Maryannaville™

This is the best, maybe the very best idea ever thought of in Political History, even if I don’t say so myself. Let’s see it through starting now!

“The  Proposal”
When a company falls on difficult times, one of the things that seems to happen is they reduce their staff and workers.  The remaining workers must find ways to continue to do a good job or risk that their job would be eliminated as well..

Wall street, and the media normally congratulate the CEO for making this type of “tough decision”, and his board of directors gives him a big bonus.

Our government should not be immune from similar risks.

Therefore:
Reduce the House of Representatives from the current 435 members to 218 members.
Reduce Senate members from 100 to 50 (one per State).
Then, reduce staff by 25%.

Accomplish this over the next 8 years (two steps/two elections) and of course this would require some redistrictions.

Some Yearly Monetary Gains Include:

$44,108,400 for elimination of base pay for congress. (267 members X $165,200 pay/member/ yr.)

$97,175,000 for elimination of their staff. (estimate $1.3 Million in staff per each member of the House, and $3 Million in staff per each member of the Senate every year)

$240,294 for the reduction in remaining staff by 25%.

$7,500,000,000 reduction in pork barrel ear-marks each year. (those members whose jobs are gone. Current estimates for total government pork earmarks are at $15 Billion/yr)

The remaining representatives would need to work smarter and improve efficiencies.  It might even be in their best interests to work together for the good of our country!

We may also expect that smaller committees might lead to a more efficient resolution of issues as well.  It might even be easier to keep track of what your representative is doing.

Congress has more tools available to do their jobs than it had back in 1911 when the current number of representatives was established.  (telephone, computers, cell phones to name a few)

Note:
Congress did not hesitate to head home when it was a holiday, when the nation needed a real fix to the economic problems.  Also, we have 3 senators that have not been doing their jobs for the past 18+ months (on the campaign trail) and still they all have been accepting full pay.  These facts alone support a reduction in senators & congress.

Summary of opportunity:

$ 44,108,400 reduction of congress members..

$282,100, 000 for elimination of the reduced house member staff.

$150,000,000 for elimination of reduced senate member staff.

$59,675,000 for 25% reduction of staff for remaining house members.

$37,500,000 for 25% reduction of staff for remaining senate members.

$7,500,000,000 reduction in pork added to bills by the reduction of congress members.

$8,073,383,400 per year, estimated total savings. (that’s 8-BILLION just to start!)

Big business does these types of cuts often.

If Congress persons were required to serve 20, 25 or 30 years (like everyone else) in order to collect retirement benefits, tax payers could save a bundle. Now they get full retirement after serving only ONE term. (One term? That also sounds like a good idea to curtail also. One term and then out – no retirement.)

Look out now, we’re onto something! And please don’t shoot me. I’m just the messenger.

[image]

^5!

“You’re here because you know something. What you know you can’t explain — but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life; that there’s something wrong with the world; you don’t know what it is, but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I’m talking about?”

“The Matrix?” Neo asks.

You can feel it when you go to work, when you go to church, when you pay your taxes; it is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.”

And Neo asks, “What truth?”

“That you are a slave Neo, like everyone else, you were born into bondage; born into a prison that you cannot smell or taste or touch; a prison for your mind. Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is. You have to experience it for yourself.”
*The Matrix (1999)

Between being married a long time and also being a woman, I can say that there are certain things that husbands can do to make your wife swoon. They are not difficult. Anyone can do them and they are some of the sexiest things I can think of and I have a vivid imagination.

So. Are you ready? Are you all that as a man and more? Wipe that drop of drool from the corner of your mouth and read on to learn more.

Technique #1: Wet Hands

Yep, it is the wet hands technique.  Certainly one of the most popular among most women polled. So simple.  So exciting.  You will leave her absolutely breathless.

* Fill the kitchen sink up with hot water and add a few drops of a scented dish liquid.  Not too many, you don’t want it to be harsh. There are many very nice scents out now, from vanilla and lavender to grapefruit. It is completely up to you.
* With a soft cloth in your hands plunge your hands into the water and get the cloth very wet.
* Now, moving slowly and gently place a dish in the water and rub the cloth across the surface of it, over and over again.
* Place the dish in clean rinse water and repeat until she is moaning with pleasure.

Technique #2: Vibrate Me Baby

This technique utilizes what many women think of as toys.  It is a little more difficult and takes a little more muscle. Extra credit on this one if you wear a black “wife beater” shirt at the same time.   Are you man enough?

*  Carefully pull the vacuum out of where it has been stored.  You know you want it.
* Plug it in and push all the right buttons.
*  Slowly move back and forth and back and forth across the carpet; you will know when to move to a new spot.
* Move to the next spot and repeat as long as it takes to get good results.

Technique #3 : The Wet T Shirt Game

This game is pretty easy although you will have to think quickly while in the midst of gettin’ your game on.  If you can handle the amount of agitation and vibration in the first few minutes you will be just fine. Continue through to the very end.

*  You will need two piles. No, I did not mistype the word poles. I typed piles.
* Put everything white and light colored in one and everything dark colored in the other.
* Fill the washing machine with warm water and laundry soap (this is imperative…use the amount suggested by the manufacturer).
* Add the light pile.  Close the lid.
* Write her a love letter about how great her eyes are while you are waiting for it to finish.
* Repeat with the dark colors except use cold water.
* Quick note: If your wife is screaming “Yes! Yes! Yes!” Don’t stop what you are doing! This part is so very important. This step is called domesticus interruptus. It can be very frustrating for females.

Technique #4: What Goes Up Must Come Down

This is best used as a quickie, whether in the middle of the night or during a chaotic afternoon. She can’t say no to this.

* When you put the toilet seat up,  put it back down. Yeppers, I mean, every single time.

I know…I know… You almost can’t take any more verbal titillation. Good thing this is a short list.  This last one is amazing.  It is incredible. Most definitely, save the best for last.

Technique #5: Tonight is Oral Gratification Night

This will take some time to master.  Work on it while using other techniques several times a week and then just expose your big secret to her when she least expects it. If you all ready know this technique you should be using it to it’s full potential by adding to your repertoire of tricks.

* Learn to cook a whole meal.
* When she has had a particularly rough day run her a bath, preferably aromatic with LUSH bath stuff.
* While she is bathing, fix your incredible dinner (hot dogs and popcorn does not count)
* While she is still relaxed from the bath and satiated with dinner proceed to technique #1.

Oh, you don’t have to thank me—Honest.

Good luck!

The man who fell asleep knows.

A cop stopped a Harley for traveling faster than the posted speed limit. He asked the biker his name.

‘Fred,’ he replies.

‘Fred what?’ the officer asks.

‘Just Fred,’ the man responds.

The officer is in a good mood and thinks he might just give the biker a break and write him out a warning instead of a ticket. The officer then pressed him for his last name.

The man tells him that he used to have a last name but lost it. The officer thinks that he has a nut case on his hands but plays along with it. ‘Tell me, Fred, how did you lose your last name?’

The biker replied, ‘It’s a long story, so stay with me.’ I was born Fred Dingaling. I know, a funny last name. The kids used to tease me all the time, so I stayed to myself, studied hard and got good grades. When I got older, I realized that I wanted to be a doctor. I went through college,medical school, internship, residency, and finally got my degree, so I was Fred Dingaling, MD. After a while I got bored being a doctor, so I decided to go back to school.. Dentistry was my dream! Got all the way through school, got my degree, so then I was Fred Dingaling, MD, DDS. Got bored doing dentistry, so I started fooling around with my assistant and she gave me VD, so now I was Fred Dingaling, MD, DDS, with VD. Well, the ADA found out about the VD, so they took away my DDS. Then I was Fred Dingaling, MD, with VD. Then the AMA found out about the ADA taking away my DDS because of the VD, so they took away my MD leaving me as Fred Dingaling with VD. Then the VD took away my Dingaling, so now I am Just Fred.’

The officer walked away in tears, laughing.

Bullies have low Emotional Intelligence (EQ) as they cannot empathize and relate to others’ point of view. But they often do have high Social Intelligence which is not the same as EQ and relates to the ability to read other people and consequently manipulate them.

Empathizing is viewed as the “lens through which we perceive and process emotions” (Chakrabarti & Baron-Cohen, 2006). Most people feel empathy, enabling them to feel the same emotions as that being expressed by another (Kessler & Gazzola, 2006). One popular explanation for this is that the same neural systems are activated in the empathizer as are activated in the person experiencing the emotion first hand (Abbott, 2007). For example, someone watching a film depicting a distressed father holding the hand of his dying child would activate the same neural circuitry, cognitive and emotional,  in the observer as the father and thus the observer can empathize with the father. Empathy is both a cognitive and an emotional process. (Keysers & Gazzola, 2006). People with low empathy, for example psychopaths, can calculate what another person is thinking or feeling, but they do not have the affective reaction to the other person’s emotion (Chakrabarti & Baron-Cohen, 2006). One of the key determinants of psychopathy is this strong lack of empathy (Keysers & Gazzola, 2006) raising the question are the brains of psychopaths wired differently to normal healthy individuals. Neuro Imaging techniques have been used in a variety of studies to try to answer such questions.

“Is this because they fail to simulate (mirror) the emotions of others or do they detach the emotional component when the mirroring process happens?” (Keysers & Gazzola, 2006).

Research is remains yet the evidence to date strongly suggests emotional detachment.

While experiences can never be right or wrong, opinions arising from incorrectly interpreted experiences can be. When dealing with fiction, in which opinions and interpretation come from the experience of reading, this “fine point” is more than splitting hairs. Without encroaching too much on Peg Robinson’s, “Mannerly Art of Critique,” being able to recognize that interpretation of fiction is opinion, not fact, is as essential to productive feedback as to productive debate.

Refrain absolutely from ad hominem attack. What is ad hominem attack? To criticize or belittle the one who holds a certain position rather than the position itself. Example: “How stupid can you be?” or “That just goes to show you don’t know anything.” Attacking your opponent rather than your opponent’s ideas merely indicates a weakness in your position. It wins no brownie points by observers, whatsoever. Follow the rules of engagement when in an encounter(s) previously mentioned.

At the risk of stereotyping myself, let me explain that I am an INTP and have worked throughout the years developing an ENTP as a balance. As Tevya from Fiddler on the Roof said and I quote, “Life is about balance.”

INTPs live in rich worlds inside their minds, which are full of imagination and excitement. Consequently, they sometimes find the external world pales by comparison. This may result in a lack of motivation to form and maintain relationships. INTPs are not likely to have a very large circle of significant relationships in their lives. They’re much more likely to have a few very close relationships in which they hold in great esteem and with great affection. Moreover, since the INTP’s primary focus and attention is turned inwards, it is also aimed towards seeking clarity from abstract ideas. INTPs are not naturally tuned into others’ emotional feelings and needs.
[Myers-Briggs exam]

INTPs tend to be difficult to get to know well. There is an innate tendancy to hold back parts of themselves until the other person has proven themselves “worthy” of hearing the INTP’s thoughts. Holding knowledge and brain power above all else is important. An INTP will choose to be around people who they consider intelligent. Once the INTP has committed herself to a relationship, she tends to be very faithful and loyal, and will form pure and straight forward attachments filled with affection. The INTP has no interest. Nether does she understand relational game-play. However, if something happens which the INTP considers irreconcilable, she will leave the relationship and not look back.

The key to getting to an INTP’s emotional core is making it a safe thing for them to do so especially for a female INTP. The same rings true for INTP males. Emotional matters are nothing we are comfortable with because of the huge amount of energy that tends to dominate. Dealing with emotion is something that represents pain and generally in proportion to the level of energy it represents. Of the few times where the inner me has been allowed “out of the box” it has not been well received by those around me. The result is that the “box” becomes more difficult to open each time.

Another thing to be considered is to allow the INTP “to get there.” I remember times when I’ve been very upset about something and I really wanted to let go of all of the emotional energy but was consistently prevented from doing so by people who “were trying to help.” For me, and I don’t speak for all INTPs, emotions are in effect tied to events. Events are tied to memories and memories are tied to “trains of thought.” Therefore, if you wish for me to share my emotional side with you, allow it to unfold naturally.

One may ask, “How do you feel about that?” Or, better yet, one might ask, “What is your personal experience?” However, unless you are an INTP (which means, from the very start, it will unlikely even be a consideration) bear in mind that your way of getting to an emotional issue is more than likely different.

Who an INTP is on the outside depends on the amount of emotional scars they wear. This includes emotionally painful events with toxic people as it does with regard to who they really truly are. It isn’t easy getting past the wounds. Emotional wounds remain in the forefront of an INTP’s mind in order to protect the INTP from further emotional attack and upset. It is the same as wearing a full set of protective armor. Only those who don’t know us think we are unemotional creatures. An INTP’s overall goal is to keep emotions at a distance. We disdain any and all unnecessary outside interference.

“To love means to open ourselves to the negative as well as the positive – to grief, sorrow, and disappointment as well as to joy, fulfillment, and an intensity of consciousness we did not know was possible before.”
*Rollo May

INTPs approach their intimate relationships very seriously the same way they approach most things in life. They take their vows and commitments seriously and are usually faithful and loyal. We are generally easy to live with and be around because we have simple daily needs and are not overly demanding of our partners in almost any respect. While the INTP’s internal life is highly theoretical and complex, our external life, by comparison, is a simple one. We keep the complexities of our external world to a minimum in order to focus our brain power on working through internal theories. Overall, INTPs are straight-forward honest lovers with a love that is pure in its simplistic and uncomplicated nature. We choose to keep things straight-forward in our relationships. Doing so does not mean that the INTP is lacking in depth of feeling or passion.
INTPs are very creative and have vivid imaginations. We can be extremely excitable and passionate about our love relationships. Yet, sometimes there is conflicting reconciliation with the exciting visions of their internal worlds in combination with the actuality of external circumstances.

Sexually, the INTP approaches intimacy with enthusiasm and excitement. While some INTPs entirely downplay the need for sexual relations in their lives, most use their rich imaginations and child-like enthusiasm to make the most of the moment. An INTP will usually be experiencing the moment with vivid intensity inside their own minds although this may or may not be apparent to his or her partner. The greatest area of personal strife in an INTP’s intimate relationship is a slow ability toward understanding and meeting their partner’s emotional needs. The INTP may be extremely dedicated to the relationship and deeply in love with his or her partner yet may have no understanding of his or her mate’s emotional life therefore may not express his or her own feelings often or well. When INTPs do express themselves, it’s likely to be in their own way on their own time, rather than in response to their partner’s needs. If this is an issue which has caused serious problems in a relationship, the INTP should work on becoming more aware of his partner’s feelings. His partner should work on not requiring explicit positive affirmation in order to feel an INTP’s love.

INTPs do not like to deal with messy complications such as interpersonal conflict. They may fall into the habit of ignoring conflict when it occurs. If they feel they must face the conflict, they’re likely to approach it from an analytical perspective. This may aggravate the conflict situation, if their partner simply wants to feel that they are supported and loved. Most people (and especially those with the Feeling preference) simply want to be encouraged, affirmed and supported when they are upset. The INTP should practice meeting these needs in conflict situations. A word of encouragement here is that two well-developed individuals of any type can enjoy a healthy relationship. Furthermore, any relationship of any sort requires work and attention by both parties involved.  Source

Related:
Living Introverted
Mannerly Art of Disagreement (or how an INTP sees discussion)

You don’t want to play, you say?

Gosh, that’s just too bad. Your playing piece is in motion on this playing board. Move it as you will.

If a man or woman has no sense of logic to reject the existence of god then no one with logic will ever change his belief especially with these kind of arguments. The great thing about being on the other side of said arguments is the ability to fall back on the old phrase, “The lord works in mysterious ways”.  And guess what? Logic will never beat that. Logic and faith are not friends nor will they ever will be friends. The bottom line?

Piss up a rope; it is more productive.

However, the Secular Student Alliance, as part of its 2009 conference, is sponsoring PZ Myers of the ever popular science blog titled, Pharyngula, to take a one-day, in-person tour of the museum. SSA has also asked Ken Ham, the mastermind behind the museum, to give PZ a tour of the place.  Below is what PZ has to say about the affair:

“On Friday, 7 August, a small group of godless people, including yours truly, will be at the “museum” when it opens at 10am on Friday, 7 August. Everyone is welcome to join in—we’ll pack the joint with quietly chortling science-minded people. When I get back from Lindau, I’ll also write to Ken Ham and request the pleasure of an audience, inviting him to come on out and evangelize to secular students.”

The 2009 SSA conference will be held August 7 – 9, 2009, at the Ohio State University in Columbus, OH. If you know that you will be in the area on those days, contact the Secular Students Association and let them know. They have been given special rates for all who attend, including non-students.

The conference will be extremely  interesting; however, I’ll pass on the tour.

Related:
Life in the Universe

If you’re a U.S. citizen or resident — whether in California or not — don’t count on borrowing money. Prepare yourself for a return of last fall’s environment in which consumer credit was either too expensive or unavailable.

Pinch pennies. Sell off unneeded assets and possessions. And raise as much cash as you can — for emergencies and for your family’s future.

If you’re a bond investor, better to be safe than sorry. Unload your tax-exempt bonds and tax-exempt mutual funds. With few exceptions, the benefits do not justify the rapidly growing risk.

And if you’re a more aggressive investor, seriously consider transforming the inevitable market volatility of this crisis into a series of substantial profit opportunities.

Martin D Weiss, Ph.D.

You saved this wish just for me.
I have but one
I’ll let you guess

To and for Michael Jackson’s grieving friends, fans and family members there will never be enough words to comfort you.

And until comfort and peace settles upon your hearts – Smile.

We have fire alarms in the house, fire extinguishers charged and a first aid kit just in case we need them. We maintain the fire extinguishers as they are extinguished and test the fire alarm system to make sure that if a fire broke out anywhere in the the house that we would be aware of the fire(s). Plus that, everyone is trained to react accordingly.  We have safety seat belts in our vehicles and make sure that everyone is belted before we hit the road. We don’t expect these emergencies to take place, however, we’re ready if and when any one of them should become a reality.  We don’t panic. We handle it and manage well without panic.  We’re in control of our space at all times. And if you haven’t figured it out, security is an illusion in the physical world.

We practice, practice and practice some more since life don’t offer dress rehearsals.

Gun Control: The theory that a woman found dead in an alley, raped and strangled with her own pantyhose, is somehow morally superior to a woman explaining to police how her attacker got that fatal bullet wound.