Jon Stewart and “Awesome”

Teenage boys and sexual innuendo

Sitting at the table eating breakfast and the bacon was a little over done.  Bookzilla, 15, said that the bacon was a too hard and she liked it a little more chewy.  I started talking about how each brand of bacon was different and sometimes it went from being really limp to hard in an instant.  I was looking more at JMan, 12, than Bookzilla and his eyes tightened mischievously.  JMan made eye contact with Bookzilla and he had a hard time keeping from breaking into a giggle.

I tried to keep control of the situation.  I told him that it was five more years until he graduated from high school and I certainly hoped that he would be able to restrain the impulse to find sexual innuendo in everything that was said.  I attempted to keep a measured tone in my delivery, but the last of it was said over a growing cackle of laughter by both of them.  I tried to keep my composure, but I was undone and joined them.

How can I complain when he is me when I was younger?

Karma missed me this time

JMan, 12, was helping me make brownies.  He measured out 1/3 cup vegetable oil, but didn’t have the measuring cup over the bowl, which is how I had previously instructed him to measure it.  He carefully moved it over and dumped it into the bowl.

He said, “Karma missed me this time!”

Larry’s Leather Lads

I was living in Germany in 1979 and working for an American contractor.  My job was on the periphery of the intelligence community.  Some of my colleagues had previously been active members of that community.

When Khomeini came to power in Iran and the American embassy in Tehran was overrun, my colleagues in Germany and I would discuss what could be done about him.  There were those who favored a sanctioned hit.  The best suggestion was from a guy named David R., who said that he should be found naked, with his hand on his penis, with a copy of “Larry’s Leather Lads” on his chest.  It was the best suggestion because it would discredit Khomeini along with killing him. I liked the alliteration and that has helped me remember that through the years.

2000 times

I have an idea, which is probably not unique.  The idea is to cap individual income at 2000 times the amount of the average income.  Since the average income is around $50,000, that would make the annual cap somewhere around $100 million.

So what happens to the extra money if you make more than $100 million?  You donate it or it is forfeited to the US government.  You get to look like a mensch even if you aren’t one.

My reasoning for this is that pooling resources doesn’t do society any good.  You can’t take it with you when you die, so it should go back into society.  Also, there are ancillary costs to society caused by people in pursuit of lucre.  For example, there are many environmental messes that have been caused by people and corporations, and the mess exists long after the money is gone.

There should also be a cap on net worth of around 10 times the annual cap.  Accumulating wealth that is equivalent to 20,000 times the salary of an average person seems like enough for one life.

Portlandia

The buzz is building.  NY Times and The New Yorker both ran pieces about Carrie Brownstein.  Season 1 is available on Netflix.

What Iowans should be doing to GOP candidates.