Playing favorites
I have a confession. I have favorites. George Harrison is my favorite Beatle. Clarence Clemons is my favorite member of the E Street Band. And Scott Carpenter was always my favorite among the Mercury 7 astronauts. He died today, reportedly from complications following a stroke. But I've also read that he was in a hospice when the stroke occurred so I'm kind of unclear about the sequence of events. Time will reveal the details.
He was my favorite because he went into space and then moved into a new frontier. I thought it was so cool, when I was a little kid that an astronaut decided to go beneath the waves rather than back into space.
* * *
I'm still disgusted that the Congressional gym is open while so many people are suffering because of the shutdown.
There's a chance of a deal. People are talking. It's all posturing. It's all bullshit.
Why? Because they're talking about a six week extension of the debt ceiling. They spent almost all of last year trying and failing to work out a deal to avoid sequestration. What would make anyone believe for an instant, let alone one minute, that these 535 morons can reach a workable compromise in six short weeks? It's foolishness.
If it were up to me to just write an amendment to the Constitution that would take effect immediately, it would read as follows:
Each year on Feburary 1st, the President will forward a complete budget proposal for the Fiscal Year that will begin that October 1st. Congress has 30 days to act on this proposal by approving it as is, or amending it. If the proposal has not passed both the House and the Senate by March 15th, all pay and benefits for members of Congress and their families will cease and will not be paid retroactively once a budget is approved. If a budget proposal has not passed Congress by August 31st, the President's budget proposal becomes law automatically on October1st.
It would never pass in Congress but it would certainly win approval of the people.
Do we need to make a change at the basic levels of our system of funding our federal government and its programs? Yes. Can the problem be solved by just raising taxes? No. Can it be solved by just cutting spending? No. Can it be solved by a combination of the two? Perhaps.
It is easy to say that we should:
Cut defense spending.
Reform entitlements.
Means-test programs like Medicare and Social Insecurity.
Eliminate pork-barrel spending.
But it was something someone said this morning on the radio that really got my attention. As long as the top priority of Senators and Representatives is to do things to keep themselves in the Congress, rather than representing the interests of the people who sent them there, nothing will ever be resolved. It's true. They are more worried about getting reelected than getting government reopened. That is not representing our interests.
* * *
I'm angry. At myself. I'm still struggling with the concept of just saying no when someone asks me to "help" and my desires to help people send me down the road to a bad decision.
On Thursday night I was teaching my last class of the week. I was on target to finish on-time, which my students and I all wanted. We all wanted to go home. Then one of the tax pros working in that office at that time came in and interrupted my class. This person wanted to know if I'd help out by doing the office close-out of the daily sales, because one of the relatively new preparers was still with a client. I thought for a moment and said I would, if that tax pro was finished when I was ready to leave. That I would not wait if there was more work to be done on the client's return.
I should have just said "No. I'm tired and I'm not on the clock for client service. You are. You stay and do it." Instead I just nodded. That bad decision cost me more than an hour of my life as I ended up having to intervene and fix some problems with the return, and handle the payment. Any first year tax pro should be able to take a payment. Not this one.
* * *
Random Ponderings For Thursday:
Maybe Lance Armstrong shouldn't have been so open about his blood doping with his then fiancée, Sheryl Crow. All she wanted to do was have a little fun.
Sofia Vergara wasn't wearing her engagement ring when she appeared on Chelsea Handler's talk-show the other night. Would anyone watching the show be looking at Sofia's fingers??
The single mom who earns barely more than minimum wage after ten years of working at a McDonald's, who interrupted the company's president while he made a speech shouldn't be blaming the company for the fact she's a single mom, or that she only earns $8.25 an hour. McDonald's is made up of mostly entry-level positions. It isn't designed to be a fulfilling career unless you're prepared to advance into management. If after two or three years you aren't moving up it is time to change jobs/employers/careers.
If Taylor Swift is really taking a break from "romance", where will she get inspiration to write new songs??
I bet that any man dumb enough to date Kris Jenner not only has a lousy time, but gets stuck with the bill even though she's worth millions.
That grandmother who works at Lowe's who was fired for trying to stop a shoplifter got what she deserved. Company policy says don't interfere with thieves, then don't interfere and expect to be lauded for your actions. The policy exists for the safety of everyone, safety she put into jeopardy by ignoring policy.
Dark chocolate makes you live longer? Time to stock up on dark chocolate!
* * *
This Date in History for October 10:
19 AD – Roman general Germanicus suddenly dies in Antioch under mysterious circumstances. Roman historian Tactius records that Germanicus was poisoned by Syrian Governor Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso under orders from Roman emperor Tiberius.
680 – Battle of Karbala: Hussain bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, is decapitated by forces under Caliph Yazid I. This is commemorated by Muslims as Aashurah.
732 – Battle of Tours: Near Poitiers, France, the leader of the Franks, Charles Martel and his men, defeat a large army of Moors, stopping the Muslims from spreading into Western Europe. The governor of Cordoba, Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, is killed during the battle.
1471 – Battle of Brunkeberg in Stockholm: Sten Sture the Elder, the Regent of Sweden, with the help of farmers and miners, repels an attack by Christian I, King of Denmark.
1575 – Battle of Dormans: Roman Catholic forces under Duke Henry of Guise defeat the Protestants, capturing Philippe de Mornay among others.
1580 – Over 600 Papal soldiers land at Dún an Óir, Ireland to support a rebellion.
1582 – Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
1631 – An Electorate of Saxony army takes over Prague.
1760 – In a treaty with the Dutch colonial authorities, the Ndyuka people of Suriname - descended from escaped slaves - gain territorial autonomy.
1780 – The Great Hurricane of 1780 kills 20,000–30,000 in the Caribbean.
1845 – In Annapolis, Maryland, the Naval School (later renamed the United States Naval Academy) opens with 50 midshipman students and seven professors.
1846 – Triton, the largest moon of the planet Neptune, is discovered by English astronomer William Lassell.
1860 – The original cornerstone of the University of the South is laid in Sewanee, Tennessee.
1868 – Carlos Céspedes issues the Grito de Yara from his plantation, La Demajagua, proclaiming Cuba's independence
1871 – The Great Chicago Fire: Chicago burns after a barn accident. The fire lasts from October 8 to October 10.
1910 – Tau Epsilon Phi: Tau Epsilon Phi Fraternity is founded on the campus of Columbia University in New York City, New York.
1911 – The Wuchang Uprising leads to the demise of Qing Dynasty, the last Imperial court in China, and the founding of the Republic of China.
1913 – President Woodrow Wilson triggers the explosion of the Gamboa Dike thus ending construction on the Panama Canal.
1920 – The Carinthian Plebiscite determines that the larger part of Carinthia should remain part of Austria.
1928 – Chiang Kai-Shek becomes Chairman of the Republic of China.
1933 – United Airlines Chesterton Crash: A United Airlines Boeing 247 is destroyed by sabotage, the first such proven case in the history of commercial aviation.
1935 – A coup d'état by the royalist leadership of the Greek Armed Forces takes place in Athens. It overthrows the government of Panagis Tsaldaris and establishes a regency under Georgios Kondylis, effectively ending the Second Hellenic Republic.
1938 – The Munich Agreement cedes the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany.
1942 – The Soviet Union establishes diplomatic relations with Australia.
1943 – Double Tenth Incident in Japanese-controlled Singapore
1944 – Holocaust: 800 Gypsy children are murdered at Auschwitz concentration camp.
1945 – The Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang signed a principle agreement in Chongqing about the future of post-war China. Later, the pact is commonly referred to as the Double-Ten Agreement.
1953 – Mutual Defense Treaty Between the United States and the Republic of Korea is concluded in Washington D.C.
1957 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologizes to the finance minister of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, after he is refused service in a Dover, Delaware restaurant.
1957 – The Windscale fire in Cumbria, U.K. is the world's first major nuclear accident.
1963 – France cedes control of the Bizerte naval base to Tunisia.
1964 – The opening ceremony of the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, is broadcast live in the first Olympic telecast relayed by geostationary communication satellite.
1967 – The Outer Space Treaty, signed on January 27 by more than sixty nations, comes into force.
1970 – Fiji becomes independent.
1970 – In Montreal, Quebec, a national crisis hits Canada when Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte becomes the second statesman kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group.
1971 – Sold, dismantled and moved to the United States, London Bridge reopens in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
1973 – Vice President of the United States Spiro Agnew resigns after being charged with federal income tax evasion.
1975 – Papua New Guinea joins the United Nations.
1980 – A magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurs in the Algerian town of El Asnam. 3,500 die and 300,000 are left homeless.
1985 – United States Navy F-14 fighter jets intercept an Egyptian plane carrying the hijackers of the Achille Lauro cruise ship, and force it to land at a NATO base in Sigonella, Sicily where they are arrested.
Famous Folk Born On October 10th:
Henry Cavendish
John Abercrombie
Giuseppe Verdi
Paul Kruger
T. Frank Appleby
Helen Hayes
Thelonious Monk
James Clavell
Ed Wood
Johnny Stompanato
Dana Elcar
Harold Pinter
Winston Churchill
Peter Coyote
Ben Vereen
David Lee Roth
Tanya Tucker
Julia Sweeney
Martin Kemp
Scott Hoffman
Chris Penn (RIP, gone too soon)
Gavin Newsom
Brett Favre
Mario Lopez
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
No movie quotes for Thursday.
He was my favorite because he went into space and then moved into a new frontier. I thought it was so cool, when I was a little kid that an astronaut decided to go beneath the waves rather than back into space.
* * *
I'm still disgusted that the Congressional gym is open while so many people are suffering because of the shutdown.
There's a chance of a deal. People are talking. It's all posturing. It's all bullshit.
Why? Because they're talking about a six week extension of the debt ceiling. They spent almost all of last year trying and failing to work out a deal to avoid sequestration. What would make anyone believe for an instant, let alone one minute, that these 535 morons can reach a workable compromise in six short weeks? It's foolishness.
If it were up to me to just write an amendment to the Constitution that would take effect immediately, it would read as follows:
Each year on Feburary 1st, the President will forward a complete budget proposal for the Fiscal Year that will begin that October 1st. Congress has 30 days to act on this proposal by approving it as is, or amending it. If the proposal has not passed both the House and the Senate by March 15th, all pay and benefits for members of Congress and their families will cease and will not be paid retroactively once a budget is approved. If a budget proposal has not passed Congress by August 31st, the President's budget proposal becomes law automatically on October1st.
It would never pass in Congress but it would certainly win approval of the people.
Do we need to make a change at the basic levels of our system of funding our federal government and its programs? Yes. Can the problem be solved by just raising taxes? No. Can it be solved by just cutting spending? No. Can it be solved by a combination of the two? Perhaps.
It is easy to say that we should:
Cut defense spending.
Reform entitlements.
Means-test programs like Medicare and Social Insecurity.
Eliminate pork-barrel spending.
But it was something someone said this morning on the radio that really got my attention. As long as the top priority of Senators and Representatives is to do things to keep themselves in the Congress, rather than representing the interests of the people who sent them there, nothing will ever be resolved. It's true. They are more worried about getting reelected than getting government reopened. That is not representing our interests.
* * *
I'm angry. At myself. I'm still struggling with the concept of just saying no when someone asks me to "help" and my desires to help people send me down the road to a bad decision.
On Thursday night I was teaching my last class of the week. I was on target to finish on-time, which my students and I all wanted. We all wanted to go home. Then one of the tax pros working in that office at that time came in and interrupted my class. This person wanted to know if I'd help out by doing the office close-out of the daily sales, because one of the relatively new preparers was still with a client. I thought for a moment and said I would, if that tax pro was finished when I was ready to leave. That I would not wait if there was more work to be done on the client's return.
I should have just said "No. I'm tired and I'm not on the clock for client service. You are. You stay and do it." Instead I just nodded. That bad decision cost me more than an hour of my life as I ended up having to intervene and fix some problems with the return, and handle the payment. Any first year tax pro should be able to take a payment. Not this one.
* * *
Random Ponderings For Thursday:
Maybe Lance Armstrong shouldn't have been so open about his blood doping with his then fiancée, Sheryl Crow. All she wanted to do was have a little fun.
Sofia Vergara wasn't wearing her engagement ring when she appeared on Chelsea Handler's talk-show the other night. Would anyone watching the show be looking at Sofia's fingers??
The single mom who earns barely more than minimum wage after ten years of working at a McDonald's, who interrupted the company's president while he made a speech shouldn't be blaming the company for the fact she's a single mom, or that she only earns $8.25 an hour. McDonald's is made up of mostly entry-level positions. It isn't designed to be a fulfilling career unless you're prepared to advance into management. If after two or three years you aren't moving up it is time to change jobs/employers/careers.
If Taylor Swift is really taking a break from "romance", where will she get inspiration to write new songs??
I bet that any man dumb enough to date Kris Jenner not only has a lousy time, but gets stuck with the bill even though she's worth millions.
That grandmother who works at Lowe's who was fired for trying to stop a shoplifter got what she deserved. Company policy says don't interfere with thieves, then don't interfere and expect to be lauded for your actions. The policy exists for the safety of everyone, safety she put into jeopardy by ignoring policy.
Dark chocolate makes you live longer? Time to stock up on dark chocolate!
* * *
This Date in History for October 10:
19 AD – Roman general Germanicus suddenly dies in Antioch under mysterious circumstances. Roman historian Tactius records that Germanicus was poisoned by Syrian Governor Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso under orders from Roman emperor Tiberius.
680 – Battle of Karbala: Hussain bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, is decapitated by forces under Caliph Yazid I. This is commemorated by Muslims as Aashurah.
732 – Battle of Tours: Near Poitiers, France, the leader of the Franks, Charles Martel and his men, defeat a large army of Moors, stopping the Muslims from spreading into Western Europe. The governor of Cordoba, Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, is killed during the battle.
1471 – Battle of Brunkeberg in Stockholm: Sten Sture the Elder, the Regent of Sweden, with the help of farmers and miners, repels an attack by Christian I, King of Denmark.
1575 – Battle of Dormans: Roman Catholic forces under Duke Henry of Guise defeat the Protestants, capturing Philippe de Mornay among others.
1580 – Over 600 Papal soldiers land at Dún an Óir, Ireland to support a rebellion.
1582 – Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
1631 – An Electorate of Saxony army takes over Prague.
1760 – In a treaty with the Dutch colonial authorities, the Ndyuka people of Suriname - descended from escaped slaves - gain territorial autonomy.
1780 – The Great Hurricane of 1780 kills 20,000–30,000 in the Caribbean.
1845 – In Annapolis, Maryland, the Naval School (later renamed the United States Naval Academy) opens with 50 midshipman students and seven professors.
1846 – Triton, the largest moon of the planet Neptune, is discovered by English astronomer William Lassell.
1860 – The original cornerstone of the University of the South is laid in Sewanee, Tennessee.
1868 – Carlos Céspedes issues the Grito de Yara from his plantation, La Demajagua, proclaiming Cuba's independence
1871 – The Great Chicago Fire: Chicago burns after a barn accident. The fire lasts from October 8 to October 10.
1910 – Tau Epsilon Phi: Tau Epsilon Phi Fraternity is founded on the campus of Columbia University in New York City, New York.
1911 – The Wuchang Uprising leads to the demise of Qing Dynasty, the last Imperial court in China, and the founding of the Republic of China.
1913 – President Woodrow Wilson triggers the explosion of the Gamboa Dike thus ending construction on the Panama Canal.
1920 – The Carinthian Plebiscite determines that the larger part of Carinthia should remain part of Austria.
1928 – Chiang Kai-Shek becomes Chairman of the Republic of China.
1933 – United Airlines Chesterton Crash: A United Airlines Boeing 247 is destroyed by sabotage, the first such proven case in the history of commercial aviation.
1935 – A coup d'état by the royalist leadership of the Greek Armed Forces takes place in Athens. It overthrows the government of Panagis Tsaldaris and establishes a regency under Georgios Kondylis, effectively ending the Second Hellenic Republic.
1938 – The Munich Agreement cedes the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany.
1942 – The Soviet Union establishes diplomatic relations with Australia.
1943 – Double Tenth Incident in Japanese-controlled Singapore
1944 – Holocaust: 800 Gypsy children are murdered at Auschwitz concentration camp.
1945 – The Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang signed a principle agreement in Chongqing about the future of post-war China. Later, the pact is commonly referred to as the Double-Ten Agreement.
1953 – Mutual Defense Treaty Between the United States and the Republic of Korea is concluded in Washington D.C.
1957 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologizes to the finance minister of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, after he is refused service in a Dover, Delaware restaurant.
1957 – The Windscale fire in Cumbria, U.K. is the world's first major nuclear accident.
1963 – France cedes control of the Bizerte naval base to Tunisia.
1964 – The opening ceremony of the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, is broadcast live in the first Olympic telecast relayed by geostationary communication satellite.
1967 – The Outer Space Treaty, signed on January 27 by more than sixty nations, comes into force.
1970 – Fiji becomes independent.
1970 – In Montreal, Quebec, a national crisis hits Canada when Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte becomes the second statesman kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group.
1971 – Sold, dismantled and moved to the United States, London Bridge reopens in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
1973 – Vice President of the United States Spiro Agnew resigns after being charged with federal income tax evasion.
1975 – Papua New Guinea joins the United Nations.
1980 – A magnitude 7.3 earthquake occurs in the Algerian town of El Asnam. 3,500 die and 300,000 are left homeless.
1985 – United States Navy F-14 fighter jets intercept an Egyptian plane carrying the hijackers of the Achille Lauro cruise ship, and force it to land at a NATO base in Sigonella, Sicily where they are arrested.
Famous Folk Born On October 10th:
Henry Cavendish
John Abercrombie
Giuseppe Verdi
Paul Kruger
T. Frank Appleby
Helen Hayes
Thelonious Monk
James Clavell
Ed Wood
Johnny Stompanato
Dana Elcar
Harold Pinter
Winston Churchill
Peter Coyote
Ben Vereen
David Lee Roth
Tanya Tucker
Julia Sweeney
Martin Kemp
Scott Hoffman
Chris Penn (RIP, gone too soon)
Gavin Newsom
Brett Favre
Mario Lopez
Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
No movie quotes for Thursday.
posted by me at 9:30 AM
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