I was told – even by a few liberals – that it was a myth that Tea Partiers hoisted signs saying things like “Keep your government hands off my Medicare,” despite having seen many of them online and one in person.

Well here is another such example, in the comments on this (poorly-argued) story about Social Security shortfalls.

If you don’t feel like clicking, the comment reads, “Government involvement screws up the whole system. Creating a committee doesn’t always work.”

You will note that Social Security is a government program; it has always been a government program.

So much for  the “myth” about the Tea Party types not understanding that Social Security and Medicare are government programs.

Or why I don’t buy ebooks.

When the used hardcover price is $3.80, the Kindle price should be somewhere around $3.

I’ve read the book. It’s ok.  I’d pay $3 for it. I’d never, ever pay $10.67 for it.

An even worse misconception related to guns and the military that I’ve been reading frequently recently relates to the Fort Hood shooting and military bases.

Civilians, especially liberal ones who’ve never served in the military and have never known or met anyone who has ever served in the military, appear to believe that domestic military bases are like armed camps where everyone walks around with loaded weapons all the time.

I’ve seen this in the context of the Fort Hood shooting a great deal recently.

On all military bases, weapons are very strictly controlled. No one (except the military police) walks around with loaded guns of any type. Ever.

If you do have a loaded weapon, it is on the range only and only while you are firing it*.

You are far, far (far!) less likely to find a soldier walking around a military base with a loaded weapon than if you were to say, stop a hundred random people on the sidewalk.

So when I see things like, “If Nidal Hasan couldn’t be stopped by thousands of armed soldiers on a military base, then there’s nothing we can do!” I just shake my head at the sheer ignorance that would lead to such a statement – especially when gun control advocates (whom I support) could be using the reality of military bases, where weapons are strictly controlled, as an example gun control working.

Statistics are hard to find, but I’d wager that the rate of shooting on military bases is far lower than in the civilian world due to the facts that I mention above.

*The only real exception is that hunting is allowed on many military bases.

Ha, I found one of the GUIs that I used briefly 20 years ago that is mostly forgotten now.

It appears that you can actually buy it still.

The end of this parallel bars routine might be one of the most badass things I’ve ever seen.

What makes it triply awesome is that not only is it a perfect routine that collapses the bars at the end, but then she never even looks back to see what happened.

Reading people on Hacker News talk about economics.

It’s like reading toddlers debate the validity of quantum mechanics. So much that’s not even wrong as it’s too stupid to be anything. Yeah, tell me how Le Chatelier’s principle fucking relates to land prices, O Omniscient Economic Genius.

Never mind that two percent of the people in the US own 75 percent of the land.

Fuck.

I don’t know that I hate all engineers, but I certainly do hate the engineering mindset.

Just to clarify, I think that limiting clip sizes is valuable because not everyone who goes on a rampage will be a quick reloader. Probably not even the majority, given their state of mind.

The shooter who attempted to assassinate Gabby Giffords, for instance, was stopped when he attempted to reload

However, smaller clip sizes is not some cure-all and a skilled gunman can load nearly supernaturally quickly. Yep, even a revolver.

Too often, people who are inexperienced latch onto some little change they think will solve everything.

But incremental steps matter. That’s the only way America’s gun problem will ever get solved, as there never will be in anyone’s lifetime reading this a blanket ban on guns.

Limiting clip sizes is a good step, and one I support.

One of the main reasons that I refused to vote for Obama is that I knew he’d bargain away Medicare, Social Security and other vital programs – and Congressional Democrats would go along, as he’s a Democrat.

Turns out, he’s doing just what I thought he would.

Surprise!

I realize I am an atypical user (but not that atypical), but Firefox suspending development of their 64-bit version is completely idiotic. I run up against the 2GB process limit of Firefox in 32-bit all the time:

Then my Firefox slows to a crawl.

Way to meet the future, Mozilla. They’ve made the interface shitty, dumped many necessary features and now are retreating from necessary development. What next, a “new, innovative” 16-bit version that runs on fucking phones?

It’s so true that you never get over being poor.

I remember looking in the refrigerator and seeing nothing but a few pieces of a loaf of white bread.

And I know that people from overall poorer countries have difficulty understanding this, but in rural America where I grew up you absolutely need a car to survive.

I remember my parents getting their car repossessed as they were unable to make payments. Imagine the effect that had on our lives — 10 miles from anywhere, and no car.

I remember looking through the couch cushions to find change to buy food.

My grandparents started helping out when I was 7-8, and life got better after that.

But I’ll always remember the desperation I saw in my parents and felt myself in the darkest times.

Now, I could quit working for years and be fine. If I were careful, I could probably quit working forever.

Now, I buy generally what I like and often don’t even look at the price if it’s something I really want.

But still, there’s always that nagging thought in the back of my head that asks, Do I have enough? What if the worst happens? What if someone takes it all?

Irrational thoughts, but having been poor, and having lived so close to the edge, those thought really never go away.