Just a Few Notions

That's right. I'm not mainstream. I never claimed to be.

Summer of Recovery - And the Golden State

Another Summer of Recovery...

Despite 0% interest rates, $7 trillion in added debt, more than $1.5 trillion in stimulus, and the Fed creating more than $4.5 trillion in new money out of thin air, the US economy just stumbles along. Hope and change turned out to be national malaise as Americans come to faintly grasp the reality that bigger government is never the answer - to anything.

The California model is instructive. Every state has one set of people contributing to the coffer—namely, private sector workers—and another drawing from it—namely, government workers and welfare recipients. In healthy states, the contributors outnumber the users. In unhealthy states the reverse is true.

California is in trouble. For every 100 people employed in the private sector it has 113 people drawing benefits. A person working at Disney or Intel or a fast food franchise is carrying his own weight plus that of one other person. Many factors contribute to California’s budget crisis. The state has a big university system, an influx of needy immigrants and an expansive notion of how involved the government should be in people’s lives.

The California response is to double-down and spend more as businesses leave in record numbers. Of the fifty US States, California taxes more while being one of the the most unfriendly to business. In California, the State tax rate runs at roughly 10% for earners making over $47,000 per year. In neighboring Nevada, it's 0%. The State corporate tax rate in California is almost 9%. In neighboring Nevada, it's 0%. California seems to be following the path first trod by New York state, which dominated the nation's economy through the early part of the 20th century, only to see massive outmigration of jobs and people, and subpar employment growth as its taxes and regulations rose.

(NewsMax) [By the first quarter of 2014], Texas added 30,000 new jobs, while in February California lost 31,000 jobs. And that’s not all. Frank points out individual taxes are so much higher in California that when people move to Texas “most get a 10 percent pay raise — due to the lack of an income tax. The companies get a 10 percent rise in profits, due to lack of state corporate tax. It is win-win in Texas and lose-lose in California.”

Thoughts for the Day

Because we all have thoughts.

Isle of Man Ferry

I was in the Navy and you'll note the lax haircut and torn up boonie shirt. That's how it was in those  halcyon days. TDY to 62 Commando, on the ferry from Douglas, Isle of Man to Belfast with a girlfriend whose name has been lost to antiquity. Money in my pocket, more ego than a young man ever need have, lean, mean, baby faced shooter.

I lived in a secure 'mansion' in the Finaghy district of Belfast. Played in a flat off Antrim Road not far from Belfast Castle. Tagged a safe house, it was anything but.

I'm posting this to prove that there was a time 

when my hair was black as a raven's wing.

Time is a cruel enemy.

Old harmless lion in winter with blunted fangs and cracked claws.

sic transit gloria mundi

It Feels like Monday

I know that it's not. It's Tuesday.

But there is that "Monday" feel to the day, as if anything can happen.

Shopping on Amazon

It's amazing what you can buy on Amazon. I was there punching in "canned salted hedgehog" and this is what popped up. Apparently they don't stock hedgehog but unicorns are clearly the next best thing.

Apparently you can't pick your favorite part of unicorn as the can is simply generic 'meat'.


Searching for bottle opener brought this gem.

Who wouldn't be proud to have this on the wall of the den next to all of the dead animal heads? The molded plastic isn't like a genuine dead deer's butt, however it's an idea for your next taxidermist adventure.

"Gift for lady that has everything" is a strange search term and here's what Amazon recommends for that special person.

Nothing says love like a plastic yodeling pickle. I'm torn between the concept of the yodeling pickle as a mere novelty item and the pickle as a marital aid. Being a guy, I'm woefully unable to comment further on this special gift.

Re-Doing Rushmore

Photoshop provides interesting opportunities to re-write history. In this instance, to replace the arcane with the ugly (some buddies of mine and me).

Normally I can find something more interesting to blog about -- not so much today, as you can see.