them. To boost the economy, lock in the current tax base so smart companies and entrepreneurs can make actual business plans today that will still work tomorrow.

But what about everyone who CAN’T strive for more, that CAN’T better themselves? When others needs help, charity is when you have extra and CHOOSE to help those less fortunate. Sadly, there are people who think YOU should help whether you want to or can afford to. When the government decides to take your money only to give it to others who don’t produce anything, its called tyranny (even for a very admirable cause) and people have died all over the world to stop it, even declaring their independence from such a government… and that’s where we came in, folks.

Please discuss.

The movie Thank You for Smoking had a clever epilogue ending. After a career putting a positive spin on the negatives of tobacco, the main character is shown training board members how to spin cell phone radiation. The truth, of course, is mixed: it isn’t whether or not there IS any radiation, only how much. Additionally, it’s also a fact that the harder a cell phone has to work to hold a signal, the more it has to boost the signal (ie increase the radiation) to serve the whim of its master.

Now with Apple’s so-called “antenna-gate” crisis, Steve Job’s said that all smart phones were subject to this. In other words, if the user holding the phone covers enough of it using a “death grip,” the smart phone has to fight by boosting the signal (and in the case of the iPhone, drop it if it can’t boost it enough.) An independent company, Tawkon, has created an app to demonstrate the effect and predict the radiation output based on the clarity of the signal, whether caused by being in a bad location or holding the phone like a kung fu master. This video demonstrates the effect… interesting stuff, eh?

“There is a great disturbance in the Jacksonville Alternative radio scene… like a hundred thousand listeners cried out at once before their radio station was silenced.”

All kidding aside, I was one of the first people I know of in Jacksonville, Florida who noticed when X102.9 went on the air and who they were targeting. Later I documented how far they’d gotten when ratings were posted, but the competition (since there’s no college radio around these parts to speak of.)

But as of this morning, the once mighty Planet Radio had become “magic” something-or-another, a ho-hum light station. The morning show X made fun of, Lex & Terry, won’t be allowed back on Jax airwaves until October 1st due to contractual obligations. The question is, with X102.9 not only the dominating alt radio in the area, will it continue to get better or start to coast the way Planet Radio did… into oblivion?

I talked to a person today who asked me how they could charge to add friends or fans to their Facebook page. This would be a recurring monthly fee, also, so failure to pay means being unfriended. As this person claimed to be a health and beauty expert, anything they discussed on their page was obviously valuable and anyone who wanted in on the conversation and information would have to pay for it.

I needed a good laugh today and wish them much luck that the money will start rolling in. Yeah… any minute now.