2580 Algore's vision of the future without harmful emissions
Just kidding. These photos of North Korea were taken recently by a Russian web designer. Text has been translated.
HT Purpleslog
Friday, June 16, 2006
2579 Finances, taxes, consumerism and materialism--what I've blogged
This isn't everything, but it may take a while to find them all.
Alternative Minimum Tax Creep
The burden of student loans
Buy real food
Cashing in on going green
Charitable gifts Joe Biden
Charity CEOs’ salaries
College costs
Coupons TT
Debt management groups
Depression, Great
Donating to the United Way
Economy sad stories
Entitlement crisis
Ethanol and the energy crisis
Families in economic statistics
Fannie Mae
Fees, taxes and surcharges on utilities
Food stamps--what they will buy
The free breakfast
Gambling--the house always wins
Household income
Income tax preparation
Index of Economic Freedom
Love and Money
Loyalty card rant
The marriage gap and poverty
Material well-being of Americans
Minimum wage smoke screen
Mortgages and discipline
New face of homelessness
Petroleum based products--it's not just gasoline
Poverty in America
Poverty series, yet another one
Poverty, who helps
Retiree organizations
Send Mom on a cruise
Six figure incomes--I feel their pain
Social Security
Student debt
Student loans
Taxes--Obama's Plan to save the economy
Taxes, Do the Rich pay their fair share
Thrifty food plan
Vacation home taxes
Wal-Mart and Ted Kennedy
Wal-Mart’s low prices help the poor
Wealth distribution
What I know about wealth and poverty
Why coupons don’t save you money
Why librarians salaries are low
Women’s wage myths
Worst Economy in 70 years
Young people in debt
Excerpts
"Liberals don't want the poor to be happy; they want them to be angry and feeling victimized--dependent on the government and Democrats for special programs. Not programs that lift them out of the bottom quintile, mind you, but programs that keep them right there where they belong--as their power base. The left is getting very aggressive with law suits against WalMart--and it's not just their deep pockets they're lusting for, they truly want WalMart to fail. Gimme back my po' folk!." Wal-Mart’s low prices help the poor
"My gripe is simple: Ellie Kay writes a column on finances, and the question she is responding to is about how to save money on food. According to the question, this family of four spends $700 a month on food. So how does Ellie Kay respond? She claims her family saved more than $8,000 last year on food and household goods by using, 1) manufacturers' coupons, 2) double coupons, 3) store coupons, 4) loss leaders, 5) price comps, 6) sales and clearances, and 7) comparison shopping.
Wrong, wrong, wrong. She's dancing with the guy who brung her. The advertisers. Food companies are not in business to give away their products, but she knows that most American shoppers believe they are. She knows that food companies are heavy advertisers in Meredith's publications." Why coupons don’t save you money
"Whenever you hear liberals whining that the rich aren't paying their share, but they will if we just increase taxes (like Friedman talking about raising gasoline taxes to reduce driving, which would probably hurt the poor the most), they ignore that the very wealthy can hire legions of accountants to protect them with all the loopholes Congress writes into the tax law, loopholes none of the the rest of us can qualify for or afford accountants and lawyers to interpret." Retiree organizations
2578 Student debt reply
Jody Minor gives this advice to the student (story in USAToday) at Rutgers who accumulated $116,000 of debt by graduation. "What did I do wrong?" the graduate whined? Mr. Minor supplies the answers in his letter making these points:1. You didn't have to attend an extremely expensive college.
2. You could have spread your education over more years.
3. You could have worked part time or full time.
4. You could have worked before applying for graduate school.
5. You could have scrimped and saved (like he did).
Incidentally, Mr. Minor's parents' income was too high for him to qualify for government induced debt, so he followed this outline and graduated in 5 years with zero debt.
Friday Family Photo
Even most of my family couldn't tell you how these two photos are related. I'm guessing the b & w is 1940, but I have no idea what the occasion was. The children are my paternal cousins Kirby* and Melvin, Evelyn and Jimmy, my uncles Derril and Gene (my father's brothers), my two sisters, my uncle Ken (dad's brother-in-law) and a family friend who I think was Bud Wilson (I'm sure if Dad were alive he could provide a positive ID). However, my cousin Gayle, who is a maternal cousin, is sitting in the front. So perhaps Mom was babysitting, and maybe she took the picture, because the format size looks like hers--and it was in her box of photos.But did they all get in that little car? Probably not. I'm thinking it was a family picnic--maybe the annual "Tennessee Reunion"--held at a farm, and the car was just parked along the road.
The second photo shows the children (with spouses) and grandhildren of my two sisters (who are in the b & w photo) almost 60 years later with my Mom in 1999. My niece Karen, who's the family photographer, set it up and then got in the back row.
*More about Kirby and his music career on Monday Memories next week.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
2576 Fat Doctor's Scary Story
This is one of the scariest stories I've ever read on a blog. In her defense, I'll add that at 37 she is recovering from a recent stroke.2575 Yet another poverty series
The Wall Street Journal is running another series on poverty. It is very anecdotal (they all are), but inserts statistics, like how the welfare rolls have fallen from 3.9 million in 1997 to 1.9 million in 2005. Or that 4% of the population was "rich" in 1969 and now 18% are rich. (I think that's supposed to be bad, even though the percentage of poor has also decreased since 1969, and most poor people desire to be rich.) The first installment was on hunger, despite a booming economy, and talked about "food-insecure" households. No mention of the millions of illegals with no education or family assets we're forced to absorb into the economy and government social services at the federal and local levels each year."Those who play by the rules ought not to be poor" is one of the most stubborn myths about the poor that I've ever read, but it is pervasive in our culture. I've personally been in four of the five quintiles, and we're moving back down because we are retired and living on pensions. But I think I read a U.S. Census site that provided 48 formulas to figure out if we are poor, so somewhere who knows, despite our wealth, we may be poor.
One hard and fast rule is, that if a woman graduates from high school, doesn't have children until she is 21, and marries the father of her children, she and her children have a very small chance of being poor. Women are in control of the poverty statistics in the United States. But does that mean if she's followed this rule she won't ever be poor? Of course not. What if she marries an alcoholic who's a good daddy, but a terrible employee with a spotty work record? What if she is a heavy smoker and develops a cardiovascular condition before she's 35 incurring big medical debts? What if she is obese, or is a hoarder? What if one of the children has ADHD or is mentally ill and she has to miss a lot of work for school counseling? What if her home was in Katrina's path and was underinsured? What if programs are available for her to better herself, but she as no desire to go to school--maybe she hated school?
Want to know why I was never in the top quintile? No desire. Nope. Not once did I want to put out the kind of effort required to be "rich." Now, maybe if I'd had the desire, and failed, I'd have been disappointed. But I thoroughly enjoyed a career as a librarian, being married to an architect, and those two professions are at the bottom for salaries based on years of education. I suppose one of the richest (in salary) librarians is the Librarian of Congress, and he isn't a real Librarian.
You can't sell newspapers with my life story.
2574 Desperate smoker counts pennies
For 5 days I've craved Frito's Corn Chips. I knew there was a Speedway store close to the church, so when I was on my morning mail run, I stopped and checked my resources. $.74. Safe, I thought--I don't have enough. But then I remembered the mitten (lost the other one) I keep with change for coffee emergencies. I dug around until I found it and took out two quarters. On my return trip, I slipped into a parking place and hurried into the store, found the chips and took them to the check-out. There stood a lady counting out pennies in piles of five from a little lozenge tin and a pack of cigarettes on the counter.Is this the pot calling the kettle black? At least I had quarters.
2573 Recruiters outnumber students in accounting
This week I'm puppy sitting because Abby, my daughter's Chihuahua has a big stapled incision. She's not happy to be here, and our cat isn't pleased either. BUT--to get to the point, I'd run out of newspapers to put under the "puppy pad," so on my walk yesterday I picked up a June 13, still-in-the-bag, Wall St. Journal, from a neighbor's recycle bin. As I was laying it down this morning I noticed the article "Student shortfall pushes up salaries." Actually, I can't tell if it is advertising or essay, but it quotes some interesting statistics.- Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) has caused firms to expand their audit departments.
SOX compliance is so tough, it is driving people out of the field.
Firms are losing 40% of their partners and senior managers in the "big four".
There's no one to replace them with the experience they need, so salaries are 30% higher than pre-SOX.
2006 base salaries for senior managers in public accounting firms range from $85,000 to $130,000 a year.
In the 1990s, mathematically minded students chose to major in business instead of accounting and headed for dot.com companies.
When Enron unraveled, interest dipped again.
There is now a campaign to interest high school students in this career field.
300 recruiters went to Notre Dame last fall to woo 125 graduates.
Women accountants tend to drop out to start a family around the time they would be up for partnerships, further reducing the pool. So companies are beefing up their services to attract and keep women (i.e., more babies will be left at day-care so mommy can get her partnership).
2572 Fraud proof identity cards
Holman W. Jenkins in yesterday's WSJ proposed a "fraud proof identity card" for ALL workers, not just immigrants. Setting aside all concerns about loss of privacy, 9 year olds would probably learn how to hack it faster than adult criminals, but there is no such thing. Can you imagine the chaos if everytime you moved or changed your phone number you had to go find the right government agency to reprogram your ID card? The government couldn't even issue credit cards to Katrina victims without losing billions to the crooks. And how about that "secure" information that was recently stolen on all veterans and current armed forces members? Whether it was an employee or a burglar who didn't realize what he was stealing, it definitely wasn't in good hands.Thursday Thirteen
13 things that puzzle me. It's not that I don't KNOW the answers, but I just don't get it. My WHY list is much longer than 13, but I can always do a second edition.1. Why people ride motorcycles--especially without helmets.
2. Why young women smoke--especially when they see the effects on the saggy, crepy, spotted skin and gravely voices of older women who have smoked over half their lives.
3. Why young people (up to 35) are always in such a hurry when they drive--they have a lot more time left on the clock than the rest of us.
4. Why people throw things out of car windows--pop bottles, dirty diapers, cigarettes, fast food containers.
5. Why women think it is so cool, sexy and attractive to swear, cuss and be loud potty mouths in public or on the internet.
6. Why women think moving in with the boyfriend (or moving him in) will be a sound foundation for marriage.
7. Why college students will go into massive debt for social science degrees, but then want CEO and scientist salaries when they look for jobs.
8. Why city zoning boards, urban planners and developers continue to approve neighborhoods with culs-de-sac (French for bottom of the bag) when they just create more traffic problems on the feeder roads.
9. Why rich people continue to build homes on coasts in hurricane paths and on fault lines.
10. Why the customer who calls is always more important than the customer standing there (me) waiting to check-out.
11. Why the relative/friend/employee who is always late thinks we still believe the excuses.
12. Why people adopt infants and/or give birth after years of trying and immediately both parents go back to work and let someone else raise it.
13. Why pet owners refer to themselves as "mommy" and "daddy" when baby-talking to an animal but won't take the "parental" responsibility to train it.
(If you participate, leave your link in the auto-link and it will post here, but please leave a comment.)
1. Lifecruiser 2. Lesly 3. Caryn 4. Christina 5. nat 6. mama kelly 7. Red Queen 8. Jo 9. Libragirl 10. nancy 11. Fida 12. EmilyRoseJewel 13. catherine 14. Margie Mix 15. Janet
16. Douglas V. Gibbs 17. Skittles 18. Lazy Daisy 19. Tess 20. Tey 21. Ma 22. Tricia 23. K T Cat 24. Wenchy 25. carmen 26. Write From Karen 27. Pink Chihuahua Princess 28. Wystful1 29. Stacy 30. Diane 31. Heather 32. Aginoth 33. Jacquelyn 34. Mary 35. KellyNello 36. mar 37. Christine 38. Jen 39. Susasn 40. dawn 41. Mary Horn 42. Peaches 43. Rosei
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
It's dead, Jim
Checking my blog links. These library blogs are dead, dying, struggling for content, or are totally discouraged. I'll have to think about unlinking.Distance Education Library
Blonde Librarian
Conservator
Excited utterances--merged into another site
Family Man Librarian--spotty, but has a good excuse
Feel Good Librarian--seems to be posting about once a month
Infinite Library--just plays games
Jay Kegley, no idea what happened to him
Lethal Librarian--not much since March
Right Wing Librarian--only occasionally posts, but there are so few of him, I'll probably keep the link up
Random Thoughts--does a meme on Friday
Sonderman--nothing since December about Google Scholar (the topic)
2569 How to write your Congressional representative about illegal immigration
It's important that you let your Representative know today that the Senate bill, (S. 2611)the largest immigration increase in U.S. history, was rushed and cobbled together in a paltry 500 pages and is a mess. NO bill is better."The House may take the unusual step of conducting hearings on the Senate's immigration bill, which includes the opportunity for citizenship for illegal immigrants, before negotiating on final legislation, House Speaker Dennis Hastert said Tuesday.
Hastert's position appeared to reflect a growing sense among some House Republicans that they are better off seeking re-election in November without a new immigration law than with a version that includes parts of the Senate's." Houston Chronicle
1. Make sure to use "The Honorable" before their names--even if you have to choke when you write it. (Senate zip is 20510 and House is 20515), i.e.
The Honorable Deborah Pryce
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
2. Write only your own elected official. If you live in Cleveland or LA, don't write Ms. Pryce. Letters sent to members of Congress for another district will be forwarded to yours "as a courtesy."
3. Identify yourself in the first paragraph, as well as your state and district, city or county where you vote. Please reserve profanity for your blog or the local pols.
4. Identify the bill by number and/or title. Remember, they have been trying to solve this immigration issue since WWII, so it's possible they've forgotten already, or were around in 1986 when they passed the last amnesty legislation which created even more illegals.
5. Be concise and brief. Specific and succinct letters are more persuasive and show respect for the official's time, even though they aren't showing you any. No longer than one typed page. Something longer and more specific than "You F-ing S-O-Bs", however.
6. Support your case. Citing my blog won't do it--200 hits a day hardly makes me an expert. But include relevant facts. No jokes. They've heard them all.
7. No form letters. You don't like them--why should they?
8. Suggest an alternative (like, No bill until you've at least read this one). These guys and gals aren't any more experts on this than you and I, and 30 years of legislation and hand wringing proves it.
9. Sign your name.
10. If you are SOMEBODY, include your title. It won't matter, but if they get to use "Honorable" you'll feel better if you have one too.
Addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers
2568 Thank you, Mr. President
"My message to the enemy is, don't count on us leaving before we succeed," Bush said. I took him along on my walk this morning listening to his address at the press conference after his Iraq trip. Now let the "Kos, Defect and Death" bloggers begin. I'm sure they aren't happy with anything they heard, particularly about how we're not going to abandon the Iraqi people (like we did the Vietnamese).Tuesday, June 13, 2006
2567 AMA Panel Says Physicians Cannot Ethically Participate in Prisoner Interrogations
"Helping with interrogations, including the planning of the interrogation or monitoring the prisoner with the "intention of intervening in the process" are actions that are outside the bounds of ethical behavior, CEJA (American Medical Association's Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs) said here Sunday." CHICAGO (Reuters Health) June 12, 2006Seems it undermines their role as a healer. But it’s OK to abort babies and clone human embryos to reuse body parts for another human being? Ethics councils frolic in strange beds, don‘t they?
2566 The kitchen massacre
Last night I was "inventing" a new dish for supper. It had half a pound of ground sausage, a partial envelope of dry onion soup, some rice, and I was preparing to add a small can of tomato sauce. When I clipped the can opener into the side of the can, the tomato sauce squirted in the air, across the room to the other counter, to the floor and all over the pale cabinetry. I had to get down on my knees so the sunlight could reflect on the marble which is very dark, mottled brown. I got all traces of red mopped up, finished mixing the casserole and then looked at the doorway. Across the room, about 10 ft. was tomato sauce all up and down the louvered doors. I don't know how chain saw murderers ever get the place cleaned up.Monday, June 12, 2006
Monday Memories
Have I ever told you about the summer we bought our little Lakeside cottage?The summer of 1988 was ghastly hot--and a drought in Ohio. We'd rented a small cottage north of Fifth Street in Lakeside for our summer vacation. We thought it a blessing that it had recently been renovated and had ceiling fans. Even a walk along the lakefront brought no relief; a night cruise on Lake Erie felt like a door slammed in your face when the boat stopped moving. One day we were walking the perimeter of the town, whether for exercise or from an attempt to get away from the oppressive heat, I don't remember. And there it was. A little cottage with a "for sale" sign that we'd never seen. I climbed up the broken concrete steps to the back door--"Oh my goodness," I shouted, "it has a real kitchen, and a basement!" We walked around to the front and tried the porch door--it was open. We peeked into the living room. "It has a fireplace," I gasped. "This is a house, not a cottage."
Being the practical sort, I figured if you had to pay a mortgage 12 months of the year it would be nice to be able to use it 12 months. So we contacted the realtor, but also looked at two other cottages, one a large "4 square" from the early 20th century and one a small red 19th century farm house style. Both looked very nice on the outside, but were very cottagey on the inside, with either board thin walls or cut up tiny rooms. When we finally got into the "Thompson place" (cottages are always known by the long time owner's name), we were smitten. The widow who had started to renovate after her husband died had been diagnosed with cancer and moved to Florida. But she had already installed a.c., storm windows, new bathroom fixtures, and additional kitchen cabinets, so we knew that as long distance owners, we wouldn't have that worry.
Our mortgage on our home in Columbus had recently been paid off, so we weren't too alarmed by taking on a new one, except that in 1988 mortgages were 10.5%. I had taken a tenure track position in 1986, so we had that cushion. Still, I had a month or two of sleepless nights worry about debt, but it gave me something to think about other than my kids who had recently left home. We love living there in the summer, which we are now able to do, and have always enjoyed the cultural events (Chautauqua circuit) which include a month of symphony, summer theater, opera, ballet, pop music, lectures, Bible studies, vespers and art classes.
A summer home is rarely a good investment when you figure you only use it a few months of the year, but in the early years of owning it, we did go up more frequently off season than we do now. It's paid for now and has appreciated considerably (5 or 6 times more than the purchase price)--in fact, we couldn't afford this house if we were looking today. However, we've replaced the roof, added a deck, replaced the HVAC, landscaped and completely redecorated inside and out.
The one thing we were going to replace the first season, is still there, and that's the funny little porch that doesn't fit the 1940s design of the cottage. You just have to have a porch at Lakeside, and although this one is ugly, it is tight, easy to heat or cool, acts as passive solar in the winter, and protects the main house in the summer. We sure haven't forgotten that first hot summer of 1988, even though it's never been that bad again--and today we wouldn't be able to get a variance to replace it.
If you'd like to join in on Monday Memories, leave a comment and I'll link back to you.
1. Ocean Lady 2. Libragirl, 3. Yellow Rose 4. Mysterious Lady, (bring along a hankie) 5. The Shrone, 6. Carol, 7. Lazy Daisy 8. Melli, 9. Flip Flop Floozie 10. Ma
Lakeside, Ohio
2563 Sticks and stones
will sell more books. David Carr of NYT writes (seen at Editor and Publisher):"Without the total package, Ms. Coulter would be just one more nut living in Mom's basement. You can accuse her of cynicism all you want, but the fact that she is one of the leading political writers of our age says something about the rest of us."
So referring to someone from your opponent's side as a "nut living in Mom's basement" and a person of "pirate sensibilities" with a "mouth uninterrupted by conscience, rectitude or logic" is OK, but calling someone else a "Harpie" from your team (who said NY's mayor hadn't suffered any loss) is cynical? You gotta love the liberals--they are certainly consistently speaking out of both sides of their collective mouth.
2562 Job Evaluation Comments
Mr. T, who doesn't seem to remember how to post at his own blog, sent me these and I had a good chuckle. He writes:These are actual quotes taken from Federal Government employee performance evaluations:
1. "Since my last report, this employee has reached rock-bottom and has started to dig."
2. "I would not allow this employee to breed."
3. "This employee is really not so much of a has-been, but more of a definite won't be."
4. "Works well when under constant supervision and cornered like a rat no a trap."
5. "When she opens her mouth, it seems that it is only to change feet."
6. "This young lady has delusions of adequacy."
7. "He sets low personal standards and then consistently fails to achieve them."
8. "This employee is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot."
9. "This employee should go far, and the sooner he starts the better."
10. "Got a full 6-pack, but lacks the plastic thingy to hold it all together."
11. "A gross ignoramus - 144 times worse than an ordinary ignoramus."
12. "He doesn't have ulcers, but he's a carrier."
13. "He's been working with glue too much."
14. "He would argue with a signpost."
15. "He brings a lot of joy whenever he leaves the room."
16. "When his IQ reaches 50, he should sell."
17. "If you see two people talking and one looks bored, he's the other one."
18. "A photographic memory but with the lens cover glued on."
19. "A prime candidate for natural de-selection."
20. "Donated his brain to science before he was done using it."
21. "Gates are down, the lights are flashing, but the train isn't coming."
22. "He's got two brains cells, one is lost and the other is out looking for it."
23. "If he were any more stupid, he'd have to be watered twice a week."
24. "If you give him a penny for his thoughts, you'd get change."
25. "If you stand close enough to him, you can hear the ocean."
26. "It's hard to believe he beat out 1,000,in other sperm."
27. "One neuron short of a synapse."
28. "Some drink from the fountain of knowledge; he only gargled."
29. "Takes him 2 hours to watch '60-minutes'."
30. "The wheel is turning, but the hamster is dead"
2561 Ann Coulter is harsh
But she's not a former President criticizing a sitting President during wartime. She's not a former Vice President shaking a fist and snarling at political realities. She's not a presidential rainbow coalition wannabee flitting off to other countries to act as a foreign minister ad-hoc of the moment. She's not a child of a corrupt Massachusetts political family trying to destroy the reputation of Ohio's gubernatorial candidate. She's not even a Country and Western singer appearing on national TV as a martyr. Nope. She criticized four women promoting the Democratic agenda on the graves of their husbands. Perhaps she's brought a little balance to the table and the Democrats can't take it? She's called their bluff.Time e-mail interview with Coulter at Sweetness and Light.
"Name calling? The use of language is "name calling." Harpies and witches is what I think they are, which is why I used those words. And I must say, I certainly have spotlighted the issue with my alleged "name-calling." The entire country is now riveted on the left’s device of using victims to advance their half-baked, unsaleable ideas. From now on, every time the left showcases another sobbing, hysterical woman as their spokesperson, people will say — "gosh she looks like she’s having a good time." So I’d say my "name calling" has been a smashing success. And by the way, I’ve got a few more names in my bag." Ann Coulter in Time interview
Comment from AmericanIPA: "Coulter is tough with her language at times, but grow up lefties. Some of the people she mows down have been long getting a free ride from the press, these widows included. They and anyone else who lost someone on 9/11 have the right to know why their loved ones were killed. And here it is, whether they want to hear it or not: Militant islamists hate America, you included, and want you and your way of life wiped from the face of the earth. They don’t just hate George Bush (they burned Clinton in effigy ad nauseum). They don’t just hate FOX News or National Review like you spoiled, dreamworld, greenpeace libs. They hate western culture as a whole and any religion other than their own. They want the Jersey Girls, Michael Moore, and Al Franken dead just as bad as they do George Bush."
Ann Coulter
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
Posts
