How to Conquer a Planet

I recently watched the movie "Battle Los Angeles" and I liked it more than I thought I would. It was an alien invasion/Marine recruitment video.

I also have a few thoughts for the aliens: If you can bring an army to Earth, clearly you have the technological upper-hand. Why would you even bother to land the troops? You control the high-ground. *Spoiler alert* They make it clear that your species is tracking us using our own radios and cell-phones. Wouldn't it be easier to take out our satellites and drop rocks on our major cities?

The movie did not get into the aliens motivation although it implied it was to take our precious, precious water. You could have sent a mini-team to the center of the Pacific and taken our water to your heart's content. Why the invasion?

And so people don't think that I'm rooting for the bad-guys here, let me give some suggestions to the human side. NASA was able to track the aliens spacecraft and the military was able to mobilize in time. Heck, the military was even able to track the aliens communications network and pinpoint the weak links. Let me clarify: the United States was able to track the aliens and deploy their military.

How awesome is that? The United States is the primary line of defense for the entire planet. That's a pretty serious responsibility when you think about it.

And I'm not saying that an alien invasion is likely, but wouldn't you want the ability to take the fight to them? Where's our space program? Where's our moon bases and Battlestar's ready to stop alien invaders or even rouge asteroids?

It's not the kind of thing that the private sector is likely to take up. It sounds like something that would fall to the government sector.

Also, if humans set out to conquer an alien planet, it would be good for us to have the high-ground. We don't want to needlessly sacrifice space marines.

Everything is Awesome!

Maybe it's just spring, but I'm in a good mood.

Things are good all around and getting better. Don't believe the nay-sayers and downers. Ignore the news. Most importantly, ignore the politicians. The sky is not falling. If you vote for the wrong person, you will not die.

That's progress! Only a hundred years ago, if you voted for the wrong person (or backed the wrong dictator), you were killed. Hardly anyone does that anymore. Syria is becoming a pariah nation for just that reason. We all nod approvingly at the Arab Spring movement throwing out all the dictators. Freedom is contagious.

The world is more free today than it was when I was born. There is no Soviet empire threatening the world with nuclear disaster. Some people have tried to puff China up into the next evil empire but China is too busy making money to be the bad guy. China is our third largest trade partner (Canada and Mexico being the first two). A war with China would devastate our economy.

The world is healthier now than it was when I was born. Infant mortalitiy is steadily creeping downwards. Heart attacks are no longer the death sentence that they used to be. My grandmother recently had open-heart surgery and she was in the hospital for less than a week! That's amazing!

People are living longer.

Incomes...well incomes have stagnated for most folk. But the wonderful stuff that they can buy! Ipads, cellphones, electric cars, organic food, plane tickets to Nepal, etc., etc.

I could spend most of my time gushing about science and technological progress. I'm trying to restrain myself but Wow! We can have glow-in-the-dark kittens. The Voyager spacecraft which were launched around when I was born are now leaving the solar system. They have gold records in case they get picked up by any alien intelligence. How many people have a record-player in their home anymore?

We live in a world where James Cameron, a movie director, can be a deep-sea explorer. Space travel for the rich is on the cusp of becoming a reality.

So all you political junkies out there, relax and smell the roses. There will always be politics and problems. And there will always be heroes and solutions.

Social Security

I'm self-employed. I support my family. My wife is going back to school for her nursing degree. It's very possible that in the future she will have a job with some sort of retirement benefits. We're doing quite well but we don't save nearly enough for retirement.

I have insurance for my life, car, home, health and malpractice. I do not have insurance for disability.

I'm a big fan of Social Security. It has been one of the most successful government programs of all time. It took a demographic, old people, that had been one of the poorest and neglected demographics and gave them a foundation to live on.

To plug into Social Security all you have to do is work. I earned it working at McDonalds and I'm earning it now as a lawyer. Mitt Romney and President Obama both earned it and are eligible for social security benefits. I'm pretty sure Bill Gates and Warren Buffet are also eligible for benefits.

Social Security is my back-up retirement plan. If my IRA tanks, I know that I at least have a minimum income when I retire.

Social Security is my disability insurance. If I become disabled, I know that I can draw on social security.

Social Security is my life insurance supplement. If I die with minor children, I know that they will be eligible for some benefits.

To me, Social Security is part of my overall financial planning. I'm glad it's there. But to most people, let's call them "the 80%", Social Security is their lifeblood. It is literally their only retirement plan. It is their only disability insurance. When they die, Social Security is the only thing their kids will be able to get.

And that's why it is so important to defend Social Security from selfish people who would attack it.