Well…it was an okay day yesterday and I get a few things done so that was cool…sleeping is still a challenge and I think I got about 4 hours last night which was full of tossing and turning…hurt my elbow somehow last night but the pain is receding so I guess I can live with it….have been good for 4 days now and I feel pretty good even without sleeping so I may just keep that up…just checked on the new exhaust and it was in Cali yesterday and coming by ground so it looks like it won’t be here until Sat so no work until next week…but, they may do a miracle and get it here on time…don’t see that, though…it is damn gloomy right now with the rain and clouds an that makes my mood kind of gloomy, too….hope it quits so I can get on the bike this morning…it looks like my son has the new server in France figured out and Plex is back to working like it should…and I can add Tom to it now that he has more capacity…lots of free tv and movies….not much to do today….going to have a burger for lunch for the first time in months since it was on sale and then maybe out to have a couple with G before the Wings game…and a nap with not getting any sleep last night…more later….
Monthly Archives: April 2016
The rats are even deserting Brownback…
Well….you know the old saw that the states are the “laboratories of democracy”….if they are, the Kansas lab just blew up. You know that they have been implementing the whole wish list of tea party economics there with tax cuts for business that were supposed to increase revenues for the state? As the rest of us know, this “voodoo” economics doesn’t work…never has and never will…and the tax elimination for the almost 400,000 businesses and farmers there did absolutely nothing to create jobs…leaving Kansas 43rd out of 50 states in that measure. The latest studies there found that almost all of the tax cut money went right into the pockets of those getting the tax cuts…not used to expand business or hire since Kansas has the same problem the rest of the country has, a lack of demand and no business is going to hire or expand when there is no excess demand…and expansion follows increasing demand not proceeds it. So, the only thing these tax cuts have done, as they have done across the country, is to starve Kansas of the money it needs to educate it’s children, and pay for the services that are necessary for the state to run. Some of the repubs in Kansas, (the ones that are not too blinded by ideology) have started to revolt against the decimation that these tax cuts have wrought and are starting to float the idea that maybe they were wrong, that maybe they will have to raise taxes to fund the bare necessities of government so that Kansas is not the third world backwater that the repubs have made it…probably not but we can hope for the people of Kansas…geez…
New York primaries…
Well….sitting here waiting for the pork loin to cook and thought I’d do a comment on the New York primaries that were held yesterday…on our side, Hillary won in convincing fashion and made the path to the nomination almost impossible for Bernie…one of the problems our side has is that the youngsters that have come out strong for Bernie just don’t understand politics too well….that their guy is not going to win and it was not shenanigans, it was just that more people voted for Hillary and want her as the nominee…it’s nothing personal and they have to get over it and support our side’s nominee in the general…after all, do they really want a president Trump? Look at the damage the repubs have done to this country since Reagan, do they want that on steroids with a repub president? I know it hurts when your candidate loses but we need to take the long view…that any dem is better than any repub and we need to stick together to restore some sanity to this country. Oh, and Trump won the other side…it made me feel good that ole Ted was chased out of the state…after all, he hates “New York values”….good riddance…
April 20th
Well…it was an okay day yesterday and I got a few things done so that was cool…slept okay last night…kinda….and feel okay today with having the third night of being good and tonight will be a fourth and I feel good about that….might just do the whole week since I am now getting used to it….the car is still holding up with the patch I put on it so the urgency of fixing the exhaust has lessened somewhat….I did talk to my middle son last night for an hour and that was fun…he has a new job running IT for a school district near Detroit and that is cool….still have the twinges in my elbows but still no full pain yet and I am not sure why that is….haven’t even taken any ibuprofen for it and that is a good thing…my back has been great for almost 6 weeks now and I am getting used to it not hurting and being able to move as I want….T is in Phoenix until Sunday and I kind of miss talking to her but it is something I think I can get used to…..not much to do today….going to clean some and make a half pork loin for lunch along with the normal stuff but that is about it…more later….
They really do hate Ted Cruz…
Well…just a little short one on an article I just read about how much people really do hate Ted Cruz….one of his compatriots in congress, Rep Peter King, had this to say today…”I really hate Ted Cruz…I’d take cyanide if he gets the nomination…” now, I know this is hyperbole from a congressman who is known for it…but to publicly make a comment like that during the New York primary says a lot to how much ole Ted is just despised by everyone he has ever come into contact with from his college roommate to the prosecutor’s office in Texas, to the senate…everyone hates Ted….and that only happens by being the self-centered asshole that he is…remember, his little shutdown tantrum cost this country over $24 billion dollars….money that could have been spent to provide free college to over 200,000 kids…selfish asshole…geez…
April 19th
Well…it was a busy day yesterday and I got a bunch of stuff done…made a little cash but spent most of it on supplies that I needed so I guess the day was a wash…slept pretty crappy last night but I don’t feel that bad today so being good is having it’s desired effect….got a great bike ride in yesterday and finally felt like I am getting my legs back…it did help that it was over 70 and that loosened things up somewhat…haven’t had to take any ibuprofen for almost a week now and I am hoping my elbows were just screwing with me when they shadowed some pain earlier….don’t hurt at all today so I guess I’ll keep my fingers crossed…did get a notice that they shipped my new exhaust yesterday but I don’t think it will get here by Friday…the car is still not too loud so I guess I can get through another week with the old one on it….not much to do today…got my state taxes in yesterday and got enough back to buy the exhaust and still have 50 bucks left over so that was cool…..oh, today….going to get back to the normal routine today but it’s been slow starting so I guess I’ll just play it by ear….more later…
$15 dollars an hour is too much?
Well…after a few states have passed minimum wage laws that raise the wage to a still unlivable $15 dollars an hour, we have heard the baloney hand wringing and threats from the ceo’s of many of the low wage companies that depend on not paying their workers what they are worth say that they will have to close down or move to red states where they can still take advantage of their workers. Boo frickin hoo…just read an article comparing the $15 dollar per hour wage that people have been fighting for to the ceo pay on an hourly basis and it is not pretty…all of these jerks that are whining to high heaven make…wait for it…$2,300 to $9,700 PER HOUR…yep these asses that are complaining they can’t afford to pay their workers are getting ceo welfare to the tune of millions of dollars a year…with the ceo of McDonald’s getting a 368% raise for coming up with all day breakfast…yeah…that sure was not an original thought but this idiot took credit for it and is going to siphon off million of dollars more that the company just can’t afford to pay it’s workers. I’ve had enough of coddling these guys and letting them think that they are worth what the get paid…I mean who is worth $35 million a year while his workers are starving? Things just need to change…and the repubs won’t do it…geez….
Why are taxes so complicated? I think you can guess….
Well…with it being tax day, I thought it might be fun to take a look at the reason why taxes are so complicated. In many countries around the world the state sends out a form with all of your information already entered into it and all you have to do is sign it…with the record keeping and computer capacity that has made life easier everywhere but here, you would think the US would be able to do that, too…but, no….not when you have the tax preparation industry protecting the 15 billion dollars they make every year doing taxes for individuals. The whole thing tracks back to 1998 when congress ordered the IRS to build a “return free system” for people who have relatively simple returns…but, even before the rules were tried, the tax prep industry started throwing money at legislators trying to get the act rescinded and they have spent almost 30 million dollars trying to keep the tax code as complicated as possible to ensure their profits. It is not like these guys know what they are doing, either…a study done buy the GAO found that 90% of the returns done by “professional” preparers had errors in them….something that is not better than people doing it themselves. I am just so tired of business buying themselves profits that come from the hard work of normal folks just because they can…and I am tired of congress not doing their job to protect US citizens from this kind of crap….geez…
April 18th
Well…it was an okay day yesterday but I didn’t get much done…way too many races on along with soccer so I really just vegged it out for the day….slept okay and was good last night so I feel pretty good today….and the Wings won so that was really cool but it’s only one game so I’m not back on the bandwagon yet….not sore anywhere so the bike ride will be okay today…I think the bike is going to have to be replaced soon since the rear swingarm is starting to wear out and I can’t see of any way to replace it….it would be nice to get an upgrade anyway but I may strip this one if I do….even though most of the stuff is worn out….we’ll see….the car hasn’t gotten any louder so that is cool, too, so I guess I can wait for the new exhaust….finally going to make a little cash today but have to spend some of that to get supplies but I guess it’s better than nothing….not much to do today….have errands this morning and then the normal stuff and some work around here…should accomplish a little today and that will be cool, too….more later…
April 17th
Well….it was a little bit of a busy day yesterday and I got sunburned from having the top down in the car…did get the chance to go out and meet up with C and K and K and that took a lot out of me…slept okay last night but feel a little slow today so I am going to take it easy…probably watch the napcar race later and just veg it out today…have just been feeling creaky the past few days so I think I’ll take some ibuprofen before the bike ride today and see if that helps…haven’t made any cash lately so this week is going to be pretty low key and I’ll be eating out of the freezer for most of my meals…have plenty of frozen food so that will be okay….going to get out on the bike here in a few so I think I’ll end this here and go back to the couch to finish the coffee….more later….