Gosh! How can the Feds miss?

Once the President is finished with stripping the rich of their hard earned money, he's coming after you and me! I mean, gosh, we're such a big target! Isn't enough enough?

Simplify the tax code! No way!

The country’s top taxpayer advocate urged Congress on Wednesday to simplify the tax code, saying it is the most serious problem facing taxpayers and that individuals and businesses spend about 6.1 billion hours annually complying with tax-filing requirements.

The analysis and recommendation are included in the 2012 report to Congress by the national taxpayer advocate, the IRS' internal watchdog.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/01/09/irs-watchdog-tax-code-unconscionable-burden-asks-congress-to-reform-system/#ixzz2HXD5KQ95

My thought: After getting a clear mandate via the last landslide election, President Obama understands that the American people want (demand) more free stuff and that payment for said stuff must come from the rich. Therefore, he has stated publicly that now that the tax rate issue has been settled, 'it's time to go after all those rich people's loopholes.'  This effort to fund the Fed will require a vast new set of tax regulations, not fewer ones. As one who is getting lots of free stuff, I'm certainly in favor of that! And seriously, don't you think the the Federal Government is better suited to say and implement what's good for you?

The definition of looney!

The internet dictionary I referenced when looking up the term ‘looney’ as it pertained to a person or persons gave me this; ‘a foolish or crazy person’. Now, I think I understand what foolish means. That’s a person who is a knee-jerker or who goes off half cocked when all the facts have not been properly examined. Here’s an example:

“I held my breath until I passed out and that was foolish of me.” Yes, it was!

I now understood what foolish meant, but what about the term ‘crazy’? OK, I looked that one up too and got ‘foolish or impractical; senseless’. Another entry referred to such a person as ‘insane’! Well, you can see where that eventually went – I came right back around, full circle, to the term ‘looney’.

Now normally, being looney would be no big thing. I’ve done all sorts of looney things myself! Although, I do pride myself (delude might be a better choice of words), that I’ve learned from those past mistakes! However, the term looney takes on a much larger meaning when applied to say the Congress or our President. In those cases, acts of looeyism (my term) could be downright harmful to a lot of people. Take the collective actions of our Congress over the past four years and look carefully at the way they've handled our Republic. Did they do a good job or was much of the legislation somewhat... looney? Next, look at President Obama. He’s come right out and implied that his mandate is for America’s center will be to move it over to the left a tad in a more Socialist direction. I ask you, is that looney or just insane?

Fluageddon: The coming killer epidemic!

In the fall of the year 1918, a bad and terrible flu swept over the planet killing more people in America than were killed in the last century of warfare combined. As many as 50 million worldwide died horrible deaths as they either slowly drowned from fluids that filled their lungs or from other complications. Yes, influenza can and has enacted terrible suffering worldwide; a scenario continues to this day.

In America alone, the CDC has estimated that over a period of 30 years, between 1976 and 2006, flu-associated deaths in the United States range from a low of about 3,000 to a high of about 49,000 people. But, that’s not the scary part!

Not counting the pandemic outbreak of the Swine flu, it’s now been over forty years since the world has seen a novel or new version of the flu. Fortunately, the influenza type Swine Flu (type A H1N1) was not very serious, but on a more ominous note it was highly contagious. In just three weeks, after first appearing in Mexico, the Swine Flu was seen in 20 countries on five continents! After just the first year, it has been estimated that 1 in 7 people have been exposed. And, even though this flu was relatively mild, it still managed to kill a lot of people. One study estimated that ‘globally there were 201,200 respiratory deaths (range 105,700—395,600) with an additional 83,300 cardiovascular deaths (46,000—179,900) associated with 2009 pandemic influenza A H1N1. 80% of the respiratory and cardiovascular deaths were in people younger than 65 years and 51% occurred in Southeast Asia and Africa.’ So, its apparent that even a mild version of the flu can result in very high mortality and morbidity rates, if it also happens to be highly infectious!

Now consider the so-call Bird Flu or as it’s most scientifically known, Type A H5N1. This flu is a true killer, killing as many as 50% of the people who contract it! That’s why it’s also referred to a HPAI which stands for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.

Thankfully, HPAI does not spread very easily to humans…at least not yet. Recent studies have indicated that the virus is contained mostly to birds at this time. However, they’ve also indicated that this particular version may be just a few mutations (or genetic tweaks) away from becoming an airborne Fluageddon! (A situation that could develop if it manages to gain the contagiousness of the Swine flu while retaining its high level of pathogenicity)!

Such a flu, should it be let loose on the world, would make the movie Contagion seem like a walk in the park! Imagine catching a ‘cold’ where you had only a fifty-fifty chance of survival! Imagine a ‘cold’ so infectious that tens of millions came down with it all in a short time. Emergency services, hospitals and clinic would be almost instantly overwhelmed. Key personnel who maintain essential services like gasoline, electricity and water might easily abandon their posts setting up instances of widespread outages that would only fuel a growing panic. Such a dastardly flu could easily topple governments and start wars all across the globe….

But, what are the chances of this ever happening, you might well ask? I don’t think anyone does, but I’ll tell you this! The World Health Organization along with the CDC are growing increasingly uneasy as time goes on. One article, How Worried Should We Be’ published in Nature describes some of the reasons behind their concern.

Disclaimer: All content provided on this blog is for informational purposes only. The owner and author of this post makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site. The owner will not be liable for any errors or omissions in this information nor for the availability of this information. The owner will not be liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the display or use of this information.

The flu this year is serious! Are you?

Click on to enlarge

OK this is a graphic of ILI or ‘Influenza Like Illness’ that the Centers for Disease Control compiled for the week ending Dec 29, 2012! It compares this year with precious ones, and as you can see (take note of the red line), we are certainly off to a good start this season!

Now would be a good time to go out and get a flu shot if you haven’t already done so! The current vaccine that’s being administered looks like a good match for what's circulating around out there. And, I’m urging everyone (including me) to get a shot. This year, the flu seems to be gearing up to be a real meanie and has already killed!

Be situationally aware!

The flu virus is very, very tiny ball of nothing which can travel far on wind currents. And, while sunlight will quickly kill it, any fomites (hard surfaces) it might happen to land on can allow for it to survive for days and days. So be aware, whenever you go out, not to touch surfaces that might be teaming with other peoples germs. Some areas to be especially careful of are:

Shopping cart handles

Plastic coated menus in restaurants

Bank window counters

That cute little push top ketchup dispenser

Children's play areaa – kids are notorious at acquiring germs

If you see someone who appears sick (people with the flu generally look pretty bad), take pains to avoid them, even if they are relatives. Likewise, when you are out try and refrain from touching your mouth, nose or eyes! And, as always, wash your hands really often, like you are a practicing surgeon. Above all else - if you yourself are sick, then please stay home!

Do these things and you will dramatically cut down on the risk factors for this and most other viral infections!

A few area food prices at the beginning of 2013!

As we are all still basking in the radiant afterglow of a most magical President; a man who was re-elected by a landslide and who most recently crafted the passage of a fiscal reform bill, I thought it a good time to get out and check in on some food prices - you know for future reference!

My small town of Forsyth Missouri is blessed with two full featured grocery stores along with a couple of convenience stores (both gas and non-gas island locations). Thrown into the mix are a couple of what I would prefer to call ‘cut rate’ emporium types of businesses that are just a little bit hit an miss when it comes to a full selection.

But, for this post, I decided to stick with the regular grocery stores where I would be pricing generic brand foods whenever possible. (I choose the generics mainly because that class of food is about all I can afford these days)!

Following are the foods I looked at along with what they cost:

Now, while this list is by no means complete, I feel that it is representative of some of the items many of us folks buy fairly often. I hope to publish another similar list this coming summer and then another one in the fall. It should be fun comparing them.

Chili dogs – my personal favorite!

Chili dogs are one of life’s true culinary pleasures…only - just what kind of chef are you?

Beginner Level: If you're lucky enough to have a batch of chili hanging around and you have some wieners and buns available, then, you're one lucky dude or dudette! In my book, nothing compares to the delight of eating a good old chili hotdog! And, gosh darn it, they’re so easy to make! Personal technique involves heating a wiener in boiling water, adding it to a warm bun and then slathering on an ample amount of my own homemade chili! Wham bam - thank you ma’am - a few seconds later I got yourself some real comfort food that was prepared in no time at all! But, then it was time to kick things up a notch and to see just what kind of chef material you are made of...

Experienced Chef: Not satisfied with just a chili dog! Then consider sprinkling on some diced onion over which is sprinkled a little shredded cheese! Truly, a mouth watering experience!

 Da Pro Chef: But, if you are a consummate pro, felt the urge to splash on some extra's like chopped onion and shredded cheese. Wow!

King of your castle Chef: A truly out of his mind chef will have run to a fast food emporium like McDonald's for an order of their signature French fries! Now you're ready to kick back, watch a  game on TV and live life large!!