Healthcare in NY City in the day of the COVID-one-niner
Posted On: Thursday - April 30th 2020 6:03PM MST
In Topics: Immigration Stupidity Healthcare Stupidity Kung Flu Stupidity
Last week, in the post, Nurses in New York we has some anecdotal information about the high demand for nurse there, along with more on the situation in other locations. What's happening is that the sick patients who do HAVE the COVID-19, not so say they don't have lots of other problems that are just as important, are being treated very badly.
I understand the idea of all the personnel wearing additional protection for themselves and to slow down the spread of this virus in the hospital. However, there are plenty of other infectious diseases that exist in hospitals, which is a reason one should spend as little time there as humanly possible. This virus is said to be much more infectious, but then I've heard all sorts of stories on that, and how does one actually wipe out a virus that is semi-inanimate to begin with. (see Kung Flu vs. VD).
If one thinks of all the pathways a germ can take from a patient to anywhere else in the hospital, the only true methods to avoid it would bring on complete paranoia. These methods would have to be exactly what one sees in science fiction movies about germs from other planets that will simply kill everyone they come in contact with. This is NOT a disease from outer space! It's not the Black Plague!
The nurses, techs, and even the doctors are purposefully being scared shitless. Due to this, doctors won't visit patients in person, nurses are quitting before going in to visit with infected patients, and family members are not there to help and give support to their loved ones.
Here's what makes it worse in NY City: Due to out-of-control immigration, with destination zero being that city, it has become a real Tower-of-Babel, 3rd-world shitshow. Peak Stupidity has opined on Immigration Stupidity more than any other type for a reason. It's at the root of a lot of America's problems. NY City is Exhibit A. I don't mean the post Upper East/West side of Manhattan or wherever else they have $20,000/year kindergartens to get their kids away from the riff-raff. I mean the majority of what NY City has become - majority 3rd-world people means the place becomes the 3rd world and runs accordingly.
That long intro. over with, please listen to this just-over-10-minute video, made by a nurse practitioner (she's practically a doctor), in which she relates the stories from NY City from her anonymous nurse friend there. It's the media and government induced fear that has caused this madness and misery for everyone - the healthcare workers AND the patients.
Comments (8)
John Derbyshire on the proto-UBI
Posted On: Wednesday - April 29th 2020 7:15PM MST
In Topics: Immigration Stupidity Economics Liberty/Libertarianism Socialism/Communism
(Again, just trying to save on server space to keep the planet cool and avoid another letta from Greta).
It's the (italicized) 2nd segment, after his Intro, that I refer to here from Moratorium Fiasco, Glimmers Of Light, Lifeboat Ethics, And Judicial Diversity, Etc by John Derbyhsire from his April 24th "Radio Derby" podcast transcript. I can read in < 10 minutes what takes 36 1/2 minutes in the podcast, but the transcripts get published, at least on VDare, a week later. That's OK, as we don't deign to be timely here.
The whole Radio Derb transcript is interesting and well said/written as usual. However, I'll point out in his immigration segment something that's about Liberty vs. Socialism more than anything immigration* related. Here's an excerpt of the words in question:
Another excuse being circulated around Washington is that, to quote Tucker Carlson, who retailed it on his show the other night, quote:Nah, Mr. Derbyshire doesn't get it. It's not about laziness. This ADDITIONAL unemployment money of $600/week, that, with even a measly $250 normal amount, adds to over $3500 monthly**, is a serious amount of income for a majority of Americans. Why WOULD you take a $10/hr, or even $20/hr job (not that easy to come by), if you can make more by staying home. There's absolutely no incentive to go to work.Officials from the Department of Labor and the Council of Economic Advisors [argued that] the unemployment benefits in the coronavirus stimulus bill were so generous that American citizens would refuse to go back to work because it was easier to just get a government check. And so we have to bring in more foreigners.End quote.
That's kind of a supercharged version of the notion peeping out from between the lines of articles by immigration fanatics like Bret Stephens and Max Boot: that working-class Americans are dull-witted loafers lacking any spirit of enterprise, no use for anything except drawing a dole, so that the country would be a better place if we just got rid of these useless mouths somehow and replaced them with immigrants.
I don't say there are no such useless, workshy Americans. From my own experience of the nation's labor force, though, which spans a range from dishwashing to investment banking, I don't believe there are many. Most of us want to work.
"Sure", you say, "but, it's temporary." Well, who's the poor bastard that's gonna break the news of the end of this deal? Is it going to be a cold turkey withdrawal for Americans on this plan? As blogger "Audacious Epigone" predicts too***, this big unemployment money is likely the Socialists big boot in the door for the Universal Basic Iincome.
This doesn't change Mr. Derbyshire's point that President Trump's exempting of most H-1B visa holders (Indentured Servants) and others, at a time with dozens of millions of Americans unemployed, is egregious and stupid. Well, I may as well excerpt another snippet about that, giving John Derbyshire his due:
To put it less gently: This executive order is just another blast of hot air from our windbag President, accomplishing nothing—actually, on those suspended admissions now to be restarted, less than nothing.Indeed, as the Instapundit says.
* Please read that segment for some more information on the tease that was President Trump's immigration "moratorium" tweet, likely adding to what Michelle Malkin wrote here.
** I can't believe I haven't written the post on this that I had meant to yet. Coming soon ...
*** See Conceived in Corona, UBI Baby Is on the Way.
Comments (8)
Ann Coulter with
Posted On: Wednesday - April 29th 2020 6:25PM MST
In Topics: Immigration Stupidity Trump Pundits Kung Flu Stupidity
(Just trying to save on server space to keep the planet cool and avoid another letta from Greta).
This and the next post will be just "hey, you gotta read this" posts. Peak Stupidity is allowed a few of these now and then like any other lazy-ass pundit shop*. Both articles are on VDare, THE go-to site for all things immigration.
Ann Coulter bats a .900, I'd say, on this one, a little under-par, to mix a coupla metaphors. She's had a .980 average over the last 15 years, with just a couple of sacks on AA and "the pot". [WTF? - Ed]. With her high-level of snark, it's hard to tell exactly. I may be underestimating her on this one. Miss Coulter has definitely been on the anti-panic side of the Kung Flu Gap. Take a look at her latest column, Q & A On The Wuhan Virus: We're Done Now—Except For An Immigration Moratorium!.
What do you think of the media’s coverage of the Wuhan virus?Yup.
It’s like a nonstop “War of the Worlds” broadcast, which in 1938 panicked more than a million Americans into believing Martians had landed in New Jersey, sending people fleeing to the mountains, loading their shotguns and barricading their homes. And that was a single radio broadcast!
Today we have nearly all of media—which I notice are doing fantastically well during the crisis—terrifying the public about an apparently indestructible, omnipresent virus.
You don’t think the China virus is as dangerous as they say?I don't think we'd have to eliminate all human life, Ann. Some more of us could quit watching the TV and we'd never see another TV commercial with some company saying they consider you "family". I have never seen such a commercial.
Well, it is a virus capable of eliminating all human life, which would be bad, but not all bad because then you’d never have to see another TV commercial with some company saying they consider you “family.”
On the Lyin' Press, Ann says:Blow it up with extreme prejudice.
Apart from the election, why would the media want to impoverish the nation?On Trump and the response to this Kung Flu being like that of 9/11 (Peak Stupidity asks "Is COVID-19 the Socialists' 9/11?"
1) Reporting on disasters is fun!
2) Their ratings are terrific—and, of course, they’re still being paid.
3) Liberals enjoy controlling people, especially with enragingly nonsensical rules.
I thought Trump was the authoritarian! [Hey, that's not a question!]Yep, and a majority of Americans is falling for that again, 2nd time this
No, he’s the lazy, narcissistic blowhard. Liberals are the authoritarians.
The shutdown is airport security for the whole country. Nineteen Muslim immigrants flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and suddenly little old ladies from Oklahoma had to be goosed at airports. We have to be safe!
A horrible Chinese virus sweeps the planet, which is devastating to older people but virtually harmless to the young—and the entire country has to be shut down. We have to be safe!
Ann Coulter's Libertarian summary:
Whether it’s rational or not, people aren’t going to go out like they used to. [Hey, that's also not a question!]There are the usual italics that I can't put here, as the excerpt is already italicized, and VDare has loads of links on their presentation of this column, as usual.
My entire life, liberals have said, “Don’t like abortion? Don’t have one.” “Don’t like pornography? Don’t look at it.” And so on.
I say: “Don’t want to leave your home? Don’t leave your home!”
There are a few parts Miss Coulter had in this one that I don't agree with, hence that lower than normal score. Next, a nice segment by John Derbyshire in his transcript of his weekly "Radio Derb" podcast.
* "Shop", haha, this comes from my reading of a Pat Buchanan book, using this terminology for groups of advisors - he was a wonk way back in the day ... Yeah, a review or two is coming.
Comments (14)
Peter Gabriel - Solsbury Hill
Posted On: Tuesday - April 28th 2020 7:54PM MST
In Topics: Music
There was something about those British musicians in the 1960's (mainly) - bands would have lots of musicians that were each great on their own. When you hear or read about them, it's like, well Rod Steward was in the Small Faces before such and such (another good band) and then this guy was in the Yardbirds, and this other famous artist was also in the Yardbirds before he was in the ... and Stevie Windwood, and one of the guys from Zeppelin and so on... I guess it was just a hell of a time for music.
What reminded me about this was, upon reading a bit about Peter Gabriel, the musician singing/writing this song tonight, that he was the lead singer of Genesis before Phil Collins was. I'd thought they switched off. Then, there was Mike Rutherford from this same band, who also made some good music on his own, well, with his band - Mike and the Mechanics.
Solsbury Hill here, from Peter Gabriel's self-titled album of 1977, has such a great tune, and with an unusual time signature, 7/4 time, except back to 4/4 time for the last 2 measures of each chorus.
The only thing I don't like is the video. It was made "much later" (per wiki) than the song, so I think it had to be in the big MTV era of the early/mid 1980's. This one just doesn't cut it, compared to the great music videos of that time. You've got these great lyrics - why not either something resembling them, or just show the band playing? I don't know what the heck this one is about - just listen though, to this fantastic song.
Peter Gabriel – vocals, flute
Steve Hunter – guitars
Tony Levin – bass guitar
Larry Fast – synths
Allan Schwartzberg – drums, shaker, telephone book (per wiki)
London Symphony Orchestra - uhh, orchestrating, I guess?
Comments (6)
Another reason to owe the IRS money
Posted On: Tuesday - April 28th 2020 7:22PM MST
In Topics: Economics US Feral Government
I knew there was something else I'd meant to add in our 2nd post on income tax withholding. This post will be a quick addition to Income Tax Withholding - flattening the pain, damage, and awareness curves and Tax withholding and Leverage.
I really couldn't believe this crap when I first heard of it, in reference to some kind of special tax credit a few years back to incentivize Americans to do something or other. In case you don't care to keep track of any this complicated method of theft, here's a very quick point:
A tax credit is a direct subtraction off of the bottom line, tax owed. This is as opposed to a deduction which is taken off the top line (well near the top, at least), the income earned. The latter is only worth whatever your marginal rate is (the highest bracket your income level comes under) x that deduction. I.e., if you are earning an amount that gives you a marginal tax rate of 22%, then a $1,000 deduction saves $220 on your tax bill, while a $1,000 credit saves you $1,000.
OK, fine. My point here is about a type of credit called a non-refundable one versus a refundable one.
Funny, that web page is very helpful, with lots of talk about your doing the best thing to save money. Should the IRS be doing this? If you don't care about collecting the most money, guys, quit auditing us minor cheaters!
Yes, you read that right! There are credits for which you may be fully eligible, but will not get, because you don't owe the IRS money on April 15th (extendable during Panic-Fests) to subtract if from. Really, WTF?! This is real, and they are called "non-refundable". That term is usually used in a different manner - in this case it means the credit doesn't apply to people getting tax refunds.. I'd thought I'd just misunderstood back when there was the special credit I can't remember.
Just to make this perfectly clear: If there is a $2,000 non-refundable credit that you meet the criterion for, yet you have 5 bucks coming to you, you get nada, nunca, nilch, other than that 5 bucks. If you owe the IRS 5 bucks, you will be relieved of that burden, and if you owe 1,000 bucks, you'll be relieved of it. If you owe $2,000 or higher, you subtract that $2,000 credit from what you owe, in the way that a credit is supposed to work.
Some new tax deal could be passed in the middle of the fiscal year. (No, nobody seems to give a damn about that stuff about retro-activity anymore.) Your best bet, if you are eligible for it, is to go submit a new W-4 withholding form with a high number of exemptions. Make damn sure you're going to owe for that year, and enough to get you the whole credit.
Do you see this possibly most important reason not to have tax refunds coming each year? Please let me know, readers, if I have missed anything. Otherwise, yeah, how would you feel being the sucker?
Comments (5)
Surgeon Colonel Sting on Social Distancing
Posted On: Monday - April 27th 2020 7:08PM MST
In Topics: Music Humor
First thing: I've just learned a minute ago that Dr. Fauci is not the Surgeon General. That's what I get for keeping too great a social distance from
There is still a Surgeon General, one Jerome Adams being the present 5-star SG, leading the current Army of the Potomac. Another factoid that surprises many is that though Jerome Adams can be seen on this wiki page wearing what looks to be an Admiral's uniform, he is neither Surgeon nor General. (He does watch a lot of surgeries, as he's an anesthesiologist, if that counts.) None of the so-called "Surgeon Generals" of the United States has ever lead a battalion into a tank battle, along with cutting people open during R&Rs! What a crock.
Apparently this position is really one of Public Scold. I have been remiss in keeping up with all of these warrior/healers, but I do remember the reign of C. Everett Koop. There was lots of scolding about smoking and VD, as I recall. I remember a chubby black lady, who may have concentrated in particular on the menthol cigarettes and ingrown beard hair. This new General, what's his thing? He has been kind of quiet during this Kung Flu episode, but then, again, I'm very far from the TV.
There is one man that was Policing our behavior (he'd probably call it "behaviour") way back in the early 1980's. He was no surgeon, and he was no General, but he was a fine bass player and songwriter. Mr. Thomas Sumner, known by most of us as Sting, was urging people to Social Distance 40 years ago! "Please don't stand so close to me."
This song is from The Police's third album Zenyatta Mondatta, from which Peak Stupidity featured another great song, De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da. Of course, it's not about the Kung Flu virus, but the song does have an interesting story. I don't think any current-era Surgeon General would be pleased at the student/teacher relationship theme.
The 3-man band:
Thomas Sumner, aka "Sting" - vocals, bass guitar
Andy Summers - guitar, backing vocals, piano
Stewart Copeland - drums, backing vocals
Comments (12)
Now this is kinda odd ...
Posted On: Monday - April 27th 2020 1:44PM MST
In Topics: Websites Orwellian Stupidity Deep State
Blogger "Audacious Epigone" noted a Curious Corona Coincidence yesterday that had to do with google searches. You wonder how deep the Deep State goes. You can read there and see what you think about his eerie search "engine" experience. His was with a type of search I've not done myself, which is a search for data on number of searches for some keywords in the past.
It's all kind of interesting, but in this case I will chalk up to faulty software and bad data what he reckons is some deep subterfuge. You never know - there's a big tendency for Big Data to lean toward the evil side. Evil likes lots of data.
Peak Stupidity's experience, which I'd forgotten to mention until being reminded by A.E.'s post, is with image searching. As the regular reader will know, we tend to use "file photos" most of the time (which we had a few paragraphs about in our "Beaches", and we apologized for an error regarding). In general, Bing seems to be the best of it, Google, and DuckDuckGo for finding the right images.
In searching for images with keywords "Corona" and various others in combination with it with "images" last, there was a weird thing going on. EVERY TIME the search had "Corona" in it, the same thematic map seen above, with current data, would show up at the top. Not only that, there would not be the normal array of images to click on to choose more from at all! It was eerie, I tell you. Bing wanted me to look at that map, so long as I typed in "Corona" and "images", with whatever else. DuckDuckGo, as a backup, did the same thing. I've been told that DuckDuckGo uses Bing data, but this is more than that. It's the same logic in showing that specific US Kung Flu-infected map on top, and just non-image links at the bottom.
Unfortunately, I can't remember if Google had done the same back a few weeks ago when I first saw this, or not. My work-around was to leave out the keyword "Corona" and use something else. As of today, the map still appears at the top, on Bing searches, but at least with an image array down a ways on the page. It no longer did just now on DuckDuckGo.
Try it - bing.com, which is using the string "Corona New York Hospitals images". Yup. I figured, OK, it's about the state name, so try '"Corona at the beach images". Yup, gets that map. I LUV, LUV, LUV thematic maps and all things Geography, but enough with that map! Now, there were images below, as I wrote they include now. These ones, naturally, are of Corona Beer, which, true, matches well with the search "Corona at the beach images". Bing finally lost that map when I tried "Corona cute girls images". I guess bidness is bidness, after all.
Bing, at least, is really pushing this Kung Flu Panic-Fest hard. This is one example that was pretty obvious to me.
"I've got one word about your future, Ben.
Screenshots."
"Uhhh, Sir, that might be two words, but it's debatable."
Comments (5)
Power bills and Moral Hazards
Posted On: Monday - April 27th 2020 10:42AM MST
In Topics: Economics The Future Socialism/Communism
"Uggh. Another post on taxes and shit!". The Peak Stupidity reader may think that some of these recent posts are here just to keep us from ranting about this Kung Flu Infotainment Panic Fest twice a day, on the 11's. Or, he may figure that it's just a fixation that one must put up with, such as with the posts about golf course architecture or Hollywood people out of one of my favorite bloggers, Steve Sailer. Well, you gotta think, hey, I'm not paying for this, and I didn't have to read, so what's the problem?
Exactly! However, this financial/economic stuff is NOT unrelated to this Kung Flu, when it comes down to it. High-powered Socialism is coming, with a vengeance! As we've noted in , this Panic-Fest we are trying to come out of has been taken full advantage of, and, if not fully planned*, being continuously egged on. I will have another post shortly on the large amounts of future-taxpayers' money being doled out in unemployment, which I think will hook a big mass of formerly working-class Americans on Uncle Sugar, like crack whore's hooked on, well, crack.
No, this one is about a note in the bill from the power company. (I hope the reader can make it out, as I need to keep the images small horizontally.). This seems like an innocuous nice gesture by this Big-Biz outfit at first glance. Sure, no late fees, we know you're stressed out financially. No, we won't turn off the power if you get way behind either. Wow, now that is mighty white of you!
If that were all it were to end up to, no, I'm not bent out of shape about my having probably paid a late fee or two back in the day (especially when I was helping renters save 80 bucks by keeping the bill in my name) while now people get a break. If you put a hold on disconnects, though, that sure is encouragement for a lot of damn people. When you incentivize something, you will get more of it. How far will they let this no-cost debt go?
A commenter on unz, along with a friend this morning, have both told me not to worry, saying that customers of the power company will have to catch up, and the latter saying that there are plenty of people who end paying the penalties and interest later, as they just plain live like this. I don't know. Will the power company get part of the $2,000,000,000,000 - [the ionosphere] bailout, and then use a chunk of that to bail out those poor 8-month behind electricity customers? I think that is highly likely. It's not something I'd bet on, but it's just that, in a Socialist economy, where it's not about the work one does, but how you play the system, there's a damn good chance of that. Let's put it that way.
I'm really getting sick of getting screwed as someone trying to be responsible with finances. I think I'd be a lot sicker were I to have scrimped in college to avoid having mortgage-sized loans, as the other kids partied hardy (or is that "party hardied"?), once student loan forgiveness gets implemented.** It's only due to college being MUCH more reasonable when I went that I am not sick like a Kung Flu victim over this.
Over the last 10 years or more, since finances have been stable for me, I have been paying these bills 4 or 5 at a time, ahead. Yes, being a luddite or privacy freak, depending on how you see it, I don't want the money coming out of my bank account, so I've been sending checks. My method saves 50 ¢ on a stamp and about the same on a check (yes, talk about inflation - that's what they work out to be. Is ink some rare commodity?) It's my 5 minutes of time to take care of this that save, well, yeah, at least 50 ¢, I hope!
I'd gotten the check out and put the stamp on the envelope, before I read that note above. I was committed, but not to the amount. I wrote it for a smaller amount than planned. I regret writing it at all, but it's not my nature to just stiff the power company unless I have an argument with them (that leverage thing). Next month, I dunno. Why not just get behind like everyone else? If they start trying to collect, I've got the money and I'll send it in. If they are going to bail out the deadbeats, well, that's a good time to be a deadbeat. The term in use today, at least on Peak Stupidity is "Moral Hazard".
I'm only concerned about this, what might seem a piddly thing, because these moral hazards will keep coming at us. Only the irresponsible come out ahead.
* I don't give the left that much credit. "Fully planned" does not compute, when one is trying to analyze those retards.
** I think it is a question of "when", not "if", as this $1,600,000,000,000, with 15% or something in serious default, CAN'T be paid.
Comments (9)
I've Loved These Days ♬ ♪
Posted On: Saturday - April 25th 2020 9:09PM MST
In Topics: Music
Since this Kung Flu Panic-Fest set in in earnest about 6 weeks back, other than having the arguments about said "crisis", we've had a really good time. With my working less, the schools being closed, and a spell of excellent weather, it's been one of the best stay-cations ever. That's not, BTW, because some Governor or Mayor is covering his ass or strutting his power and telling us what we need to do. It's just been great enjoying our house and family, neighborhood and neighbors.
Everyone's been out, in golf carts on the road, walking dogs of all sorts, bicycling, heading to the skateboard park, the kids parks, or just hanging out on their porches and saying "hey" as if this were Mayberry, North Carolina in 1962.
Though I want to keep railing on this madness caused by a Lyin' Press having the time its life and people in governments at all levels letting emergency powers go to their heads, some of the ideas have melted into the ether over this weekend. They'll be more to say on Monday, I'm sure.
The title here is from the title of a Billy Joel song from his 1976 album Turnstiles a celebration of Mr. Joel's return to his beloved New York from his piano man days in Los Angeles. Most of the songs on that album (the excellent, rockin' Miami 2017 featured here) are on the live Songs from the Attic album too.
Though it's a pretty good tune, I've Loved These Days just doesn't have as great a melody as some other old Billy Joel songs Peak Stupidity would like to feature, I'll stick in another here. This is from an even older album, Streetlife Serenade (listen to The Entertainer) from 1974. It's The Last of the Big-Time Spenders. This tune will grown on you quickly.
Comments (20)
Nurses in New York
Posted On: Friday - April 24th 2020 6:43PM MST
In Topics: Media Stupidity Healthcare Stupidity Kung Flu Stupidity
Look at that scene. It's a mess, but is that because the place is truly overwhelmed or just that way due to NY City, and lots of the country now, being a disunited Tower of Babel? Is it because the cameras are rolling?
From a family member in the healthcare business, I've got the following info.:
Where she works, nurses are being assigned COVID-one-niner patients, even though those aren’t the cases usually on their floor. On another floor there are a number of cases, plus in the ICU. The problem is that the nurses really aren’t provided the PPE other than fitted masks. They are worried about even going in the rooms, and the doctors won’t show up at all and are doing everything on the phone. These patients’ rooms are getting really messy, as neither nurses nor techs want to go in there much. Without family members either, it’s VERY depressing for them. If you've ever been in there for anything longer than a night, you know that time goes at 1/10 speed for a patient in a hospital room.
In the meantime, the hospitals in NY City are offering $7,000 per week for RNs for 3 12-hour shifts per week. Housing is not paid for but arranged (yeah, I know it can be a decent amount), but food and transportation are covered. Some of the nurses are just hoping to get laid off (quitting looks bad to HR), so that they can go to NYC and make a killing. Another section of the hospital will be recalling nurses that have been furloughed, as they are planning on resuming regular surgeries and all that.
I completely understand a good program of taking extra precautions with any infectious disease. The more vulnerable nurses, older and in terrible shape (and there are plenty of the latter) ought to do their best to acquire the PPE they need, or refuse to work on the COVID patients until they have something reasonable. If one is young and healthy, how did she* not die a few times already from all the other flu viruses and bacteria flying around the rooms and hallway?
The media have got the nurses scared shitless, which is impeding the care of patients. Sure, the nurses and Docs should know something about this disease, but the real number of this Kung Flu's fatality rate does not warrant this behavior. All of us know that this is not the Black Plague, but the 2-month-long Infotainment Panic-Fest, playing on all channels, has got them acting like it is.
I've already heard back from my source that those positions in NYC have been filling quickly, but till then, I want to be a part of it ... if I can make it there, I'm immune anywhere ... 🎵
* Or "he" in this case, as there are plenty of men getting into this reasonably lucrative (for today's times) field too.
Comments (7)
Tax withholding and Leverage
Posted On: Friday - April 24th 2020 1:38PM MST
In Topics: Economics US Feral Government Taxes
Whoa, this sounds like a post from your expert financial advisor, the whiz kid with the 2nd house in the mountains of Chile, who come to think of it, hasn't been reachable at his first house since, crap, maybe 2 months! No, this is just a short continuation from the thoughts on the insidiously evil scheme of income tax withholding from ~ a week back in this post.
At the very end of that post I mentioned the lack of leverage on the part of the taxpayer that has been another result, intended or not, from the change to one's writing a large check each April 15th versus having the money drained nice and slowly, and quietly. The change was 77 years back, so it's not like anyone under 100 y/o would know any other way.
Quite a few years back the IRS sent me a letter saying I owed something in the neighborhood of $500 from an error in my return. Due to my not-so-hot financial situation that year and a few prior and not insignificant inflation since, that was like $10,000 for me today. It was not at all clear to me what the discrepancy was about. I did my due diligence, staying on hold for 1/2 an hour, getting told to call back, and trying again a couple of times (as I just wrote earlier today, I don't give out my phone number). The matter was not settled, and that was just fine with me, because I couldn't just spare the 500 dollars.
The next year was a welcome change, with a new job with good pay, so I was even in a not particularly bad mood doing the forms that year. Due to all that withholding, the Feral Gov. owed me something just over $1000. A month or so later, here comes that nice check... for ~ $500. WTF!! Yeah, they pilfered the money from that discrepancy right out of it. That was it! No more refunds, if I can help it.
Now let me digress on that refund thing. People with poor financial management skills seem to treat the tax withholding system as a non-impulsively-drainable savings account. They can't seem to keep money in the savings account, as sudden expenses, such as granite countertops, shiny rims, and things like that keep coming up out of nowhere! The withholding program lets them participate in a forced savings account with what's always somehow a nice surprise from Uncle Sugar in May or June, unless they pay an extra $300 to get it in January. This has the effect of making the Fed-Gov the nice guy too.
I'd always ask people why they wanted to give that interest money to the government after complaining about how much it was already taking. Ooops, I'm thinking of over 15 years ago, when real interest was a thing. Nowadays, it's not a factor.
The leverage factor was something I learned after that unresolved $500 discrepancy fiasco. I try to work it out where I owe the Feds a little, but in the year 2019 it worked out to a lot. Got a discrepancy, IRS, well, you'll just have to get ahold of me somehow. Don't call, as that's really disturbing, plus you can't. You don't have my email. Just send a nice letter - be nice, now - and I'll get back to YOU.
Imagine if we had the leverage due to owing 15 large in mid-April each year. Would the IRS really be hauling millions of people to Leavenworth, or would they be such a nice organization, that the headquarters would have to be located in Minnesota, dontcha' know?*
* Shout-out to commenter Ganderson!
Comments (10)
Whew, glad it's only once a decade!
Posted On: Friday - April 24th 2020 10:46AM MST
In Topics: Liberty/Libertarianism US Feral Government Morning Constitutional
I know, I know, Article I, Section II, but what's the SPIRIT of the law?
A month back Peak Stupidity bored our readers with two posts (here's the 2nd) regarding our intentions to make a firm stand, again, like every decade, on the privacy issues regarding the US Census. As commenter MBlanc46 has rightly pointed out, no, this is not the hill to die on. I've also heard this, regarding another anti-Police State minor issue from a kid 1/2 my age (and that was a long time ago!) at the grocery store - You need to know how to pick your battles.
By the end of this post, I doubt I'll have convinced anyone of why I need to screw with the census people. Maybe it's just kind of sentimental thing for me, as I can remember telling them to piss off on the this a number of times. It seems like it was just 10 years ago, but it had to be 20, when the nice guy came around in person. He was not the AA-hire type that was bound to get offended by anything I did out of the ordinary because of "more work". No, he was a 30-something white guy who was very pleasant. Once he got beyond my telling him how many people dwelled in this particular abode, I had to stop him right away: "No, I've read the Constitution. This census if for counting Americans for voting purposes. That's all you need to know, one guy and one cat." He may have even had respect for that attitude, as we parted quickly on good terms, and none of this "get off my lawn!" stuff was necessary.
OK, I have been told by commenter Rex Little under the 2nd of those previous posts that the on-line deal was pretty quick. I believe you guys. It's just that my position as a Peak Stupidity blogger makes me an essential worker, IMHO. This is an essential battle, fighting the essentially stupid things like this Kung Flu Infotainment Panic-Fest along with existential issues like the immigration invasion (different word - you may need to grow a goatee to understand it). In current-era terminology, one might say that this blogger is a Stupidity First Responder. I'm not sure I would have had the time for this... interferes with writing this post. ;-}
I do also know that all, yeah, this invasion of privacy in the extended census form* is just plain peanuts. Compared to smart-phone data espionage, this is true. Even compared to the information the US Feral Gov't ADMITS to having, the tax/employment info, this is peanuts. I just think of the SPIRIT of the law in Article I (legislative branch, Section II, with the wording "", that is used to justify anything. The point is simply to enumerate the people for the apportionment of representation. (There, I should have said THAT to the Census guy 2 decades ago - much more professional.) The "... insuch manner as they shall by Law direct..." language does not give carte blanche for violations of Amendment IV, so screw 'em.
So what'd I do this year? Here:
Feels good, man!
Oh, believe you me, I'd already printed up a quick note explaining the spirit of the text of Article I, Section II, including my refutation of Morales vs. Daley (coincidently, settled right at the time of that 2000 census), with the phrasing "SCROTUS has made his ruling, now let him enforce it." Yeah, having a little fun is good, but I can see some clerk at the data input facility throwing it straight into the round file, or maybe some bureaucrat bringing it up to his boss, who gets pissed at the trouble and writes in to the IRS or something. Nah, I left the note out and answered the 2 questions that comply with this enumeration, with the rest of it X'd out, explaining "X = NOYB".
The Census invasion of privacy** is just a pebble on the rocky road of stupidity, but it's nice to let someone know that, if we are not complying here, there may be a lot more we won't comply with. Hey, it's just whom I am, man.
PS: Oh, yeah, the SCROTUS also ruled last summer against the Trump administration plans to add a citizenship question.*** I'd have answered that one, but it's not required either in the enumeration language. All the rest of that 8 pages is, though.
* There used to be what was called the "long form" version, only for a portion of citizens, as more of a survey. I never got one. I should say, one never stayed on my desk long enough to fill out, at least.
** I do what I can - the IRS, for example, does not know our phone numbers, email addresses, or any way to contact me other than a plain old letter in the mail. That's the way I like it.
*** They gave the Administration a deadline to come up with further arguments, though, but you know President Trump had likely forgotten about the whole thing. It's a done deal now. Dang, I should have checked for that question. Can anybody here let me know in comments? (I could not a find positive answer on-line, but it all leaned toward naaah.
Comments (13)
Tucker Carlson on an Immigration Moratorium
Posted On: Wednesday - April 22nd 2020 8:29PM MST
In Topics: Immigration Stupidity Trump Pundits
President Trump tweeted out an encouraging piece of news of his intentions to sign an executive order to halt immigration for 60 days. Sounds like a 3-year belated good start of some kind, right?
I’ve just say right here that, as much as I liked and supported candidate Trump, my feeling now is this guy is nothing but a bullshitter. He may have sincerely meant what he wrote in that tweet even, who knows? However, he feels no compunction to make good on his word. He would have no problem with tweeting something just the opposite of this next week.
Even when Trump gets on a roll with an issue, he won’t follow through. Whatever E.O. he’d actually write on this, it’ll be “blocked by judges” or “those D’s!” “Just do it” is not a motto of the Trump Administration.
Anyway, the always hopeful Peter Brimelow, chief of VDare, is just glad that the word "moratorium" is being bandied about now, only 25 years after he suggested it - see Trump Has Put An Immigration Moratorium "In Play." Not Enough—But Something.
We haven't featured any Tucker Carlson clips here in most of a year. I've read lately (but not seen myself) that he'd gone a little overboard lately by blaming everything wrong on China. I'll have to look at some recent clips to decide. In this 8 minute clip about this E.O., President Trump, and the elite opposition to it (the American public is ~80% on board!), Tucker has done his usual excellent job. If nothing else, at least watch from 04:10 for about a minute as he eviscerates a statement by Beto O'Rourke. Kick ass, Tucker Carlson!
Yeah, I've gotta watch this guy more often.
Comments (12)
Get out of Malibu, Lebowski!
Posted On: Wednesday - April 22nd 2020 8:11PM MST
In Topics: General Stupidity TV, aka Gov't Media Humor Movies
I’m gonna get all anecdotal on your asses now to just demonstrate how much trouble this panic has been causing. Some homeless guy with his (pretty-nice, blue) scooter was sitting next to a church in our neighborhood. Me and my 8 y/o boy (me on roller-blades on the road and he on a bike on the sidewalks) passed him one way, then 30 minutes later were on the other side of the street coming toward him. My son would have passed 5 or 6 ft from where he was hanging out.
The guy started yelling loud as he could at me about us being too close, and “you can’t take a kid around, you’re tryin’ to kill me, get away!” or some such stuff. I wasn’t gonna take that and got on the sidewalk rolling toward him and telling him to shut the hell up. (We’d have been glad to go way around, but I’m not gonna take abuse like that.) He threatened to kick my ass, and I’m not at all a big guy, but I kept on coming.
The guy got on his scooter, as I was I telling him to f-off and such. Then he turned around 75 yards away and came at me in a game of chicken, he on the scooter and me on rollerblades, passed within 1 foot of me (apparently forgetful of the R0 data), as I tried to grab a sleeve to dump his crazy ass onto the road.
Then, I started rollerblading down the road after him in this neighborhood, let’s call it “Crestview” or something, just for fun, and, see now here’s the part that I just know blogger Steve Sailer would have liked, had I had been just a little bit quicker. I yelled “get out of Crestview” but without the “…Lebowski!” Opportunities like that don’t come often.
Yes, he was mentally ill, but all this hysteria had not helped that man one bit. Me neither.
This poor homeless guy really seemed to be under the impression that this Kung Flu is just like the Black Plague*. Where has this guy gotten his Coronhysteria ("Corona hysteria"?) from? IThe public libraries have been closed for a while so it's not from the internet there. It must be wherever he sees the idiot plate hanging, I guess - this Infotainment Panic-Fest has been on the air continuously for 6 weeks, on all channels. I just met a big fan today.
* BTW, I can't tell if some families whose houses we stopped by to say hello really got and appreciated the joke when I yelled from outside "bring out your dead". Not EVERYONE is a Monty Python fan.
Comments (4)
Hail to You blog - great summary of the stupidity of the Kung Flu Panic
Posted On: Tuesday - April 21st 2020 8:12PM MST
In Topics: General Stupidity Pundits Media Stupidity Kung Flu Stupidity
This will likely be the shortest post since Peak Stupidity's very early days. Mr. Hail, from whom I posted a long comment 3 weeks back (see From Hail to you on the Kung Flu.), just wrote an insanely good summary of the stupidity of what he calls the "CoronaPanic" side of the Kung Flu Gap.
There are some numbers and lots and lots of graphs and tables, with links to the mostly NW European doctors' and experts' videos. I have been remiss in watching more of Mr. Hail's suggestions.
There's no point in excerpting any of his essay Against the Corona Panic, Pt. III: “Just the Flu” vindicated by the data, or, why to End the Shutdowns Now. Take the 20-40 minutes and read Mr. Hail's work, please.
BTW, Mr. Hail's presentation of graphs, tables, and a few numbers is not the usual Peak Stupidity way. We like the shorter and entertaining polemics, as they can be convincing in their own way, I hope. I wrote this, as I anticipate writing a few anecdotes, that, as Mr. Hail says, don't prove anything. However, they do show what this inordinate Police State response is doing to people and how people are rebelling and resisting.
Comments (7)
Kung Flu vs. VD
Posted On: Tuesday - April 21st 2020 7:04PM MST
In Topics: Humor Educational Stupidity Kung Flu Stupidity
(Continued from this post which digressed all to hell.)
Gotta be a coupla' dozen of 'em. "You'd think outside a fancy coffee shop like this, they could keep the virae off the food!"
Man, there were dozens of people, young, medium, and old, coming to the coffee shop this morning. The place was only allowed to serve people outside from the doorway, but with this beautiful weather and a lot of people who are getting unconcerned rather quickly about this Kung Flu business, it was all very nice. I'd brought my tea, just trying to cut down on the sugar from hot chocolate (well, and the place is kind of a rip-off on that item). My friends purchased drinks and snacks and we conversed among ourselves and with strangers, ogled 4 short-short-wearing tanned young ladies who came by, talked with people about cars, but mostly about this panic-fest, and talked with another young lady (very cute face and smile) who had her cat on a leash, but she was climbing trees anyway! The cat, that is.
I mentioned this uncertainty by supposed experts on where these germs hang out and for how long. This got me thinking of the old days and the concerns and lectures about what were then collectively called "VD". Maybe you're younger and have only heard the term "STD"s. That terminology, Sexually Transmitted Disease, is really not the best. It's supposed to be more generic-sounding and descriptive. The description just is not very accurate, as plenty of other diseases can be transmitted during sex, ones we would not have called "VD".
Take this Kung Flu, please! (That never gets old.) [I strongly disagree! - Ed] In the midst of heavy sex, including even kissing, assuming a whorehouse is not the venue, this disease will spread a lot easier than it would after spending 2 days hanging out on a metal table outside a coffee shop. We've heard to watch out for the orifices on our face, but, there are quite a few other orifices, you know.
Venereal Disease was the term, I initially understood it as a disease passed from the veneris to the vagineria or vice versa. That was before I knew the real names for all the body parts. Later on, I had all the part names down, and I can remember the guy (I think just one of the PE coaches) roped into the lecture to the Junior/Senior high kids going on about how this VD can be transmitted from/to these parts. He got into it in the same way as some of the Kung Flu panickers. "Well, see you could touch this, and then touch your eye to scratch, and ..." Hell, I'd have been glad to have had a chance to touch that at that time, first of all, then I'd worry about scratching near my eyes.
Did we need to change the term for some of these nasty diseases of the private parts in order to not confuse VD with Valentines Day? Maybe, as Valentines Day is the 4th most lucrative period for the VDs, after Prom night, 1/2 off day at the Chicken Ranch, and the first day off Social Distancing.
I think even for the year 2020, the STDs will have beaten the Kung Flu out in terms of raw caseload requiring medical attention. Imagine if there were a government/media response to STDs like we have had to witness from the Kung Flu. The American porn sector would outperform even Big-Finance. T&A over M&A, any day!
Comments (5)
Kung Flu vs. Zombie
Posted On: Tuesday - April 21st 2020 1:25PM MST
In Topics: Humor Science Kung Flu Stupidity
Some of these new wives' tales of late seem to have been dropped from the Kung Flu Infotainment Panic-Fest viewing schedule lately, one being that this virus can live for days all over the place. Metal table tops, door knobs, microwave ovens, dash boards beer cans, beer cans on top of dash boards, hell itself, and even the proverbial toilet seats are fair game. It seems like the eminent experts on this epidemic have backed off, or changed their stories, lately on some of these new wives' tales.
I don't think it's a simple matter to get data on this by just taking swabs over periods of time and getting counts. I remember one very interesting thing from Biology class: A virus is not really a true living thing. Yes, it can reproduce itself, and that's the usual definition, but I just remember the teacher saying this is a gray area (don't mind that they look green and other pretty colors in electron microscope images - fake news). I took a gander at a simple Q/A on this as a reply to a 9th grader here:
Many scientists argue that even though viruses can use other cells to reproduce itself, viruses are still not considered alive under this category. This is because viruses do not have the tools to replicate their genetic material themselves.More, as the "respond to their environment" part of the definition of life is not one I recalled:
Living things respond to their environment. Whether or not viruses really respond to the environment is a subject of debate. They interact with the cells they infect, but most of this is simply based on virus anatomy. For example, they bind to receptors on cells, inject their genetic material into the cell, and can evolve over time (within an organism).That answered (NOT), a virus exists in a nether land between the dead and the living, pretty much like a zombie, but without the drama and most of the unnecessary bloodshed.
Living cells and organisms also usually have these interactions. Cells bind to other cells, organisms pass genetic material, and they evolve over time, but these actions are much more active in most organisms. In viruses, none of these are active processes, they simply occur based on the virus's chemical make-up and the environment in which it ends up.
What's the final answer?
When scientists apply this list of criteria to determine if a virus is alive, the answer remains unclear. Because of this, the debate of whether viruses are living or non-living continues. As the understanding of viruses continues to develop, scientists may eventually reach a final decision on this question.
You've got to figure that, if a virus individual, or particle (we don't want to be life-ist here!) is not inside a living thing as a parasite, he (we do use the proper gender still, per Skunk & White) is dead. I mean, at least, as with Socialist-parasite pundit Paul Craig Roberts, he's dead to me. So, you got a couple a dozen .. million .. of these creatures on a door knob still, what does that mean? Would they stay there forever, till you wash it, ready to rumble? What's the difference between them and other virae in this respect, such as the common cold? I can see them living in a 1/4" snotball that has been deposited after a sneeze until that dries up and the money's no good, but where to after that?
If everyone would stay separated and let antibodies beat up on these bastards for weeks, while we wiped off every inanimate object there is, can it not still come back from humans and other living creatures? Are we gonna have to learn to live and let live, or do it Wings and James Bond style and Live and Let Die? It think it's a little of both.
The question of the day is, who would win if it were Virus vs. Zombie? It seems like a fair match-up, and questions remain. Would a virus be able to live parasitically off the un-dead? If both of you can be considered dead anyway, what does winning even mean?
These are big questions to ponder, folks, as this post has migrated from what I was going to write about (coming next), to some philosophical nonsense that may just be stupid enough to go viral.
Comments (9)
Beaches
Posted On: Monday - April 20th 2020 9:35PM MST
In Topics: Music Humor US Police State Movies Kung Flu Stupidity
(Steve Sailer discussed a problem with these photos, the Telephoto Trickery.)
Per Zerohedge, the Mayor of Jacksonville, Florida has ALLOWED people to be on the beaches, after being banned since the Kung Flu hysteria kicked into high gear. What a stupid policy that was, preventing people from at least spending some of their time off in a nice place where one COULD get away from people, old file photos not withstanding.
One thing I should say about this LOCKDOWN and SHELTER-IN-PlACE police state bit, is that it was conducted at the local and State level. That doesn't make it constitutional by the State Constitutions, but there's at least a little bit of Federalism (States' rights) thought left. The top-down advice from the leaders of this Panic-Fest was unfortunately heeded by too many State and local officials. Perhaps it was a game of one-up-smanship, as in "hey, North Carolina's closed the boat ramps, we'll close the beaches AND the boat ramps. That'll show everyone my leadership!"
Per the ZH article, Crowds Swarm Florida Beaches Amid Phased Reopening As Critics Slam "#FloridaMorons" - WARNING BELOW* , there's some pushback from the usual morons, calling others morons for not wanting to live under police state lockdowns. It seems very political, though ...
I appreciate this magnanimous gesture by the Mayor though.
Mayor Lenny Curry (R) of Jacksonville,
did you ever know you were my hero?
I can fly higher than an eagle.
Governor Ron DeSantis (R), you are the wind beneath my wings!
[NO, NO BETTE MIDELER! - Ed]
Where were we?
Oh, yeah, it seems kind of political.
As is always the case in this polarized time, not everyone was supportive of the re-opening. Lake Worth Beach City Commissioner Omari Hardy tweeted angrily (and clearly politically):Hey, Omari, whaddya' using my "fake news" bit, now? Get some new material. Mr. Suarez, you ought to be in the ICU, or at least not up and about exerting yourself with this bloviating. How about y'all worry about Lake Worth and Miami, respectively - you're not part of real Florida anyway."When a person doesn’t believe in science, they do dumb things."And Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who contracted coronavirus himself, called the reopening in Jacksonville “very concerning,” adding that Florida was “not out of the woods yet” and the consequences of reopening too soon were “very, very scary.”
"When a person in power doesn't believe in science, they do dumb things that hurt the public. This move is so dumb that I had to make sure it wasn’t fake news. You guys, it isn’t fake news.”
Peak Stupidity uses what one used to call "file photos" all the time. Now, one can simply go to bing search (seems to work the best) and type in key words and "images". It's pretty amazing, I gotta say. Type in "Bikini Girls eating Tacos" and you'll get ... well, hold on ... OK, plenty of girls eating tacos in loose halter tops, so really not exactly ... and pictures of girls in bikinis eating watermelons and corn dogs, but .. you get what I mean, right?
Yes, I've picked out images of politicians, for example, that kind of illustrated my point more than different images of them would have. However, the point here is to say the the beaches are open, and people are supposed to stay apart or with their own families.
If you're gonna put any old file photo up, and it's a story about the beach, why don't you just do this?:
Elton John (really his lyricist Bernie Taupin) sings about being a genuine example of a Social Disease. This is from the best of all his albums, IMO, the 2-LP*** album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road from 1973.
Elton John – vocals, piano and all manner of other keyboards
Dee Murray – bass guitar
Davey Johnstone – guitars of all sorts and banjo
Nigel Olsson – drums, congas, tambourine
*******************************************
[UPDATE 04/23:] Struck out story of file phone (Getty Image) being old, as I've got new information that this may be fake news. My sincerest apologies are due, as I don't want to be the spreader of it myself. I'll fix this up better later on.
*******************************************
* Holy crap, Zerohedge is a pain in the ass. Please don't tell me to get another browser, as it locks up hotel lobby computers too. I had to restart the machine due to having this ZH article up, and will just paraphrase the comment I liked due to this bullshit. Beware of clicking it - save your work first. C'mon Tyler Durden, take out some of your scripts! (It used to be a great site, I swear!)
** Hey, there are SO MANY beaches in the area and up (to Amelia Island/Fernandina Beach) and down that east shore. I've been to Atlantic Beach in Jax, as I recall - pretty nice.
*** That meant Long Playing record.
Comments (14)
Now, for something completely different
Posted On: Monday - April 20th 2020 12:36PM MST
In Topics: Music Economics US Feral Government
See, no Kung Flu, COVID-one-niner, whatever, talk this time. It's time for a slight break on that, so take off your masks and gloves, put on your green eye shades, and let's talk tax accounting.
We've talked about the Tax Starvation under the Kung Flu lockdown, something I think may really be an oversight by the local and State officials, with their "oh shit" moments coming in their near futures. It's important, though, that we starve at least the Feral Beast on a more regular basis rather than just during these (hopefully) short-term Panic-Fests.
Whaddya' normally do? You can write this off, this other thing ... ahhhh, they won't notice this bit..., get going 9:30 PM on April 14th, and try to goose up the numbers to... well, that's the problem. As Peak Stupidity pointed out in our 2018 Income Tax review about the changes a couple of years ago, the biggest thing was the raising of the standard deduction from $12,000 to #24,000*. You may itemize your scrawny white ass off, but after x% of your income comes off the job expenses and y% off the health care expenses, how's a brother gonna' get up to 24 large, man? "The man's too big, the man's too strong."**
Just due to some retrenching going on with my work due to the economic shutdown, questions have come up about pay, reimbursements, etc. The more I've been thinking about this, the more I have an idea for small businessmen everywhere: Cut the pay, but raise reimbursement to the moon. It's brilliant! I'm talking reimbursement on a fixed basis, for, you know, standard employee expenses.
"Yes, people, pay will go down to minimum wage for everyone. However, so long as you spend the night away from YOUR home, somewhere, we will reimburse you with per Diem money at $5/hr 24/7. (Justin, you're with Jayne, Trevor - Madison, Gay Bob - I don't ... wanna know ...) We want you to looks your best here, so they'll be $1000 per quarter to keep you in suits, classic Eagles T-shirts, pant-suits and miniskirts. Most of you drive in here, right? That's $20 a mile. Sneakers? Lousy China-made crap... they're gonna wear out going back and forth to the water cooler and bathroom - $120 a month for sneakers. Cats and dogs stuck at home? $200 a month for sitters."
Look Ma, no taxes! Yeah, there are ways. I don't know how far one can go with this method, but the income tax system has made more creative people out of all of us, one welcome unintended consequence of Amendment XVI - see more on this abomination - Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
* Sounds great in and of itself, but the "exemptions" formerly to be also taken off the top line, are, like a steam locomotive, rollin' down the track, gone, gone, ain't nothin' gonna bring 'em back. (That means near a wash for 2 parents and 1 kid and a somewhat worse deal for more than 1 kid - there was an increase in the child CREDIT though (off the BOTTOM line, which is a bigger deal))
** My interpretation of this Dire Straits song (off of their excellent 1985 album Brothers in Arms) is that we Americans can be "The Man", and the narrator could be the Feral Beast, tax-starved into submission. (I dunno, it's just a good song...)
Well the sun rose on the courtyard,
and they all did hear him say
"you always was a Judas,
but I got you anyway.
You may have got your silver,
but I swear upon my life.
Your sister gave me diamonds,
and I gave them to your wife."
Oh Father, please help me,
for I have done wrong.
The man's too big,
The man's too strong.
****************************
[UPDATED 04/20 eve: ] In reply to commenter Hail, I changed the image and a couple of lines of text to indicate this is about fixed-cost reimbursement - per diem is the biggie.
****************************
Comments (6)
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod
Posted On: Saturday - April 18th 2020 7:45PM MST
In Topics: Music Educational Stupidity Poetic Stupidity
Peak Stupidity has noted at least one silver lining in black cloud of this Kung Flu Infotainment Panic-Fest. That is, with the kids out of school, families have time together, and can try out new, or really, old, ways of teaching and learning. (See School's out For Ever!")
There is another related bright spot. The elementary school that we use and have paid taxes for, for a long time, starts up very early. There's something about needing the buses (that most of the parents don't use) for other schools afterwards, or whatever. It means getting up at 6:30 A. Do you remember as a kid HATE HATE HATING it when you were supposed to go to sleep when it was still light outside? It seemed rather egregious, especially when you could hear other kids out there having a blast.
Well, that's what you gotta do when you wake up at 6:30, not to mention the parents that make breakfast. Lots of sleep is great for anyone, but especially for kids with their still-developing brains. The best we could do before was get the little one to sleep at 8 P to 8:30. 10 hours of sleep sounds good, but still.
Now, with OUR schedule, the boy wakes up at 8A, giving him from 11 to 12 hours of sleep. We could go into statistics-land later one, and maybe work out some numbers on how much smarter the kids are from this Kung Flu break. I sure don't know how you'd pull off a good comparison though, to what, the kids last year? How about I just speculate that this extra sleep for the kids for a few months (at least!) may be very good for them and all of us.
Let's try to forget the how much BS has been pulled on us in the cause of fighting a supposed "crisis". We've got important political web-site owners/hosts who have gone bat-shit crazy over those who seek the truth in this matter. We've got websites (here) to straighten out before too many users come on board and rightfully give up on us.
I'd like to just get out of this for a spell, into a deep sleep, like the young one ... into the land of Wynken, Blynken and Nod.
Wynken, Blynken, and Nod one night
sailed off in a wooden shoe,
sailed on a river of crystal light
into a sea of dew.
"Where are you going, and what do you wish?",
the old moon asked the three.
"We have come to fish for the herring-fish
that live in this beautiful sea;
Nets of silver and gold have we", said
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.
The old moon laughed and sang a song,
as they rocked in the wooden shoe
and the wind that sped them all night long
ruffled the waves of dew;
The little stars were the herring-fish
that lived in the beautiful sea.
"Now cast your nets wherever you wish.
Never afraid are we!"
So cried the stars to the fishermen three -
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.
All night long their nets they threw
to the stars in the twinkling foam.
Then down from the skies came the wooden shoe,
bringing the fishermen home:
'Twas all so pretty a sail, it seemed,
as if it could not be;
And some folk thought 'twas a dream they'd dreamed
of sailing that beautiful sea;
But I shall name you the fishermen three:
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.
Wynken and Blynken are two little eyes,
ad Nod is a little head,
and the wooden shoe that sailed the skies
is a wee one's trundle-bed;
So shut your eyes while Mother sings
of wonderful sights that be,
and you shall see the beautiful things
as you rock in the misty sea,
where the old shoe rocked the fishermen three -
Wynken,
Blynken,
And Nod.
This poem was written by Eugene Field (called the "Poet of Childhood") and published 131 years ago. See poets.org for more.
Pick one:
Comments (6)