Friday, February 27, 2015

Couple Opinions & A Joke

Northeast Extension to shut for six hours Sunday between Lansdale and Mid-County
STUPID: This project has been going on for years. It will go on for a few years more. This all could have been done in a year or less. How many have to be delayed or cars & bodies destroyed because of Pennsylvania's screwing around year after year!


George Washington Bridge: Police Say Trucker Used Bond, James Bond-Style Device To Avoid Paying $95 Toll
$95... Are You F&&*ing Kidding Me!


Hannity Goes After ‘Stupid Liberals,’ Tries to Unite Establishment and Tea Party at CPAC
Fox (so called) News.. provides the RNC with billion$ of dollar$ in free advertising every year.


Price tag for next year at University of Penn: $63,000+
Taking into account even more increases over the next four years.. take that $250,000+ and buy a couple of houses and rent them out & flip them. It will do you more good.


Uninsured Ex-Sheriff Who Fought O-care Struggles To Pay Medical Bills
Friends of the sheriff are using the 'Go Fund Me' site hoping to raise $30,000. I'm not going to even start on how asinine I think this guy or those who send money are. (Check out the comments)



On a lighter note. Here's a joke I came across in light of the parking controversies going on around here in the Lehigh Valley...
His name was Bubba, he was from Texas and he needed a loan. So, he walked into a bank in New York City and asked for the loan officer. He told the loan officer that he was going to Paris for an International Redneck Festival for two weeks and needed to borrow $5,000 and that he was not a depositor of the bank.

The bank officer told him that the bank would need some form of security for the loan, so the Redneck handed over the keys to a new Ferrari. The car was parked on the street in front of the bank.


The Redneck produced the title and everything checked out. The loan officer agreed to hold he car as collateral for the loan and apologized for having to charge 12% interest.

Later, the bank's president and its officers all enjoyed a good laugh at the Redneck from the south for using a $250,000 Ferrari as collateral for a $5,000 loan. An employee of the bank then drove the Ferrari into the bank's privately secured underground garage and parked it.

Two weeks later, the Redneck returned, repaid the $5,000 and the interest of $23.07. The loan officer said, "Sir, we are very happy to have had your business, and this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are a little puzzled. While you were away, we checked you out on Dunn & Bradstreet and found that you are distinguished alumni from the University of Texas, a highly sophisticated investor and multi-millionaire with real estate and financial interests all over the world. Your investments include a large number of wind turbines around Sweetwater, Texas. What puzzles us is, why would you bother to borrow $5,000?"

The good 'ole boy replied, "Where else in New York City can I park my car for two weeks for only $23.07 and expect it to be there when I return?"


Thursday, February 26, 2015

Pennsylvania Liquor Control Modernize Not Privatize

Pa. state Rep. Mike Schlossberg speaks out against legislation that would close the state’s Wine and Spirits Stores, taking hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue away from the taxpayer and putting thousands of people out of work and replace the system with one that would raise prices, reduce selection, primarily benefit giant out-of-state big-box retailers and give teenagers easier access to hard liquor.



Dittos.. I agree




Sunday, February 22, 2015

I Don't Look Good Naked Anymore



Saturday, February 21, 2015

My Favorite Music Videos

I've updated hours and hours of my favorite YouTube music video playlists. Nearly everyone of them are amateur musical performers. It continues to astonish me how may amazing performers there are. It's my hope you'll share my same enthusiasm. Out of all the things I do on the internet this is my favorite thing to do.

Feel free to visit ALL MY PLAYLISTS at anytime for my latest additions.

Previously I provided links to each list. Trouble was every time I added a video or changed the order of play the link would break & I needed to recode it. Instead it is much easier for me to ask anyone who's interested simply click on the link above because I add videos to the lists every few days. Thanks.

(The playlists with the most views are 'Pop' followed by the 'Videos Of All My Favorites')


FYI:
I haven't been around as much as I have been the last few days because I've been loading all my stuff to my new PC computer with Windows 8.1 (which I am well pleased with).

I enjoy watching videos on my flat screen TV. The new HDMI cabling has improved my viewing 100% over my prior setup which used a single video phono plug type cable. The HDMI is very intuitive via feedback info from the TV enabling a much improved High Definition output to be sent to the TV screen.

Even though Windows 8 compatibility list said several of my prior apps wouldn't work, they are working great after a few tweaks. The only thing a bit iffy is my Word 2002 software. Even though it still works it takes a couple of extra steps to exit the program. Other then that everything is A-OK. So if anyone's reluctant to make the switch I'd say go ahead. They needn't be too concerned about things working out just fine.


Friday, February 20, 2015

No We Can't Bomb Evil From This World

State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf declared “we cannot win this war by killing them [ISIS], we cannot kill our way out of this war” on Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Hardball.”

She's absolutely 100% correct


From The 'Been There Done That' Department
WWI was called "The War To End All Wars". It didn't. What followed was WWII.

Taking another leap back in time to around 1095 there were the so-called "Christian Crusades"(an attempt to reclaim land in the Middle East that had been conquered by Muslims).

For you fans of the Bible, Qur'an and the Torah there was both the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the floods surrounding Noah's ark.

Each were attempts to rid the world of evil. Each failed. Why would anyone in their right mind think the outcome would be any different no matter how many people get slaughtered. The real challenge is to come up with a better alternative then the insanity of doing the same thing over and over again only to eventually end up with the same outcome.

There's been a hell of a lot of critics speaking out against this woman's words yet are so blind they cannot see. Religion claims one God or another throughout time attempted to cleanse humankind. We bombed (or are currently bombing) the snot out of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen and others' How's that working out?

Here's the absurdity of it all. The moment we kill a killer, we become the very same of that which we attempt to eliminate. Face it people tend to develop hard feelings towards those who wish to destroy them. The only real differences between the two is where they happen to live which is being affected. You know what they say, you can kill a person but never an idea. Therefore the answer lies in ideas not bombs.


Unless mankind starts to come up with new ideas instead of blasting one another to kingdom come all this shit will continue for all eternity.

That is if we don't manage to destroy ourselves completely off the face of the planet before then through such utter ignorance.

Sunday, February 8, 2015

IRS The Big Super Bowl Winner




According to Fox Business out of Tom Brady's $97,000 super bowl winnings' "taxes will exceed $62,164...". Keep in mind all the other Patriot players also received $97,000 each which also requires them to pay federal taxes as well.

Let us not forget about the losing players who each received and extra $49,000 in taxable monies. This is assuming each fulfilled their rather complicated eligibility requirements.


NFL players typically file taxes in 10 to 12 jurisdictions
Brady's tax amounts I mentioned above doesn't include Arizona's taxes on athlete's earnings when they perform in that state. Bankrate.com reports, "If you live in a nontax state, you could easily end up paying state tax on 60 (percent) to 65 percent of your earned income from the team, even though you don't have a tax in the state you reside in." and this doesn't include the local taxes.

Professional Football Good For Taxes, Not So Great For Player Wannabes
There's lots of other expenses that come out of players' pockets. Agent fees can range up to 3% (more if agents land them endorsements). Ground transportation costs incurred on away games to meet with personal trainers, agents, scouts, etc. Let us not forget those hefty fines the NFL imposes. Temporary housing when they require outside rehab facilities. Rookies are expected to pick up the tab for at least one or more meals for the team as a matter of "rites of passage". The costs of accountants and business agents to handle their money. NFL player dues (typically $10,000 a year). Social Security & Medicare taxes.

Odds of Getting Into The NFL
Only 3-4% of high school players get the opportunity to play college football... a pool of 3,500 players who could be drafted... the number of players who were drafted by NFL teams in 2011: 254. In other words, only approximately 7% of eligible players get drafted."

It's all fine and dandy when we hear some of the huge salaries being reported but Bloomberg Businessweek says the average salary of an NFL player in 2011 was $1.9 million. The median salary was $770,000 (before expenses).

In Conclusion
The big winners are the TV providers, owners, government and the NFL. These are the ones that receive the lion's share of the money without assuming any of the physical risks. Given the odds that only 150 or so players will make any decent amount of money any given year and will be less likely to last more then a season or few, it's best for most folks to consider another line of work.

Like gambling we all tend to focus on the winners and forget for every winner there are thousands of wannabes who will not see a dime in the end. This is true not just in the NFL but also in most sports.

Anyone have any thoughts they want to add on this?

Monday, February 2, 2015

Taking A Short Break

Taking a brief pause from my regular blogging.

Most of the things I'm interested in I've already posted (sometimes more then once). Until something really fuels my attention I'm going to hold off posting for a while.

In the meantime I encourage visitors to do a search or go through the archives to see if there's something I've already posted which might be of interest.


If anyone has a interest they'd like to talk about on something posted prior, now would be a perfect time to comment.

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Spotlight On Elvis


I don't usually feature mainstream performers but I felt this was too good to pass up.

In this video we see what an extremely talented soulful performer Elvis truly was. The songs he chose told stories of heartache along with his humor that seldom is found among today's machined music performers.

Songwriters coupled with Elvis amazing ability to deliver what the writers' intended is simply beyond compare. Agree?



Elvis: The Lost Performances


How Should We Pay For Schools?

"The ASD approved a contract Thursday with a firm that will scour the city for more property taxes."


Taxing properties is a lousy way to fund education.

Properties bear no direct correlation regarding the number of school aged kids who reside in them.

Some are commercial.

Others may contain adults who not now or ever had children.



Ways We Should Fund Schools
Solution #1: Let's take a second look at how the income taxes are treated in regards to amounts allowed in deductions for dependant children. Why should a working childless or retired couple owning a home have to pay higher taxes, as a result of not being able to take income tax deductions then a neighbor next door who can?

We should be encouraging homeownership. Not discouraging it. Someone who owns property will take greater care and pride in it and the city where they live.

Someone may argue they don't want the federal government or state telling us how to run our local district. This doesn't have to be so. There's no reason why tax laws can't be changed so money is sent directly to districts by the number of dependent children claimed on these forms.

Solution #2: What about those who have children and have no income to be taxed? This is the situation already. Landlords collect HUD or whatever and have to pay tax on their properties. One solution is not tax the property owner and reduce the monthly rental benefits accordingly. In addition a school voucher type of program going towards the financing of school districts based on the number of kids. Perhaps require a work program before one receives government benefits to them for their children. Parents failing to meet the requirements would then have the money deducted from their own personal accounts, instead be paid directly to schools, food and clothing providers for their children only.

Solution #3: Rather then each school district negotiating healthcare contracts let's use a single statewide system. Union negotiators constantly argue parity concerns with what other districts are getting. Much could be said the same regarding pensions and salaries. Much of this could be set up by census indicators regarding actual costs of living standards in each area rather then who can hold out for the most amount of money and benefits.

Solution #4: Future retirements should be entirely funded by the employees themselves. The state has shortchanged them on their promises. Take the money now set aside, give it to new employees (and those who agree to it) to manage their own retirement funds entirely separate from either the state or union programs. This may not be a bad idea for the health insurance programs as well.

Solution #5: Start offering independent contractually based teaching and administrative positions rather then as employees of the district itself. I'm not too hot on privatization of our schools via charters, but why not individuals? They could bid against others for their teaching and administrative skills with school districts. This also offers some legal advantages to school districts as well. Why not think of future teachers and administrators as independent contractors (small business professionals)?

IN CONCLUSION
Our educational system and the funding of it is a mess. We need to come up with creative solutions thinking outside the box that is both more educationally competitive and more economical.

Anyone have thoughts they'd like to add to this?

Midterm Madness (Capitol Steps Satire)


Video Courtesy 'HerBunk'