Bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs dies at age 88
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Limbs in the news
note: these fall under rubric, "Stories I didn't read".
Man saws off own foot to continue receiving unemployment benefits
Severed Leg Belonged to Missing Florida Woman
Financial advice
MegaMillions jackpot is currently $500Mn (annuity), $379Mn (cash now).
I'm figuring state & federal taxes at 40%, leaving just over $215Mn, after-tax current dollars.
Odds of winning are just a wee bit better than 1 in 176,000,000... which means the current after-tax value of a ticket is about $1.23.
It only costs a dollar.
Buy one.
(Above analysis does not take into account likelihood you'll have to share the jackpot...)
I'm figuring state & federal taxes at 40%, leaving just over $215Mn, after-tax current dollars.
Odds of winning are just a wee bit better than 1 in 176,000,000... which means the current after-tax value of a ticket is about $1.23.
It only costs a dollar.
Buy one.
(Above analysis does not take into account likelihood you'll have to share the jackpot...)
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
Settling...
Let's be honest: "justice" for Trayvon Martin will not be forthcoming.
He's dead. His killer will never face a jury.
The Florida "stand your ground" law will not be repealed.
The NRA has a LOT more $$$ than the rest of us.
BUT: there is SOME - remote - chance that the Florida legislature could rein in so-called "Neighborhood Watch" organizations.
Let's focus on the verb: "watch".
Your job is to WATCH! - call in suspicious activity to the professionals - the POLICE. (Okay, - the police aren't angels either, but at least they ARE subject to formal review.)
I'd suggest including PROHIBITING "Neighborhood Watch" members from carrying firearms while on patrol. They are NOT deputized. They are NOT agents of the state. They are NEIGHBORHOOD folks - just our NEIGHBORS.
Yeah - call the police if you notice suspicious activity, but do NOT confront anyone. That's not your job.
Your job is to WATCH.
Just a thought.
He's dead. His killer will never face a jury.
The Florida "stand your ground" law will not be repealed.
The NRA has a LOT more $$$ than the rest of us.
BUT: there is SOME - remote - chance that the Florida legislature could rein in so-called "Neighborhood Watch" organizations.
Let's focus on the verb: "watch".
Your job is to WATCH! - call in suspicious activity to the professionals - the POLICE. (Okay, - the police aren't angels either, but at least they ARE subject to formal review.)
I'd suggest including PROHIBITING "Neighborhood Watch" members from carrying firearms while on patrol. They are NOT deputized. They are NOT agents of the state. They are NEIGHBORHOOD folks - just our NEIGHBORS.
Yeah - call the police if you notice suspicious activity, but do NOT confront anyone. That's not your job.
Your job is to WATCH.
Just a thought.
On the bright side...
1. We're not in another war today.
2. We haven't been attacked by terrorists today.
You can thank Obama for both.
2. We haven't been attacked by terrorists today.
You can thank Obama for both.
At last: honesty in politics!
Mitt: I Won’t Detail Plans, Because Then I’d LoseMitt'll say what it takes NOW to get GOP nomination... but who knows what he'd actually propose as President?
His rivals have been trying very hard to make this case against him... so far, without much success.
Will the real Mitt Romney please stand up?
Sunday, March 25, 2012
THESE are the folks lecturing on morality!
In Pa. abuse trial, a window into church practicesYeah - I have deep faith in the Catholic Church when it comes to matters of morality! - Birth Control is a SIN!
MARYCLAIRE DALE | Associated Press
25 March 2012
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A landmark priest-abuse trial opening Monday in Philadelphia may unveil the cryptic operations of a Roman Catholic archdiocese and detail how child sex-abuse complaints were buried for decades in secret archives adjacent to a soaring cathedral as the priests they named went unpunished.
Monsignor William Lynn is the first U.S. church official ever charged with endangering children for allegedly failing to oust accused predators from ministry. But he may not be the last.
Philadelphia prosecutors say he helped carry out "an archdiocesan-wide policy ... (that) was criminal in nature." And they've hinted they could charge others when the trial ends.
Full disclosure: The Catholic Church counts me as one of Her own - I was baptized!
Well, yeah: I'd feel "threatened" in his presence!
Friends fear for safety of man who shot Florida teenWell... yeah! - if all it takes to kill someone in Florida is to feel "threatened", then yes - George Zimmerman has reason to fear for his life. At this point, I'd guess just about anyone finding himself "confronted" by Mr. Zimmerman would legitimately feel "threatened"!
101 years ago today
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fireThis is what pure, unbridled, unregulated, predatory Capitalism looks like!
The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City on March 25, 1911, was the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of the city of New York and resulted in the fourth highest loss of life from an industrial accident in U.S. history. It was also the second deadliest disaster in New York City – after the burning of the General Slocum on June 15, 1904 – until the destruction of the World Trade Center 90 years later. The fire caused the deaths of 146 garment workers, who died from the fire, smoke inhalation, or falling to their deaths. Most of the victims were recent Jewish and Italian immigrant women aged sixteen to twenty-three; the oldest victim was 48, the youngest were two fourteen-year-old girls.
Because the managers had locked the doors to the stairwells and exits – a common practice at the time to prevent pilferage and unauthorized breaks – many of the workers who could not escape the burning building jumped from the eighth, ninth, and tenth floors to the streets below. The fire led to legislation requiring improved factory safety standards and helped spur the growth of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, which fought for better working conditions for sweatshop workers.
... and, oh yeah: that bit about "The fire led to legislation requiring improved factory safety standards"? - THAT'S what the GOP calls "Socialism"! - restrictive legislation, REQUIRING pure, unbridled, predatory CAPITALISTS to adhere to standards that protect their workers!... clearly inhibiting profit and "innovation".
Me? If "Socialism" means the gov't protecting me from pure, unbridled, predatory Captialists, I'm all for it!
Saturday, March 24, 2012
That was FAST!
Rick Santorum Wins: Louisiana Primary Results 2012I'll miss you, Newt.
Rick Santorum was projected the winner of the Louisiana primary on Saturday night by CNN.
[... of course, this assumes Newt will have the grace to bow out... somewhat doubtful.]
Cpt Fogg says it well
If I had a sonOne of the things that makes it easier for The Buffoon to keep going is that I don't have to be all that brilliant: I just have to shamelessly steal what other much-more-brilliant folks have said.
Cpt. Fogg
24 March 2012"You know, if I had a son he would look like Treyvon,"said the president and I guess that's true to some extent. He'd have dark skin, of course, but I took it to mean that his son would be an ordinary looking, ordinary acting 17 year old and not a shooting gallery target.
Newt Gingrich took it differently because he saw the comment, which was clearly an attempt to show compassion and to suggest that he couldn't avoid putting himself in the place of the grieving father of Treyvon Martin, as an opportunity to launch another Fox-faux outrage. Hasn't the entire Republican reaction to the election of Barack Obama been a collection of phony, trumped up, fabricated and exasperatingly stupid outrages?"Is the president suggesting that if it had been a white who had been shot that would be ok because it didn't look like him?"said Newt to Sean Hannity on Fox News. Certainly Fox is the Cape Canaveral; the launch pad of most such desperate grasping at rhetorical straws -- the place where the unscrupulously ambitious launch calumny after slander after blatant lie, not because this president is beyond criticism, but because they, the Republican insiders, are themselves accessories before, during and after the fact of the collapse of our economy, the corruption and outrageous economic policies and the unjustified war that precipitated it and only wild claims can distract the public from remembering. Only wild, unsubstantiated and preferably ridiculous statements can rally the bigotry against honesty and decency.
Just in case...
... you've $$$ burning a hole in your pocket:
'Twas a delight!
You could do worse than to send a few $$$ in the direction of Expressions of Joy, a non-profit providing "the opportunity for adults, ages 17 & up,I attended one of their concerts this afternoon.
with developmental disabilities and/or other special needs
to participate in choral music."
'Twas a delight!
Friday, March 23, 2012
I'm happy not to do this for a living!
Every day, more shit.
"News" shit.
"Political" shit.
"War" shit.
Fortunately, I have the option of ignoring all the shit - an option which I choose to exercise today.
Till tomorrow!
"News" shit.
"Political" shit.
"War" shit.
Fortunately, I have the option of ignoring all the shit - an option which I choose to exercise today.
Till tomorrow!
Thursday, March 22, 2012
How Congress ought NOT be spending its time!
Saints Bounty Scandal: Senator Dick Durbin Calls Hearing To Examine Bounties In NFLMaybe it's just me, but for Congress to devote time to "Bounty-gate"... or "Steroids-gate"... or any other pro sports scandal seems a complete waste of time and tax-payer $$$.
Don't you all have better things to worry about?... like, e.g., the economy, foreign policy... or just GOVERNANCE!!!
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