Friday July 30

This is Week 30 of 2010►Day 211 with 154 days left.

It is Day 102 of the BP Mess. 14 days with no leaks.

FREE RAMBLING THOUGHTS

AZ stays in the news. While many in America were watching President Obama on The View, we in AZ got to watch some of Obama and a whole bunch of arrests in Phoenix. While the station stated we didn’t miss any of Obama, I doubt it. Anyway, a group of protesters—some from in state, others from out of state—blocked traffic in downtown Phoenix as SB1070 took effect. The police stepped in and arrested the protesters. No incidents of violence. Then another group demonstrated at the county jail and again, police moved in and more arrests. These cops were in riot gear and had those clear shields. Again, no violence. These protests had been planned and sanctioned for today as SB1070 became law. The law was gutted by a Federal judge, but other parts did take effect. People with real facts—law enforcement, border patrol, and border city governments are now coming out with real facts. Most discouraging is that at least 160 illegals have died this year in the desert. None were murdered. None were killed though violence—all died of dehydration or hyperthermia—getting too hot or drowning. I have heard lots of rhetoric about how the illegals are taking jobs away from Americans. I know there is a thriving underground employment culture. Many contractors use laborers for cleanup and they are paid, in cash at the end of the day. Homeowners use these people to clean yards, mow lawns, maybe even clean houses and be the nanny. They pay these workers in cash and never report it to the IRS. This underground economy has thrived all my life, and probably long before that. These jobs are not jobs I ever wanted. I hear that employers hire illegals and give them checks. I never understood how this could happen. For example, I don’t think Super 8 or Hilton are going to pay people with checks unless they are also taking money from their check for taxes and social security. I finally learned how this might happen. The 1040 form asks for either your SS number or your tax id number. Well, turns out, if you don’t qualify for a SS number—being a citizen--you can get a tax id number. This means that you will have money deducted from your check for taxes and social security, but you are not eligible to ever collect SS on that number. Somewhere around two to six billion dollars a year is paid into SS by people with tax id numbers who will never be able to collect. This sounds like a good deal for those eligible for SS. These people also pay taxes at the same rate as every citizen if they file a 1040. It they don’t file, the government doesn’t send them any refunds so the state and Feds keep all that tax money. A few of these people may be getting higher paying, more white collar type jobs. When all of America gets the real facts about illegals, the tide will turn. We need immigration reform and the sooner the better.

A sad story about working for the Feds. When I was first hired I was young. During my career I had three ‘training instructors’ in my classroom. They were used as substitutes when needed but spent many days in my room. They made much less money than teachers, and some made less money than long-time aides. All three were in desperate need of employment when hired. At the time, they were told that they would not be paying into the retirement system and that their employment didn’t count toward retirement years. Two of the three were later hired into positions that were in the retirement system. One was a TI for about 3 years before moving into the system, another moved into the system after 2 years. The third left the bureau after about 5 years. The two who stayed really stayed. One became a librarian, the other became a counselor. At about 25 years of employment, they started thinking about retirement. A few years later they both applied for retirement. That’s when they found out that first few years really didn’t count. Devastating. I know, they were told at their employment status when hired, they were young, they were hungry, they needed any job. Not too many 20-somethings are even thinking about retirement. When you join the Federal System you are told many things and sign many papers. Not too many new employees read all that paperwork. One stayed and worked until fully eligible, the other took less than full retirement. I was the lucky supervisor who had to explain all this. These were two of the hardest managerial days I had. The one who stayed to full retirement just asked for everything in writing and moved on. The other asked for everything in writing and began writing and filing paperwork. I understood both of their actions, but for the one who filed paperwork, as the most recent supervisor, I became the one who had to spend hours on the phone with HR; I was the one who had to fax many documents to Albuquerque. This went on for two plus years and was just part of the job. In the end, when that employee finally took early retirement, I know that he still believed I was the one responsible for not allowing him to retire with full benefits. Employers, especially those in large companies, are very seasoned and have years of experience. New employees seldom have a chance to fully understand the big picture. So I can’t see any employer with more than 10 employees risking everything to hire anyone under-the-table for a job that lasts more than a couple of days. Reform in dealing with the underground economy is needed. I voted for YES WE CAN when it comes to reform in many areas. I am disappointed it hasn’t happened more quickly. The institutions have been around for decades and they can’t be reformed in just 20 months—but they can be reformed.

Our lunch group celebrated Mary’s birthday today. Her birthday was July 4, but she just got back from time in Oregon. The waiter even gave us free baklava for her birthday. Really good baklava. She had a great time. Her reunion with her grade school friends was great. She attended a Catholic school and her class was basically together from K-8. Of the thirty plus who showed up, all but two were atheists now. Some went from the priesthood or convent to atheism. Others just dropped out of the whole Christian belief system. They had also found a few of the nuns who were their teachers. Most were in their late 70’s or older. None of the nuns they found were still nuns. All the former teachers found an excuse not to attend this 50 year reunion. Mary was shocked by both parts of the story. She had gotten divorced years ago and moved to the Lutheran church. It does sound like they had a great time catching up, mostly trying to figure out who people were before they saw the name tags. Great memories for her.

We did have some thunderstorms and a flash flood warning, but I didn’t hear of any houses being flooded. We had clouds on and off, so it only got to 79° with 65% humidity. While I was watching Jeopardy late this afternoon, I had trouble following it because of the constant top banner that ran through the entire show—except the commercials—telling me that Phoenix was expecting a big thunderstorm and flash flooding. Each banner restarted with that emergency beeping sound blast. Phoenix did get a lot of rain this afternoon and will probably be on the national news tonight or tomorrow. Life in AZ is never boring.

MY QUOTE FOR THE DAY

Edward R. Murrow: This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box. There is a great and perhaps decisive battle to be fought against ignorance, intolerance and indifference. This weapon of television could be useful.

HOLY MACKEREL: 1975 – Jimmy Hoffa disappears from the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, at about 2:30 p.m. He is never seen or heard from again.

SOMEWHAT USELESS INFORMATION about Monopoly

>Parker Brothers rejected the MONOPOLY game when it was first presented to them in 1933, citing 52 fundamental playing flaws.

>Over 5,120,000,000 little green houses have been “constructed” since the game was introduced in 1935.

>The character locked behind the bars is called Jake the Jailbird. Officer Edgar Mallory sent him to jail.

>In 1972, the Atlantic City Commissioner of Public Works threatened to change the names of the real Baltic and Mediterranean Avenues, but public outcry vetoed the bill.

>The game is published in 27 languages, including Croatian and licensed in more than 81 countries. Thai edition of Monopoly is the newest edition, introduced at the Toys R Us store in Bangkok, in December 2005.

>Parker Brothers once sent an armored car with one million dollars of game money to a marathon game in Pittsburgh that had run out of funds.

GREY MATTER PUZZLE 1

If: SAFE + STAY + SOON + SKIP = STOP

then: PINK + PORE + PUSH + PLOT = ==?==

UNUSUAL NEWS ITEM

TERRELL, TX — A rural east Texas man has been reunited with his long-lost gun more than two decades after it was stolen. Kauffman County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Pat Laney says Bruce Garner received his H&R nine-shot revolver at an upbeat property hearing Thursday morning. According to the Sheriff's Office, burglars took the gun from Garner's home in Terrell soon after he moved there in June 1989. Terrell is about 30 miles east of Dallas. The thieves were never caught. But deputies found the firearm at a pawn shop and traced it to Garner.

Garner says he's astounded that he was able to get his favorite dispatch gun back. The 59-year-old leathersmith says he once used it to hunt and trap to make money.

A LITTLE LAUGH

Once upon a time, a guy asked a girl, "Will you marry me?"

The girl said, "NO!"

And the guy lived happily ever after and went fishing, hunting, played golf, drank booze, and farted whenever he wanted. THE END

GREY MATTER PUZZLE 2

What name makes the long e sound but doesn't have an e?

FOUND ON ‘YOU TUBE’

Kookie clip from 77 Sunset Strip: Click Here!

GREY MATTER PICTURE

This is a close up of what object?

SOME CALENDAR INFORMATION

► Weekly Observances ◄

25-31 National Salad Week

► Today’s Observances ◄

Cheesecake Day

Father-In-Law Day

National Talk in An Elevator Day

System Administrator Appreciation Day

Paddle for Perthes Disease Awareness Day” childhood disease of breaking bones

Cuba : Day of Martyrs of the Revolution

France : Marseillaise Day (1792)

Thailand : Asalha Puja

Virginia : Crater Day (1864)

► Hit Songs on this date ◄

Music, Maestro, Please Tommy Dorsey  1938

Woody Wood-Pecker Kay Kyser  1948

Poor Little Fool Ricky Nelson  1958

Hello, I Love You The Doors  1968

Miss You The Rolling Stones  1978

Roll with It Steve Winwood  1988

► Born today ◄

…The Arts

Peter Bogdanovich, 71, producer, director (The Last Picture Show, Paper Moon), actor, born Kingston, NY

Emily Bronte, England, novelist (Wuthering Heights), born in 1818 Thornton, West Yorkshire, England

+++

Paul Anka, 69, singer, songwriter, born Ottawa, ON, Canada

Edd Byrnes (Breitenberger), 77, actor (Kookie: “77 Sunset Strip,” Darby’s Rangers), born New York, NY

Delta Burke, 54, actress (“Designing Women”), former Miss Florida, born Orlando, FL

Laurence Fishburne, 49, actor (Matrix films, Akeelah and the Bee, Boyz N the Hood, What’s Love Got to Do with It?; Tony for Two Trains Running; “CSI”), born Augusta, GA

Lisa Kudrow, 47, actress (“Friends,” Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion), born Encino, CA

Hilary Swank, 36, actress (Oscars for Boys Don’t Cry, Million Dollar Baby), born Lincoln, NE

…Athletics

Bill Cartwright, 53, basketball player (NY Knicks), born in Lodi, CA

Allan Huber “Bud” Selig, 76, Commissioner of Baseball, born Milwaukee, WI

Charles Dillon ‘Casey’ Stengel, NY Yankee (1949-60) & 1st NY Met manager, born in 1890 Kansas City, MO

…Business & Education

Henry Ford, auto maker (Ford), born in 1863 Dearborn Township, MI

…Politics

Anita Faye Hill, 54, law professor, born on an Oklahoma farm

Arnold Schwarzenegger, 63, Governor of California (R), bodybuilder, actor (The Terminator, Twins, True Lies), born Graz, Austria

Patricia Schroeder, 70, Rep-D-Colo, born in Portland, OR

…Science/Religion

--

► Obituaries today ◄

Lynn Fontanne, Broadway's premier actresses, @ 95 in 1983

► Events ◄

…The Arts

1928 George Eastman demonstrates 1st color movie

…Athletics

1930 Montevideo, Uruguay wins the first Football World Cup.

1932 10th modern Olympic games open in Los Angeles

1968 Ron Hansen, of the Washington Senators, made the first unassisted triple play in the major leagues in 41 years.

…Business & Education

1836 1st English newspaper published in Hawaii

…Indigenous People

1609 Samuel de Champlain, two Frenchmen, and sixty Algonquin and Huron Indians, attack 200 Mohawks near Ticonderoga, in New York. Champlain has some firearms, and they prove devastating. The Mohawks quit the battle.

1825 The "Belantse-etoa or Minitaree" conclude a treaty (7 Stat., 261.) at the LowerMandan Village. Nine chiefs and sixteen warriors sign the document.

…Politics (US)

1619 House of Burgesses Virginia formed, 1st elective US governing body

1863 Pres Lincoln issues "eye-for-eye" order to shoot a rebel prisoner for every black prisoner shot

1909 US Army accepts delivery of 1st military airplane

1942 FDR signs bill creating women's Navy auxiliary agency (WAVES)

1956 US motto "In God We Trust" authorized

1965 LBJ signs Medicare bill, which went into effect following year

1967 Race riot in Milwaukee (4 killed)

…Politics (outside US)

1811 Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, leader of the Mexican insurgency, is executed by the Spanish in Chihuahua, Mexico.

…Science / Religion

1733 Society of Freemasons opens 1st American lodge in Boston

1898 Scientific American carried the first magazine automobile ad. The Winton Motor Car Company of Cleveland, OH invited readers to “Dispense with a Horse.”

GREY MATTER ANSWERS

…1

POST: using the first letter of the first word, second letter of the second word, etc.

…2

Indy or just about any person’s name that ends with a ‘y’ and doesn’t have an e in it: Tony, Billy, Mary…

…Photo

Egg Cartons

TODAY’S PHOTO SHOT

U.S. Navy WAVES, Woman Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service 1942

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