New Music (to me)

: Mr. Scruff – start with track 5

: Tobacco

: Dri

: The Modern Art

: Ane Brun – start with To Let Myself Go

: Naughty Nites – the song Action Man was written for the Lardawg

: This Dynamic

Random Thoughts from Tonight

: I think Barney Frank needs to be a voice actor for Pixar. Sign a lucrative contract and help pay for the $25B bail out to the American auto industry he endorses.

: I don’t see how Brett Wiese doesn’t way 400lbs. Good Lord, Vikki can cook!

: I disagree with everything about this video, but I just peed myself.

Eddie Mac!

Please join me in welcoming our latest edition to the McClain family, Edmund James (aka Eddie Mac, E.J., Ed and just Edmund). Click through to see more pics.

Doing the Numbers

Now that Obama will be President, some folks are beginning to freak out over this whole redistribution of wealth thing. Before I get started, I need to add a few disclaimers. One, I’m still undecided that I completely agree with the idea. Two, I’m not sure I understand all the details.

Here’s a rough example. Joe the Plumber nets $251,000 (he’s an amazing plumber!) a year. Pay attention to the word nets. He will pay an additional 7% of any income above $250K. So, in addition to paying his normal income tax, Joe will pay $70. Breaking this out over a year, this is $0.019 per day increase in his cost of living. You read that right. A little less than two cents a day increase. I bet I walked by two pennies this morning and didn’t bend to pick them up.

If Obama keeps his word, this scenario won’t happen to 95% of us Americans. Plus, this tax is on net income over $250,000 – which is about $350K+ in gross yearly salaries. If I was making this kind of money, a few cents or dollars a day to potentially help a fellow American (assuming the system won’t be abused by the poor) would be welcome. But what system isn’t abused by a percentage of both rich and poor?

I believe that even with a redistribution of wealth, the inequality gap will remain between the rich and the poor. But a few cents a day from 1% of the population given to the country’s poor, could be significant in their daily struggle to survive.

I’ll let you know how I really feel about it when I’m making over $350,000 a year. I’ll be blogging from my second home off the coast of Costa Rica, wearing my Speedo and sipping a mojito made from fresh limes and mint from my rooftop garden. Not sure if I’ll be able to actually blog outside, the hot sun may cast an annoying glare on my new MacBook screen. Now that’s injustice!!

My Election Day So Far…

No baby yet. I did wake up at 5:30 this morning to go vote. I was the 16th person in line at the community center. Voted by 6:05 and back in bed at 6:15. Re-woke for work around 8:30. It’s gonna be a good day. I can feel it.

My One and Only Prediction in 2008

Election Day baby*. I’m calling it.

Some of you may need some clarification. My wife is pregnant, and I am predicting that she will give birth on Election Day. OK, now that we are on the same page…