Caturday Night Special, Episode 0x44

Guest lolcat today! The Return of the Great Depression arrived yesterday, so it's also in the theme. If the shoe fits, stuff a kitten in it.

Thankfully, I'm through with the second round of mid-terms, and feeling rested again (melatonin is excellent stuff), so barring another massive wave of fist-shaking, cursing at our "leaders" and general sputtering, growling and otherwise spiteful noises from my general direction, coherent rants will continue sometime in the next week or so (exams and other assignments allowing).

directions +"Docking Bay 94"

Caturday Night Special, Episode 0x43

Late, but you can probably guess what I was doing.

Caturday Night Special, Episode 0x42

Want to see a kid's eyes light up? Give out full-sized Hershey bars when they ring the door-bell to the sing-song cacophony of "TRICK OR TREAT!"

It's what I would have wanted at their age, and we rarely get trick-or-treaters out here, anyway.

Enjoy the good times while they last, kiddos.

Withholding the truth

Walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and we're stuck holding the bill:

Effective Sunday, expect less of a paycheck.

The amount of income tax withheld from your check is going to climb by 10 percent.

In the scheme of things, it's not a big hit, state officials and accountants said. But don't tell that to people who feel it's just another form of taxation to make up for an inept state Legislature.

No amount of taxation could make up for the spendthrift habits of our legislature. Also, it's not "making up" for squat: taxation is not the balancing force to a group of parasitic layabouts, it's symptomatic of their presence. There is no way to gently coerce someone out of their wealth.

"There's some perception that I've heard that this is a 10 percent tax increase ... that's absoslutely not the case," Palmer said. "This will, in no way shape or form, change anybody's tax liability. You owe what you owe."

And employees can always go to their payroll department and ask to withold less, officials said.

Whether it is essentially a tax or not was perhaps not even the greatest concern, the accountant Theisen and others said.

It's a concern about the potential for the state to again face the same woes it endured this year as it teetered on fiscal collapse.

"It's a fix to a problem that's not going to be fixed," Theisen said.

Taxpayers will get their refunds, but they might get IOUs before that, he said.

So, borrowing without permission, with no intention of repayment. Furthermore, what's to prevent the legislature from appropriating one's paycheck two years in advance? Three? Ten? And to what percentage? What are the absolute limits of the appetite of the State? Does anyone really expect them to make good on the IOU scheme?

If anyone required confirmation that one's paycheck is merely what the State allows one to keep after "wetting its beak", this is it.

Caturday Night Special, Episode 0x41

When in doubt, empty the clip

- Somewhat aged, but as the target flotsam study floats around the confines of the Internet, this should serve to shut down mindless yapping to its affirmative: Eugene Volokh tears into the University of Pennsylvania study claiming that carrying a firearm increases the chances of being shot by 450%.

- Color me unsurprised: the proletariat in the PRK is unhappy with the situation in Sacramento, but is unwilling to remove the persistent source of the problems that plague the state.

- Unpossible; guns are illegal in Chicago! Perhaps if they made them double-plus-ungood-illegal, that would convince those that already disregard the laws to stop disregarding the law.

- Speaking of, guess what has reached a new low?

- It's popular for a reason.

- Wynn is full of win.

- If "recovery" is a new euphemism for "muddled financial cluster-screw", then this does indeed deserve the moniker "Recovery Act".