There are few things in life more important than...

loyalty.

We don't owe loyalty to anyone.  We choose to give it.  We are loyal to our family members because we love them and because we choose to be loyal to them.  There have been moments in life when I didn't feel filled with love to members of my family (brief, fleeting moments at best), but my loyalty to them has never wavered.  Same with my good friends.  I happen to believe that the highest compliment you can pay to a friend is being there when needed.  Loyalty isn't everything or the only thing, but it is right up there near the top of the list of important values to have.

But sometimes loyalty isn't rewarded and returned.  There is a case in the public eye at the moment that bears examination.  Gavin Doyle is a photographer who apparently was the assistant to Lindsay Lohan.  I say was because after he bailed her out of a New York City jail cell, she threw him out of her car and he told her to "never speak to him again."

Now for those unfamiliar with how these two are intertwined, Gavin Doyle was with Lindsay Lohan in her car when said car struck a truck.  She wanted him to take the blame for the accident because she wasn't supposed to be driving.  Apparently he gave her up to the Santa Monica cops and now she's repaid him by blowing him off in front of a group of paparazzi.

Loyalty among Hollywood A-listers and their assistants (not that she's anywhere near the A list) is rewarded.  Good salaries, perks and more come to those assistants who remain loyal to their star employers, particularly so when they manage to keep those star's secrets secret.  Nothing wrong with rewarding loyalty.  But even if Gavin Doyle exhibited what some might consider disloyalty by fessing up that he hadn't been driving, what LiLo did to him was wrong. 

He was there to bail her out of jail.  If he hadn't come, how long would she have had to wait before finally finding a way to get released?  Yet he's blown off as his reward for being there when she needed him.  That's just wrong.  It's one more example of how warped this woman's value system is.

Loyalty isn't forced.  It's given freely and should be recognized and cherished.

I'm sick and tired of hearing about the fiscal cliff...

so since the Congress and the President can't solve the problem, I will.  They won't listen, and I've ranted about a lot of this before but they need to either defecate or get off of the crapper.

The problem with the federal budget is simple and complex.  We spend more than comes in.  To close the deficit, either more money must come in, or spending must be cut, or a combination of the two must work together to eliminate the deficit.  Once we're living within our means we need to adjust either spending or revenue a little more to start paying down the public debt.  Once we eliminate the annual interest on that, spending could actually go up.

How to accomplish this.  The Democrats want to raise tax rates on the wealthy.  That's not a horrible idea, but how much money would that really raise?  According to IRS data, those who earned more than $250,000 in pre-tax income in the year 2009 earned $1.67 trillion.  Also according to IRS data, those in the top 1% income wise in 2009 paid 36.73% of all income taxes collected, but their AGI was over $343,000.  Those who were in the top 5% income wise had AGIs of $154,000 and up and they paid 58.66% of all income taxes collected.  So those earning $250,000 and more paid somewhere between 36.73% and 58.66% of all income taxes collected.  Lets split the difference and estimate that those earning over $250,000 pay 47% of all income taxes collected.

So for FY2012, $1.165 trillion was collected in individual personal income taxes.  47% of that amount would be $547.5 billion.  That only leaves them income of $1.12 trillion without considering all of the other taxes, such as state income tax, excise taxes, Social Security and Medicare taxes and so on.  Now if we were to take 100% of whatever was left, that might bring us close to balancing the budget.  Right up to the point where everyone who is being taxed at 100% would be leaving for another country.  So we can't solve the budget deficit solely by raising taxes.

The Republicans want to reduce spending, keep tax rates where they are and lower deductions.  But there's no specific programs they are willing to cut, except entitlement programs that the Democrats won't budge on, like Social Security and Medicare, along with other social safety nets.

So how do we prevent falling off of the fiscal cliff?  The answer will cause almost everyone a little pain, but if I'm pissing everyone off, I must be doing something right.  Here are the present personal income tax rates, and remember, people pay these percentages in tax based on their income after deductions and personal exemptions for themselves and their dependents:

Single Filing Status

[Tax Rate Schedule X, Internal Revenue Code section 1(c)]

• 10% on taxable income from $0 to $8,700, plus
• 15% on taxable income over $8,700 to $35,350, plus
• 25% on taxable income over $35,350 to $85,650, plus
• 28% on taxable income over $85,650 to $178,650, plus
• 33% on taxable income over $178,650 to $388,350, plus
• 35% on taxable income over $388,350.

Married Filing Jointly or Qualifying Widow(er) Filing Status

[Tax Rate Schedule Y-1, Internal Revenue Code section 1(a)]

• 10% on taxable income from $0 to $17,400, plus
• 15% on taxable income over $17,400 to $70,700, plus
• 25% on taxable income over $70,700 to $142,700, plus
• 28% on taxable income over $142,700 to $217,450, plus
• 33% on taxable income over $217,450 to $388,350, plus
• 35% on taxable income over $388,350.

The first step is to not allow the Bush-era tax cuts to expire.  Then we alter the above rates as follows:

Single Filing Status

[Tax Rate Schedule X, Internal Revenue Code section 1(c)]

• 10% on taxable income from $0 to $8,700, plus
• 15% on taxable income over $8,700 to $35,350, plus
• 27% on taxable income over $35,350 to $85,650, plus
• 30% on taxable income over $85,650 to $178,650, plus
• 34% on taxable income over $178,650 to $388,350, plus
• 36% on taxable income over $388,350 to $500,000, plus
• 38% on taxable income over $500,001 to $1,000,000, plus
• 39.5% on taxable income over $1,000,001

Married Filing Jointly or Qualifying Widow(er) Filing Status

[Tax Rate Schedule Y-1, Internal Revenue Code section 1(a)]

• 10% on taxable income from $0 to $17,400, plus
• 15% on taxable income over $17,400 to $70,700, plus
• 27% on taxable income over $70,700 to $142,700, plus
• 30% on taxable income over $142,700 to $217,450, plus
• 34% on taxable income over $217,450 to $388,350, plus
• 36% on taxable income over $388,350 to $500,000, plus
• 38% on taxable income over $500,001 to $1,000,000, plus
• 39.5% on taxable income over $1,000,001

Step 2 is to reinstitute the rate of 6.2% for Social Security tax and raise the ceiling on that amount to $125,000.  Then we add an additional Social Security tax amount of 1% on wages in excess of $125,000 and it goes up another 1% on wages in excess of $125,001 through $250,000. 

Step 3 is to phase in an increase in Medicare Tax so that it will rise from 1.45% (total of 3.9% counting employee and employer portion) to 2.5% (total of 5%) over the next ten years by increasing it one tenth of one percent per year.

Step 4 is making changes to the income tax code as follows:

1.  The loophole that allows hedge fund and private equity fund managers to pay income tax on their income as though it was capital gains and not wages must be closed.
2.  The mortgage interest deduction is currently the interest paid on mortgage for the purpose of purchase up to $1 million worth of debt (interest on $100,000 for home equit debt).  This will be reduced immediately to $900,000 and continue to be reduced by $50,000 per year until it is lowered to $750,000 (home equity will not change).  All mortgages that are outstanding as of 12/31/2012 will be grandfathered in.
3.  There is currently a limit on how much of one's Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) that can be donated to charity in one year of 50%.  Charitable contributions in excess of that limit are carried over to future years.  That limit of 50% will still apply to the portion of a taxpayer's AGI up to $250,000.  The deduction limitation will be reduced to 30% for all income in excess of $250,001.  Deductions can be carried forward for an unlimited period of time, and can all be claimed in the year of a taxpayer's death.
4.  Currently there are a number of investment instruments sold by the federal, state and other levels of government that earn interest on a tax-free basis on the federal return.  While federal debt instruments that are currently earning interest on a tax-free basis will do so, all other such interest will only be 75% free of federal income tax.  In other words, if someone earns $100,000 in tax-free interest from their municipal bond investments, in future years, $25,000 of that amount will now be subject to federal income tax.

Step 5 is to alter entitlement spending as follows:

1.  People receiving Social Security Old Age Benefits who have no other source of income will continue to receive those benefits tax free.
2.  People receiving those benefits who have other income will continue to be taxed on their Social Security benefits as is done under the current system.
3.  In addition, those who have other income besides Social Security in excess of $75,000 will pay a 2% surtax on their Social Security benefits.  Those earning other income in excess of $150,000 will pay a 5% surtax on their Social Security benefits.  Those earning other income in excess of $250,000 will pay a 25% surtax on their Social Security benefits.  Those earning other income in excess of $500,000 will simply not receive Social Security benefits.
4.  Medicare Premiums for Part B currently run just under $1,200 per year.  They will be means tested so that those earning more than $75,000 per year will pay 200% of the annual premium.  Those earning more than $150,000 will pay 300% of the annual premium.  Those earning more than $250,000 will pay 400% of the annual premium.  Those earning more than $500,000 will pay 500% of the annual premium.

Will all of this impact the wealthy disproportionately?  Yes.  The system of taxation is progressive and it should be.  The more you earn, the more you can give back to make this nation run so that ultimately no one will ever be homeless, hungry or die from a lack of medical care.  Those should be our goals.

Today's blog contains a question I'm hoping...

everyone who reads will leave an answer to, somewhere.  In the comments section, or if you get here by the link on my Facebook page, there is fine as well.  I'll publish any results in a day or two.

The question is, should the bank that made the loan I'm about to describe should forgive the loan?  If yes, why and if no, why not?  The loan in question was a private student loan made to a student who went to college to study music production and couldn't get the loan without his mother co-signing the application.  Sadly, he died of natural causes at the age of 24.  His federal student loans were forgiven, but this private loan was not.  His mother is now 61, back at work, and helping to support her dead son's child in addition to trying to make the payments on the $10,000 loan. 

She started a petition on Change.org calling on the lender to forgive the loan and so far, 200,000 people have signed it.  Now if only 5% of those who took time to sign this petition would donate $1 toward the loan, that would pay it in full (more or less).  I'm surprised someone didn't take the initiative to set something like that up.

You may not have shared your answer to my question yet, but it isn't fair of me to ask a question if I don't share my own response.  I think the lender should waive all of the interest ever charged on the loan, apply all payments that have been made thus far to the principal amount, and give her interest free payments on the remaining loan balance that she can afford.  They shouldn't profit from this loan, but they shouldn't suffer a loss on it either.

If you can't make the payments, don't co-sign.  That's a lesson some people learn through an experience that proves to be very expensive.  Unless you can easily afford to pay off the loan amount and wouldn't miss the money if you were called upon to do so, you should never co-sign a loan.  She wanted to give her son an education and that's laudable.  But in doing so she took on a risk.  It's a tragic situation but one that could be solved through charitable giving by individuals, or else by the institution making alterations to the predicament so that they aren't profiting from the tragedy.

Today is one of those VA multiple appointment days but fortunately the appointments are back to back and hopefully the first won't run into the start time for the second.  But I will be there for awhile.  Depending on how the timing works out, I may go down to the Santa Monica Promenade and brave the holiday crowds to see the film "Middle of Nowhere".

Fun With Classified Ads:

"Please place resume and a few pictures in the body of the email.  Applicants without 2 yrs experience and Resumes without pictures will not be considered."  A few pictures?  One isn't enough?

"Sous Chef - $15.10"  Yeah, that extra ten cents an hour is going to make the difference in getting and keeping a qualified sous chef.

This Date in History:

On this date in 1782, representatives from the United States and Great Britain signed preliminary articles to bring about a peace; these articles were later formalized in the Treaty of Paris.
On this date in 1786, the Grand Duke of Tuscany declared there would be no more imposition of the death penalty in his country.
On this date in 1803, Spain transferred the territory known as the Louisiana Purchase to France.  20 days later, France will transfer the land to the United States.
On this date in 1804, the U.S. Senate began the impeachment trial of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase.
On this date in 1886, the Folies Bergere staged their first revue.
On this date in 1939, Soviet forces cross into Finland, starting the "Winter War".
On this date in 1940, Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball marry.
On this date in 1942, Japanese naval forces defeat U.S. naval forces in the Battle of Tassafronga.
On this date in 1967, the Peoples Republic of South Yemen gains independence.
On this date in 1972, White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler announced U.S. troop levels in Vietnam are down to 27,000 and no further announcements concerning troop withdrawals.
On this date in 1982, Michael Jackson's album "Thriller" is released.
On this date in 1993, President Clinton signs the Brady handgun bill.
On this date in 1995, Desert Storm officially ends.
And, on this date in 2004, Ken Jennings finally loses on Jeopardy, ending his record run that earned him more than $2.5 million in prize money.  The answer that beat him:  "most of this firm's 70,000 seasonal white collar employees work only four months a year" to which he responded "What is FedEx?" while the correct answer was "What is H&R Block?"  The woman who beat him promptly lost her championship in the very next show.

What do all of the following women...

have in common?

Kat Brand, CEO of Cinnabon, a business with $1 billion in annual revenues.
Julia Hurley, Republican member of the Tennessee State Assembly.
Holly Madison, former star of "The Girls Next Door".
Leeann Tweeden, host of the now cancelled "Poker After Dark" and pre/post-game reporter for Fox Sports West.

All four of them, and countless other successful women at one time wore the tiny orange shorts and tight tank-top of a Hooters Girl.  I personally know two women who left their jobs at Hooters to go off to medical school after they put themselves through their undergraduate studies while working there.

Which begs the question.  Do the women who work at Hooters feel exploited?  I've asked a number of them over the years and without exception, their answers have been "no" "no way" and "hell no".  Some of them have complained about a number of factors related to their job and the working conditions there, but none feel they are being exploited.  As one said "if I felt I was being exploited, why would I stay?"

I suspect that a lot of the feminists who claim the women who work there are being exploited have no idea what really goes on inside of what is basically another sports bar with average, overpriced food, and lots of TVs showing every variety of major sporting event.  The girls may be in tight orange shorts and tank-tops, but bras are mandatory as are those ugly shiny tights and gigantic socks they wear.  They have more clothes on and show less flesh than the women on any beach, or near any swimming pool on a warm day.  They don't do strip dances, although they will dance the YMCA dance whenever the manager plays that particular Village People song.  I've been in other sports bars where the waitresses were more exposed and the attitude was much sleazier.

We all have jobs in our past that may not mesh up with what we do now, or who we are as people.  If I were to list all of the jobs I've ever done for pay, I'd have to include gigs I'd rather not list.  Fortunately they were so long ago that they've fallen off of my resume.  Even if I weren't disabled at the moment, no employer needs to know that back in the 1970s, I worked as a floor guard and a disc jockey at a roller disco in Miami.  Nor do my adult stints at several McDonald's restaurants worked part-time while I was in the military need to be part of any discussion of my work history.  I'm not ashamed of any of the work I've ever done, it just doesn't define who I am today in any major way.

So the next time you see an attractive, successful woman and you wonder how she got there, don't assume anything.  You don't know how she got where she is and you really don't need to know.  As long as she broke no laws, she's who she is now and should not be defined by having worn a pair of orange shorts at some point in her past.

It sounds worse than it actually is...

according to Hostess.  Hostess is seeking to get the bankruptcy court to approve payment of nearly $1.8 million in "bonuses" to executives.

Now that seems very wrong, in the wake of the company's financial collapse in the wake of union givebacks and raises to those very executives just before the bankruptcy filing.  But according to the spokesperson for Hostess, these payments would be made only if the executives remain with the company during its wind-down and if certain goals are met to lower the cost of the company's liquidation.  And, says this spokeshole, these bonus payments are "below the average for bonuses in comparable bankruptcy cases."

Comparable cases?  Where in the world is there a comparable case?  Hostess has been through bankruptcy before and spent five years in a Chapter 11 reorganization from 2004 through 2009.  During that time, the workforce was reduced from 30,000 to 19,000.  The unions that represented these workers went along with the layoffs, along with cuts in pay and benefits.  They were willing to do so in order to make the company competitive. 

Clearly that plan didn't work.  Less than four years after coming out of bankruptcy, the company's financial position is so bad that it can't even undertake a recovery plan.  It blames the unions and obligations to pension and benefit plans for retirees among other things.  If things were so bad, why did the CEOs pay get tripled just before this latest bankruptcy filing?  Could that have been just the last desperate attempt to milk more money from the dying money bush that the company represented to its leadership?  Six CEOs in a ten year period? 

Now they want to spend nearly $2 million more in payment to the idiots who caused this company to fail to keep them from abandoning ship and to incentivize them to perform well during the last days of Hostess.

No.  A hundred times no.  A thousand times no.  If there were any fairness in the world, they'd be made to work for free until the company's assets are liquidated and what compensation they would have received paid into a fund to benefit the thousands of workers who have lost their jobs.  And to the retirees who were counting on their pensions and retirement benefits for their years of service.

Sometimes I hate how supermarkets tempt us...

by putting certain items near the register, and worse yet, putting them on ridiculous markdown.  I went to the market yesterday to get a sandwich for lunch.  My own fault, I forgot to check the menu after breakfast and I missed the deadline to put in a special meal request for lunch.  No problem, Ralph's deli has great sandwiches and its close by.

But the register at the deli wasn't working, so I had to go over to the checkout line to pay, even though I had only one item.  I love chocolate bars, particularly with almonds in them.  So naturally, the big ones that are usually $1.79 or $1.89 are on sale, 4 for $5.  Oh, I managed to leave without buying a single one, but it was only through an act of willpower and by walking over to the self-checkout where there are no candy displays.  Worse yet, I know if I'd bought them, I'd have eaten at least one full bar just today.  I won a battle, but that's just one.  This is a war and right now I'm working on strategies so I can win most of these battles.  I think part of having a chance to win most is by recognizing that you can't win them all.  If you try to win all of them, the first one you lose will probably prevent you from winning many of the following ones as you wallow in guilt and shame.

Later last night I spent 30 minutes doing something that I immediately regretted afterward.  Other than to say it didn't involve food I'm not going to get into what it was.  But I will say that I won't do it again.  I sat there, thinking "I just wasted 30 minutes of my life on that?" While it isn't important to make every single moment in life count, it is important to not waste your precious time doing things that you instantly regret and think afterward that you shouldn't have done.  Perhaps part of the process of growth as we get older is that we manage to learn from our mistakes.  I've learned from this one and won't repeat it.  If I do, I will have earned the feelings of regret that will accompany doing it.

It is raining here and I wonder why it is that so many Southern Californians don't know how to drive in the rain.  It isn't like it never rains in Southern California.  Apologies to Albert Hammond, but he was lying.

No fun with classifieds today.

This date in history:

On this date in 1877, Thomas Edison demonstrated his phonograph for the first time.
On this date in 1900, the Meiji Constitution goes into effect in Japan and the first Diet convense.
On this date in 1929, Admiral Richard Byrd becomes the first person to fly over the South Pole.
On this date in 1947, the United Nations recommends the partition of Palestine.
On this date in 1952, President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower fulfills his campaign promise to go to Korea.
On this date in 1963, President Lyndon B. Johnson establishes the Warren Commission to investigate the assassination of JFK.
On this date in 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara resigns.
On this date in 1972, Atari announces the release of "Pong", the first commercially successful video game.
On this date in 1983, the UN General Assembly passes a resolution calling for forces of the Soviet Union to withdraw from Afghanistan.

And, on this date in 1832, author Louisa May Alcott was born.

Four women have sued the...

the United States Department of Defense because of the rules that exclude women in the U.S. military from combat.  As it happens, all four have served in Iraq and/or Afghanistan and two of the four were wounded in action.

What do they want?  They went the ban on women serving in combat units to be lifted.  The argument is that in the world in which we live today, there are no longer well-defined "front-lines" of combat.  The entirety of Afghanistan is a combat zone and woman are at risk of finding themselves in a combat situation even as so-called "rear area bases".

What is really at stake?  This is perhaps best illustrated by some numbers:

38
1

741
2

That top number of 38 is the number of 4 star generals (admirals in the Navy) currently on active duty with the U.S. military.  The number of 1 represents how many of those are women.

The lower number of 741 is the number of 4 star officers that have been promoted to that rank in the entire history of the U.S. military.  The number of 2 represents how many of those were women.  No woman ever rose to the rank of 4 star general until 2008.

For those who aren't familiar with the military, there are "combat" units and "non-combat" units.  For example, an infantry platoon in the Army or Marine Corps is a combat unit. A support company would be a non-combat unit.  The most direct route for a commissioned officer to advance is to command a combat unit.  Women can't command combat units, so their opportunities for advancement are limited.

It works in Israel.  Currently, 92% of all roles in the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) are open to women.  Women comprise 33% of all of its soldiers and 51% of its officers.  In fact, military service is mandatory in Israel and both men and women have a required service commitment.

If we were living in the era of World War II, or even Vietnam, then there was a fairly well defined line that could be seen on a map where on one side, combat was going on and on the other, it wasn't.  That wasn't 100% accurate, but it was damn close.  Women in rear areas rarely saw any shots fired in anger.  That is no longer true.

I hope these women win their lawsuit and all military roles are opened up to women.  If a woman can become a SEAL or a Marine Corps sniper, more power to her.

I'm already experiencing the fallout of being...

president of the resident's council.  We have had two issues in the last two days involving the dining room where residents had complaints that I had to take to the administrator.  My fear is that she will put it on her list of things to talk to the chef about, but it won't get addressed right away.  Her heart is in the right place, but there's too much going on for these concerns to get to the top of her to-do list.

So I'm going to hit up the chef directly tomorrow.  We'll see how that goes.  I suspect that much of his staff is being resistant to the types of changes he is trying to implement.  They were used to working for someone who "speaks their language" and he doesn't and that has me thinking they're just going around him when he's here and doing their own thing when he isn't.

I tried to write today and got a few thousand words jotted down but then we had a power outage for alarm testing and I lost all momentum.  I'll be trying again tomorrow until it's time to go to trivia, when I'm not busy watching the last three episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" that I have yet to watch on DVD.

We won at trivia last night.  By nine points.  It was a satisfying victory.  Two wins in two nights and we go for three wins in three nights tonight.

Mitt Romney is scheduled to sit down for a private meeting with President Obama tomorrow.  I wonder if he will risk the Secret Service getting a gander at the magic underwear, or will he leave it at home?

Fun with Classified Ads:

"Looking for someone that can work 9-3pm or 9-4pm 5 days a week. 1 meal a day is included. Must be quick on your feet and be able to multitask. If you are interested, please send your picture resume."  What's a picture resume?

This Date in History:

On this date in 1520, Ferdinand Magellan and his three ships entered the Pacific Ocean, becoming the first Europeans to sail from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
On this date in 1581, William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway paid for their marriage license.
On this date in 1893, women vote in a general election for the first time, in New Zealand.
On this date in 1907, Louis B. Mayer opens his first theater.
On this date in 1925, the Grand Ole Opry began broadcasting.
On this date in 1942, the Cocoanut Grove nightclub in Boston was the site of a fire that killed 491 people.
On this date in 1943, the Tehran Conference took place, where President Franklin Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin sat down to discuss war strategy.
On this date in 1964, the National Security Council agrees to recommend to President Johnson that he adopt a plan for a two-stage escalation of the bombing of North Vietnam.
On this date in 1972, the last executions in Paris took place, with two murderers being guillotined.

As December rapidly approaches, it's time...

to think about income taxes, things financial and what you may or may not want to do before year end.  With income tax law, particularly those involving deductions in a state of flux, there is a lot to consider.  As always, you should consult with your own tax and investment advisors before doing anything.  However, you may want to consider the following:

If you are a person who itemizes your deductions and you have a mortgage, you may want to make an extra mortgage payment before year end.  You can't prepay more than one month and deduct the interest, but with the mortgage interest deduction possibly being limited or even eliminated (I doubt it will happen, but it is possible), best to take advantage while you can.

The same is true if you have enough medical expenses to take an itemized deduction.  There is currently a limit on these deductions, you can only deduct those expenses that exceed 7.5% of your Adjusted Gross Income (AGI).  That limitation will grow to 10% next year.  So if you can order a three month supply of a prescription medication, buy new glasses or have any other programmed medical expenses you can push from 2013 to 2012 it may be to your advantage.  On a related note, if you have a Flexible Spending Account through your employer, be sure to use all of the money in it before the plan year ends.

If you have a dependent in college, write the check for next semester before year-end.  The American Opportunity Credit will expire in 2013, but you're allowed to use the credit on your 2012 tax return for spring semester 2013 tuition expenses.

If you are married and one of you is self-employed and the other works for an employer, or if you as an individual are both working as an employee and run your own business, you may want to consider whether or not you've paid enough in estimated taxes for 2012.  If it looks like you will end up being underwithheld for any of the first three quarters of 2012, there's a trick you can use to avoid the underwithholding penalty.  While estimated payments are considered to be made in the quarter which the payment is actually sent to the IRS, withholding from an employee's pay is considered to have been withheld equally throughout the year.  Someone who will owe a penalty for not paying enough in estimated tax in any of the first three quarters can have enough withheld from their December pay to cover the obligation and avoid the penalty.  Assuming of course, your pay in December is high enough and you can survive without needing that tax payment.

As previously mentioned, George Lucas is saving hundreds of millions in income tax by selling his company this year rather than next.  If you have an investment where you've made a large gain, you may lower your tax burden by selling before year end.  But don't just liquidate an investment solely to save income tax, if you planned to keep it for the long term.  Again, the investment advisor is the person to discuss this with.

A lot of common sense stuff, like maxing out your 401(k) and the like you should already know, so I won't mention those things.

The hypocrisy of Angus T. Jones...

is remarkable.  It's one thing to claim that the television program you star on is "filth" and that audiences should not watch it.  It's quite another to do that while you continue to earn $300,000 per episode for making the show.  If it was truly "filth" in his mind, he'd just quit.  True, that big paycheck would stop coming in and the producers could prevent him from doing any other work while he is still under contract.  But his rationalization that God must have a reason for him being there for another year is just ridiculous. 

If you don't agree with what your employer is doing strongly enough to make public statements about it, you walk away.  If you don't, not only are you a hypocrite for participating in what you disagree with, your claims regarding what's wrong with it lose almost all credibility.

To prove the validity of Godwin's law, what Jones is doing would be akin to Heinrich Himmler saying that Hitler's "Final Solution" was the wrong thing to do and constituted mass murder, just before throwing the switch to turn on the gas on the next batch of victims inside the showers.  Yes, that's a hyperbolic, egregious example, but it kind of rams home the point.  If something is that wrong, it's wrong to continue to take part in it after you denounce it.

I've never watched a single episode of "Two and a Half Men" and have no intention of doiong so.  Because, sometimes it just takes one episode of a television program to become hooked.  As an example, I saw an episode or two of "Grey's Anatomy" last season and while it seemed to be okay, I wasn't immediately hooked on it.  But when I finished watching all 15 seasons of "ER" from start to finish, I decided to go back to the beginning of "Grey's" to see what all the fuss was about.  Today I watched season 1, episode 1 and I was hooked.  Now I plan to watch all of the episodes all the way through to the present.

I may have mentioned before that I was one of those who thought reality TV wasn't a good thing for the future of scripted programming but I have to admit that several reality type shows are very entertaining.  However let me make it clear that I live in a Honey Boo Boo free zone.  The reality shows I enjoy watching are "Storage Wars", "Parking Wars" and "Pawn Stars".  There are also some game shows I like, and there's a new or at least new to me dating show called "Baggage" that's hosted by Jerry Springer of all people.  It is hysterical.

I mention television because today was one of those days where I was in my room between noon and 1 p.m. without going down to the dining room for lunch, and watched the entire episode of "Maury".  I have several questions.  First off, where do they get all of these dumb men?  Almost without exception, every one of the guys on today's show was found to have been cheating on their woman and caught by the lie detector test they took.  Do they not check out an episode or two of a television show their wife or girlfriend wants them to appear on?  Are they unaware that they were lying while taking a lie detector test?  What about the idiots who go after the "test girl" in the "green room"?  Do they not bother to think that this girl might be a plant and they shouldn't even talk to her?  Maybe there's something they spray into the air in the men's dressing room that lowers their IQs 25 or 35 points before they come out onto the stage.




Fun With Classified Ads:

A chain of movie theaters is hiring for one of its locations.  Here are the appearance requirements from the ad:  "No visible tattoos below the elbow, on the face or neck, no facial piercings, oral piercings or multiple piercings and must maintain a conservative hairstyle in one natural color."  I guess people with two-tone mohawks need not apply.

"(name deleted gymnasium) is looking for a cleaning person (or crew) for about 10-15 hours per week in exchange for a free membership to the gym.  15 hours times 4.333 weeks in a month is roughly 65 hours a month.  Minimum wage is $8.00, so that's over $500 a month worth of labor in return for a free gym membership?  Only an idiot would do this.  http://instantrimshot.com/index.php?sound=priceiswrong

"Assistant dog walker wanted.  Must have car large enough to fit 8-12 medium size dogs.  Must love dogs."  A dog walker needs an assistant?  To do what?  Hold the leash while he or she texts a client??  And like a dog hater would apply? 

This Date in History:

On this date in 176, Emperor Marcus Aurelius made his son Commodus Supreme Commander of the Roman Legions. 
On this date in 1095, Pope Urban II declares the First Crusade.
On this date in 1807, the Portugese Royal family flees to escape Napoleon's troops.
On this date in 1839, the American Statistical Association was founded.  Also on this date, the American Society of Procrastinators postponed their founding (just kidding).
On this date in 1895, Alfred Nobel signs the will that will lead to his estate being used to establish the system of Nobel Prizes.
On this date in 1901, the Army War College is established
On this date in 1924, the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade is held.
On this date in 1934, the famed bank robber Baby Face Nelson is killed in a shootout with FBI agents.
On this date in 1954, Alger Hiss is released from prison after serving nearly four years for perjury.
On this date in 1965, the Pentagon informed President Johnson that if the U.S. is to win the war in Vietnam, the number of troops there must be increased from 120,000 to over 400,000.
On this date in 1968, Penny Ann Early became the first female to play professional basketball in a U.S. major professional league, when she appeared in an ABA game.
On this date in 1973, the U.S. Senate voted 92-3 to confirm Gerald R. Ford as President (the House would vote to confirm him on December 6th).
On this date in 1978, San Francisco mayor George Moscone and openly gay supervisor Harvey Milk are murdered by former supervisor Dan White.

Ever had one of those days where you...

feel really, really dumb?  I had one yesterday.

First, I was having a problem with my laptop and I needed to reboot it.  So I was closing all of my open Word documents (I usually have several of them open, so I can jump back and forth between things I'm working on as ideas hit) and when prompted whether or not to save a file, I hit the "don't save button" and didn't realize it.  Once I did that it was too late to recover the 4,000 plus words I'd written in that file.  Now I have to re-write all of it.

Then I went to the market to buy some juice and figured while I was there I'd stock up on soda (yes, I am trying to drink less each week) because it's still on sale.  I was down to the last bottle in my room so I would have gone in a day or two to get some anyway.  But when I opened the trunk to load the groceries in, I found that there were still four bottles there from my last trip to the market.  I'd had too much to carry and I can't handle as many grocery bags since my hospitalization.  So now I'm stocked up for quite a while.  But it felt dumb.  I felt dumb.

I also watched my first movie on VOD on my television.  That's a luxury I could learn to abuse and so I plan to do it only very sparingly.  But I was glad I did.  The movie, "Price Check" was excellent and as a big fan of Parker Posey, it was good to see her in a role where she could show off her considerable acting talents.

Tonight I may end up flying solo at the regular Monday trivia game, as my usual teammate is busy elsewhere.  Normally I'd be tempted to just skip it, but we're working toward the goal of qualifying for a tournament in February where there is $2,000 in prize money.  So while I've tried to get someone else to join me, if all else fails, I'll go get whatever points I can garner on my own.  Besides, it's a free meal with the "bar scrip" we won last week. :)

I was tempted for about 90 seconds to spend the day driving to Arizona to buy a Powerball ticket.  I wouldn't mind spending $10 to buy five of their $2 tickets.  But I mind spending a full tank of gas and 8 to 12 hours of my time.  Especially with the odds of winning that huge jackpot somewhere between the odds of being struck twice by lightning and the odds of Mitt Romney winning the Presidency on a recount.  So I will settle for buying two Mega-Millions tickets for Tuesday's $49 million jackpot rather than one and save 12 hours.

Today in History:

On this date in 1778, Captain James Cook became the first European to visit Maui.  My mother, who goes there regularly, is very grateful to him.
On this date in 1789, a national Thanksgiving Day is observed in the United States as approved by Congress.
On this date in 1842, the University of Notre Dame is founded, giving us Notre Dame haters an object to loathe.
On this date in 1917, the National Hockey League is formed.
On this date in 1950, the Chinese launched a major counter-attack on the Korean peninsula, ending all hope of a quick resolution to the conflict.
On this date in 1968, James P. Fleming, a U.S. Army helicopter pilot rescues a Special Forces unit pinned down by Viet Cong fire, and he is later awarded the Medal of Honor for his heroism.
On this date in 2003, the Concorde makes its final flight.

I was having lunch today and...

it suddenly dawned on me.  I felt like an idiot for not reaching this conclusion earlier.

I'd been wondering why George Lucas had chosen to sell his company, Lucasfilm to Disney when he did.  I don't believe he's going to completely retire.  I believe he plans to make more films, including a prequel and sequel to "Red Tails".  He will definitely be a consultant on Star Wars, Episode VII for Disney.

So why did he sell?  Because he's a genius.  We knew that from his creation of Star Wars.  We knew that from his negotiating with Fox to get the merchandising rights, sequel rights and rights to novelizations of anything connected with Star Wars.  Following his success in this arena, no film studio would ever consider giving up any major piece of those rights to a director afterward.

But what makes this move to sell his company now genius?  Because it will save him tens, maybe hundreds of millions of dollars in income tax.  Capital gains taxes in 2012 are set at 15% for someone in Lucas' tax bracket.  They will go up to 20% on January 1st, 2013.  In addition, there will be an additional tax on these gains of 3.8% to pay for Obamacare.  So his profit on the sale of his company will be taxed 8.8% less by selling now than selling in the future; unless of course, Congress chooses to lower those rates back to present levels as part of avoiding the so-called 'fiscal cliff'.

Lucas sold his company for just over $4 billion.  If his profit on the transaction is only one-half of that amount, or $2 billion, then selling in 2012 is saving him $176 million in taxes.  If the profit is $3 billion, that's roughly $264 million in tax savings.  Even when you're worth more than $4 billion, saving a quarter billion in tax is a significant amount of money.

I think there are a lot of other smart people out there, doing just what George Lucas is doing.  This raises a danger that I think we and more importantly, our politicians need to be aware of as they're trying to deal with this fiscal cliff thing.  There is going to be a lot of extra capital gains income tax collected in FY2012 over prior years.  Some will look at this as a positive sign and use it to justify reduced cuts in spending.  That's a trap because the one year increase in revenue is artificial, caused by this tax increase.  Unless Congress repeals those tax increases, there will be more sell-offs of investments before the end of the year, to capture those tax savings.

Maybe this is the time for you to make such a move.  If you have investments that you've had a large gain on that's subject to capital gains taxation, you might want to consider selling now.  Of course, consult with your tax and investment advisors.

But there's no question, George Lucas is a genius.

It's funny how people look at rules...

with two very different viewpoints.  I was having a discussion with one of my fellow residents about the rules of the facility today.  She wanted to have me read the house rules to all of the residents at the first meeting I preside over, or in the alternative, remind the residents that those rules exist and they should read and familiarize themselves with them.

I asked if she thought that would get the people who break the rules she's concerned about (mostly about hygiene, proper attire and pets) to do anything differently from the way they do things now, and she admitted it probably wouldn't.  So I said that means doing this would be a waste of time and I probably wouldn't do it.

Then the topic turned to how they hadn't brought her the right tea on her breakfast tray that morning.  There's a rule on that list of rules that says if you're brought meals in your room for more than three straight days, there's a charge for each additional day this is done.  So I asked, how is it any different for people not wearing the proper clothing to come down to eat, from you not being charged for having your meals brought to your room.  "Well, they haven't been enforcing that rule." "And they haven't been enforcing the other rules either.  How is your rule violation any different from theirs?"  "There's are about cleanliness."  "The dog in the dining room was.  People wearing their pajamas is not."  She quickly changed the subject.

Fascinating that people want to enforce rules that force people to do things they want, but those same sets of rules containing rules they should be forced to comply with might as well not exist.  Either we enforce all of the rules, or enforce some of the rules and take those we aren't going to enforce off of the list.  If you aren't enforcing a rule, it's useless.

Is reality television the end of scripted TV?  No.  Is it the beginning of the end?  No.  Does most of it suck?  Yes.  But there are shows that people will find entertaining.  I was thinking about which ones I enjoy watching.  My favorites are "Pawn Stars", "Storage Wars", "Parking Wars" and to a much lesser extent, the shows about women trying to become professional cheerleaders for pro sports teams.  America's Next Top Model, RuPaul's Drag Race, Real Housewives of wherever, Survivor, Amazing Race and all the others have little appeal to me.  Other shows I find enjoyable are Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, Man vs Food and other Adam Richman shows, Food Paradise and Restaurant Impossible.  Of all of these, Parking Wars is my favorite at the moment.

I won't be reading the house rules at next month's meeting.

Fun with Classified Ads:

"Cons:  You are always on call. And although I respect your personal time, you do have to be always available."  For $2,000 a month you want someone to be on call 24/7?

"PLUMBER APPRENTICE NEEDED."  That would have been so much more fun if they'd put "Plumber's Helper needed".

"Minimum wage to start (Independent Contractor only)"  Another employer wanting to rip-off someone by paying them minimum wage and treating them as an independent contractor when they clearly won't be one.

"Exclusive restaurant and lounge in need of waitresses and hostesses. No experience necessary, female applicants only. If you have a great personality and want to make VERY GOOD MONEY, send us an email with a picture and contact information and we will contact you for an interview. Must be 21 years or older and willing to work nights."  So what they mean by exclusive restaruant and lounge would more commonly be referred to as a strip club.

This Date in History:

On this date in 1343, a tsunami devastates Naples, Italy among other places.
On this date in 1667, a massive earthquake hits Shemakha in the Caucasus, killing 80,000.
On this date in 1759, a massive earthquake hits the Mediterranean, destroying Beirut and Damascus.
On this date in 1833, a massive underseas earthquake, estimated to be more than 8.7 in magnitude, strikes near Sumatra, causing a tsunami that hits all along the Indonesian coast.
On this date in 1839, a tropical cyclone hits India and causes a 40 foot storm surge.  The port city of Coringa was destroyed and an estimated 300,000 people died overall due to the storm.
On this date in 1926, the deadliest tornado outbreak in U.S. history strikes on Thanksgiving day, 27 strong tornadoes in all were recorded including one that was an F4.  76 died.
On this date in 1947, the "Hollywood Ten" were blacklisted.
On this date in 1952, Agatha Christie's play "The Mousetrap" opened in London, becoming the longest continuously running play in history.
On this date in 1963, JFK was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetary.
On this date in 1984, 36 top musicians gathered together in a recording studio in Notting Hill to record "Do They Know It's Christmas" to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia.
On this date in 1987, Typhoon Nina hits the Philippines, killing over 1,000 people with sustained winds in excess of 165 mph.
On this date in 1996, an ice storm hits the U.S. Midwest, killing 26 people.
On this date in 2008, Cyclone Nisha hits Sri Lanka, killing 15 and displacing 90,000
On this date in 2009, devastating floods his Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 300 cars are swept away and hundreds remain missing.

I sense a theme on this date...not a good day weather/natural disaster wise.

What if we did this....

An intriguing notion to totally ignore current systems and postulate on how something else might work to solve a problem.  I had one of those moments this morning at breakfast regarding our healthcare system.  Everyone would continue to pay into the present Medicare system, and become eligible for it at the age they qualify for Social Security Old Age benefits.

But for everyone who is between the age of 18 and the age of qualifying for Medicare would become part of a new plan, if they choose.  The choice however, is a bit draconian.  Anyone who wants to opt out can do so, but once they make that choice, they have to live with it for five full years.  If they get injured or become catastrophically ill during that period, they will remain on a cash-only basis for treatment of that injury or illness.  They would be taking a big risk.

Then we take all of the money currently going into the Medicaid system to partially fund the system we are going to create.  There are three sources of funding for this system.  That's one of them.  The second is a "tax" on all employers.  $100 per month per employee, pro-rated by the percentage of 40 hours per week that the employee works.  The third source of funding is from the people.  Pro-rated based on means.  Anyone living below the poverty-line pays nothing.  Anyone earning between 100% and 200% of the poverty line pays a very small amount.  Above that, premiums paid by people are pro-rated based on earnings up to $200,000.  Those earning more than $200,000 but less than $1 million would pay 200% of the premium to subsidize the premiums of those living below 200% of the poverty line.  Those earning more than $1 million and less than $10 million would pay 300%.  Above $10 million would pay 400%.

Premiums for those under 18 would be absorbed by the government.

With nearly everyone enrolled in the program, risk would be pooled among a very large pool indeed.  Risk-pooling lowers costs.

Every insurance company will be required to offer the plan that includes the government specified benefits available under this plan.  This plan would be an HMO-like plan.  It's the only way to make it affordable. Premiums would be set by the government for this plan. 

However, insurers would be free to offer other plans with better benefits at whatever price they feel fair.  Employers who want to provide better benefits than this basic plan and pay for them would be free to do so.  Individuals who want to purchase better coverage would be free to do so.  So if someone wants a PPO plan rather than the basic HMO plan, they can have one.  And pay for it.

Just a wild idea I came up with at breakfast.

Last night I was on my way home...

from a pleasant evening of playing Buzztime and enjoying a wonderful meal and for some reason I wanted talk radio rather than music on the way home.  I ended up tuning in two fill-in hosts and they were ranting about how awful WalMart treats their employees by not giving them health benefits.  They even went so far as to point out that the WalMart CEO earned $18 million last year, which is what 700 average WalMart employees earn.  Apparently some employee of WalMart went on television and said he wasn't going to go to work on Friday and that a company that keeps prices low by keeping his wages low should be able to pay him a living wage, provide health benefits and enable him to support his child.

I got curious about a few things and pulled up WalMart's annual report for 2011.  I already knew that WalMart has roughly 1.4 million employees worldwide.  While they aren't all in the U.S. and neither are all of the financial numbers I'm about to quote from, let's pretend for a moment that they are, for the purpose of illustration.

WalMart's gross revenues in 2011 were $418 billion.  On that gross reveue they had operating income of $25 billion.  Those are pretty good numbers.

Now if it were to cost $2,400 per year per employee to get them a decent health plan (and that's a conservative estimate, the real cost would probably be higher), that means an added annual expense of $3.36 billion.  That's roughly 1/8th of their operating income.  That's expensive.

So WalMart would probably have to increase prices to do this.  Adding a one dollar per hour increase to every employee, assuming that all 1.4 million were to be made full-time would cost another $2.9 billion.  That's only $2,080 per year per employee. With an average wage of $8.81 now, most would think just adding a dollar per year would be nowhere near enough.

Again, this is a problem with no easy answer.  People want low prices.  Local merchants can't compete with WalMart's pricing because of their ability to buy in bulk, to eliminate middle-men in the supply chain, and by keeping their operating costs low.  Would people be willing to pay more to WalMart to ensure their employees had a living wage and benefits?

This isn't about what changes Obamacare will bring about in the future.  This is about evaluating the costs of things and what people are willing to do to support these kinds of changes.  Will people pay another $0.50 to $1.00 per pizza so that all of the employees of Papa John's got benefits?  Maybe. 

But it isn't as simple as waving a magic wand, reducing the salaries of CEOs and using that money to pay for benefits.  Even though far too many CEOs are overpaid, what they are paid isn't enough to fund benefits for all employees everywhere.

Yesterday was a really good day...

I got to see a movie I enjoyed and I got to play trivia.  While we didn't win the premium game, we did finish 2nd on the West Coast feed, an admirable achievement considering it was just two of us at that location.  When I got home I even got a couple of thousand words written.  Now if I  only find them to be any good.  It's a pattern.  I'll write something new, get a bit of the way down the road with the idea and then decide it wasn't as good an idea as I'd originally thought.  Perhaps I'm a bit too critical in that first "second look".

There are really no other movies I have any interest in seeing this weekend so today and tomorrow will be a lot of writing, web-surfing, Words with Friends, television and the like.  I may run by Red Box and see if anything catches my eye, and there are one or two movies on VOD I might check out.  But otherwise, a quiet weekend.  CLOO is running a Bond marathon so that will undoubtedly get at least some play.  "Goldfinger", my favorite of the Connery Bonds is coming to a close at the moment.

I found out I'll probably be flying solo at this coming Monday's live trivia game as my regular teammate is obligated elsewhere.  Normally I'd prefer to skip rather than play alone, but we're working to qualify for a tournament with good prize money that will happen in February, so hopefully I can grab one of the top three spots to add more points to our already significant lead at that location.

Larry Hagman died yesterday, in Dallas.  He'd probably set up residence there for filming of the modern version of "Dallas".  His long-time co-star and TV wife was at his bedside when he passed.  Very admirable of Linda Gray.  Even though she was an "older woman", when Dallas was in its first run, I found both her and Victoria Principal very attractive.  And, BTW, I'm the one who really shot JR.  Every single episode would open with him pulling up in downtown Dallas and finding a parking place.  I never found parking that easily in downtown Dallas, so I shot him for his parking place.

Carpool lanes (or HOV lanes if you prefer) can be dangerous.  Yesterday I saw a driver (a man this time) who was in the carpool lane who suddenly realized he was about to miss his exit.  He violated the double double yellow line and went all the way across traffic to get off the freeway.  There were enough points from the multiple unsafe lane changes he made to suspend his license for at least a year.

I also saw someone doing 55 in a 35 zone as they passed me on the right (I learned to estimate speeds when I was a military cop).  That's just way too fast.  There's no good reason to be driving that fast on a city street that has intersections with other streets.

This Date in History:

On this date in 1835, the provincial government of Texas authorized the formation of what are now the Texas Ranger division of the state Department of Public Safety.
On this date in 1859, Charles Darwin's seminal work "On the Origin of Species" was published.
On this date in 1932, the FBI's "crime lab" officially opened.
On this date in 1944, the first U.S. bombing of Tokyo by land-based aircraft was done.
On this date in 1950, a storm called "the storm of the century" paralyzed the NorthEast and the Appalachians.  100 mph winds and sub-zero temperatures were recorded.  Pickens, WV recorded 57 inches of snow.
On this date in 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald was murdered by Jack Ruby.
On this date in 1965, Joseph Mobutu seized power in the Congo and ruled dictatorially for over 30 years.
On this date in 1971, D.B. Cooper jumped out of a passenger plane with a parachute and $200,000 in ransom money.  He has never been found.
And on this date in 1973, due to the oil crisis, a speed limit was enacted on the German Autobahn.  It was so unpopular that it was eliminated four months later.

I saw "Life of Pi" today and while I will...

review it over at www.tailslate.net I feel compelled to talk about its message about faith.  I was even more inspired when I got home and read about the story of Edwarda O'Bara.  She died this week at the age of 59, after spending 42 years in a coma.

Shortly before she became comatose she asked her mother to stay at her side.  That was in 1970.  Her mother, Kaye O'Bara was still there when she herself passed away in 2008.  That's commitment.  That's dedication.  And, that's faith.

In the movie today, the hero (yes, his name is Pi and I won't spoil how he got that moniker) is born a Hindu.  He will become a Christian and then a Muslim as well.  In an interesting discussion with his family over dinner, his father points out that believing in everything is really nothing more than believing in nothing.

An interesting notion.  If you believe in all religions, do you belong to all, or to none?  Does any one religion have it "right", or are there elements of all that have significant meaning.  I'm no longer observant of the religion I was born with, but my identity as a member of that group never wavers.  Was it imprinted on me and I just stopped having faith? 

I stopped following my faith because of a simple rule it insists upon.  You can't mourn someone who chooses to be cremated.  At least not officially.  You can't speak the proper prayers for the dead, you can't commemorate the anniversary of their death in the temple.  So rather than continue to practice a religion that forbade me from mourning some of my loved ones, I stopped observing the faith.

But I haven't lost faith.  And if anything, seeing the film I saw today has restored it.  I have faith in my fellow human beings.  Every day when I scan the headlines, I find both horrific things one person has done to others, as well as amazing things some have done to help others.  It's an interesting balancing act.  It proves we were given choice.  We can choose to be evil or we can choose to be good. 

There is a part of me that enjoys helping others.  I didn't choose to be that way.  I learned that behavior by observing others and I'm glad things worked out that way.

In the wake of the "scandal" involving...

retired Army General David Patraeus, who resigned as Director of the CIA after it was revealed that he'd been having an extramarital affair, the possible court-martial of Brigadier Jeffrey Sinclair has fallen below the radar.

In case you weren't aware of it, there was an Article 32 hearing, the military equivalent of a preliminary hearing, where charges that allege adultery, sexual assault and more against the 27 year Army veteran, who was the deputy commander of the elite 82nd Airborne Division deployed to Afghanistan.  Whether or not there will be a court-martial remains to be seen, as the results of the Article 32 hearing have not yet been released.

But, General Sinclair's wife Rebecca has spoken out about the situation.  This past Monday she said "I am not condoning anything, and I'm not excusing my husband's infidelity. I'm not saying that just because we're on this deployment cycle and because of the war, that causes infidelity  I'm just trying to understand it, and I'm trying to get conversations started so that people can look behind and see the bigger issue."

She had written an op-ed piece that was published in the Washington Post last week on the issue and on Monday was in New York giving interviews, one of which contained the above quote.  Her commentary really isn't so much a defense of her husband, although she hopes he will be cleared and wants to repair their relationship.  Instead she wants to make it clear what a strain military life places on a marriage.

She's right on target there.  In the 11 years since the 9/11 attacks, her husband has been gone for six of those years.  That's roughly 55% of the time.  Imagine for a moment spending 55% of your time for over a decade away from your spouse.  Not a pretty picture, is it?  Statistics for FY2011 (which ended 9/30/2011) showed more than 30,000 military personnel divorced during that year, a rate of 3.7%.  The rate among the rest of the population in the U.S. was only 3.5%.  It was also the highest rate for military families since 1999.  That would seem to indicate that the strain of 11 years of non-stop deployment to combat zones is only increasing.

This is something that there is no easy solution to.  Separation from family is a part of military life.  During both of my "short" tours overseas, 12 months in South Korea and 15 months on Guam, a number of my fellow servicemembers were away from their spouses.  Such tours usually don't permit a spouse to go with the military member, even when they aren't in a combat zone.

The only way this trend will ever go in the other direction will be when there is no need for deployments to a combat zone and when we are able to reduce our military commitments outside the borders of the U.S.  Until then, part of the price of freedom will be a higher than normal divorce rate among our military personnel.

I am still somewhat in shock and disbelief...

over the untimely passing of the amazingly talented Austin Peralta.  22 years old, gone much too soon.  Not having children of my own, I can't imagine the grief his family must be going through and my heart goes out to them.  No parent should ever be forced to bury a child.

Another Thanksgiving is in the books and this year I missed my family a little. I spent almost the entire day alone, although I did have company at all three meals of the day. Managed to talk to my mother on the telephone, although I left messages for the rest of my family that went unreturned. I don't mind not having the family meals, after all, I stopped going to them years ago. Maybe I'm not the best at calling with any frequency or regularity, but I do remember birthdays and when someone calls me, I return the call the same day. But I'll be charitable and assume that they didn't get the messages, and forget about it after I finish this sentence.

Props to the chef here, both for yesterday's Thanksgiving feast and for three excellent meals today.

Spent most of the day just watching television and playing Words With Friends, which is a kind of wasted day but what the heck. Can't try to write every single day. I did watch a very underrated movie on a Netflix DVD. "The Great Raid" is based on the true story of the greatest rescue mission ever carried out by the U.S. military. 500 POWs in the Philippines during World War II were in imminent danger of being murdered by their Japanese captors and a group of 120 Army Rangers and 80 Philippino guerillas rescued them. They suffered only light casualties and managed to kill between 600 and 1,000 Japanese in doing so. Not only is it a well-written film, but Benjamin Bratt looks very much like the real life person he was portraying. Eerily so.

Again, no Fun With Classified and today no This Date in history.

Seeing a movie I've been very much looking forward to later today. "Life of Pi". I never read the novel and now that I'm going to see the film, I'll probably want to check it out. It's almost always the case that the book turns out to be better than the film, so seeing the film first almost always makes sense. I can count the exceptions to that rule without running out of fingers and some of those involve novelizations that managed to add something to the original screenplay.

I had to go to the market on Thanksgiving....

and I got to see signs that the economy can't possibly be as bad as people say it is.

The market was jammed with people making last minute Thanksgiving purchases.  At the adjacent Best Buy store, there were fifty people in line waiting for the store to open for Black Friday.  Which begins tonight at midnight at Best Buy.  I was tempted to drive by Target to see the line waiting for 9:00 p.m. tonight, which is when they will open.  I feel badly for those employees who are being forced to work at these sales on what is traditionally a holiday. 

So if Target is opening at 9:00 and WalMart an hour earlier, are there customers who will choose to go to WalMart because they are opening earlier?  I wouldn't think so.  Therefore the question becomes, why the rush to open a few hours earlier?  To lessen the stampede on Friday morning at 5:00 a.m., when stores were opening a few years ago?  Nope.  Just as many people will be in line outside those stores by the time they open tonight, as there were in line on those cold Friday mornings.

I heard an interesting statistic yesterday.  According to one source, 23% of the population of California is now living below the poverty line.  Again, since the source was a bit nebulous about how they got to the number, I take it with a grain of salt.  But it does make me wonder how can the economy be so bad, unemployment so high, and yet the crowds lining up for bargains are as large or larger than ever.  Is it that the cash crunch is forcing these people to shop for the best possible bargains?  I think not.  Best Buy is a very nice place, but there are no "necessities" to be had there.  Electronics are wonderful, but they don't reach to the bottom of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.  In case you aren't familiar with the concept, here's a diagram:

You can decide for yourself where the need for a new television, computer, iPod, iPad, etc fits on this scale, but it isn't part of physiological needs.  There I'm guessing that the people in line at Best Buy either aren't being that negatively impacted by the economy, or they are making a conscious choice to behave as if they aren't.

I know the economy is bad in reality.  I think people's perceptions who don't study the economic indicators closely don't believe that, or are ignoring it.

Anyway, some food for thought in case today's turkey and fixings weren't enough for you.  Happy Thanksgiving and for those of you braving the crowds when the stores do open, good luck and good bargain hunting.

I got a preview of Friday today and it wasn't pretty...

and it made up my mind that I'm not going anywhere near any store on Friday that isn't a supermarket.

I went to the Westfield Century City Mall to see a movie.  Normally there is somewhere fairly close to the escalator is closest to the theater.  Not today.  There was nowhere even relatively close.  I had to park on the far side of the structure in the next to last row.  At first I thought the movie theater was crowded and I was worried I might not get a good seat for "Red Dawn".  But the theater was empty.  The mall however, was packed with shoppers.  Apparently prior to Black Friday is Green Wednesday when a lot of green goes into store cash registers. 

So I got a good seat for the film, and while it was disappointing as a film, seeing a movie is always a good thing.  Always a mood lifter.  Always a couple of hours of pleasure.  Afterward I came home and found my Thanksgiving meal waiting in my room.  It was very, very good. 

It's been a long, long time since there was a family Thanksgiving in my family.  A few years back my mother and step-father started spending their Thanksgiving volunteering to work on a serving line.  I lauded that decision as I hadn't been going to the family Thanksgivings in the years prior to that anyway.  This year my step-dad isn't up to the task and I doubt my mother will go, but either way there isn't any family gathering that I'm aware of.  I did note that my brother, sister and sister-in-law were running in the "Turkey Trot" race near where they live in Texas.

I'm thankful for a lot of things today.  Chiefly that I'm above ground.  I'm thankful I have FB to keep track of some of what goes on in the lives of my brother and sister, since we don't talk much.  It's as much my fault, maybe more so.  Perhaps there's tension I'm not aware of.  There's at least one person in my extended family who chose to refuse my "friend" request on FB and I haven't said anything about it until now.  But that was a bit disconcerting.

I am actually thankful that two people who I'd been friends with for a long time "unfriended" me on FB this year.  If they could misconstrue or misunderstand my words to that degree, clearly I didn't know them and they didn't know me as well as I thought.  One of my goals for my future is to focus on the relationships that are positive for me and the other person and let go of those that aren't positive for both of us.  To me, friendship is mostly about being there when needed, but there is more to it than that.  I am very thankful for those friends who are still a part of my life and I look forward to those friendships continuing in the future.

Today is not a day for fun with classifieds.  But it is definitely a day for This Date in History, because of one event in particular.  So important in our lives in fact, it will go first.

On this date in 1963, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas, TX.

Also on this date in history:

On this date in 1858, the city of Denver, CO was founded.
On this date in 1869, the Cutty Sark was launched, the only "clipper" ship that survives today.
On this date in 1928, Ravel's "Bolero" was performed for the first time.
On this date in 1935, the first "China Clipper", transpacific mail and passenger service took off.
On this date in 1942, a pivotal moment in the Battle of Stalingrad, as General Paulus sends a telegram to Adolf Hitler announcing that the German 6th Army has been surrounded.
On this date in 1954, the Humane Society was founded.
On this date in 1967, the UN Security Council passed resolution 242, establishing principles to guide the negotiations in an Arab-Israeli peace process.
On this date in 1969, Ohio State University was upset by the University of Michigan, 24-12 in Bo Schembechler's first season as coach, setting off the "war" between Schembechler and Woody Hayes.
On this date in 1975, Juan Carlos is declared King of Spain after Generalissimo Francisco Franco dies.  This provided fodder for "Saturday Night Live's" Weekend Update for years, when they would say "our top story tonight, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead."
On this date in 1986, Mike Tyson became the youngest heavyweight boxing champion ever.
On this date in 1988, the first prototype of the B-2 "Stealth" bomber was unveiled.
On this date in 1995, "Toy Story" was released, the first ever animated film entirely computer generated.
And on this date in 2005, Angela Merkel became the first female Chancellor of Germany.

The late Harry Chapin is one of my favorite singers...

and he had a way of telling stories in his songs.  One of those songs is called "A Better Place to Be" and in a concert that became part of his album (back in those days we had albums, not CDs) "Greatest Stories Live".  I owned that album and now own it on CD.  When that song plays, he explains that the song is set in a place called Watertown, New York and he says "I spent a week there one afternoon."

I raise that lyric because today felt like I spent an entire week in rush hour traffic.  I had finished up at the VA (fortunately or unfortunately, I'll be there at least weekly through the end of the year, minimum) and had to drive to Hollywood at the wrong hour of the day.  That's why it took more like 100 minutes to make what should have been a 30-40 minute drive under normal conditions.

So to pass the time I listened to talk radio and Congressman Tom McClintock was on.  He's a Republican somewhere between conservative and moderate on the viewpoint scale overall, but very conservative on fiscal issues.  At least that's my perception of him, and he was throwing around some interesting numbers.  I'm going to repeat several of them, but they are his and I haven't verified them.  I myself view them with at least a modicum of suspicion.

39
32
82

According to him, over the last ten years, the population has increased 39%, while federal revenue has increased only 32% and during that same period, federal spending has increased 82%.

I'm guessing that's from Oct 2001 through September 2012.  What makes that last number a little suspect is that we've been at war for most of that period, much of it on two fronts.  We had to spend money on several stimulus programs to try to jumpstart the economy.  Okay, you can debate whether or not we had to but the point is we did.  So the huge budget deficit is artificially bigger than it would have been had we not gone to war and had an economic meltdown.

But his next point was very valid.  You could fire every government employee today, close all federal offices and entitlement programs would still consume all of the remaining amount of revenues.  That's frightening.  Raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans will raise maybe $100 billion a year using generous estimates.  We're running a deficit of ten times that amount.

Another number he threw out there is also frightening.  He said that the average person who becomes Medicare eligible in 2012 has paid roughly $100,000 into the Medicare system.  And the average person who becomes eligible for Medicare in 2012 will require the program to spend three times that amount on their care over their remaining life expectancy.  Let's check that first number.  An employee pays 2.9% of their wages, without limit into the Medicare system (yes, that unlimited status isn't all that old, but let's go with it).  1.45% they pay and 1.45% their employer pays on their behalf, which can be viewed as coming from their wages.  $100,000 divided by 2.9% = more than $3.4 million in lifetime wages.  Doesn't add up, does it?  So maybe all of his numbers should be taken with a grain of salt.  Except of course that little point about the fact that government entitlement spending consumes huge amounts of the revenues that come into the goverment's coffers. 

These numbers are from the budget year that ended in September of this year:

Medicare - $484 billion
Social Security - $779 billion
Other health spending (Medi-caid) - $361 billion
Veterans benefits/medical - $129 billion
Income security - $580 billion

Total = $2.3 trillion

Federal revenue from all sources in 2012 = $2.5 trillion.

But he's right if you add in the $225 billion we spend each year financing the national debt.

So any proposal to resolve the so-called fiscal cliff for the long-term has to involve increasing revenues and reducing spending.  The question is how and I don't have any easy answers.  But answers are something we need to be searching for.

I went to a screening last night...

and while it started out rough (the process of getting there), the movie was very good and it was a lot of fun to be all alone in the screening room (the other reviewers who were supposed to be there failed to show).  I got to take my cell phone out and look at incoming emails and/or texts without worrying about disturbing anyone else.  That's something I'll never do in a theater when there are other people present.  I felt a guilty sort of pleasure in doing this.

I don't know how you feel, but I'm happy that San Francisco has passed a ban on public nudity.  The occasional act of nudity, like running the famed Bay to Breakers race without clothes is one thing.  Nudity 24/7 was going on and that's just wrong.  Particularly since it's almost always the person who shouldn't be naked flaunting things we don't want to see.  I'd never torture anyone by appearing in public without clothing.  Nor would I want to sit on a restaurant chair that someone had previously sat on while they were naked.  Or a bus bench.  Or a seat in a movie theater.  So this is a good thing.



Fun With Classified Ads:

"Chinese English Speaker wanted"  Wait a sec.  You want someone who is Chinese that speaks English??  Ah, you want someone who speaks both Chinese and English.  Well why didn't you say so?

"Looking for assistant that is experienced with excel and really appreciates dogs.
Self-starter, articulate, caring and responsible.
20 hours a week to start.
Must love dogs.
Must have strong writing skills.
Have own car and insurance.
Absolutely must love dogs.
Telephone calls, research, answering emails, data entry.
Experience with Photoshop a plus.
Did I mention you must love dogs?"  So you want Excel, strong writing, own car and insurance, data entry and Photoshop, and they have to really love dogs and you're only going to offer $8 per hour???

This date in history:

On this date in 1789, North Carolina ratifies the U.S. Constitution and is admitted as the 12th state.
On this date in 1877, Thomas Edison announces his latest invention, the phonograph.
On this date in 1920, 31 people are killed in Dublin, in what's now known as "Bloody Sunday".
On this date in 1959, famed DJ Alan Freed was fired by WABC-AM for refusing to deny allegations that he had accepted "payola".
On this date in 1970, the infamous "Son Tay POW Camp Raid", Operation Ivory Coast takes place.  No prisoners are rescued because they'd been moved, but the mission is a success otherwise.
On this date in 1980, fire breaks out at the then MGM Grand Hotel (now it's Bally's) killing 87 people and injuring more than 600.
On this date in 1985, Jonathan Pollard is arrested for allegedly spying against the U.S. for Israel.  He remains in prison today serving a life sentence.
And on this date in 1995, the Dayton Peace Accord is reached, ending the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  The accord is formally ratified on December 14th of that year.

Someone and I can't remember who...

recently wrote something about how regrets are a waste of time.

I don't know that I disagree completely.  But I think reflection can be healthy in moderation and I also think that as we age and begin to consider "bucket lists", part of what helps us to construct them are our regrets.  I've actually never seen the film "The Bucket List" with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman and I'm not adding it to any bucket list, nor am I working on one at the moment.  But for whatever reason I feel the need to explore things I did accomplish, those I did not (yet) and which of them I regret.  If you find this boring, I may or may not get to Fun With Classified and This Date in History, but I will do my best and you may want to skip ahead.

A few months ago I was dining with friends and one remarked that I've done a lot of different "stuff" (not the word he used) in my life.  That may or may not be true.  I joined the military while still in high school and went off to basic training weeks after graduation.  During high school I worked in fast food restaurants, in my father's business, as a busboy in an upscale eaterie, as a shipping clerk, as a scorekeeper and a porter at a bowling alley, and as a janitor.

During my time in the military I worked part-time jobs in fast food, as a floor-guard and later disc jockey at a roller rink, as a clerk in an adult bookstore, as a disc jockey in a club, as a reporter/news anchor/writer/editor at an all-news radio station, and as an FM DJ.

After I got out, I worked for a social service organization, spent almost 17 years working at a private school doing a very wide variety of tasks, worked for a non-profit that houses the homeless, did income tax returns for 18 years, and worked for two different nursing registries.

Or to put it more tersely, I've had a hell of a lot of different jobs.  Are there any jobs I regret not pursuing?  Some.  I wish I'd been smarter and gone to law school.  I wish I'd finished my damn undergrad degree earlier in life so I might have done that.  I wish I'd pursued journalism more doggedly.  I wish I'd studied harder in high school so that I might not have had few alternatives other than the military upon graduation.  Going to a community college right out of high school would have been a disaster and I recognized that long ago.

But I was offered another path and turned it down and perhaps that was a mistake.  My manager at McDonald's wanted me to blow off the military and enter the management-training program, sending me to Hamburger High and ultimately to Hamburger University.  The person that went down that path in my place, at last check, owned two McDonald's franchises of his own.  That might have been me.  Perhaps it was a mistake, perhaps not.  This is a choice I don't regret.  I learned a lot in ten years in the military.  Granted, some of those skills have little value today.  Being able to survive in the wilderness or to make napalm just have no practical applications at present.

In late 1983/early 1984 I received orders to go to South Korea on a one year assignment.  I'd volunteered for this, so I have no regrets about the choice to volunteer.  But I made a really bad choice while meeting with the personnel clerk handing my assignment.  He talked me into asking for what's known as a "follow-on" assignment, which is where the next base you will go to following a one year "short" tour overseas is decided before you leave for that short tour.  I put in for and was approved for an assignment to the big base in Las Vegas.  That was a real mistake.

Because while I was in South Korea I was offered a four year-controlled assignment to a base in Japan, to establish a new unit headquarters.  It was a dream assignment, an almost guaranteed promotion and I'd pretty much get whatever assignment I wanted after the tour was over.  But I couldn't take the offer because I was committed to go to a job on a base in Las Vegas that I had no interest in.  That choice marked the beginning of the end of my military career.

I have very few regrets about what happened after that, employment wise.  I don't regret my time at the school, or doing taxes, or going back and finishing my undergraduate degree.

I don't regret either of my marriages.  There were lessons to be learned.  There was an earlier relationship, before I ever got married, that I regret the end of.  She ended it and then two years later asked if we could try again.  But by then I was with the woman who would become my second wife so I couldn't pursue that opportunity.  I suspect that had I been able to re-connect with that particular woman I would be happily married today, 25 years after she reached out for the last time.

So what I have I learned from this analysis of regrets?  That I'm pretty much like everyone else.  I've made choices in life that I regret, but I can't avoid the fact that much of what happened as a result of those choices turned out well.  I can't go back and change things.  So I shouldn't dwell on my regrets and I won't.  But the exercise of reflecting on them is a healthy one, reminding me of some lessons I may not have been paying enough attention to.

No ads today but there is a This Date in History:

On this date in 1917, Ukraine was declared a Republic.
On this date in 1940, Hungary joined the Axis Powers.
On this date in 1945, the Nuremberg trials for war crimes began.
On this date in 1947, then Princess Elizabeth married her current husband, Phillip Mountbatten.
On this date in 1962, the Cuban Missile Crisis ends.
On this date in 1969, American Indian activists seized control of Alcatraz.
On this date in 1977, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel.
On this date in 1993, the Senate Ethics Committee censures Senator Alan Cranston (D-CA) for his role in the Savings and Loan crisis.
And on this date in 2008, the financial crisis drove the Dow Jones Industrial Average to its lowest point since 1997.

The recent scandals involving generals...

has me pondering the issue of fidelity.  Or should I say infidelity.

It's a subject I'm very familiar with and have strong feelings about.  I won't speak ill of the deceased, but there was someone very important in my life who engaged in multiple acts of infidelity while he was still alive.  Seeing his actions influenced my own life and I'm proud to be able to say I've never committed any act of infidelity to anyone I've been romantically committed to.

I can't say the same for either of my ex-wives.  Both were involved with other men while we were still married and committed to one another.  In both instances, those infidelities were directly responsible for the end of our marriages.  I accept some of the blame, because somehow, some way I wasn't able to give them or do for them whatever was needed for them to remain faithful and in our committed relationship.  But they get the majority of the fault when assigning fault.

I've heard numerous commentators remarking on the issue of the infidelity of General Patraeus, General Allen and other men.  What I don't hear is these people grasping the concept that for every man who cheats, unless he happens to be a homosexual, there's a woman involved in his act or acts of infidelity.  Paula Broadwell, the alleged mistress of General Patraeus is a married lady.  She was no more and no less unfaithful to her husband than General Patraeus was to his wife.

This brings me to another concept, one that many probably won't agree with me on.  If a married person (or otherwise involved in a romantic, committed relationship of some sort) engages in acts of infidelity with a person who is truly single, that single person is also guilty of an act of infidelity if they were aware of the existence of that committed relationship.  When a man or woman fools around behind their partner's back, if the person they are being unfaithful with is unaware of their committed status, then they have done nothing wrong.  But when they are aware, they should either refuse to get involved with that person, or accept the fact that they are doing something wrong.

How is it that they should know this is wrong?  Because if they were involved with someone in a committed relationship, they wouldn't accept that partner fooling around.  So it's just as wrong.

Now then, if people want to have these so-called "open relationships" that is certainly their choice.  Likewise with polygamy.  But when it's a committed situation involving two people, either keep the commitment, or end it and move on. 

How many more careers and lives will be ruined by people being unable or unwilling to simply live up to a promise?

Time for another look at....

the California Franchise Board's list of top tax delinquents.

Among the names you may recognize on this list:

Halsey Minor, at #1 with over $10 million in delinquent taxes.  He's the founder of CNET.
Dionne Warwick, the famous singer and former owner of some psychic hotline.
Steven Bren, son of billionaire Irvine Company founder Donald Bren.
Steven Perry (naw, it's not the famous singer Steve Perry)...
Ronald Isley (this one is the singer).
Steven Seagal, actor and reality show star.
Brian McKnight, singer and excellent three-point basketball shooter.
James Ingram (naw, it's not the famous singer).

Then there's a list of corporations whose income taxes are delinquent.  Five of the first seven names on that list are medical corporations.  Then there's a name you may not recognize at first, Mantra Films.  But it turns out that this is the company that makes and distributes the famous "Girls Gone Wild" DVDs and is owned by Joe Francis.

But what really gripes me about this list?  There is one name on it whose delinquent tax bill dates back to 1993.  Another one that goes back to 1994.  And seven names whose tax bills date back to 1995.

That's more than 17 years ago.  Aside from publishing the names on a list, what the heck is the hold-up?  Maybe they can't collect.  Maybe they won't work out an offer in compromise.  And while the total owed on the remaining names of individuals from the original 250 names listed is less than $150 million, it is still money the state needs.

One has to wonder, if Prop 30's passage will result in more names going onto this list.