User:CartoonDiablo/sandbox

Oh wow I just noticed I had a sandbox.

Regulated-Flexible Dimmension

=Rank-Raglan Mythotype= The Rank-Raglan mythotype (sometimes called the mythic hero archetype) is a classification developed by Lord Raglan and later elaborated by Otto Rank and Alan Dundes that lists different cross-cultural traits of mythical heroes. This mythotype has been prominently used in the modern Christ myth theory to argue against a historical Jesus.

Methodology
As developed by Raglan and extended by Rank and Dundes, a figure is considered more of a mythical hero the more of these traits they hold (a point is added per trait).

• #Mother is a royal virgin

• #Father is a king

• #Father related to mother

• #Unusual conception

• #Hero reputed to be son of god

• #Attempt to kill hero as an infant, often by father or maternal grandfather

• #Hero spirited away as a child

• #Reared by foster parents in a far country

• #No details of childhood

• #Returns or goes to future kingdom

• #Is victor over king, giant, dragon or beast

• #Marries a princess (often daughter of predecessor)

• #Becomes king

• #For a time he reigns uneventfully

• #He prescribes laws

• #Later loses favor with gods or his subjects

• #Driven from throne and city

• #Meets with mysterious death

• #Often at the top of a hill

• #His children, if any, do not succeed him [i.e., does not found a dynasty]

• #His body is not buried

• #Nonetheless has one or more holy sepulchers or tombs

Listings
People have come up with different rankings using this list. Richard Carrier for instance created this list in his book, On The Historicity of Jesus:

Origin and meaning
English literary critic G. K. Chesterton used the phrase sardonically (referring to playwright George Bernard Shaw) in his 1922 book The Well and the Shallows. The phrase was used in its current political context by Atrios as early as October 23, 2006. By 2007 it was in use by liberal bloggers Matt Stoller at MYDD, Digby at Hullabaloo and Kevin Drum at Washington Monthly. Atrios defined it as "The idiotic assholes who rule us," in response to a video of Senator Alan Simpson with regards to the Bowles-Simpson Commission. The phrase has been used by Paul Krugman to mean people that hold respected opinions but "keep demanding utterly foolish policies." Chris Hayes in his book Twilight of the Elites has said Krugman uses the phrase against elite opinion.

Steve Benen has summarized the phrase as follows:

"The VSP is one of those Washington insiders that the political establishment respects and listens to, despite the fact that the person is (a) nearly always wrong; (b) habitually dishonest; or (c) both."

Usage
It has been used by Paul Krugman to attack pundits that promote austerity. It has also been used to describe pundits who hold opinions on foreign policy, structural unemployment, Bond vigilantes, the proposed Paul Ryan Budget and Occupy Wall Street.

Pundits who have been called Very Serious People include New York Times columnists Thomas Friedman and David Brooks. Others include Carly Fiorina, Kenneth Pollack, Michael Ignatieff, and Michael O'Hanlon. Steve Benen has called Congressman Paul Ryan "the quintessential Very Serious Person." In October 2012 Krugman dubbed the The Washington Post "VSP Central".

Commenting on an analysis of the Italian election of February, 2013, Frederick Guy of the University of London pointed out that the American economist Robert Waldmann used variations on "very serious person", including “the very eminent Eurocrat economist extremely serious person”, to mock the positions of certain political figures.

Poverty
Some commentators such as Jim Taylor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Institute of Education Sciences have pointed to a correlation between US child poverty (based on reduced school lunches) and performance on the TIMSS test.

=Tax returns= Mitt Romney's tax returns became an issue during his 2012 Presidential campaign. Due to pressure from political rivals during the Republican primary campaign, Mitt Romney released most of his 2010 tax return in late January 2012, along with a partial 2011 return which he promised to release in whole upon its completion. His campaign promised to release his 2011 tax return as soon as it is filed, before October 15, 2012. On August 16, 2012 Romney said that he has paid at least 13 percent annually on his federal income tax returns for the last ten years. The average American family with income between $50,000 and $75,000 a year pays 12.8 percent annually. Romney's income was about $21 million in 2010, but much of his income is "carried interest," a type of management fee, that is not taxed as wages but rather at the lower capital gains tax rate. In 2010 he reported a carried forward $4.8 million in capital losses from previous years, suggesting that he did not pay any capital gains taxes in 2009.

Romney's fortune is in a blind trust, run by his long-time personal and business lawyer R. Bradford Malt, and has included investments which do not match his political philosophy. Romney has previously stated that blind trusts are "an old ruse."

Democratic Governor Martin O'Malley of Maryland accuses Romney of tax avoidance, as distinguished from illegal tax evasion.

Background
In 1968, Mitt's father George W. Romney, set a precedent for presidential candidates to release their income tax returns. George Romney released 12 years of his returns, most other presidential candidates have release slightly fewer years. These releases are not required by law. Statements made by some Democrats that “(Mitt) Romney is the first major party candidate for president of the United States in modern times not to release at least 12 years of tax returns,” have been rated false by Politifact. According to FactCheck.org, John McCain is the only other recent major party nominee who has released just two years of returns, and we'd "have to go back more than 30 years" to find another "major party nominee who released less than five years of tax returns".

PolitiFact states that several major presidential candidates have released fewer than 12 tax returns:
 * In 2008, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton released seven, and John McCain released only two.
 * In 2000, George W. Bush released nine and Al Gore released eight.
 * In 1988, Michael Dukakis released six.
 * In 1980, Ronald Reagan released only one.

Starting in 1977, all sitting presidents and vice-presidents have released their current tax returns, and challengers to incumbents have generally matched the incumbent in the number of returns publicly released.

During Mitt Romney's previous campaigns for public office, an unsuccessful bid to become a senator from Massachusetts, a successful run for the governorship in 2002, and a presidential campaign in 2008, he has released required financial disclosures about his assets, but not income tax returns.

At the beginning of his 2012 presidential campaign Romney stated, “I don’t intend to release the tax returns. I don’t.” But he released his 2010 return and 2011 estimated return on January 24, 2012 following challenges by Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry.

During the Republican primary debate in South Carolina Newt Gingrich stated, prior to Romney's release of any tax returns at all: “Look, he’s got to decide and the people of South Carolina have to decide. But if there’s anything in there that is going to help us lose the election, we should know it before the nomination. And if there’s nothing in there — if there’s nothing in there, why not release it?” During the same debate Romney pledged  "I'll release multiple years. I don't know how many years. And -- but I'll be happy to do that." Gingrich believes that 2 years of tax returns are enough. The earliest return that Gingrich himself released was his 2010 return.

During the presidential campaign, Romney declined to disclose additional returns citing the matter as a distraction from more important issues, despite calls to do so by Democrats and several notable Republicans. He states “I’m simply not enthusiastic about giving them hundreds or thousands of more pages to pick through, distort and lie about.”

Romney stated on ABC television that he has been audited by the IRS, though he did not specify when the audit took place. His campaign did specify that "the audit did not result in a fine or penalty. Mitt Romney has fully complied with U.S. law and he has paid 100 percent of what he has owed," and that the audit did not take place in the last ten years.

Media speculation
Though nothing can be known for sure without the release of Romney's tax returns, several large news organizations have speculated on the reasons for Romney's reluctance to release them. Business Week speculated on the possibility that Romney paid no income taxes in 2009. Tax lawyers Edward D. Kleinbard and Peter C. Canellos, commenting on CNN, focused on Romney's Swiss bank account, his $100 million IRA, which could have been funded by a maximum of $30,000 annually, and what they consider to be an unjustified tax-loophole for hedge fund managers. Tax law professor Michael Graetz commenting in the New York Times concentrated on the IRA, gift taxes to family trusts, and the use of tax havens such as the Cayman Islands and Bermuda. The New Yorker listed four possibilities: 1. Extremely high levels of income; 2. More offshore accounts; 3. Politically explosive investments; and 4. A very, very low tax rate.

The Obama campaign has suggested that in some years Romney may not have paid any taxes, but on August 16, 2012 Romney said that he has paid at least 13 percent annually on his federal income tax returns for the last ten years. The average American family with income between $50,000 and $75,000 a year pays 12.8 percent annually. Romney's income was about $21 million in 2010.

In 1982 Romney invested in a tax shelter called the Gem Plan, which involved purchasing 5 new homes in Houston suburbs. The housing market, however, soon collapsed and it proved difficult to sell the houses. In 2010 Romney continued to receive interest income from a mortgage he offered to the residents of one of the houses who was unable to quality for a loan.

Reactions
Republicans who have urged Romney to release his tax returns include former Mississippi governor Haley Barbour, Michael Steele, and Bill Kristol. George Will said "The cost of not releasing the returns are clear. Therefore, he must have calculated that there are higher costs in releasing them." Republican strategist Matthew Dowd said, "There's obviously something there, because if there was nothing there, he would say, ‘Have at it.' So there's obviously something there that compromises what he said in the past about something." Donald Trump suggested that Romney release additional returns after Obama releases his college transcripts.

The Romney campaign has stated that Democrats will keep on asking for more of Romney's returns no matter how many he releases. When Jim Messina, Obama campaign manager stated that they would only seek five years returns, Romney rejected the offer.

In an TV interview, Romney told ABC's David Muir that he didn't know offhand if he'd ever paid a rate lower than the 13.9% he paid in 2010, suggested that he would look into it, and reiterated that he paid all the taxes required by law.

In an interview in the Huffington Post, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Democrat, Nevada, said that he had received information from an unidentified investor in Bain Capital that Romney didn't pay any taxes for 10 years. The accusation was repeated on the Senate floor by Reid on August 2, 2012. On the following Sunday's political morning talk shows, the allegation was characterized by Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican, South Carolina, as unfounded and made up. Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee characterized Reid as a "dirty liar." According to CBS News, Romney stated, "Let me also say, categorically, I have paid taxes every year -- and a lot of taxes. So Harry is simply wrong." PolitiFact.com's Truth-O-Meter rated the accusation as "Pants on Fire!" CBS also reported that Romney had submitted 23 years of tax returns to the John McCain campaign in 2008, when he was being vetted for the vice presidential nomination. Although McCain did not review all the tax returns himself, he stated "Nothing in these tax returns showed that he did not pay taxes."

Paul Ryan, Romney's presumptive vice presidential running mate, released two years of tax returns, after having several years examined by the Romney campaign. He paid 15.9% of his income in federal taxes in 2010 and 20% in 2011, more than Romney.

Public opinion
Polls have shown most Americans favor Mitt Romney releasing his tax returns. According to a USA Today/Gallup poll, 54 percent of Americans favored Romney releasing more than two years of tax returns. In the same poll 47 percent of Americans said that what might be in the returns was "largely irrelevant to voters."

In a Public Policy Polling poll, it was found that 61 percent of Americans said Romney should release more returns. As well, 56 percent of voters wanted Romney to release information regarding bank accounts in Switzerland and Bermuda.

External links and further reading

 * "In Superrich, Clues to What Might Be in Romney’s Returns"

=Mitt Romney physics jokes= Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has had numerous physics jokes named after him in the wake of the 2012 Presidential election. These include Josh Marshall's Schrödinger's Romney, The New York Times's Quantum Theory of Mitt Romney, , and Daily Kos's Mitt's Boson. The jokes are satirically used as physics explanations for Romney's perceived flip-flopping or lying on numerous issues.

=2012 Zombie controversy= The 2012 Zombie controversy sometimes called the "Zombie apocalypse"  is an internet and media controversy surrounding a string of macabre incidents which resemble "Zombie"-like characteristics. Beginning with the Miami cannibalism incident, reports have grown to numerous incidents which have created controversy and speculation.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDS) was asked about the incident to which it responded that it "does not know of a virus or condition that would reanimate the dead (or one that would present zombie-like symptoms)."

It has been suggested that the controversy is because of the popularity of Zombies in popular culture as well as the difficult conditions facing people in the 2008–2012 recession.

Overview of "zombie" incidents
After the initial incident in Miami where Rudy Eugene ate 75%-80% of the face of Ronald Poppo, a homeless man, there has been a series of other gory incidents.
 * 2012 Miami cannibalism incident, Rudy Eugene eats the face of Ronald Poppo.


 * A manhunt is launched for Luka Rocco Magnotta, who is suspected of sending a severed body parts to different political parties in Canada.


 * Alexander Kinyua admitted to eating his roomate's heart and part of his brain in Maryland.


 * Wayne Carter cut his chest and threw pieces of his intestines at police.

Media and internet reaction
In the wake of the incidents, The term "zombie" has been the second highest trending topic on Google trends.

The Daily Beast created a Google Map of various "zombie" or related odd incidents.