Random Musings Today: Ad Deja Vu, streaming, miscellaneous

 Now for another stream of consciousness thread...  Numbered for no reason.

1) Ever not see someone for years, then suddenly see someone on a commercial who strongly reminds you of them (despite how much you tried to forget their existence)?  For me it was the Good Rx commercial (i think it was called) "You can save without insurance".  The second woman, sitting at her computer saying she ran her own business strongly reminds me of a girl who i wanted to be "the one" in college.  Or at least what i pictured she would look like. 

2) Girls, you are not livestock (probably) so cool it with the awful nose piercings.

Happy Tax Day (US) to Those Who Celebrate

Ronald Reagan: "Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the Democrats believe every day is April 15."

Let's see who celebrates the day of remittance to a parasitic organism? H&R Block employees, tax accountants and Democrats.

Income tax always seemed strange to me. Why should you have to pay the government for the "privilege" of working? Why were people/states dumb enough to go along with the 16th Amendment (1913 was a bad year for the US)? It was supposed to be limited... how did that turn out?

There should be no tax withholding (doesn't benefit you in any way). There should be no deductions or credits. The tax code should not be so utterly ridiculous and complex. 

There should be no such thing as a tax refund. If you want to overpay the government, feel free to do so but don't expect any of it back.

2024: Billion Dollar Jackpot Part II

 As expected, the Powerball jackpot has climbed to $1 Billion for the Monday (April Fool's Day drawing). 

Update: now up to $1.3B for Saturday, April 6th drawing.

i hate Monday lottery drawings. 

Can't we just go back to the good old days of two drawings a week (or one), slightly better odds (though still virtually impossible) and $1 tickets?  i wish.

When i win, maybe i should try and take over the world. Just kidding, most of the world isn't worth taking over.

2024: Billion Dollar Jackpot Part I

Well, it is another $1 Billion dollar jackpot (or the more impressive $1,100,000,000), this time for Mega Millions (Tuesday March 26, 2024). Powerball is threatening a part II (at $800 million). 

i could use an Eostre miracle (a fiscal resurrection, if you will).

Yes, i want to win the jackpot. No, i do not look forward to all the logistical hoops involved with a deposit of that magnitude.

Definitely going to take the lump sum (my alleged father died of cancer 4 years older than i am now). Wonder with taxes how much i would really see. $525.8 million cash option if only winner (unlikely). i know federal withholding is supposed to be 24%. But if it counts as income would definitely increase my tax bracket (maybe the 37% one).  

i always use the concept of getting to keep only 30%. So, only $157.54 Million after taxes. Say 2 other winners: $52.58M proceeds. Anything above that is a bonus.  Prove me wrong, large Mega Millions jackpot win. 

Random Musings Today: AMZN, Oppenheimer, etc

 So, i've been thinking... ready for a bunch of disconnected ideas? Too bad

Valentine's Day

Notice how i didn't say "happy Valentines Day". Probably because it never really has been. Of all the manufactured "holidays", Valentine's Day is among the most annoying. A day celebrating the commercialized caricature of love. Selling cards, candy and jewelry. If you are perpetually on the outside looking in, it can be depressing and hopeless.

What is love? Does it really exist?

i've been waiting for someone other than Foreigner to tell me - no, show me. Does love exist?  My answer is no - at least not in the way it is portrayed in songs and movies. One of my sisters says, "love is a mutual decision".  A decision with no permanence that can change at any time. Maybe that's why she's divorced.

In my limited experience (assuming i actually ever had any), love is more like addiction - a mixture of wanting somewhere/someone to belong, pretending someone really cares, and misinterpreted lust.

Unconditional love seems like an awesome concept. The problem is that humans never do anything unconditionally.  

Though, maybe i'm just one of the mutants over at table 9 who will never find true love (always been a bigger fan of true love finding me). Every time i have taken a chance it has blown up in my face. Once bitten infinity times shy.

Much of human behavior is not free will, but programming. Couple that with the abstract modern view of life - traditional/evolutionary realities cast by the wayside (especially by females) chasing rainbows better not caught.

Wish i would have been assigned a mate at 15 or so. As far as i'm concerned, dating should be one of the deeper levels of Hell (yes, referencing a book i've never read).  People pretending to be something they are not so they will be accepted (or at least get some).

My Conservative Manifesto Rewrite: The Indexing

 In 2022, i revisited my conservative manifesto. i didn't fundamentally change most of my views. Here is a (attempted link) to put this all together in one jumping off point. Not sure all of my links work (some of the links look wrong). If they don't, look for the tag "MCMr" tag.

As i stated in the first post, when i say manifesto, i mean more along the lines of Jerry McGuire - not the Unabomber. Want any more, ask. i probably have a view on it. Want me to expand on sections a little more, ask.

i joke to myself that if i ever won the lottery (net $100M), i would run for president (despite social anxiety issues).