MR SNAKES, OSAR

Less important than why I was in my garage at 4am on a Thursday is what happened while I was in there.   Allow me to preface this by saying that I have been a city boy all my life…and even a bit of a nancypants, for one of those.   That said, I am in […]

The Truth About the USA’s Military Budget

There’s a lot of talks out there about the USA’s military budget. There’s a lot to spend on, obviously – their soldiers, resources, uniform, machinery, even equipment too like a biohazard mask or a radiation suit. However, how do we analyze this? You often see a lot of graphics like this talking about how the […]

MAGA: Was Life Better Back Then Than It Is Today?

Was life better back then than it is today? We all see a lot of memes out there that suggest that reality. Just today, this made it across my Facebook feed: It got me thinking and, when I think, I research, and when I research, I write. And three hours later, here we are. And […]

Shipping a Package From the USA to Taiwan

Shipping a package from the USA to Taiwan means sending a package as far as it can go around the world via reliable freight companies (pop over to this site to find one such site) before it starts coming back around the other way. The time difference between Washington, D.C. and Taipei is 12 hours. […]

Memorial Day and Military Worship

The longer I’m away from American culture, the more I find the blind nationalism and military worship in the USA troublesome. Despite the concern Americans have about it, global perception of the USA isn’t as bad as they often think…but they are often oblivious to the things that actually put them on “the average world […]

How Many Americans Are Killed By Police?

A question on so many minds is “How many Americans are killed by police?” The website killedbypolice.net is doing a good job at tracking data as far back as two years ago. While you can find details of each death on the site, I compiled the monthly numbers into an easy-to-read bar graph.     2013 May 104 deaths 2013 June […]

Costco Taiwan Beef Scandal

Of the many food scandals in Taiwan’s recent history, the scandal surrounding Costco Taiwan butchers’ practices with USDA beef is the most recent. Taiwan has had a number of food scandals in recent years, ranging from the food scandal of 2014 to the food scandal of 2013 to the food scandal of 2011.  Basically, if you […]

“It’s Our Culture” – Taiwan’s Go-To Excuse

Every culture has it’s throwaway language. The English language, for example, explains away many things with the word “Whatever.” Taiwanese often use the Chinese phrases “There is no reason why” and “There is no solution” in similar ways. They all essentially mean “I’ve got nothing for you; I’m done talking about this.” But when it […]

What It’s Like Living In Taiwan Without Health Insurance

I haven’t had health insurance since 2008, which is a pretty crazy thing to say, given that I live in a country with some of the most affordable and high-quality medical care in the world. National Taiwan Health Insurance, while expensive for the Republic of China (ROC) government of Taiwan, is incredibly cheap for Taiwanese […]

The TSA Doesn’t Care About Passenger Safety

Take even a casual glance at American airport security and it’s clear that the TSA doesn’t care about passenger safety. Even the name “TSA” stands for “Transportation Security Administration,” having nothing to do with travelers and having everything to do with the objects that transport them; their behavior reflects this through the enigmas that are […]

The Nature of High School and Prison

Imagine a building filled with people who are forced to be there, under constant supervision by the authorities, with limited freedom. The building is secured, patrolled by guards, and life is heavily structured and scheduled. People who are forced to be there must adhere to a specific dress code, require permission to do almost anything, […]

Cool Presidential Portraits

I’ve always been a fan of cool presidential portraits. DeviantArt.com has long-been a source of cool artwork, and work by user “SharpWriter” is no exception. One series he works on is basically various fantasy presidential portraits. Without further ado, here they are (click to enlarge) Cool Presidential Portraits               […]

Red States and Blue States: It Was Not Always Thus

I hear a lot of people talking about red states and blue states, often speaking of them as if it’s a set-in-stone phenomenon. Unfortunately, because American History taught in high school often glosses over 20th Century History (especially the political side), many people don’t know what really went on over the last 100 years. Let’s […]

Detailed Taichung Population Density

This Is a Simple But Detailed Taichung Population Density Report If you’re moving to Taichung, you’re probably looking online to find a detailed Taichung population density information.  Officially, Taichung has 2.6 million people spread out over 1500mi2 translating into a population density of around 1800 per mi2, but that’s pretty misleading.  90% of the population lives in […]

Trying to Better Understand SEO as it Relates to My Content

Anyone who reads my blog knows that I do a lot of compiling/analysis of data. Usually, it’s not directly related to me, personally: today, it is. I have my blog, which you’re reading, as well as my YouTube Channel. Feel free to check it out. My blog has been active since May of 2011, but […]

Simple Global Energy Consumption Analysis

Simple Global Energy Consumption Analysis   Here’s a look at how the energy generated on this planet gets consumed: Our planet creates around 500 Exojoules of consumable energy, each year. While only encompassing almost 32% of the overall global population, China, the European Union, and the United States of America use over 50% of its total consumable energy. […]

An Expat’s Guide to Staying Connected with Skype

I’m an American who has spent three of the last five years living abroad in Taiwan, a relatively small island off the coast of China. Up until two months ago, I was one who refused to get a smart phone. I’d never had a real reason to have one beyond the novelty of it. But, […]

How Much Do Federal Elected Officials Really Make?

A lot of people freak out about how much money our elected government spends, often choosing to go the route of, “Let’s stop paying them and see what happens to their policy-making!”  First of all, most Representatives/Senators/Vice-Presidents/Presidents made far more money in the private sector than they do in government.  Beyond that, when they were in the […]

Walmart Syndrome: Why Americans Don’t Recognize Internet Censorship

If you ask the average net-savvy American about internet censorship, they’ll often reference the Epitome of Internet Censorship on our planet: The People’s Republic of China. The PRC blocks so many sites, it’s freaky. We all know how things like Facebook and Twitter and YouTube and adult porn sites like videoshd.xxx are blocked, but they […]

How The Outrageously-Rich Play Politics: A Gambling Analogy

For those who remember me ranting about the 99% stuff a year-or-so ago, I wanted to tackle something I see a lot of people talk about. People tend to fly off the handle about the ultra-rich (the 1% – people who make enough money to give the maximum contribution to candidates) supporting certain candidates. I’m […]

One More Month, And The Agony Will Stop

There seem to be two types of people on Facebook or, at least, that’s been my perception over the last six months: People who continuously post politically charged articles, memes, status updates, comments, etc. – and people who don’t. Now, don’t get me wrong!  I’m a politically-minded person, and I will post the occasional political thought.  But they are […]

A Simple Explanation of Inflation, Minimum Wage, and Value Meals

Many people don’t really understand inflation, so I thought a simple explanation of inflation might help.  One of the more interesting ways is to look at the history of inflation as it relates to the minimum wage, because while only 2% of Americans make minimum wage, almost all of us have been minimum wage employees […]

Short and Sweet – For The Ladies

Men are 1000% more likely to commit murder than women. 23% of American murders are men killing women. 50% of those murders involve the women being stalked, first. 75% of murders of women by previous intimate partners involve stalking, first. Possible threats are always to be taken seriously. Ten women are murdered by men every […]

An Easy Way To Understand The USA’s Budget

Let me give you an easy way to understand the USA’s budget by comparing their numbers to something more familiar to you. Here’s the numbers regarding the 2012 US income/budget/debt:But that’s not easy to understand and appreciate. Because it just looks like such an enormous amount of money. So how about we remove some zeros and […]

Arkansas: Not Entirely What You Think (But, Also Entirely What You Think)

Back in 2008, I voted on of a proposition here in Arkansas called The Unmarried Couple Adoption Ban.  The concept was pushed by a group called The Arkansas Family Council (AFC), who are quirky in their homophobia: they freaked out about California’s Harvey Milk Day, saying kids would be required to dress in drag and have mock […]

The Third World War

People talk a lot about World War Three. A few years ago, I realized that World War Three, the way we all imagine it to be, is not going to happen.  Nations secure in economy and military have no reason to launch war in the manner seen in the 1940s – actions like that were […]

No Escaping The Information Superhighway

For those unaware, BTJunkie closed down a few days ago, “voluntarily,” which is to say they closed down before the US government could close them down. The more I look at it, the more I see it all as innevitable. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief a month ago, thinking there was some victory over […]

US Military Budget Timeline

An Economic Timeline Regarding US Military Spending (in billions) 1942 $260 (estimated) 1944 $850 (estimated) WWII ENDS 1946 $556.9 1947 $52.4 COLD WAR BEGINS 1948 $103.9 1949 $144.2 1950 $141.2 KOREAN WAR BEGINS 1951 $224.3 1952 $402.1 1953 $442.3 KOREAN WAR ENDS 1954 $420.9 VIETNAM BEGINS 1955 $376.9 1956 $356.2 1957 $360.9 1958 $352.9 1959 $352.5 […]

Fuck You, 99%ers

I’ve reached my breaking point. As has, it seems, plenty of governmental organizations and law-enforcement officers. I have major beef with The 99%ers. You all annoy me. You piss me off. And I have legitimate reasons why, just as you have legitimate reasons why you’re all pissed off, too. Some of the things you’re pissed […]

My Opinion on the War in Iraq – Written November 7, 2002

07 November 2002 Many opinions have been stated about the current situation that the United States of America has placed itself in regarding Iraq. Before I get into my opinions, let me first say I am an avid supporter of war. Though I find war itself a brutal and barbaric act of lunacy, I also […]

Honor’s Logic Final Paper – Written April 30, 2004

The following was printed in the High Point Enterprise April 20 of this year… Bush boosts U.S. security The war in Iraq is the right thing to do.  I agree with Bush: “Stay the course.” I admire Bush for doing what Clinton failed to do by removing a threat to this nation and making it […]