Ok, so here’s the median income chart, not to be confused with the median household income chart, below. I stopped at 2005 because I’m unclear about the 2006 figure, available in a separate table ($30,428 would seem to be too high a jump, but maybe not).

As indicated in the comments, if there is a burger-flipping army invading U.S. households, that could explain the rise in median household income but would probably drag down median personal income. Let’s see if that’s the case:

Nope, doesn’t look like it. But maybe the burger flipping army is really raking it in these days. Hey, and this might be evidence!

More income and info and useful charts are available here.

What you will find if you look at the numbers from an apolitical viewpoint is that median income has taken a hit over the past decade. Okay, so there are more people working as burger flippers and burger flippers are making more money. Big freaking deal!

- John Farmer

Hmm, let’s see about that:

Farmer’s analysis doesn’t seem to fit the data.

UPDATE: Thanks to karrde in the comments, I’ve corrected the graph’s key.

UPDATE II: Added stretchy purple line.

While we’re doing graphs, here’s another chart I’ve been following. Since 2003, the unemployment rate has dropped steadily at a rate nearly identical to that during the Clinton years. The blue line at left (1992-2001) has simply been cloned in Photoshop and nudged right (that’s why the second line extends beyond the border).

UPDATE: Corrected the dates at top.

The Census Bureau has released the poverty rate for 2006, “showing the first significant decline since President Bush took office.” This is something I’ve been charting for a while. Here’s what I wrote last year:

According to the press release, America’s poverty rate in 2005 was “statistically unchanged” over the previous year, though if you check the historical table you will see that the percent has dropped from 12.7 to 12.6, indicating that we may have reached a cycle peak in 2004.

Thankfully, my assumption appears to have been correct, with 2004 representing a cycle peak.

In 2006, the U.S. Poverty Rate fell another 0.3 points to 12.3, which mirrors the 6-year average during Bush’s presidency. That means the table below remains unchanged, and the current administration continues to enjoy the fourth-best poverty rate since we began tracking it in 1959.

Poverty Average By Presidency (1959-2006):
Ford: 11.77
Carter: 11.93
Nixon: 12.04
*GWB: 12.32
Clinton: 13.29
GHWB: 13.83
Reagan: 14.08
Johnson: 15.60
Kennedy: 20.80
**Ike: 22.30

*(2001-2006)
**(1959-1960)

I didn’t know you played guitar! Do you still play?

The short answer to your question, Mike, is no.

A more complete answer is yes, I still have a guitar, and occasionally I pick it up and play a few of my songs, but I don’t really know what I’m doing, and probably never will.

I got an electric guitar for Christmas in my senior year of high school, the one you can see in this photo of Simon’s Function, our pathetic punk band.

Is that a real Stratocaster?

No, it’s a Squire, or perhaps a Squire knockoff, I don’t remember for sure. Whatever mom could afford. But I was thrilled with it. So that was the guitar I used to teach myself Green Day and Nirvana songs. I did buy a real Strat one summer in college, but I eventually sold it and replaced it with a cheap Fender acoustic.

I took a semester guitar class at the University, but I learned very little, and for my final exam all I had to do was play “Frosty the Snowman.” I wish I were kidding.

A few years ago, I added an electric Epiphone Alleykat to my collection. I’ve since tried to sell it, but Guitar World won’t give me much more than a pat on the back for it. I originally bought it thinking I would be playing and recording quite a bit with some guys I met in 2001 and jammed with occasionally until 2004 or 2005. We recorded a couple dozen tracks under the name Spaceface. We even played two live shows, both for HopeWorks charity talent shows held at my church.

Members of Spaceface included:
Caleb — recording, mixing, production, guitars, vocals, keyboard, etc
Doyne — guitar, bass, drums, vocals
Mark — guitar, vocals
Mick — guitar, vocals

If it hadn’t been for my reticence and profound lack of skill, we probably would have played some real concerts. The other guys were good enough, and experienced enough, to have done it. But, as I saw it, there were three main problems:

1. I was forced into the lead vocal role, being the least skilled with every other instrument, though I can’t sing, either.

2. I couldn’t really play guitar, aside from punk riffs and sloppy rhythm. And last but not least,

3. The songs I wrote typically included only one verse and had a measly little one-line chorus, if that.

Between 1996 and 2005 I wrote more than 50 songs, song-poems, song fragments and riffs, with the majority of them created in 2002 and 2003 when Spaceface was recording together. Around 2005 or so, Doyne moved to another state and I fell out of touch with Mark. Then Caleb moved to Nashville. So I’m thankful to have the recordings we made together; listening to them always brings back good memories.

I know you’re just dying to hear some examples, so I picked out some fairly representative recordings to satisfy your curiosity, 15 in total. All of these tracks are courtesy of, and made possible by, Caleb’s Orange Room Studio.

NoOneElse (1997) “Since you lost your mind, you’ve been someone else.” This song is loosely about my confusion and grief following the suicide of my art teacher in high school. I’m still pretty happy with the way the recording turned out, even though it gets off beat and we were forced to drop the drum track near the end. Caleb added echo effects to the vocals that make it somewhat haunting. LINK

Leaving (1997) “I’m just trying to do what’s right.” One of my favorite things about Spaceface was how we recorded each other’s songs, added vocals and guitar parts, etc. Caleb made some pretty outstanding solo covers of songs written by Mark, but this is one of mine that he recorded. It’s about a girl I was absolutely crazy about in high school, but when Caleb recorded it, he was actually going through something much worse and (unfortunately) more appropriate. LINK

Send Me High (1997) “Whisper nonsense in my ear.” The first part of this song was written by Stacy (far right), but I never learned the whole song, so I added some suicidal lyrics to fill it out a little. Then Caleb added the funky beat. No cowbell, though. LINK

Repent (1998) “See you again when the leaves have fallen.” Doyne covers one of mine, though he didn’t know all of the lyrics. It’s ok, though, because this one’s not about anything in particular. That last, slightly-ironic guitar note is just signature Doyne; you can actually hear him smirking. LINK

Lips (1999) “As they survey the globe…” I wrote Lips during my last Summer spent in Des Moines, before my senior year in college. This was the first song of mine that Caleb heard me play, and what initially sparked his interest in recording with me. I think it was also the first song we really did anything with, filling it out and adding the drum track, etc. At the time I thought it was the coolest thing in the world, but listening back now, my vocals are so horrible that I can hardly stand to listen to it. LINK

Drown (2001) “I try to calm you down — you won’t go.” Originally known as “New Riff 1,” we recorded a very raw version of this song along with a string of other demos with me on vocals and guitar. But then Doyne and Caleb went back and made this rocking version; it still puts a huge smile on my face. LINK

Vacant (2002) “Got a dollar, we’ll take it off.” This recording is actually one of Mark’s riffs, with me ad libbing some vocals and adding a guitar track. The story is told from the point of view of a prostitute. LINK

27 (2002) “Don’t it feel good to be alive?” I wasn’t yet 27 at the time, but I was having a quarter-life crisis, and I was afraid my life would be basically over once I got there. This one also has some little political references, which I always enjoy. LINK

Constant Dream (2002) “Find my way into the office, hide behind my seat.” I’m fascinated with dreams, I almost always remember them, and I write them down. So this song has me daydreaming about dreams, daydreaming and death. LINK

They Will Follow You (2002) “Eyes that look on empty land.” I was listening to Beck’s Sea Change album nonstop when I wrote this. For whatever reason I generally write songs and poetry that totally contradict my beliefs and values. I guess it’s more fun that way. But this one is more straight-forward. LINK

Abby (2002) “It’s everything we feared.” This song is about a little girl who is diagnosed with a rare, terminal disease. I wrote it about three years before my niece Abby was born, so now I don’t like to play it anymore. LINK

Faith On The Water (2002) “Face’n the tempest…” My vocals on this song were atrocious, so Caleb was kind enough to record this one for me. It’s about Simon Peter, and all of us who doubt God, written from Jesus’ point of view. LINK

Summer Couldn’t Come Too Soon (2003) “Children roaming the floor…” I write down some words and e-mail them to Mark, and just a few hours later, to my total astonishment, Mark sends me this completed, fully produced mp3. Yes, some of the words don’t fit, but it’s one of the most amazing things I’ve ever heard. Maybe you had to be there. LINK

I’ve Been Told (2004) “Life will take its toll on everyone.” I wrote this in my head while driving to the bookstore one evening, which may or may not explain anything. LINK

Peace Corps (2005) “I’ve been working at the drug store that sits on every corner.” Who says a song needs more than a single, two-line verse and a one-line chorus?!! Not me. If this were a real song, it would be about the desperation I felt while being unemployed after college and then making slightly more than minimum wage at Walgreens. LINK

Someone is spamming the Memphis blogs with links to Carol Chumney’s website. This person’s IP address is 74.226.67.#

Autoegocrat and others examining Romans 13 in response to this story might want to read David Barton’s review of the alternative theological interpretation of that passage, an understanding of the scripture as shared by the American Revolutionaries:

[U]nder the Framers’ understanding of Romans 13, the American Revolution was not an act of anarchy and rebellion; rather it was an act of resistance to a government which violated the Biblical purposes for which God had ordained civil government.

As for the other questions at hand:

Q. Do I have an objection to clergy members helping the government maintain order and assuage the public in the aftermath of a “nuclear, biological or chemical attack on U.S. soil,” or following a natural disaster?

A. I do not.

Q. On the other hand, would I allow a pastor or priest to confiscate my firearms or strip away any other measure of self-defense, as apparently happened during the state of emergency in the city of New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina?

A. No, I would not (that is, if I were armed in the first place), for some of the same reasons our founders maintained their own armament, and in light of that very same interpretation of scripture.

…that once upon a time:

I dyed and bleached my hair regularly.
I considered myself a “Christian punk.”
I taught myself how to play guitar by reading Green Day tabs.
I was in a band called Simon’s Function.
While being honored by the Kiwanis Club, I was asked by the host, “What is Simon’s Function?”
“I don’t know,” came my reply, to uproarious laughter (unexpected by me).
I was one of the only openly conservative, pro-life, Republican kids at my high school.
I was the ONLY kid as described above who also wore Hole t-shirts and painted his fingernails black.
I was elected Senior Class Vice President instead of a popular cheerleader.
I regretted winning after she was hurt in a serious car accident (she’s fine now).
I was involved with the swim team, the debate team, the student newspaper and the art club, and yet I still felt isolated and alone most of the time.
I lived in a black neighborhood, in a little house that officially cost us $1 through a government assistance program (though we were responsible for fixing it up).
My step-dad at the time was a paraplegic man who could only speak in grunts and growls (and yet we still understood him).

You learn something new every day.

My thanks go to the faithful readers who have made inquiries about my state of continued existence, or lack thereof. I am indeed alive, at least I am at the moment. I guess it has been a while since I’ve gone a full week without blogging, having kept a moderate pace since relaunching this site. Looking at my archive list, it appears I’ve been posting about every other day on average.

We’ve had a busy week, with friends staying with us, hanging out and experiencing Memphis. New things recently encountered: The Avenue Carriage Crossing, The National Civil Rights Museum and Big Foot Lodge.

I haven’t been totally offline, though; I did add a new feature to the sidebar on the homepage — a box containing my “shared items” from Google Reader. I plan to keep that updated with links I find interesting but either don’t have time to write about or anything particularly noteworthy to add. At the bottom of the sidebar, I also added a link to the Victory Caucus website, which I wholeheartedly endorse.

I do have a backlog of topics to write about and post, though, as you can imagine. I want to tell you about some ideas I’ve been pondering, share some goals I’ve set for myself, and make some changes to this blog and the attitude or voice I bring to it.

For starters, one thing I’ve been thinking about this week and have decided to do: I want to apologize to the Ron Paul supporters I mocked in a recent post. I feel bad about it, and I want you to know that I’m sorry I offended you. I might have gotten a few chuckles out of that post, and maybe a few more visitors and links, but I’ve decided that I don’t want to go down that road anymore. I want to be more positive and more constructive in my approach and in my writing about politics, as well as other topics. I won’t take down that post or any others like it, because I consider site scrubbing unethical, and neither will I compromise my principles and ideas I think are right or abandon my humor, but I will pledge to try to be more positive from here forward.

I’ve also been working behind the scenes on some other web projects, which you might know about… if you were a member of the Butter Cowncil, this blog’s volunteer advisory board. Just this morning, I received verification from and swore in the first Cowncilor. You, too, can join the Cowncil by simply donating ANY AMOUNT to the charity of your choice (some restrictions apply) and sending me a copy of the receipt.

More later…

UPDATE: Welcome, StumbleUpon users. I’m not sure why you’re here, but thanks for stopping by!