HOW FRUSTRATING...

     As a user of a free service, I perhaps ought not complain. Yet I find it strange that the Google uploader has arbitrarily changed my blog's header color from

This

to

That

 I've tried doing an end-run through Photobucket and that's the result being used for now which still isn't right. Blogspot via the Google uploader can't quite seem to understand this color anymore even though it once did. Bizarre.

And of course, this is what I get for trying to mess with my template's layout. This isn't the first time this has happened either. In fact, it's why my blog looks like it does now in the first place (not sure if I have any screencaps from the original setup).

I wonder how it will look when I post?

ATB QUARTER MINTAGES: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

     I thought I would do annual posts for the America the Beautiful (ATB) Quarter program to compare its mintages to the prior State Quarter program. This will be the first entry covering the years 2010-2013 and presumably each year afterward will get entries but we're working on the assumption that I will be keeping at this blogspot for years to come and that Google will not force me to use my real name on here at some point in which case I will be so out of here.

     Anyhow, the State Quarter program had an enormous total mintage from 1999-2009 of just slightly less than the total quarter production from the years 1965-1998. Almost half of all quarters made are state quarters which is both a reflection of inflation and a(n unsubstantiated) rumored production mandate that required no less than 300 million quarters per design (I guess one for every American). It kind of bears out because the lowest annual production never went below two billion (1½ billion would meet the alleged requirement) and the lowest State Quarter mintage was Oklahoma at 416.6 million pieces. The Territorial Quarters made in 2009, which was an addendum to the State Quarter program, apparently did not carry this mandate so that they, in combination with a weak economy, produced a total mintage of less than 800 million over six designs rather than the State Quarter expected production of 1.8 billion.

     The ATB Quarter program, like the Territorial Quarters, is also said to lack this production mandate and reduced mintages have been the norm for some time now. Only in 2013 did mintages start rising overall indicating that the glut of State Quarters produced may have finally passed through the system. Mintages for the first two years rivaled production of the quarters following the no mintmark years of 1965-1967. Those mintages were high to replace the silver coins rapidly disappearing from the marketplace. Mintages from 1968-1971 were low by comparison with typical subsequent years.
     The lowest single mint production for quarters ever was 101.5 million pieces and that honor goes to 1968-D. Clad quarter production (those quarters made after 1964 containing no silver whatsoever) has never had a mintage below 100 million per mint. But that didn't mean ATB quarters weren't low. While individual designs blew that 101.5 million mark out of the water (the Acadia National Park [ME] from the Denver mint as of now has the lowest mintage at 21.606 million pieces), I don't look at them that way. I'm looking at ANNUAL mintages and unless something happens in the coming years, it appears the record-holder for the ATB quarters is 2010-D with 173.4 million quarters produced. Both 2011 and 2012 had contendership written all over them at the start of the year but would lose out due to a sudden surge in production for the final design of the year.

      Anyways, to the point of this entry:

All ATB quarters produced to date have not yet even exceeded the total mintage of the first year of State Quarter production. In 1999, the Philadelphia mint produced 2.23 billion quarters and the Denver mint produced 2.21 billion quarters for a total mintage of 4.44 billion quarters.
     Total mintage for Delaware was 774.8 million pieces
     Total mintage for Pennsylvania was 707.3 million pieces
     Total mintage for New Jersey was 662.2 million pieces
     Total mintage for Georgia was 939.9 million pieces
     Total mintage for Connecticut was 1,346.6 million pieces

     The total production of 2010 ATB quarters was 173.6 million from the Philadelphia mint and 173.4 million from the Denver mint for a total of 347 million quarters which is only about 44.79% of Delaware's mintage. An entire year's worth of ATB quarter production did not even exceed the first State Quarter's mintage. In fact, it didn't even exceed the 373.4 million Philadelphia mintage of Delaware quarters (the lower of the two mints).

To recap, 2010-dated quarters are:
Of 1999 total: 7.82% with DE: 44.79% - PA: 0% - NJ: 0% - GA: 0% - CT: 0%
Of total 1965-1998 quarter production (37,463 million pieces): 0.926%
Of total State Quarter production (1999-2009 : 35,451.2 million pieces): 0.979%
Of total clad quarter production (1965-2013): 0.459% [about 1 in 218 quarters will be dated 2010]

     The total production of 2011 ATB quarters was 196.2 million from the Philadelphia mint and 195 million from the Denver mint for a total of 391.2 million quarters. 2011 was looking to be lower than 2010's production but Chickasaw Park [OK] came out with a mintage more than double the average prior design that year ruining its chance for the record.
     Again, the total production for the year did not exceed the first State Quarter's mintage nor does the combined production for the two years (738.2 million) although it does come close at about 95.28% of Delaware's mintage.

To recap, ATB quarters produced to date are:
Of 1999 total: 16.63% with DE: 95.28% - PA: 0% - NJ: 0% - GA: 0% - CT: 0% 
2011-dated quarters are: 
Of total 1965-1998 quarter production: 1.04%
Of total State Quarter production (1999-2009): 1.1%
Of total clad quarter production (1965-2013): 0.517% [about 1 in 193 quarters will be dated 2011]

     The total production of 2012 ATB quarters was 254.2 million from the Philadelphia mint and 313.8 million from the Denver mint for a combined total of 568 million quarters. 2012 was set to be the lowest of all. The first three designs were 72.6 million (P) and 68.606 million (D) respectively. Had the trend continued, the final production totals may have been 121 million (P) and 115 million (D) but Hawai'i Volcanoes [HI] went up (46.2 million (P)/78.6 million (D)) and Denali [AK] exploded (135.4 million (P)/166.6 million (D)) ruining 2012's chance at a production level not seen since 1969 and possibly lowest of all if mintages had continued to drop.
      Anyways, 2012 would be the year which exceeded the Delaware mintage. The honor went to the first design of the year, Puerto Rico's El Yunque Forest. Its total mintage of 50.8 million quarters put the total production of ATB quarters to date at 789 million pieces making it 101.83% of Delaware's mintage. We're now eating into Pennsylvania's total and it only took eleven designs to get there!
      The combined production totals for 2010-2012 were 1,306.2 million pieces.

To recap, ATB quarters produced to date are:
Of 1999 total: 29.4% with DE: 100% - PA: 75.1% - NJ: 0% - GA: 0% - CT: 0%
2012-dated quarters are: 
Of total 1965-1998 quarter production: 1.52%
Of total State Quarter production (1999-2009): 1.6%
Of total clad quarter production (1965-2013): 0.751% [about 1 in 133 quarters will be dated 2012]

     The total production of 2013 ATB quarters was 650.8 million from the Philadelphia mint and 804.4 million from the Denver mint for a combined 1,455.2 million quarters. Based on production totals from the 1990s, 2013 represents the resumption of normal quarter production.
     The first design of the year, White Mountain [NH] (68.8 million (P)/107.6 million (D)), pushes the production of ATB quarters to 100.07% of Pennsylvania's mintage and the fourth design, Ft. McHenry [MD] (120 million (P)/151.4 million (D)), pushed the production of ATB quarters to 117.05% of New Jersey's mintage. The final design for 2013, Mount Rushmore [SD], is eating into Georgia's mintage.
     That means it took eleven designs to surpass Delaware's mintage, five more to exceed Pennsylvania's mintage, and only three more to go beyond New Jersey's mintage. Production is clearly accelerating. How many more designs will it take to overcome Georgia's mintage?
     The combined production totals for 2010-2013 are 2,761.4 million pieces.

To recap, ATB quarters produced to date are:
Of 1999 total: 62.2% with DE: 100% - PA: 100% - NJ: 100% - GA: 65.67% - CT: 0%
2013-dated quarters are: 
Of total 1965-1998 quarter production: 3.88%
Of total State Quarter production (1999-2009): 4.11%
Of total clad quarter production (1965-2013): 1.92% [about 1 in 52 quarters will be dated 2013]

     I suspect 2014 will be the year which finally surpasses 1999's production. This is also why you haven't been seeing too many ATB quarters in your change. The first four years of production have not even equaled the first year of State Quarter production. Almost half the ATB program is likely to have passed before this landmark is achieved.

ADDENDUM: Oh, and since you may have been made curious...

Of all quarters made from 1965-2013:
1965-1998 clad quarters make up 49.5% of the total [about 1 in 2 quarters]
State Quarters make up 46.85% of the total [about 1 in 2 quarters]
1999-dated quarters make up 5.87% of the total [about 1 in 17 quarters]
ATB Quarters from 2010-2013 make up 3.65% of the total [about 1 in 27 quarters]

DEGREES OF PREGNANCY

     I forgot which article I was reading when I had this quick thought but I know what it stems from. It's the idea that all pregnancies carried to term are treated the same regardless of the reason behind it. In often angry comments, there's no reason ever to excuse a man from his responsibilities for an unwanted pregnancy.

     Reasons such as, but not necessarily limited to, "if you're gonna have sex, you have to accept the consequences" or "the only way to avoid an unwanted pregnancy is to not have sex" or "if you didn't want to have kids then you shouldn't have been having sex" and other kinds of admonishments that miss the point.

     These are all valid reasons...to a degree. But they also fail because the choice whether or not to have sex is not really in our machinery. It's a hardwired evolutionary imperative. It's why we're here. You don't really get to choose. The fact that we've learned to subvert evolution somewhat via contraceptives shows that the need for sex cannot be subdued. Abstinence is not a valid option, it's more the result of a lack of opportunity and I'd motion that those who do willfully abstain are closer to the mentally insane than those who unwillfully abstain.

      And it's really hard to have this conversation with anyone, especially women. I think what bugs me about it is the man really has no choice in the matter. The ability to carry a pregnancy to term or to abort is solely the decision of the woman. No man can force her to give birth when he wants the baby and she does not. The power dynamic is one-sided to an extreme degree. Half the time, the man gets what he wants and 100% of the time, the woman gets what she wants.

      And it is from that discussion where the admonishments referred to above come in. And I think because of the emotions inherent in this matter, it is not possible to discuss what I am thinking unless we use an analogue.

      Now understand, this is rough, unpolished thinking. This is not an actual argument but merely the seeds for one. My analogue is with murder. Murder comes in degrees as well as categories. Why can't pregnancy come in degrees as well and have the child support owed, if any, be determined by these degrees? Because I agree, once a child is born responsibility must be borne by both parents.

AN UNPUBLISHED DRAFT NOW BEING PUBLISHED...

ADDENDUM: I wrote the following thoughts on December 17, 2013. I'm in no mood to make these drafts into coherent posts. These were just some free-form thoughts that I had intended to go back to no more than a few days later but never got back to. The momentum is gone, not only from this post but perhaps this blog itself. I don't know how it would've turned out otherwise, but here's a sample of how I think...

~~~~~~~~~

The wall separating our working lives from our private lives has become anywhere from translucent to transparent thanks to the internet. I find it strange that there has been no mass protest in this country to oppose the thinning of this separation. It has allowed employers to keep an unreasonable amount of tabs on their employees through direct spying and snitching.

We are told to live in a state of constant fear as a result. Do not post what you would not want your boss to find out they say. People, especially teachers, have been fired for behavior done prior to their professional lives and during their professional lives even though it was all engaged in during their free time.

The concept of free time seems to be fast becoming a "thing of the past" and this terrifies me. Imagine if the wall separating church and state were again made transparent and you had to join the state religion. To stand up for your beliefs would cost you your livelihood (at best) or even your life (at worst). Your only alternative choice is to defy yourself and what you feel is right. No one would stand for that anymore knowing their beliefs could one day become the "wrong" beliefs. It's why the government in the Constitution is forbidden from sponsoring a state church...but we allow employers to effectively sponsor employer-based churches (example related to ACA-Obamacare) whereby the employer's beliefs are imposed upon their (usually female) employees. This is decried, but the loss of Freedom of Speech ("controversial" opinion posts) and Right to Peaceably Assemble (photos from a bachelorette party let's say) is not.

We are told we are now always on the clock. Everything we say represents our company. No longer are we free citizens. Accepting a paycheck is tantamount to checking your U.S. citizen rights at the door. Accepting a paycheck also means being on the clock for 24 hours while only getting paid for 8.

Related things: why is e-mail considered a separate thing from mail? Does no one who is not a legislator or HR director think that e-mail is not deserving of the same privacy protection as paper envelopes? The same applies to calls made by cellphone versus those made by landline. Does anyone besides those two groups actually feel cellphone calls are okay to tap without a warrant. GPS also applies, as does EZ-Pass. Why have we tolerated the thinning of these walls?

Rage began from #12 unpodcast "Your Tweets Are Not Your Own"

Controversial speech and ideas are the ones which need the most protection but they are the first to get you fired...

Link back to prior posts about teachers/students getting in trouble and NRA-type group for 1st Amendment.

It opens up the possibility of a world whereby employees must belong to the same political party as their boss and vote their boss's way too. Employees should have the same religion and tastes as their employer. I'm curious, if a man working for Coca-Cola was spotted drinking a Pepsi at a party, is that grounds for his termination...or even being associated with Pepsi (assuming he's not drinking any)? An employee who is on the clock is a worker, but off the clock is a potential customer. An employer should want his employees to also be customers, but should that not be earned rather than assumed? Is an employee allowed to consume the products and services of a rival? Why is employee behavior both on and off the clock subject to the morality of his employer, or more generally (when snitching is involved) why is employee behavior subject to the capricious whims of the most conservative person in the room? Why are the most conservative people (or financially well off) the sole arbiters of what is right and wrong?

Yet strangely, none of this has provoked rioting.  The solution seems to be unionization and guilds (for professionals). Protection via a union and tenure may be the only way to protect the rights of U.S. citizens from being taken away by their unelected, non-governmental bosses. Because after all, one day your boss might be liberal and accepting and your next boss could be a stick-in-the-mud conservative. Is that any different than having a laissez-faire king who is tolerant of any religious expression being replaced upon his death by a new king demanding the citizenry now all be say Protestant? Is it fair? I don't know. But so long as earning money to make a living is not optional I don't see how threatening a person's livelihood for expressing their 1st Amendment rights (or any Constitutional rights) is any more fair or in any way American. Job retention should be determined solely by competence.

OVERTHINKING THINGS THEATRE PRESENTS: Ye Olde Gay Marriage

     One of those thoughts had the other day in a random discussion. Did gay and lesbian couples "back in the day" who also happened to be good friends with each other ever do an end run around the marriage issue by swapping partners and marrying each other to get the tax breaks and keep up appearances with their respective families?

     Maybe even buy a two-family house?

     It seems far-fetched but I have to wonder if it's been done at least once.

     That is all :-P