Starship Troopers and Voting

I find Starship Troopers (ST) to still be thought provoking. The question of who should get "the vote" is quite interesting to continue thinking about.

Who should vote:

Felons after they are released having served their time?

Felons serving their time?

Felons on parole?

People committed to a mental institute?

Very low IQ people? Lower than 50? Lower than 75?

Very uneducated people? Unable to add, read or write?

What about brain-damaged? To what level?

Very old people who are losing their faculties? 

What about special classes?

Everyone gets 1 vote.

People paying less than 20k in taxes (including sales, local, state, federal) get 2 votes.

People paying 20k-100k get 3 votes.

People paying more than 100k get 4 votes.

so yah, I use ST as a starting point to thinking about the consequences and unintended consequences of different voting schemes. The consequences of a tax paying weighted system can be interesting. 

The group paying the most into the social tax fund would have the most impact on who gets elected.

The group paying the least would still get some say, but not enough to pull things to one extreme or another.

The group paying the most per person would get a bigger say, but they are such a small number of people that they would not be an issue.

The people avoiding paying taxes would have less say than if they had paid their fair share.

/as I said, thinking can be fun. yes I know all about the down sides, but the thinking alone can be useful.

debt ceiling increases by president

Reagan:  17 increases, 300% increase, 0.9 to 2.8
Bush 1.0:  6 increase, 150% increase, 2.8 to 4.1
Clinton:  4 increases, 150% increase, 4.1 to 5.95
Bush 2.0:  7 debt increases, 190% increase, 5.95 to 11.3
Obama:  3 debt increases, 126% increase, 11.3 to 14.3

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2011/07/26/raw-data-past-debt-ceiling-increases/

Finding People

Finding People

So, my new years resolution was to find someone from my past and return some possessions to her.

Sounds simple. But it is quite a story, which hasnt quite ended yet.

The beginning (1992-1994):
LONG AGO and, well, right here, I used to live with my girlfriend. We lived together for 3 years at two addresses. When she moved out, I stayed at the final address. Still here.
(this took place long enough ago that the dates are only approximations)

Skip ahead a bit (1999?):
At some point, I was remodeling a closet or three, which required moving everything from A to B and then back again. While doing this, I moved boxes from back corners and high shelves which had inches of dust from having been buried for so long. WAIT, WHAT?  BETH BOOKS? BETH PHOTOS?

Um, why would I have boxes with someone else's name on them?? UhOh.
First box was uninteresting. Old college texts, Ann Rice vampire books, god knows what else. Nothing to see here. I didnt toss the box then, but over the years, the books went away. In the end, they had little or no value.

Second box was a COMPLETELY different story. And I mean COMPLETELY.
Photos.
We forget, living today what that used to mean. But back in 96 (remember when we used to use only two digits for years?? LOL) most people took photos on this really really really really old tech called FILM. If you lost the photos or the negatives (backups!) you were screwed. There was this even stranger TECH called POLAROID. Polaroids didnt even have backups. If you lost them, they were gone forever.

So I opened this large box, Perfecopy paper box, you know, the boxes which have a CASE of copy paper in them? pretty good size. heavy box.

Filled with photos and negatives and more.
What the? How long has this been sitting here?
A quick look confirmed that the photos were NOT MINE. They were Beth's. London, Egypt, Greece, who knows where else. Keepsakes.

In an envelope, Polaroids. From when she was very young. Irreplaceable.

Off all the dick things I have ever done in my life, throwing these out would be wrong. Period.


The Search Begins (1999?):
Fine, so today, everyone KNOWS what you do to find someone. FACEBOOK!!!
But WHAT did you do back in 1999? Can you even remember back that far?
Google? was a baby. the patent for the search was 1998. So while it existed, it was crude.
Netscape? (remember them?!!) started in 1994, so things where still crude in 1999.
Facebook? still 5+ years away
Myspace? 4+ years away
Linkedin?? 5+ years away and no one used it for years

I did what you did back then. I called people I knew that knew her and tried to get a phone number or address.

Complete and Total Failure. Nothing. Nada.
No one had a number or an address. Searches at the time led me nowhere.
So, I quit. The box went back up on a shelf.

Continuing (2000-2012):
About once a year, I would do a search. Searching got a LOT better. New websites like peoplesearch collected strange data and combined it to create people histories.
Oh look, this one looks like Beth. NY, Troy, Texas, Chicago. Oh look, it includes college info and places of work in chicago?! Clearly this is the right Beth.
Sigh. The info got me no where.

(passage of time)

Finally contacted a mutual friend who said "peace corps" and Ukraine.
Hmmmmm more data. Would account for a discontinuity in the address data in the US.
Ooooo look, search found a small reference to her in Ukraine+Peace Corps.
Led nowhere.

(passage of time)

YAY Facebook is HUGE NOW. GOOGLE HAS EVERYTHING.
Crap. None of that helps.
1) Women get married and change their names? Well that makes things much harder.
2) Some people avoiding facebook/public stuff like the plague.

I get it. Esp people who are being stalked or worried about kids or or or or or. But, in the end, there are pros and cons to everything.

So I still dont know her last name, marriage status, not even the state or country she might be living in.

(passage of time)
I would search about once a year.
Some of you KNOW THIS.
Over the years I have slowly reconnected with a couple of people from my past and it has been truly wonderful. Had lunch the other day with my OLDEST friend from highschool. We cried and laughed and it was like we had never been apart.

2013 and Trina:
I decided that this was the year. Period.
My resolution for 2012 had been a 100% success. I decided that THIS years resolution would be to get these photos out of my house. Tossing them out? NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN.

More searching led to SD. Yes, South Dakota. Evidently, people live there.
I found a picture on the web, 100% certain it was Beth. Oh look, a linkedin entry, right college, married name. NOTHING ELSE. Fine, Linked email. But at least I was on to something.

Trina
I met Trina through bet, back in the 90s when they both lived in Chicago. She was good friends with Beth, we became friends. They both moved out of Chicago. (which sounds like something CRAZY PEOPLE DO!!! Why would anyone leave Chicago???) Time and distance took the normal tolls.

Trina and I had reconnected on facebook. She was in town recently. We had sushi. MMMMMM
So of course at some point I brought this up. BOOM!
The flood gates open.
1) yes she got married
2) yes she changed her name
3) yes she had kids
4) yes she lives in SD
5) no, I dont think I have a current address or phone number. HAHAHAHA so close!!

At least now, searches were returning real info.
She worked here, she might work here now.
WTF, here is a photo of her kids on cruise in the local paper? Talking about how awesome it is to take a cruise with your family!!

NOW:
I still dont have a current address or phone number or email. UGH
But I do have an email for a possible current work.

TADA
Email to her work. Hopefully they will write back.
Otherwise I am back to cold calls/letters.

The story is NOT over yet, but I am hoping and expecting to be going to the UPS store some day SOON.

There is a lesson which was learned here.
Unless you are hiding from dangerous past, put a tiny STUB out there?
It can have 1 picture, your name, your married name and an email that you never, ever use.
So you can ignore anything and everything that goes to that email.
BUT, someone you REALLY might want to reach you might be able to find you.

People are so strange about privacy. I get it. But a tiny stub with no actual contact info could lead to so much unexpected stuff.

GAH, I would really hate to find out that the reason that she has been so hard to find is that she is in hiding from the Ukrainian mob ;-)

to be concluded once I mail the damn box!!
and it will be my good deed for the year.
I hope I am done soon, so I can go back to being evil.

-Pete

Letter to Denise on the topic of death

sigh

so friday drinks, and food as needed ...

MIKE is insisting that I play squahs, which is fine

which does leave the questions:

when are you getting here?

how driving train? you could borrow the car to help make things easier. plus zip car... blah blah blah

part car by pete's house

meet at the club

if you are early, you can watch some squash or swim or run or or or or drink early

else, we can jsut meet you when you get here

we

me?

Mike? Mike and Wife

Frank?

In the end, I am all yours and you should focus SOLELY on being selfish to YOUR NEEDS.

if the goal is to drink, relax, and be alone with pete to do the drink, weep, drink, weep, repeat, .... perfect

but crazy pete always thinks in options and choices.

what are your thoughts?

I am crazy glad that I am getting to see you.

Tiny pete doesnt want to share you.

big pete wants to surround you with people to show you life

FYI

something for you to toss into the MIX

II need to start planning the pete 49th dinner party

gibsons

and in some insane ways, it WILL be scheduled around your being there. You have totally entered into the pete required friend circle.

I know that you might have to schedule when, so we will figure out what works for you and do it then. Not like I have to go out the day OF my birthday

much rather the friady or satiurday where people have no responsibilities the next day

FREEDOM DAY

I am FREE

no mortgage

no 401k loan

while I might not be happy with the current bonus, it is still big enough and the base is enough.

but that isnt enough ...

but it means that we will have FUN >>>>>>

oooooooo we should look into a thing before or after ward ....

penn and teller were awesome

I wonder what else was/is availbe around that time...

Pete

HEY

there is a never ending question

which has no limit or end

I am here

TALK

ASK

or listen

tell me which you want

there is no basis for limits

if you need to jsut go on and on and on, I am here

if you NEED me to go on and on and on, to distract, well you KNOW that I can do that

ask

there is no question with any limit

I have watched different people with loss

Mitch told me this week that he was at dinner with Tobi'd father when he died // taking to him at dinner, stoke, dead.

the THING that you will learn and lean on in the next 2 years, is, the others.

the others who have been there and done that

your grief is unique, period.

but their stories give you guidance and direction and hope and understanding

Mike's wife Irene, lost her mother recently. Her stories are different. Mike's view is differnt, His parents passed long ago. but his dad lives on!!! Mike owns and wears at LEAST one of his father;s suits!!!! HOW FUCKING COOL IS THAT ???

Eric lost his mom last year, so there are all those stories.

my mom 

in the end

you are not alone

while this is new to you

you circle of friends and society, it isnt new at all

it is a very smooth spectrum ..

and you have the BLESSING of having the time to visit and say good bye and reconcile and resolve and finish and start and create the burst

will your father's last thoughts be that he is sad that he is leaving you all behind

or ecstatic that his last months and days were filled with joy, and sadness, but filled. with happy and sad people celebrating his life.

OF ALL the HORRIBLE things that my mother was,

her funeral mass, which she PLANNED to the last degree, was a CELEBRATION of her life.

Most of her wedding party were there?? OR was that the 50th rennewal... blury.

The funeral was a celebration of LIFE not a dirge if death.

The priest told HILARIOUS stories about my crazy mom trying to micro manage EVERYTHING, including what DAY the funeral would be one.

The priest shared this with us. He knew her 10-20? years. (You could hear him say "crazy")

The reading were light and uplifting and not NNNNNNNNNNNNNNTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTROOOOOOOOOOO downers

but on the alter she had baskets

baskets FILLED with annual flowers

snap dragons and zinnias and what not.

little plants to take home to plant in the garden.

I have never seen so MANY HAPPY, sad people.

SO HAPPY they had a flower. so she was dead.

SO HAPPY that could go home and plant it, so she would never see it.

I dont know what would be the same thing for your father, but there is something.

And he will live on in that something. In his grand kids. In how you remember him when he is gone.

wow, this is going on the blog, hope you done mind

learn to not mind

I am here. literally. always

call enough times and I will wake up.

the rest of the time I will jsut be awake

and this all started because SOMETHING in your resume worked for me.

do YOU have the resume that you sent to nielsen??
LOL

You should read this. Really!!

Stumbling on Happiness
This is probably the best book which you have never read. It literally changed my life. As hard as it was, I started actually taking some people's recommendations without over thinking it or just outright rejecting them. No, not you, I will still reject your recommendations ;-)

This book is incredibly fun and easy to read, presents tons of information from tons of studies in very fun and surprising ways.

This doesn't make all recommendations equal, but some people on some topics are perfect and you should just trust them and try what they are suggesting. Like Pete on Restaurants in Chicago.


Summer Knight
Yes, this is book 4 in the series. No, do not start with book one. Book one was his first novel and the writing is terrible. If you like book 4, go back and start with Storm Front.

The series currently has 14 books, the last book, Cold Days, is one of, if not my favorite book of all time. The writing and story amazed me.

The stories take place in Chicago, present day, following Harry Dresden, wizard, PI. The writing improves greatly over the series and has moved (and my friends I make read it) to tears at times. What the hell?!!
The stories vary over the series, from vampires, to werewolves, to Fae, to zombies and ghouls, to pretty much everything super-natural, but they are NOT twilight books.


The Alera Codex
Fantasy. One of my favorite series.

The Last Hawk
Sci-Fi. One of my favorite books.
Role reversed society, which by reversing everything, puts our current societies into glaring light.
The major thread of the story follows a complex game and information exchange. We exchange information in a myriad of ways, the questions we ask expose things about ourselves that others can pick up. An interesting view at fictional way of representing information which will lead you to want to learn this game to see what you could see.
If you liked this, Read Primary Inversion, and then here is a reading list. (Link here)

The Way of Kings , Sanderson (link)
When this is done, it will be the best Fantasy ever written.

Thanks Tery Green for making me READ this, only took how many years??
Mistborn Series is quite good...

Marooned in Realtime
Rainbow's End
Vinge
Vicious dog thing book
Vinge is the best



Hyperion

City and of Stairs


The female brain
The male brain
Written by a female MD ... Amazing data



The Deed of Paksenarrion
Horrible cover, great read


World War Z
Shut up and read this book