I just noticed today how bad my sink smells.

Quote of the Day

"Ding ding. Ding ding." —A bicyclist pretending to have a bell

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Topic #284: Would you rather have the first word, or the last in an argument? Some people prefer to speak first, others insist they have the advantage only if they get in the last word. Where do you stand?

For me, it’s not important if I have either the first word or the last word in any argument.

I think the first word should not really be important to anyone at all, because the first word is what starts an argument. I’m pretty sure the first word in an argument usually isn’t intentionally said to initiate an argument; rather, it is something that is said during a regular conversation, but one of the parties thinks that it is wrong and rebuts against it.

Many people think they have succeeded in an argument only if they are the final person to talk, but I think that’s a method people use to give themselves a sense of false victory.

I think an argument is complete and one person is victorious only if either one person is able to prove their point beyond doubt with evidence, or if one person admits that they are incorrect. Thus, if someone says something and walks away, they are not necessarily victorious because the other person might have had evidence or an explanation that could have made the claim invalid. So, someone can be victorious in both circumstances – if someone is unable to provide a rebuttal, the other person is victorious, but if someone accepts defeat, the other person is still victorious, even though they did not get the last word.

Tip of the Day: If you are going to bother all your classmates and send out a mass email asking if someone can send you notes from lecture because you were absent, at least remember to include in the email for which class you need notes.

Or else one of your classmates is going to take a screenshot of your email, post it on his blog, and call you a failure.

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Topic #284: What is the best way to tax people? Countries around the world use different approaches. Which do you think is best? Or should their be no taxes at all? What does it mean for everyone to pay their fair share?

I think the best way to tax people is to place taxes on goods that are strictly for luxury or pleasure, similar to how the United States government implemented heavy taxes on cigarettes.

Although I’m fine with various taxes like income tax and property tax, I don’t think it’s a good idea to have a consistent tax for sales. Sales tax in my region ranges anywhere between 6% and 9%, and I believe it is mostly consistent regardless of what it is that you purchase. For example, someone purchasing necessary basic food like bread and rice to feed their family pays the same amount of tax that someone purchasing a gaming system does. I think it would be helpful to increase the taxes on entertainment and reduce the taxes on necessities.

Something I’ve heard about in the past is to also have a variable tax on types of foods. Having a higher tax on unhealthy foods, such as foods with high sodium or unsaturated fat content, would encourage people to save money and purchase healthier foods, allowing the govern­ment to spend less money on paying for people’s hospital bills when they get heart attacks from eating too much sodium or fat.

I think that everyone paying their fair share of taxes means that people’s contributions to the govern­ment are on a variable gradient scale that is adjusted based on how fortunate they are. If someone is so poor that they are unable to pay for their own family’s survival, they should be taxed less as long as they are showing a directed and focused effort on making money. If someone is so rich that they’re not sure what to do with their own money and instead go around wasting it, they should be taxed higher. On a slight variation, if someone is rich but they are using their money for a good purpose (such as donating it to organizations that fund advancement projects), they should be taxed less because they are already using their money for the greater good.

Tip of the Day: If you’re outside your apartment room in the hallway and you’re having a heated argument, either take your argument inside your room, or argue about something less humiliating than something as pointless as a sleeping bag.

Or else the blogger next door will listen in to your argument, get abdominal muscle pain from laughing too hard, and put it on his website.

I was on the verge of bringing my camera outside and telling them that I was going to record their argument because of how pathetic it was.

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Topic #252: Write a story by finishing this sentence. The story can be as long or short as you wish.

I told him where I was going, and he hurried me out, pointing to the door with the gun, but what he didn’t know was…

… that I was wearing a very bouncy rubber plate under my shirt. He shot me with his gun and the bullet bounced right off my body and back at him.

He died.

Two days ago, it was 90°F/32°C. When I checked the weather this morning, there was a frost advisory and it was freezing cold today.

The world would be a much better place if the weather slowly, progressively, and gradually got colder approaching the winter, and slowly, progressively, gradually got warmer approaching the summer.

In other news, while I was on the bus today headed to the Badger Herald office, I overheard a man:

“When I go to the bathroom, it only takes like ten minutes. I’m really quick.”

Yes. Really quick.

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Topic #246: What is your biggest frustration about driving?

The thing that frustrates me most about driving is watching other people who do not drive efficiently.

For example, it bothers me when I see people accelerating when it’s obvious that in five seconds, they’re going to have to brake because there’s a red light up ahead. Not only are they wasting gasoline by unnecessarily accelerating, but they’re also wearing down their brake pads for having to stop from a higher speed.

Another example is when there are multiple cars driving below the speed limit in a row on a multiple-lane road. If the speed limit is 55 miles per hour and it’s a three-lane road, if you intend on going at 45 miles per hour, you should go over to the right-most lane so other people can use the other two lanes to go at 55 miles per hour. It’s annoying when three cars who want to go at 45 miles per hour are all on their own individual lanes, all in a row.

Finally, it slightly frustrates me when people complain about high gas prices but keep their car on when it’s not in use. Are you waiting for someone to come out of a store? Turn your engine off. Are you using your car just to listen to the radio? Turn it off, you can survive without listening to music for ten minutes. Are you waiting for a freight train to pass? Turn your engine off instead of keeping it on for five minutes.