My take on a couple of stories in the news...and a few other headlines
An unidentified waiter at a restaurant in Kansas got this note instead of a tip after serving an unidentified family: "Thank you for your service, it was excellent,” the anti-gay Christians’ message read. “That being said, we cannot in good conscience tip you, for your homosexual lifestyle is an affront to GOD. Queers do not share in the wealth of GOD, and you will not share in ours. We hope you will see the tip your queer choices made you lose out on, and plan accordingly. It is never too late for GOD’s love, but none shall be spared for queers. May GOD have mercy on you."
I'd like to share some quotes from the Bible with the jerks that left this note:
"Judge not, lest ye be judged."
"For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."
"So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."
I know, I know, calling them jerks is a judgment of my own. I'll live with that. Lord knows I've been called worse on many occasions already.
* * *
We're a couple of weeks away from the new Leonardo DiCaprio film "The Wolf of Wall Street" and it is based on a true story. The story of Jordan Belfort, who you can read about here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Belfort.
The federal government had gone to court to seek to have Belfort charged with failing to live up to the terms of the restitution that was ordered as part of his sentence. Now they've withdrawn that claim to look further into an issue that Belfort's lawyers are raising. Belfort was ordered to pay 50% of his income until he had repaid $110.4 million in restitution. The lawyers are saying that he was only required to do that during the three years of "supervised release" that came after he'd spent 22 months in federal prison.
I haven't read the sentencing order. I've looked for a copy online but can't find one. However, I don't believe for a minute that it was the intent of the judge who handed down the sentence that he only pay restitution during supervised release.
* * *
Sarah Palin is going on a book tour. She's making a trip to Iowa. She plans to make endorsements in a number of 2014 Republican primary elections. In other words, she has political plans for herself, maybe in 2014, maybe in 2016. Maybe she's considering a run for her party's nomination for the presidency.
She is enormously popular among her supporters. She is also equally unpopular with the rest of the Republican party, and most of the non-Republican population. That included Libertarians, Democrats and independents alike.
She is a college graduate and like me, went to a number of colleges before graduating. But she strikes me as an intellectual lightweight who speaks before thinking. That's not the kind of person who should be in a high political position. Power-brokering, endorsing, all of that nonsense is fine. She just doesn't belong in an elected office. Just as well. At this point she probably couldn't get elected dog catcher, even in Wasilla.
* * *
I can understand running back into your burning home to save a loved one. A child. A spouse. A sibling. Even a treasured family pet. I can even understand running back into that fire to save precious mementos like photographs, that can't be replaced. As long as it is done with the focus on your own safety, such a thing isn't all that stupid. What is stupid is what a man did in Columbus, GA. He ran back into his burning house to...save his beer.
It isn't like there isn't more beer available at the nearest store. Beer lost in a fire isn't a big deal. Certainly not worth risking your safety.
* * *
So is it a cut? Or just a return to the old level of funding. For those who receive aid through SNAP, the current label for the food stamp program, their benefits will be reduced next Friday. That's when temporary increases in the amount people receive that were put into effect during the recession expire. A family of four getting the maximum amount of $668 a month will begin receiving only $632 per month on November 1st.
When you make a temporary change to a benefit, once the duration of that period ends, the benefit goes back to the original level. That's not a cut in a benefit. People who were getting extra will get that extra no more.
Is a little more than $8.50 per week a significant amount to a family of four whose income is so low that they get the maximum amount? Yes it is.
* * *
Other headlines that caught my eye:
In Colombia, a mother stands accused of selling the virginity of her 12 daughters. Reportedly, older men paid between $160 and $212 to take the virginity of one of the woman's daughters.
Steve Young's career as an NFL quarterback was long and distinguished. But his career in the USFL is still paying off. He will receive $1 million this year even though the USFL is long defunct. And he'll get a raise to $3 million next year.
Two incidents of what critics are calling racial profiling by the staff at Barney's, a high-end department store, have resulted in fans of rapper Jay-Z to end his business arrangement with Barney's.
A NY congressman is trying to intervene so that a woman from the Philippines can travel to the U.S. to donate a kidney to a 78 year old woman who will die without a transplant.
30 triathlons in 30 days sounds impossible, especially when they were all at the Ironman distances of swimming 2.4 miles, bicycling 112 miles and then running 26.2 miles, but a Pittsburgh man did just that recently.
Thanks to the kindness of strangers and a Beverly Hills ophthalmic surgeon, a 12 year old girl from the island of St. Lucia can see again.
Homeless people in Salt Lake City may enjoy a little of the Christmas spirit thanks to a 7 year old girl who was the catalyst for her family to organize a drive to collect gifts and food for those without a home.
If you happen to be near San Diego, you can see the real-life animal that was the inspiration for one of the Looney Tunes characters. Real Tasmanian devils are on display.
I'd like to share some quotes from the Bible with the jerks that left this note:
"Judge not, lest ye be judged."
"For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."
"So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."
I know, I know, calling them jerks is a judgment of my own. I'll live with that. Lord knows I've been called worse on many occasions already.
* * *
We're a couple of weeks away from the new Leonardo DiCaprio film "The Wolf of Wall Street" and it is based on a true story. The story of Jordan Belfort, who you can read about here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordan_Belfort.
The federal government had gone to court to seek to have Belfort charged with failing to live up to the terms of the restitution that was ordered as part of his sentence. Now they've withdrawn that claim to look further into an issue that Belfort's lawyers are raising. Belfort was ordered to pay 50% of his income until he had repaid $110.4 million in restitution. The lawyers are saying that he was only required to do that during the three years of "supervised release" that came after he'd spent 22 months in federal prison.
I haven't read the sentencing order. I've looked for a copy online but can't find one. However, I don't believe for a minute that it was the intent of the judge who handed down the sentence that he only pay restitution during supervised release.
* * *
Sarah Palin is going on a book tour. She's making a trip to Iowa. She plans to make endorsements in a number of 2014 Republican primary elections. In other words, she has political plans for herself, maybe in 2014, maybe in 2016. Maybe she's considering a run for her party's nomination for the presidency.
She is enormously popular among her supporters. She is also equally unpopular with the rest of the Republican party, and most of the non-Republican population. That included Libertarians, Democrats and independents alike.
She is a college graduate and like me, went to a number of colleges before graduating. But she strikes me as an intellectual lightweight who speaks before thinking. That's not the kind of person who should be in a high political position. Power-brokering, endorsing, all of that nonsense is fine. She just doesn't belong in an elected office. Just as well. At this point she probably couldn't get elected dog catcher, even in Wasilla.
* * *
I can understand running back into your burning home to save a loved one. A child. A spouse. A sibling. Even a treasured family pet. I can even understand running back into that fire to save precious mementos like photographs, that can't be replaced. As long as it is done with the focus on your own safety, such a thing isn't all that stupid. What is stupid is what a man did in Columbus, GA. He ran back into his burning house to...save his beer.
It isn't like there isn't more beer available at the nearest store. Beer lost in a fire isn't a big deal. Certainly not worth risking your safety.
* * *
So is it a cut? Or just a return to the old level of funding. For those who receive aid through SNAP, the current label for the food stamp program, their benefits will be reduced next Friday. That's when temporary increases in the amount people receive that were put into effect during the recession expire. A family of four getting the maximum amount of $668 a month will begin receiving only $632 per month on November 1st.
When you make a temporary change to a benefit, once the duration of that period ends, the benefit goes back to the original level. That's not a cut in a benefit. People who were getting extra will get that extra no more.
Is a little more than $8.50 per week a significant amount to a family of four whose income is so low that they get the maximum amount? Yes it is.
* * *
Other headlines that caught my eye:
In Colombia, a mother stands accused of selling the virginity of her 12 daughters. Reportedly, older men paid between $160 and $212 to take the virginity of one of the woman's daughters.
Steve Young's career as an NFL quarterback was long and distinguished. But his career in the USFL is still paying off. He will receive $1 million this year even though the USFL is long defunct. And he'll get a raise to $3 million next year.
Two incidents of what critics are calling racial profiling by the staff at Barney's, a high-end department store, have resulted in fans of rapper Jay-Z to end his business arrangement with Barney's.
A NY congressman is trying to intervene so that a woman from the Philippines can travel to the U.S. to donate a kidney to a 78 year old woman who will die without a transplant.
30 triathlons in 30 days sounds impossible, especially when they were all at the Ironman distances of swimming 2.4 miles, bicycling 112 miles and then running 26.2 miles, but a Pittsburgh man did just that recently.
Thanks to the kindness of strangers and a Beverly Hills ophthalmic surgeon, a 12 year old girl from the island of St. Lucia can see again.
Homeless people in Salt Lake City may enjoy a little of the Christmas spirit thanks to a 7 year old girl who was the catalyst for her family to organize a drive to collect gifts and food for those without a home.
If you happen to be near San Diego, you can see the real-life animal that was the inspiration for one of the Looney Tunes characters. Real Tasmanian devils are on display.
posted by me at 9:33 AM
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