Life is amazing.

I met someone wonderful and she has been a complete blessing for me. I feel like I have known Megan for years....

My job is going really well - it is both challenging and a lot of fun... and for once, I feel completely content with my career track. Of course, I'll still keep trying for bigger and better things... but it is a nice change to simply smile about my current situation. Thanks, George.

I'll be moving into a new apartment soon with Megan - we are looking for at least a 2 BR in the Sunset so we can have plenty of space opposed to living in a cramped apartment farther up north.

Something of substance soon.

The +$800 billion stimulus package is a sham.

I am not going into the validity of spending money for certain programs / initiatives garnering these funds. What I will say is that calling what has just passed an "economic stimulus package" is a misrepresentation of what this package really is - an array of spending, some of which is obvious back-pocketing for the attempt (and likely failure) of universal heath-care implementation - and the continuence of promoting a welfare state.

Here are just a handful of initiatives being funded through this package:

- $2.5 billion for the National Science Foundation
- $2.0 billion for the National Park Service
- $650 million for the U.S. Forest Service
- $600 million for NASA
- $800 million for AMTRAK
- $276 million to the State Department
- $150 million for maintenance work at the Smithsonian Institution
- $209 million for maintenance work for the Federal Agricultural Research Service
- $44 million for repairs and improvement Department of Agriculture
- $245 million to upgrade the information technology of the Farm Service Agency.
- $1.1 billion for "federal comparative effectiveness research" (ambiguous, fantastic.)
- $4.2 billion provided to the Neighborhood Stabilization Fund
- $3 billion for health care prevention and wellness programs
- $2.4 billion for projects demonstrating carbon capture technology
- $17 billion for Pell Grants
- $1 billion for Technology Education
- $1.9 billion for the Energy Department for "basic research into the physical sciences"
- $650 million for digital TV coupons to help Americans upgrade to digital cable television
- $100 million to reduce lead-based paint hazards for children in low income housing
- $400 million for "habitat restoration" via National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- $1.2 billion for summer jobs for youth
- $2 billion for Superfund cleanup
- $87 billion is to be spent on Medicaid (because $400 billion a year just isn't enough)
- $5 billion is devoted to public housing
- $200 million goes for senior nutrition programs, such as Meals on Wheels
- $1.7 billion is to be spent to help the homeless
- $20 billion for increased food stamps
- $500 million to speed the processing of applications for Social Security disability claims
- $2.1 billion is for Head Start
- $2 billion is to be spent on Child Care Development Block Grants
- $120 million to finance part-time work for seniors in community service agencies
- $50 million for the National Endowment of the Arts

Would anyone like to tell me how most of these even remotely comes close to playing a part in stimulating the economy? Oh sure, you could use the logic "well, by funding x - you'll start a ripple effect that will (somehow) result in a positive way towards helping the economy". Perhaps that line of thinking is valid in some cases - but wouldn't it be nice to have that type of logic actually laid out in public by Obama and those supporting this package? Shouldn't we demand that sort of information at the very, very least before having our country reach a deficit to the tune of $1.5 trillion? Do you understand how much that is?

Here is something to think about...

If you were tasked to count a 1.5 trillion stack of one hundred dollar bills, it would take you 237.82 years - and that is counting at a brisk and consistent two Benjamins per second and without bathroom breaks... good luck holding it in.

Stop. Spending.

Best of 2008 - 1, 2, 3 go....

Music:
Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I-IV
Family Force 5 - Dance or Die
United Nations - Self-Titled


Movies:
Wall-E
Slumdog Millionaire
The Dark Knight


Internet Clips:
She Has a Boyfriend
Time is going by really, really, really, really slow
Obama vs. McCain Dance-Off


Quotes:

"My concern has been the atrocities there in Darfur and the relevance to me with that issue as we spoke about Africa and some of the countries there that were kind of the people succumbing to the dictators and the corruption of some collapsed governments on the continent, the relevance was Alaska’s investment in Darfur with some of our permanent fund dollars."
-Sarah Palin

"I've now been in 57 states. I think one left to go."
-Barack Obama

"Thank you, your Holiness. Awesome speech!"
-George W. Bush


This was going to be longer - but this year has worn me out.

So at the near end of the madness that was 2008, I have some exciting news; I am being transferred to Industrial Light & Magic's Research and Development department as an R&D Engineer. This has been the job I have always wanted - so I am quite excited about it! Here are some of the Academy Awards ILM and the R&D Department in particular have won over the years:

ILM - Visual Effects Academy Awards
ILM R&D - Technical / Scientific Academy Awards

Now that I am currently in my post-Thanksgiving feast-induced coma - I'll quickly rattle off a few things I am thankful for this year:

- For family, first and foremost.

- For life in San Francisco. Oh sure San Francisco, you've lost a bit of your charm over the years, but all and all, you've served me well as my "home" - however permanent or temporary it may turn out to be.

- For good friends, to everyone in SF, NYC, SLC, FFX, and other acronym-worthy cities.

- For having a job that I really enjoy. More news on that end next week, potentially.

- For this year turning out being far better than I could've predicted at its start.

Sign 1: Reality and the Virtual Become Interchangeable

A British couple who married in a lavish Second Life wedding ceremony are to divorce after one of them had an alleged "affair" in the online world.

Amy Taylor, 28, said she had caught husband David Pollard, 40, having sex with an animated woman. The couple, who met in an Internet chatroom in 2003, are now separated.

Taylor is now in a new relationship with a man she met in the online roleplaying game World of Warcraft.

Source: CNN - Second Life Affair Ends in Divorce



Sign 2: Gender No Longer a Concrete Identity




Source: Rhizome.org Member Registration page



Sign 3: NYC National Debt Clock Being Modified to Support Quadrillion Value

Current national debt to date: $10,578,639,151,691.13

In English: Ten trillion, five hundred seventy eight billion, six hundred thirty million, one hundred fifty one thousand, six hundred ninty one dollars and thirteen cents.


Statistics from: TreasuryDirect.gov

Literally.

NYU - The GreenDot Project