Month: October 2022

Are We Failing Our Children?

I say yes and have been saying it for a least a decade.

Instead of teaching our children the fundamentals for insuring their quality of life they are confronted with crap on a daily basis…..bathrooms issues, non-existent mandatory lessons, etc.

Latest study shows just how badly we continue to fail our children….

A federal assessment of US students known as the “nation’s report card” is out, and the results are pretty bleak. Scores are down in reading and math—especially math—across the country, with the pandemic blamed for wreaking havoc on education. Details:

  • The test: The National Assessment of Educational Progress tests fourth- and eighth-graders on reading and math, and the results out Monday are the first since 2019, per the AP. Complete results with state breakdowns are here.
  • The drops: The average math score among fourth-graders fell 5 points since 2019, from 241 to 236 out of 500, per Politico. The score for eighth-graders fell by 8 points, from 282 to 274. In this category, scores dropped in every state but Utah, whose declines weren’t considered statistically significant, per the New York Times. The average reading scores for each group also fell, by 3 points each. “Not a single state saw a notable improvement in their average test scores, with some simply treading water at best,” per the AP.
  • Context: “In NAEP, when we experience a 1- or 2-point decline, we’re talking about it as a significant impact on a student’s achievement,” Peggy Carr, commissioner of the Education Department’s National Center for Education Statistics, tells the AP. “In math, we experienced an 8-point decline—historic for this assessment.” Eighth-grade test subjects would be high school freshmen this year, and the results suggest nearly 4 in 10 fail to grasp basic math principles.
  • Blame game: Those looking to examine whether red or blue states fared better during the pandemic (in regard to school closings, for example) are out of luck. No clear patterns exist on that front, per the Times and Politico. For example, California was roughly on par with Florida, even though they took very different approaches on school closures. “There are no winners. There are no losers. There are losses among all states and all grades,” former North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue, chair of the National Assessment Governing Board, tells Politico.
  • An alarm: “I want to be very clear: The results in today’s nation’s report card are appalling and unacceptable,” says US Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, per the Times. “This is a moment of truth for education. How we respond to this will determine not only our recovery, but our nation’s standing in the world.”

This is what you get when you elect dimwits as education providers.

This is what our children get when elections are about personalities and wedge issues and the important stuff is made light of at every turn.

Do you care about your children?

If so then for christ sake elect people that want to educate your children and not idiots that want to feed bias and bigotry,.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

That North/South Thing Again

It seems that the animosities between North and South Korea are heating up once again….this has little to do with the recent missile fired over Japan that got them worried….this time it is in the waters off the peninsula.

North and South Korea exchanged warning shots Monday along their disputed western sea boundary—a scene of past bloodshed and naval battles—in a development that raises worry of possible clashes after North Korea’s recent barrage of weapons tests. South Korea’s navy broadcast warnings and fired warning shots to repel a North Korean merchant ship that violated the sea boundary at 3:42am, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. North Korea’s military said its coastal defense units responded by firing 10 rounds of artillery warning shots toward its territorial waters, where “naval enemy movement was detected.” It accused a South Korean naval ship of intruding into North Korean waters on the pretext of cracking down on an unidentified ship, the AP reports.

There were no reports of fighting, but the sea boundary off the Korean Peninsula’s west coast is a source of long-running animosities. The American-led UN command drew a boundary at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, but North Korea insists upon a boundary that encroaches deeply into waters controlled by the South. Among the deadly events that have happened in the area are the North’s shelling of a South Korean island and its alleged torpedoing of a South Korean navy ship, both in 2010. The two attacks killed 50 South Koreans. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North Korean artillery firings Monday breached a 2018 inter-Korean accord on reducing military animosities and undermines stability on the Korean Peninsula. It said the North Korean shells didn’t land in South Korean waters but South Korea is boosting its military readiness.

 

 

Analyst Cheong Seong-Chang at the private Sejong Institute in South Korea said North Korea had likely intentionally plotted its ship incursion because it would be “unimaginable” for a North Korean merchant ship to cross the boundary that early in a day without the permission of the South’s military. The General Staff of the North’s Korean People’s Army accused South Korea of provoking animosities near their land border as well with its own artillery tests and propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts. South Korea has already confirmed it performed artillery firings last week as part of its regular military exercises, but denied that it resumed the loudspeaker broadcasts that both Koreas halted under the 2018 agreement.

Oh goody!

What will this cost the over-stretched American taxpayer to hep South Korea ‘protect’ itself from the aggression of the North?

Biden will promise them more aid, no doubt….like he always does.

This is such crap!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Yes They Have A New PM

Just days ago the PM of the UK took it on the lame…..and now her replacement has been found…..

I admit that I know very little of this guy (so I bow to Pete’s analysis)…..

Britain’s next prime minister will be 42-year-old Rishi Sunak. The former finance minister’s path to victory improved dramatically on Sunday when Boris Johnson dropped out, then became a lock on Monday when his last challenger—fellow Conservative Penny Mordaunt—did the same, reports the Guardian. Monday was the deadline to line up the necessary support of party lawmakers, and Mourdant apparently realized she had no chance. Related:

  • Fitting timing: Sunak will be the first person of color to be UK prime minister, notes the Washington Post. He is of Indian descent, and the BBC points out a fitting coincidence: The news comes on Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.
  • Told you so: Sunak lost to Liz Truss in September, and his predictions that her economic policies were a mess have proven to be spot on. “Clearly, a lot of people are now thinking, he was right and Truss was wrong and they’ve proved that in spades,” Jill Rutter of the London-based Institute for Government tells the New York Times. “The UK has paid a high price for that and will continue to pay a high price for that lost credibility.”
  • Wealthy couple: Sunak has had a meteoric rise in politics, having been named chancellor of the Exchequer (finance minister) by Johnson at age 39. He is married to Akshata Murthy, daughter of one of India’s richest men (Narayana Murthy, a co-founder of Infosys). The couple’s wealth has led to accusations that Sunak is out of touch with ordinary Brits hit hard by inflation, notes the Times. Controversy over their finances may be his greatest political liability, and the BBC has a separate story with details. The couple met at Stanford University.

Hopefully his tenure will be longer than the women before him.

The UK does what the US does….put rich people in power that have NO idea what the rest of us go through daily…I say that because this wanker is uber-wealthy…..

Will he make it?

I say no more than a year.

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Practice Makes Perfect

All this talk about a nuke holocaust has the US doing what it does best….preparing for an all out use of nukes.

NATO military alliance will hold a training exercise, known as Steadfast Noon, in which US B-52 bombers and F-16 fighters will simulate dropping atomic bombs over Europe amid a deepening nuclear standoff with Russia.

The training exercise comes just ten days after US President Joe Biden warned of a nuclear “apocalypse,” saying the risk of nuclear war is the greatest since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.

“This is the exercise that practices NATO’s nuclear strike mission with dual-capable aircraft and the B61 tactical nuclear bombs the US deploys in Europe,” wrote Hans Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists.

The aircraft will rehearse dropping B61 “tactical” thermonuclear bombs, each of which is up to 20 times more powerful than the weapon that destroyed Hiroshima in World War II, killing as many as 126,000 civilians.

While nuclear training exercises are usually presented as routine, nonthreatening, and not targeting any specific country, this year NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg made clear that the exercise is intended as a threat to Russia.

In a speech that mentioned Russia five times, Stoltenberg announced, “Next week, NATO will hold its long-planned deterrence exercise, Steadfast Noon.” He added, “Russia knows that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.”

As of 2019, the United States had 150 “tactical” nuclear warheads stationed throughout Europe as part of the NATO nuclear arsenal, including in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/10/17/lkbs-o17.html

This news should worry about this exercise….after all the US is the ONLY country to actually use a nuke on a civilian population….it is a precedent.

But wait!

There is more that concern us mere peasants….

A commander said, “this is not a training deployment, this is a combat deployment”

The White House has deployed thousands of American soldiers just miles from Ukraine to prepare for war, according to CBS News. Officers speaking with the outlet revealed they were there for combat against Russia.

Brigadier General John Lubas confirmed nearly 5,000 troops from the 101st Airborne recently joined the 100,000 American soldiers already deployed to Europe. Lubas described his troops as being on “full deployment,” and they are preparing to fight Russian soldiers in Ukraine. “This is not a training deployment, this is a combat deployment for us. We understand we need to be ready to fight tonight,” he said.

Colonel Edwin Matthaidess said his forces have been “closely watching” the Russian soldiers, “building objectives to practice against” and conducting war games that “replicate exactly what’s going on” in Ukraine.

CBS News reported, “[Russia’s] goal is to cut off all Ukrainian access to the sea, leaving the country and its military forces landlocked.” CBS News did not provide a source for that assertion. The Kremlin has publicly said its war goal is limited to eastern Ukraine.

Lubas declared the division was “ready to defend every inch of NATO soil.” However, Moscow has never threatened to invade a NATO country. Ukraine is not a NATO member. When President Zelensky said Ukraine should be allowed into the North Atlantic alliance last month, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg rejected Kiev’s proposal.

(antiwar.com)

All this sounds like someone itching for a fight and will eventually find a reason to put practice into action.

Please people PAY ATTENTION!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

“Not All Nazis Were Bad”

This is for the ‘Can’t Fix Stupid’ files…..

Not my words but those of an Indiana politician……

There are multiple candidates running for seats on the Zionsville Community Schools Board of Trustees in Indiana, including Dr. Matt Keefer, an anesthesiologist who calls himself an independent option disliked by both “Republican leaders” and the “extreme left” due to his critical thinking and inability to “be controlled.” Pushback against him has reached new levels, however, after he recently defended some of the Nazis during World War II in comments under an online post, reports FOX59. The controversy started when Keefer, who runs on an anti- “wokeness” and “indoctrination” platform, was asked in a since-deleted Facebook thread if teachers asserting that the Tulsa Massacre was terrible, or that all Nazis were bad, would be considered “indoctrination,” in his eyes. Keefer’s response is what instantly raised eyebrows.

“All Nazis weren’t ‘bad,’ as you specify,” he told his questioner. “They did horrible things. They were in a group frenzy in both cases you site [sic]. Who is to say if we were both there in the same place and same time that we wouldn’t have done the same thing.” He added in a later post: “There were certainly evil Nazis. There were also good people who had to be Nazis (or they would have been killed).” Backlash against his remarks were swift. “When you hear statements like this, it diminishes the Holocaust, it diminishes the memory,” the head of the Indianapolis Jewish Community Relations Council tells FOX59. “This hurts so much inside.” “I just couldn’t fathom” what he wrote, a parent in the district tells WTHR, which notes that despite the outcry by many in the community, Keefer still has some supporters thanking him for his candor and “listening to the community.”

At any rate, Keefer doesn’t seem fazed by the commotion. In a post he has since taken down, per FOX59, he blamed the “far left” for attacking him and wrote, “I know haters gotta hate, so please continue spewing your taunts. I’m only getting stronger in the community!” In a longer post on Facebook Thursday, which remained up as of Friday morning, Keefer tripled down, stating, “A few days ago I made the comment ‘not all Nazis were bad’ … I am correct.” He added, though, that his argument contained “nuance,” and that “to be clear: I never was, am not now, and never will be a Nazi sympathizer.” Some of the comments under that post remained supportive, though one person wrote, “Not everyone in the drug cartels or mafia are bad people either.” WTHR rounds up statements from a few of Keefer’s rivals for the board over his remarks.

This is someone who could possibly decide what your children will learn….is that what you want them to learn the ‘not all Nazis were bad’?  And from a moron that slept through history class.

This country continues to slide and we are allowing it to slide down the toilet.  WHY?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

That Usual Saturday News

To tell the truth the news these days is either boring or gusting or both…..so on weekends I try to give some news that was missed…..enjoy.

We are closing in on the big day, Thanksgiving and the usual fare is turkey with all the fixins’…..so this year things could be awkward….

Just a few weeks ago, economists with the American Farm Bureau Federation warned that Americans should brace themselves for higher turkey prices this year heading into the holidays, blaming inflation and an outbreak of avian flu. Now, more recent numbers are in, and that dour outlook for the Thanksgiving dinner table hasn’t changed much. According to USDA data from Oct. 14 cited by CNBC, the price per pound of an 8- to 16-pound bird currently hovers at about $1.99. Last year around this time, that number was $1.15—translating to a 73% increase in 2022. The New York Times notes the turkey supply has been struggling for some time, starting in 2019, when producers started to slow down on raising turkeys after prices fell.

Then came the pandemic, supply-chain issues, and inflation, which has affected the price of feed, fuel, and labor for turkey farmers. Meanwhile, what the Times calls “a particularly persistent and contagious strain” of avian flu has affected nearly 48 million birds in more than 40 states this year, killing upward of 7 million turkeys, or almost 4% of the nation’s total. What exacerbated the issue during this year’s avian flu bout—the likes of which hasn’t been seen at this level since 2015—is that instead of striking as it usually does in the cooler spring, when migration is peaking, it stretched into the summer months, which is when farmers raise their flocks for the holidays.

“It’s certainly occurring at a terrible time,” a commodities strategist tells CNBC. Experts say there’s a chance suppliers could bolster markets’ turkey supply at the last minute, but consumers shouldn’t hold their breath on that. Fresh turkeys at reasonable prices will be hardest to find come November, and restaurants that usually serve turkey with their holiday offerings are warning customers now that might not happen. None of this necessarily means you’ll be completely out of luck as you start picking up ingredients for your Thanksgiving repast. “They’ll find a turkey of some kind. It just might not be that nice 10-pounder,” an exec with the price reporting agency Urner Barry tells the Times of consumers’ prospects. “It’s essentially a ‘you’re going to take what you get and feel good about it’ situation.”

We all know about the hurricane that ravaged Florida and now there is a lingering result of that storm…..

Florida has seen an increase in cases of flesh-eating bacteria this year driven largely by a surge in the county hit hardest by Hurricane Ian. The state Department of Health reports that as of Friday there have been 65 cases of Vibrio vulnificus infections and 11 deaths in Florida this year. That compares with 34 cases and 10 deaths reported during all of 2021. In Lee County, where Ian stormed ashore last month, the health department reports 29 cases this year and four deaths. ABC News reports it logged only five cases and one death in 2021 and no cases at all in 2020.

Health officials didn’t give a breakdown of how many of the cases were before or after Ian struck, notes the AP. But the BBC reports the Lee County Health Department put the blame at the storm’s feet on Monday: “The Florida Department of Health in Lee County is observing an abnormal increase in cases of Vibrio vulnificus infections as a result of exposure to the flood-waters and standing waters following Hurricane Ian,” it said in a statement.

 

Lee County health officials earlier this month warned people that the post-hurricane environment—including warm, standing water—could pose a danger from the potentially deadly bacteria. NPR notes the Vibrio vulnificus population grows during warm months (it should begin to drop sharply as the cold sets in late this month) and may also experience a bump when sewage enters coastal waters, as happened during Hurricane Ian. The county health department said in a news release Oct. 3 that people with open wounds, cuts, or scratches can be exposed to the bacteria through contact with sea water or brackish water. People with open wounds should avoid such water and seek medical care immediately if an infection is apparent.

Are you a ‘couch potato’?

If so then you need to heed the words of WHO……

Get active or risk disease. That’s the message from the World Health Organization, whose first global report on physical activity indicates 500 million people in 194 countries will develop heart disease, obesity, diabetes, stroke, dementia, depression, or other diseases unless they boost their physical activity. “There are few areas in public health … where evidence on required action is so convincing, cost-effective, and practical,” according to the Global Status Report on Physical Activity 2022, which notes regular exercise reduces the risk of premature death by up to 30%, per the Guardian. Inaction comes at a “severe” cost—$27 billion per year between 2020 and 2030—and will strain “already overwhelmed health services,” according to the WHO.

The report found fewer than 50% of surveyed countries have a national policy on physical activity. It is only possible to meet the global target for a 15% increase in physical activity by the end of this decade if more people become more active through mass-scale physical activity events or public information campaigns encouraging people to exercise, the report says. “We need more countries to scale up implementation of policies to support people to be more active through walking, cycling, sport, and other physical activity,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus writes in the report, which also calls for physical fitness programs in day care centers, schools, and workplaces, and improved road design to make walking and cycling safer.

“Each dollar invested in chronic disease risk factor prevention such as reduction of physical inactivity yields returns up to seven times of the dollar invested,” Health Finance Institute CEO Andrea Feigl tells CBS News, which notes increasing physical activity also has benefits for mental health. Some 43% of the new cases of noncommunicable disease predicted to appear would result from depression, according to the report. It found “unfair and unjust” inequalities in levels of physical activity “between women and men, girls and boys, old and young, and the socioeconomically advantaged and disadvantaged” and adds “we hope countries and partners will use this report to build more active, healthier, and fairer societies for all.”

This is from the ‘Fate Is A Cruel Bitch’ files……

 

Only a skull and a pair of trousers remained after a suspected rhino poacher was killed by an elephant and then eaten by lions in Kruger National Park, South African National Parks said.

The incident happened after the man entered the park Monday with four others to target rhinos, according to a parks service statement.

An elephant “suddenly” attacked the alleged poacher, killing him, and “his accomplices claimed to have carried his body to the road so that passersby could find it in the morning. They then vanished from the Park,” police said.

“Indications found at the scene suggested that a pride of lions had devoured the remains leaving only a human skull and a pair of pants,” the statement said.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/07/africa/south-africa-rhino-poacher-eaten

That is about it for this Saturday…..

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Nazification Of American Society

I know few want to hear this but if those that are in denial would look at history they would see that Nazification is exactly what is happening to our society…..

Violence in the United States surpasses the unthinkable and increasingly resides in the space of apocalyptic rage, manufactured ignorance, and the normalization of a pervasive culture of ritualized barbarism. As civic culture collapses and truth succumbs to conspiracy theories, censorship, and the white washing of history, politics is emptied of democratic values, shared responsibilities, and a viable moral compass. Lawlessness is fueled by a diminishing lack of accountability in the political realm leading to an upsurge in racism, domestic terrorism, mass shootings and increasing threats of violence. Acts of violence erupt in even the most protected and secure spaces extending from schools to supermarkets, engulfing every facet of American life. We now live in a time marked by a politics of displacement, disappearance, erasure, patriotic frenzy, and political repression. Human suffering has been turned into a spectacle of racist aggression.

Violence, once hidden or proclaimed to be on the fringe of American society, is now at the center of power and everyday life and has become normalized. Violent threats are now repeatedly lodged against election officials, public health workers, teachers, librarians, as well as almost any politician who refuses to accept the lie that the presidential election was stolen. The threats of violence by a political movement of white supremist and election denying extremists   has reached an all time high as has its insane accusations, threats, and hate mongering. For example, influential pedlars of hate, particularly QAnon members, now claim that the Democratic Party is filled with blood sucking satanists who abduct and sexualize young children. The fallout from these kind of threats is too extensive to document here one example, as reported by The Daily Beast, captures the vicious lies mainstreamed by such groups and how they incentivize violence among their followers:

The threat of violence not only functions as political performance in the interests of political opportunism and the stoking mass violence, it also is used by MAGA Republicans to conquer major critical institutions of society that extend from public schools and libraries to the courts. Dark money now drives such extremism and the repressive laws aimed at women’s reproductive rights, the banning of books, the weakening of voting rights, and assaults on the rights of trans-gender people, among other attacks. Many of these attacks are driven by the modern Republican Party’s central fear of living with difference.

The Nazification of American Society and the Scourge of Violence

I just cannot imagine how the American people can ignore the track that our country is traveling….you do not need to be a rocket scientist to see what is happening…..and yet they allow it to continue.

There is only so much time allowed before these changes become permanent….

You can do something…..then DO IT!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Yet Another War?

We all know of and have an opinion on the war raging in Ukraine…..and we know (for those who care) that there is a massive war of words going on between China and the US over the status of Taiwan.

Will this become more of a problem much as Ukraine has become?

According to one Naval officer…….

A high-level Navy official said Wednesday that the US should prepare for the possibility of China invading Taiwan as soon as this year.

“So when we talk about the 2027 window, in my mind, that has to be a 2022 window or potentially a 2023 window. I can’t rule it out,” said Adm. Michael Gilday, the chief of naval operations.

The “2027 window” refers to a claim from retired Adm. Phil Davidson, the former head of US Indo-Pacific Command, who said last year he believes China could invade within six years. Gilday said he was prioritizing a “fight tonight” posture for the US Navy with respect to China and Russia.

Gilday said his assessment was based on comments Chinese President Xi Jinping made this week, although the Chinese leader only reiterated that he seeks “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan but won’t rule out the use of force.

“It’s not just what President Xi says, but it’s how the Chinese behave and what they do,” Gilday said. “What we’ve seen over the past 20 years is that they have delivered on every promise they’ve made earlier than they said they were going to deliver on it.”

While US officials are always warning that China is planning to invade Taiwan, Beijing has little interest in doing so as it would require the largest amphibious invasion in military history. If China chooses to take military action against Taiwan, it would likely initially opt for a blockade, which it simulated in unprecedented exercises around the island in response to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) visiting Taipei.

Gilday’s warning comes as the US is working to send massive amounts of weapons to Taiwan. While done in the name of deterrence, China’s actions and rhetoric make it clear that more US support for Taiwan will make Chinese military action more likely.

During his speech earlier this week, Xi also warned strongly against “interference” from outside forces, and other Chinese officials have explicitly warned that US support for Taiwan’s “independence forces” could lead to war.

Just what the US needs another drain on our budget….but hey who cares it will make the world safe for democracy.

One question….how many forever wars must the US finance?

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Truss Of A Thousand Hours (Or So)

Fascinating!

The news broke earlier today that the next “Iron Lady” of the UK has decided to call it quits after only 45 days.

Liz Truss has made history, though likely not in the way she had hoped. CNBC and the AP report that the British prime minister resigned on Thursday after weeks of upheaval sparked by her economic plan, announced last month and since largely abandoned after it spooked financial markets. What you need to know:

  • In making the announcement, she said, “I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected”—just a day prior she had emphasized she was “a fighter and not a quitter.”
  • But Truss couldn’t hold on any longer after a senior minister quit her government with a barrage of criticism and a vote over fracking for shale gas—a practice that Truss wanted to resume despite opposition from many Conservatives—descended into chaos and acrimony Wednesday evening in the House of Commons.
  • She was appointed prime minister on Sept. 6, making her the shortest-serving PM in modern British history, with just a 45-day tenure, reports the Guardian, though it’ll end up being slightly longer, as the BBC reports she will stay in the post until a new party leader is named and then appointed prime minister by King Charles III. Prior to Truss, George Canning had occupied the shortest-serving slot: He held the job for 119 days in 1827, though he left office for a different reason: death by pneumonia.
  • Truss is now the 4th Conservative prime minister to resign since the country voted to leave the EU in 2016, with David Cameron, Theresa May, and Boris Johnson coming before her.
  • Truss’ departure leaves a divided Conservative Party seeking a leader who can unify its warring factions. Among potential replacements—if only Conservative lawmakers can agree—are ex-Treasury chief Rishi Sunak (whom Truss defeated to secure the PM job) and House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt. Newly appointed Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt has apparently said he is not in the running.
  • A national election doesn’t have to be held until 2024, but the Guardian reports Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon, along with opposition leaders, are calling for a general election.

Her quick departure got me to thinking about other “leaders’ that were just in power for a very short time….

  • Prime ministers: Truss’ predecessor in the “we hardly knew ye, PM” department was Tory statesman George Canning, who held the office for just 119 days before he died of tuberculosis on Aug. 8, 1827.
  • US presidents: The honor here goes to William Henry Harrison, who died of pneumonia on April 4, 1841, just 31 days after his inauguration. Some speculate that his lack of appropriate outdoor attire during his inaugural address may have contributed to him getting sick.
  • Other presidents: Pedro Lascurain has Harrison beat, lasting just 45 minutes or so in the Mexican presidency. Lascurain was effectively just a placeholder during a military coup on Feb. 19, 1913, making way for Gen. Victoriano Huerta after less than an hour.
  • Emperors: Michael II of Russia put in a whole 18 hours in mid-March 1917 after the abdication of his brother, Czar Nicholas II, but he was quickly replaced by a provisional government that ended the country’s czarist regime.
  • UK monarchs: Elizabeth II may have held the honor of Britain’s longest reign, but Tragic Lady Jane Grey appears at the other end of the spectrum—the 16-year-old queen lasted just nine days before being deposed in 1553.
  • Other monarchs: A world record of just 20 minutes on the throne is shared by France’s King Louis XIX, who quickly abdicated in 1830 right after his father did the same, and Portugal’s Luis II, who died not a half-hour after he’d assumed the crown from his father, who was fatally wounded in the same attack on Feb. 1, 1908.
  • “Some food in my freezer”: To put Truss’ time in office in context, this decade-old Reddit post outlines things in general that last longer than 45 days. And on Twitter, Anthony Scaramucci—who infamously lasted just 11 days as the White House communications director under former President Donald Trump—posted, “Liz Truss lasted 4.1 Scaramuccis.”

In a way I like the UK government better than ours….why?

At least when the leader is a piece of sh*t they resign for the good of the country.  We have to wait for years before we can rid ourselves of crap.

What’s next for the UK?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Fighting Inflation….A Typical Solution

We all are suffering the ravages of inflation….well most of us mere peasants that is….Most of us need some help….with that said the IRS has stepped up to help out….

The Internal Revenue Service on Tuesday announced the adjustments that will be in effect for 2023 tax rates in response to soaring inflation, meaning some taxpayers could see a lower tax bill. As the New York Times reports, typically when tax rates are adjusted for inflation, the adjustments are “incremental.” Not so this year. All seven income brackets will be adjusted, with the largest shift seen at the highest level of earnings. The top income tax rate, 37%, will apply to those who earn $578,125 ($693,750 for married couples filing jointly), a big increase from this year’s threshold of $539,900 for individuals. Those who no longer meet the cutoff for the highest rate will be taxed at the next level down, 35%, and so it goes down the line to the lowest tax rate, 10%. (For details on each level see Kiplinger.)

Axios explains why this happens: “The IRS adjusts tax brackets every year to ward off ‘bracket creep’—when your salary rises to keep up with inflation, propelling you into a higher tax bracket.” For example, someone earning $34,000 per year, if being taxed at the 1980 level, would be taxed at a 49% rate. But, per the Times, those whose salaries have been adjusted to match rising inflation (which is not the case for many in the US) won’t benefit from the adjusted tax rates. The inflation adjustments were not carried out prior to 1985. In addition, in 2023 the standard deduction will increase $900 from this year to $13,850 for individuals; for couples, it will go up $1,800, to $27,700. Other adjustments include benefits for tax-free public transit and parking costs, the worth of the earned-income tax credit, and estate tax changes.

Please stop helping us out.

Just once I would like to see a corporation pay some taxes….I know I know they are the highest taxed in the world (well that is the lie we are fed to make giving them hand-outs look magnanimous)….

If I pay 35% on my income so should the corporations….it is that simple.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”