Jim Tumbls.

Lists of Note: Things to worry about

In 1933, renowned author F. Scott Fitzgerald ended a letter to his 11-year-old daughter, Scottie, with a list of things to worry about, not worry about, and simply think about.

27 January 2012 • things to worry about lists f. scott fitzgerald

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26 January 2012 • politics kick politics as usual newt gingrich hypocracy republicans politics

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I Don’t Care…

I don’t care that Willard Mitt Romney paid 15% in taxes over 2010 and 2011; he followed the letter and the spirit of the tax law.

I don’t care that over this time he gave $7 million to charity, including over $4 million to his church; that’s generous of him (if even only a small portion of his quarter-billion estimated total net worth). Of course, Mormon tithing requirements stipulate 10% of salary and Romney’s income wasn’t salary, but rather investment income.

I honestly don’t care about his recently-closed Swiss bank account (nor do I care about the ones still open in the Cayman Islands); he’s perfectly within the law to do so.

I really do not care that it’s nearly always the 1% who can afford to run for President. I also do not care that Romney qualified as the top 0.006% in 2009.

What I do care about is the whining coming from the Republican party whenever anyone suggests raising taxes on the wealthy. If I hear them claim that the wealthy are ‘taxed enough’ and ‘why do they have to pay more than their fair share?’

I’m sick of it when news like this comes out showing, definitively, that the wealthy (to grossly generalize) are decidedly NOT paying their fair share.

I’m tired of this country putting more burden on money earned while on the job - a salary - than if made through investment.

“But Jim,” you might respond, “aren’t you investing your own money in the stock market, earning qualified dividends, and planning your own trades for better tax benefit?” You’re damned right I am.

I have the means, both mentally and financially, to make investments and take advantage of these perks typically reserved for the wealthy and I am sure as hell going to use them to help myself approach wealth. But it is FAR from fair. This income should be taxed along with the money I “work” for at the same rate. If not, more.

People are out busting their collective asses for many hours each day, often at several jobs, paying more percentage of their income in taxes than Mitt pays while he has enough free time to run for President. Shame on America for allowing this UNfair tax strategy to thrive. Shame on Republicans for continuing to fool Americans into thinking that the existing strategy is fair. It is time to have a TRULY fair tax policy.

25 January 2012 • mitt romney romney republicans taxes politics 1% wealth politics kick politics as usual

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Rick Santorum launches CUM: Conservatives Unite Moneybomb

joshsternberg:

Seriously.

Seriously. Unbelievable.

22 January 2012 • reblog: joshsternberg • santorum politics Come on... really??

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World's funniest joke - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The “world’s funniest joke” is a term used by Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire in 2002 to summarize one of the results of his research. For his experiment, named LaughLab, he created a website where people could rate and submit jokes. Purposes of the research included discovering the joke that had the widest appeal and understanding among different cultures, demographics and countries.

22 January 2012 • joke humor

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luckyshirt:

“To my friends, my work is done. Why wait?”

-Suicide note written by George Eastman, founder of Eastman Kodak. 1932.

After 131 years, Kodak has filed for bankruptcy.

Kodak.

That Kodak.

The one that used to be synonymous with photography. The one that still is synonymous with photography for many people.

I’m going to go out way on a crazy limb here and guess that photography has never been more popular than it is today. Ever. Yet Kodak is on its way out. Because the company sat on patents, and became synonymous with digital cameras for old people. It’s insane that this could happen to such a giant of a company.

It’s like if Microsoft just kept making horrible operating systems while other companies listened to users.

Personal note: I’ve seen this suicide note in person. It’s a hell of a haunting thing.

(picture found here)

I was going to write my own entry, but I couldn’t have done it any better than this one.

21 January 2012 • reblog: luckyshirt • kodak george eastman rochester

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Supreme Court Overturns 'Right v. Wrong' | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

WASHINGTON—Striking down the judicial precedent that established the legal supremacy of right over wrong more than two centuries ago, the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned Right v. Wrong.

20 January 2012 • supreme court scotus the onion

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Sh*t Nobody Says (by dontbethatguyfilms)

“Hey, can I borrow your Nickelback CD?”

19 January 2012

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Brewer you’ve never heard of is No. 1 in US, depending how you count

Besides a few typos (G.G. Yuengling? Juengling Lager?) I applaud The Lager!

18 January 2012 • beer yuengling

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Someone needs to explain this to Maddie.

17 January 2012

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Morgan freeman solves the race problem. (by randypagan)

16 January 2012 • black history month morgan freeman racism political correct

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(via The Best Way to Open Wine « saignée)

15 January 2012 • wine

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January Geocaching!

This past Saturday (January 7) was a beautiful day in the Lehigh Valley, so I pumped up the bike tires and met my Geobuddies at the Plainfield Township Rail-Trail. Knowing that this winter cannot remain so warm and cache-friendly, I’m jumping at nearly any opportunity to get out and find some new parks, trails, and geocaches along the way.

Along the trail there is a nice, long series of caches. We started with GC21EDF and got as far as we could in a few hours. We only made it about 3 miles, finding 13 caches along the way and logging two DNFs. (We’re nearly 100% sure the containers have been lost.)

As usual with the local rail-trails in nice weather, there were plenty of bikers (ahh, ‘bikers’), joggers, and even a coupla horseback riders! We stood aside to let them pass, but it turns out they preferred walking on the grass anyway.

Here’s my bike with some new accoutrements overlooking a nice cliff and stream down below. Newly added features to the bike are the mirror, water bottle holder, rear rack (my cache bag is strapped on with the new bungie cord). Also installed, but inactive on the trail, are my blinky lights (safety fourth, after all)!

The last find of the day was a fun one. The coordinates seemed way off - but from the location posted, we could see this one in a very clever hiding spot! I was volunteered to make the grab, being one of the lightest in the group. It definitely would have been a hard one to get solo.

Here’s hoping we continue to have a mild winter and the bike and cache bag get some more action! There are another 20+ caches on the northern end of this trail which must be added to my logs. :)

11 January 2012 • geocaching rails to trails bike riding

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The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.

— Bertrand Russell

10 January 2012 • quote bertrand russell time

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St.Fu’s Nighttime, Multi, Puzzle EXTRAVAGANZA!

On the evening of December 29, 2011 I ventured out into the woods with my Geobuddies to attempt GC38829, our first nighttime cache, through state game lands in the middle of winter.

Suiting up for our first nighttime cache adventure. I had two pair of pants on, hiking boots, three layers, plus winter coat. I stayed rather warm for the entire trek.

Just one of the many obstacles we had to overcome. This was an easy one… thankfully the two sets of pants I was wearing mostly protected me from the thorns I bushwhacked! From the listed parking coordinates, our path sent us through a rather untamed briar patch. While plowing through the thorns, we saw three flashlights in the distance on the path we were trying to get to. We assumed they were fellow cachers and this was confirmed later on…

A beautiful night for a hike through the woods! There were light flurries for pretty much the entire hike, making a gorgeous scene - especially since we were all warm and in the company of friends.

This is actually a water “tower” which signaled the start of the marked path to the actual hide. All marked with reflective bands in trees! We’d already been through the hardest part of the trek (thorns, swamp, half-frozen puddles) so this is where it got quick to complete the journey.

We managed to make up a lot of time here and by the time we made it to the first stage of the multi-cache (and puzzle location) we had caught up with two of the flashlights we saw earlier. After a short conversation with the guys, we learned that they were with a friend we’d previously met at a few geocaching events! She’d already started investigation on one route while the rest of us pondered our choices and decided on the other route. Just as we were getting ready to go that way, Brenda comes back and we all go down the correct path together. Eventually we found the final marker; smile marks the spot!

Once the final marker was found, the resting spot of the cache itself was rather easy to locate. Here’s the group uncovering the cache:

And investigating the loot:

Group shot!

And since our pals had a better route to the car, we hiked back with them and they gave us a lift to our parking spot, saving us from the thorns again. Many thanks to Team Vauction for the ride!

8 January 2012 • geocaching hiking outdoors night cache

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