Thoughts & Musings
The Unemployment Farce: Only 42% of People Working
Worst news ever!! The number of Americans whom the U.S. Department of Labor counted as “not in the civilian labor force” in August hit a record high of 88,921,000. ... In July, there were 155,013,000 in the U.S. civilian labor force. In August that dropped to...
Who Pays What Income Taxes?
At the DNC there was a lot of talk about "Everyone has to pay their fair share." That seems to be at introduction into a philosophical discussion about what a particular group should pay. What is everyone's "fair share?" In Tax Year 2009: Top 1% paid 36.73% of the...
Fioretti: 35 Member Council & Term Limits
Alderman Robert Fioretti (2nd Ward) believes Chicago would do fine with just 35 aldermen instead of 50 — especially now that workers are handling garbage pickup and street cleaning on a system of ten “grids” instead of 50 wards. ... Besides a smaller City Council,...
Race at DNC – Button Says it Plainly
You’re Being Watched by Your Government
Back in July I wrote about how your government was utilizing all kinds of technology to spy on you. At the time it appeared to just be speculation; now we know it to be true. Part I The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is suing the Justice Department for details...
IL Pension Hole Analysis
I wrote this a few weeks ago as a comment on a retired teacher's blog. The post there was about how we need to "tax the rich" in order to fund the teachers' pensions. I was asked to comment on the post by a retired teacher I know. Analysis follows: There is no one...
Taliban Behead People for Music (CAIR Silent)
The news out of Afghanistan is that the Taliban beheaded 17 men and women who had gathered for a mixed-gender social event with music and dancing. via Business Insider. Some parts of the world are simply 1,500 years behind the times. We need to leave them be. It's...
30 Game Changing Innovations
Some very clever (or crazy) ideas are coming in the near future. Check 'em out. Business Insider.
Paradoxical Quote on Obamacare
Fathom the hypocrisy of a government that requires every citizen to prove they are insured... but not everyone must prove they are a citizen. Many of those who refuse, or are unable, to prove they are citizens will receive free insurance paid for by those who are...
Thoughts on Colorado – Freedom vs. Safety
This is was written as a comment on this NYT piece. I've made it much longer here because the NYT limits space. --- Restricting access to firearms will never stop these kinds of attacks. As a society we need to resolve ourselves that some people are crazy and will...
New Govt Laser Reads You At Molecular Level
The Department of Homeland Security will soon be using a laser at airports that can detect everything about you from over 160-feet away. Gizmodo reports a scanner that could read people at the molecular level has been invented. This laser-based scanner – which can be...
OxyContin Redesigned: Users Switching to Heroin
This is a story about how smart people are stupid. In the past, OxyContin was designed to be released into the body’s system slowly, over the course of many hours, meaning each pill contained a large reservoir of oxycodone. Drug users soon discovered by crushing the...
St. Charles School Group Hates Class Rankings
Members of the St. Charles District 303 school community want to eliminate class rank at the high schools and expand foreign language and technology offerings at all levels, according to a report released Monday. The information was compiled from several community...
New Chemical Makes Teeth ‘Cavity Proof’
A new chemical could make human teeth 'cavity proof' - and do away with the need for visits to the dentists forever. The molecule has been called 'Keep 32' - after the 32 teeth in a human mouth. The chemical was designed by dentists in Chile, and wipes out all the...
NAACP Requires Photo I.D. to See Speech
Earlier today, Attorney General Eric Holder addressed the NAACP Nation Convention at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas. What did media need in order to attend? That's right, government issued photo identification (and a second form of...
Denise Rich: Democrat Who Fled the U.S.
Denise Rich, the wealthy socialite and former wife of pardoned billionaire trader Marc Rich, has given up her U.S. citizenship – and, with it, much of her U.S. tax bill. Rich, 68, a Grammy-nominated songwriter and glossy figure in Democratic and European royalty...
Eat the Rich vs. Obama
I was reading this story: President Barack Obama will officially launch the battle over the impending fiscal cliff this morning, announcing a plan to extend the Bush-era tax cuts for people earning under $250,000, while letting the rest of the tax cuts expire. via...
John Kerry = Inside Trader and Profiteer
Another oldie but goodie: For years, Kerry has invested millions in a number of green energy companies that have benefitted from the president’s efforts to aggressively subsidize the industry with taxpayer dollars. These companies include Exelon, which received a $646...
Labor Force Participation Rate Lowest Since 1981
This story is actually over a month old. It's been sitting in the "drafts" folder. Still just as relevant as the day it was published. In April the number of people not in the labor force rose by a whopping 522,000 from 87,897,000 to 88,419,000. This is the highest...
Your Home’s Router is Spying on You
It must be spy on American's week given posts on law enforcement asking for your cell data and how the NSA is going to expand its spying on Americans on a massive scale. Now we have this: Cisco Systems told users of its new high-end home routers -- in a roundabout...