Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Veterans Day



14 comments:

  1. Dean cares about veterans.

    Bernie does too!

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  2. Alan, many thanks for your messages, blog thread before last.

    That's a fine idear to have tests before the doc visit. I don't know why I didn't think to ask for that, as I do that very thing when I visit my gynecologist. Funny how the mind (doesn't always) work(s). ;-)

    Did you end up with fog? I love a good fog after a snow. The fog is the snow evaporating away, and the mood with it is so mysterious and the scenery beautiful. You make me look forward to Winter.

    I am intrigued by the concept of Social Credits. Thanks for mentioning it!

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    1. Nope, no fog to today. Here it happens in the Winter when the ground is damp, the weather cool, and the sky clear. We had a very thin cloud cover in the morning, so no fog.

      Wikipedia article on Social Credit theory [Click] The Social Credit theory was much more influential in the Commonwealth countries than in the US. Mr. Douglas, the originator of the idea, did not approve of Social Credit political parties, and in the event many of them (e.g. in Canada) actually turned into very right-wing religious parties, some clearly racist. I gather that the New Zealand Social Credit Party was an exception. But Douglas thought the idea should be introduced into policy, independent of party. The Wikipedia article talks about some similarities with JM Keynes. Marx touched on the problem too. The whole business bears pondering. A major social adjustment would seem to be indicated, but the way forward seems very murky. For starters we could simply remove the income cap for Social Security and Medicare contributions. Back during the administration of Bush the Elder Social Security contributions were levied on 80% of income (or was that wages?), as I recall; the proportion has fallen quite a bit in tandem with the upward distribution of income. Not good.

      --Alan

      Very long day at work today, but I have Wednesday off, which was a surprise. And I don't have to go to Salinas for court on Thursday, which is good.

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    2. If we did anything with the concept of Social Credit in this country, we'd have to drop the word "Social" or the commie-fearers would have hissy fits. ;-)

      Enjoy your days off! And thank a vet for today.

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    3. I'm not sure where that 80% figure comes from, but Social Security/Medicare taxes are levied only on wages. Self-employed people (who, of course, pay both the employer and employee portions of the tax) who choose to incorporate can then cut their taxes by classifying a portion of their income as dividends. Of course, that also tends to cut their eventual Social Security payments.

      Anent which, it is my firm opinion that if the cap on Social Security taxes is eliminated, the cap on Social Security payments must also be eliminated. Although that will still result in a net gain for the Trust Fund because of the way Social Security payments are structured.

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  3. Bill thanks for your congratulations, and for single-handedly saving the last thread. :-)

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  4. Alan, I am so sorry about your kitty. Please excuse the delay but I only just now found out. You and Nioko are in my thoughts at this very difficult time. ♥

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    1. That's quite all right, Cat. We're OK, but the house does seem a little lonely now. We never had a cat for so long before.

      --Alan

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    1. Been a long time since I've heard it called that. But yes, there is a reason this holiday falls on Nov. 11.

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    2. The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, 1918. The last veteran (Florence Green) passed away five years ago. I remember when the last Union and Confederate Army veterans passed away.

      --Alan

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    3. The best description of the end of WWI can be found in the last book of the Anne of Green Gables series:

      Rilla of Ingleside

      The whole book takes place during WWI, beginning as the Archduke Ferdinand is assassinated. It was written from the author's journals. Lucy Maud Montgomery put her best writing into that book. It's wonderful.

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  6. On another note altogether, I found a script with lower-case r's and s's that look very promising, the r's particularly (I have never been happy with mine).

    --Alan

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    1. Don't think I've said so, but have been enjoying this journey. Never quite qualified as a pen freaque, but once did own a Mont Blanc fountain pen. I worked at the college bookstore, and even with my discount, it was a good month's salary. Most extravagant thing I've ever done. . . .

      http://www.amazon.com/MontBlanc-149-Meisterstuck-Fountain-10575/dp/B0018NVDOK/ref=sr_1_7?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1447306859&sr=1-7&keywords=montblanc+fountain+pen

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