Ran across this article on tax breaks on WaPo's wonkblog. It's a nice breakdown of how taxes favor different cohorts, based on income.
As you can see from the chart, the biggest breaks favor the very rich.
One thing I found surprising is that the mortgage interest deduction doesn't more heavily favor the very rich. The only two possibilities I can think of for that being the case are that 1) the very, very rich get almost nothing from it (as a percentage of income, at least) and 2) the biggest gainers are classified in this chart as upper middle class (doesn't seem likely, but not impossible, either).
Also, two things you can't see from this are how breaks in the inheritance tax (or aristocracy tax, as I prefer to call it) go entirely to the top 1% (might even be the top 1/2%) and the carried interest loophole that allows hedge fund managers to get their entire salary at capital gains tax rates (also goes entirely to a portion of the top 1%).
Oh, another thing that doesn't come up, that just occurred to me. You can't see the totals of the dollars for tax breaks vs income taxes. IIRC, they're almost identical numbers. How sad is that?
20130606
20130602
A close shave
I started out shaving (like most, I imagine) with a variety of electric razors. They can give you a so-so shave fairly quickly, but take a while if you want to get a close one. And since most of them need to be used dry, they're fairly limited.
Eventually I moved on to using disposables, although I think I use them a little differently than most. I will use them for quite a long while; mostly, you just need to make sure to wash them every time you use them. I started this when I found out that most razors are ruined by corrosion, not by dulling. And this works pretty well; use them in the shower, wash them, and blow them dry. It isn't really fast, but does give a very close shave with nicks and cuts being very rare.
But I've long been intrigued by the possibility of going to a real razor (I was even thinking about a straight blade). After doing some reading, a double-edged safety razor seemed a better choice. So I finally broke down and bought one a few days ago. I tried it out today, and was pretty happy. I actually used it about the same way I normally use my disposables, and it worked out just fine.
I surprised myself by not getting any cuts or abrasions, and it was a bit quicker than my normal. I think it didn't end up being as close a shave, although I mostly attribute that to being in a bit of a hurry. I suspect it will end up being pretty similar in both time and closeness, although most would argue that I'm still not doing it right.
That is, I'm not using a brush and foam to really set up the hair, and using them after the shower. Perhaps an experiment for another time.
Eventually I moved on to using disposables, although I think I use them a little differently than most. I will use them for quite a long while; mostly, you just need to make sure to wash them every time you use them. I started this when I found out that most razors are ruined by corrosion, not by dulling. And this works pretty well; use them in the shower, wash them, and blow them dry. It isn't really fast, but does give a very close shave with nicks and cuts being very rare.
But I've long been intrigued by the possibility of going to a real razor (I was even thinking about a straight blade). After doing some reading, a double-edged safety razor seemed a better choice. So I finally broke down and bought one a few days ago. I tried it out today, and was pretty happy. I actually used it about the same way I normally use my disposables, and it worked out just fine.
I surprised myself by not getting any cuts or abrasions, and it was a bit quicker than my normal. I think it didn't end up being as close a shave, although I mostly attribute that to being in a bit of a hurry. I suspect it will end up being pretty similar in both time and closeness, although most would argue that I'm still not doing it right.
That is, I'm not using a brush and foam to really set up the hair, and using them after the shower. Perhaps an experiment for another time.
Neat photographic toys
I'll start this out by saying I don't have any of the tools I'm going to mention here. I was looking at some focus-stacking software, and saw a reference to cognisys' StackShot. It's interesting, and I wonder how well it works, but I don't think I'm terribly likely to buy it.
But after poking around, I also found their StopShot and RangeIR, both of which look very intriguing (odd that they don't have a kit with two RangeIRs and one StopShot, though. I'd like to see about getting these for bird photography). More intriguing, and yet less interesting, due to price, is their insect rig. I'd really love to play around with one of those, but it's far too expensive for my purposes.
Anyway, if you've got some money, that's some really neat-o stuff. I'll be keeping an eye on them (and hopefully buying some of their gizmos).
But after poking around, I also found their StopShot and RangeIR, both of which look very intriguing (odd that they don't have a kit with two RangeIRs and one StopShot, though. I'd like to see about getting these for bird photography). More intriguing, and yet less interesting, due to price, is their insect rig. I'd really love to play around with one of those, but it's far too expensive for my purposes.
Anyway, if you've got some money, that's some really neat-o stuff. I'll be keeping an eye on them (and hopefully buying some of their gizmos).
Farming Museum
I took my kids, today, to the Loudon Heritage Farm Museum. A friend of ours was going, so we went along with them.
I wasn't too sure what to expect (thrown off by references to the Claude Moore Farm, which this was not. This place is at Claude Moore Park in Sterling, however); I was expecting something with crops and brought only one lens, which would be good for that sort of thing.
The whole thing was inside, and dedicated to farming equipment (like an original McCormick Reaper) and kids activities (like a general store, and a fake cow that could be milked). My son wasn't terribly thrilled for the most part, but my daughter had a blast once she found the kitchen with traditional implements (like an antique ice box, the second one I'd ever seen). Although actually, the kids had as much fun with the door to the kitchen (which could be walked around, if the other kids weren't letting you in) as they did with the actual kitchen. And my son did find some stuff to have fun with, it just took him quite a bit longer.
So despite the lack of good pictures (I'm just hoping I got some mediocre ones), we all had a good time. And I was glad our friends were there, because, for once, the kids didn't want to do the same thing, so it was tough to keep track of them. But despite the difficulty, they did stay out of trouble.
So we did end up having a good time; I just wish I'd taken a second lens (it would have been the only one I used).
I wasn't too sure what to expect (thrown off by references to the Claude Moore Farm, which this was not. This place is at Claude Moore Park in Sterling, however); I was expecting something with crops and brought only one lens, which would be good for that sort of thing.
The whole thing was inside, and dedicated to farming equipment (like an original McCormick Reaper) and kids activities (like a general store, and a fake cow that could be milked). My son wasn't terribly thrilled for the most part, but my daughter had a blast once she found the kitchen with traditional implements (like an antique ice box, the second one I'd ever seen). Although actually, the kids had as much fun with the door to the kitchen (which could be walked around, if the other kids weren't letting you in) as they did with the actual kitchen. And my son did find some stuff to have fun with, it just took him quite a bit longer.
So despite the lack of good pictures (I'm just hoping I got some mediocre ones), we all had a good time. And I was glad our friends were there, because, for once, the kids didn't want to do the same thing, so it was tough to keep track of them. But despite the difficulty, they did stay out of trouble.
So we did end up having a good time; I just wish I'd taken a second lens (it would have been the only one I used).
20130601
Battleships are women
I've long been a big fan of anime, and an even longer fan of spoofs. So when Kidou Senkan Nadeshiko came out, it was pretty much inevitable that I would like it (and I was subscribing to the Japanese NewType at the time, so of course I heard about it).
As a spoof of big-robot anime, with a lot of action and comedy, it was not exactly hard to follow.
The japanese title, which translates roughly as Mobile Battleship Nadeshiko (although it was given an English title as well, which was Martian Successor Nadesico. I've never really understood that title, even if the Martian part does make sense), was also obviously an homage to Uchuu Senkan Yamato (Galaxy Battleship Yamato, released in the US as Star Blazers, which, although I didn't watch, was something of which I'd heard, growing up). What I was unaware of until today, was that there was another layer of connection in the titles.
There's a concept of which I hadn't previously heard, called Yamato Nadeshiko which relates to the feminine ideal in Japan. Yamato is a term I knew; it's an old name for Japan whose chinese characters render as 'Great Peace' (it's an ateji that looks like it would be pronounced Daiwa. And yes, it seems a particularly ironic name for a battleship, given the kanji). I wasn't aware that Nadeshiko is a Japanese name for a flower (since the word in the anime title was written in katakana, it didn't even occur to me to look it up).
Anyway, I wonder if the title might have actually been punning on the Yamato title as well, particularly given the female cast of the show. Actually, it seems unlikely, but it'd be very cool if it was.
Now I need to go watch more of the show; it's been too long.
(As a side note: this was my first time looking at tvtropes. A friend mentioned it to me this evening. Really nifty site that I'm quite sure I could lose many, many hours in reading.)
As a spoof of big-robot anime, with a lot of action and comedy, it was not exactly hard to follow.
The japanese title, which translates roughly as Mobile Battleship Nadeshiko (although it was given an English title as well, which was Martian Successor Nadesico. I've never really understood that title, even if the Martian part does make sense), was also obviously an homage to Uchuu Senkan Yamato (Galaxy Battleship Yamato, released in the US as Star Blazers, which, although I didn't watch, was something of which I'd heard, growing up). What I was unaware of until today, was that there was another layer of connection in the titles.
There's a concept of which I hadn't previously heard, called Yamato Nadeshiko which relates to the feminine ideal in Japan. Yamato is a term I knew; it's an old name for Japan whose chinese characters render as 'Great Peace' (it's an ateji that looks like it would be pronounced Daiwa. And yes, it seems a particularly ironic name for a battleship, given the kanji). I wasn't aware that Nadeshiko is a Japanese name for a flower (since the word in the anime title was written in katakana, it didn't even occur to me to look it up).
Anyway, I wonder if the title might have actually been punning on the Yamato title as well, particularly given the female cast of the show. Actually, it seems unlikely, but it'd be very cool if it was.
Now I need to go watch more of the show; it's been too long.
(As a side note: this was my first time looking at tvtropes. A friend mentioned it to me this evening. Really nifty site that I'm quite sure I could lose many, many hours in reading.)
Omnipresent advertising
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I haven't had much luck getting up early to go take sunrise pictures, lately. But I did manage once, a week ago, and took this picture on the way to where I was going (thinking about it, I should have come back here afterwards to take a shot of this with my good camera).
Anyway, I don't really know what's going on here. It kind of looks like a building is under construction, and the owner allowed it to be turned into an ad in the meanwhile.
The one thing I wish about this is that it would have been an ad for a cube (I used one of those for my main server for a while, until something in it died. Then I replaced it with a tiny linux box from system76). That would have rocked.
Warbirds on the wing
Two weeks ago, my dad and I went down to the Virginia Beach area for an airshow. This one was focused on WWII warbirds, and gave us some chances to try to perfect our technique for photography.
It was never going to be perfect, since WWII planes are not the fastest, but, for planes in the air, it did end up disappointing, as the rains came in just after the aerial portion of the show started.
But we still had a good time; we got some good shots of planes on the ground before that. And I figured out how to tear down my telephoto setup in record time, to keep from getting it rained on. It was a challenge to prevent (and my dad definitely helped), but we came through ok.
What I had the most fun with was playing around with my pole pixie and a painter's pole. All of my good shots were taken with that. I had an above-nose view of a B-17, a similar shot of a B-25, and even higher shots of a couple of fighters. The most interesting, though, at least in terms of how I got it, was the cockpit of the B-17, where I was standing on the ground in the bomb bay, with the camera on the pole, shooting down the walkway into the cockpit.
Anyway, despite not getting as much practice as we'd hoped, it was still pretty cool. I'm looking forward to further airshows, and experimenting more with the pole pixie. I'm wondering, if we go back to the same airshow next year, if I'll still be the only one using one of those.
It was never going to be perfect, since WWII planes are not the fastest, but, for planes in the air, it did end up disappointing, as the rains came in just after the aerial portion of the show started.
But we still had a good time; we got some good shots of planes on the ground before that. And I figured out how to tear down my telephoto setup in record time, to keep from getting it rained on. It was a challenge to prevent (and my dad definitely helped), but we came through ok.
What I had the most fun with was playing around with my pole pixie and a painter's pole. All of my good shots were taken with that. I had an above-nose view of a B-17, a similar shot of a B-25, and even higher shots of a couple of fighters. The most interesting, though, at least in terms of how I got it, was the cockpit of the B-17, where I was standing on the ground in the bomb bay, with the camera on the pole, shooting down the walkway into the cockpit.
Anyway, despite not getting as much practice as we'd hoped, it was still pretty cool. I'm looking forward to further airshows, and experimenting more with the pole pixie. I'm wondering, if we go back to the same airshow next year, if I'll still be the only one using one of those.
Not-so-tiny wings
But the highlight of the day for me, was that the Raptor Conservancy of Virginia was there with a hawk (see above), a mixed-breed falcon, a barn owl, and a kestrel. I hadn't brought lenses in anticipation of this; I'd brought a mid-range zoom and my macro lens. Happily, my macro is a 150mm, so that did a pretty good job with the birds (not perfect, because it didn't focus as fast as I would have liked, but not bad), taking all the pictures linked (I was particularly happy with the kestrel shots).
As something unexpected, this was very cool. I wish I'd had a 300mm f/2.8 lens, though. Those are amazing lenses, and would have been very good for this, I think (a little closer, a little sharper, and blazingly fast focus). The only concern would be that the ropes around the birds might have gotten in the way with the longer lens. Maybe I can arrange it another time; need to find out where else the conservancy will be appearing.
Anyway, we had a great time at the festival. It would have been nice if we could have gone Saturday, instead of Sunday, as they supposedly had antique cars that day, but that wasn't a big deal.
Victory, mostly
But one time, I checked up a bit to make sure I got onto the fourth in fever mode, then managed to keep it all the way through. Haven't gotten close to repeating that. In fact, I think I've only managed to beat the score from that one once, even with the better multiplier (and it wasn't by much).
Anyway, fun game, and I was quite excited to get there.
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