Ideas, Opinions, Genealogy, and Book Reviews
I had previously written about cost of living adjustments (COLAs) in retirement. It is a hard subject since there are many ways to estimate this.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS; website bls.gov) has developed several tools to estimate this. They developed the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which approximates a cost of living index. But this is not simple to estimate. Continue reading “Strengthen Social Security”
I previously discussed that President Obama and the House have proposed 2 different plans to allow you to keep your existing health plan.
In my opinion, neither is a very good idea. Both plans say they allow holders of existing plans that do not meet ACA requirements to keep there existing plans. One problem is that they allow this cannot actually do this since Continue reading “Obama care and Keep your health plan”
Much has been said about the millions of cancelled health insurance policies. Often the insurance company explains that these plans do not meet the standards of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). There are 2 offered fixes. Continue reading “2 keep your health plan plans”
Since I seem to be pointing out articles I really liked here is another. It is What’s the matter with motherhood? by E.J. Dionne, Jr and starts like this: Continue reading “Abortion, medical care, maternity, and health insurance”
Health care reform (ObamaCare) wasn’t a needless intervention in a well-functioning insurance market. It was designed to address market failure in our health care system
I enjoyed Intelligently Designed: How Creationists Built the Campaign against Evolution by Edward Caudill but did not finish it.
I liked this book and believe that evolution is by far the superior theory but that creationists are often winning the argument in the United States. At least winning much more often than the evidence would support. I am a scientist so I find it shocking Continue reading “Intelligently Designed: How Creationists Built the Campaign against Evolution”
I had mentioned last month that I had subscribed to the Wilson Quarterly for years and enjoyed it. They stopped printing paper copies so now I can get the articles on-line or on my Kindle. Continue reading “Wilson Quarterly, Pacific Standard, Frustrated Blogger, and Expanding Social Security”
If you are thinking about upgrading your smartphone or maybe considering moving up to a smartphone, it might be a good idea to invest a few dollars in a book that can tell you what the new phone can and can’t do. And of course if it does something, you’ll want to know how. Continue reading “Upgrading your Smartphone”
Supply and demand is important economically. But since the Reagan revolution in politics, we have largely focused on growing the supply side.
Now with the current emphasis on austerity, we are actively cutting more and more into the demand side.
Is it any wonder that our economy is weak and not recovery very quickly?
There are problems with the ObamaCare roll-out and the fight over Obama Care gets stranger. Continue reading “The fight over Obama Care gets stranger”
I mentioned before that I subscribed to the Wilson Quarterly by mail for several years. There were long articles and almost always several were interesting. There were shorter articles (maybe a page or so) which summarized longer articles often published in scholarly journals or more popular magazines of the intellectual or policy type. And Book Reviews that I found interesting.
The Wilson Quarterly was a very thought provoking and often gave me a look and differing perspectives on various issues. But a while back, they stopped printing on paper and published the Quarterly on the web.
I was trying to decide if I wanted a web subscription. I enjoy reading in my easy chair and was looking for something that would allow me to read the Wilson Quarterly without sitting at my computer. Of course I could get a web subscription and read at my desk or on my laptop or Chromebook.
I also noticed they have subscriptions via iPad, Nook, Kindle Fire, Kindle, Android Tablets and Sony but I had none of these except an old Kindle. So I thought I would give the Kindle subscription a try.
I was a bit skeptical since the Kindle was several years old (no touch) and I was unsure how easy it would be to maneuver around the Wilson Quarterly as there are several sections and several articles withing each section. So far it seems fairly easy to move around and read articles of interest.
Amazon has a try it policy. I am now trying out the Kindle version for a 30 day trial. You order and give credit card info but they won’t start charging while you are in the trial period. What could be fairer than that?
It probably won’t surprise you to hear that Washington right now represents far and away the most significant drag on the economy’s growth.
Our household subscribed to HBO because there were shows we wanted to watch on this premium cable channel. And these series are wonderful. Different people will like different shows so I won’t bother to list my favorites on HBO.
But we have found the HBO documentaries fascinating. Right now there aren’t any series that we watch but we have kept paying for HBO because of the documentaries. Continue reading “HBO documentary about progeria”
The Irish American Weekly of October 9, 1886 (published in New York City) had a short article about the case of William Mulcahy of Riddlestown, Rathkeale, Co Limerick, Ireland who was evicted twice from the family farm. The first eviction was soon after he inherited the leased farm in 1881 and the second time in 1886.
The article was relatively short but gave an interesting description of the eviction cases and his living conditions after being evicted the second time. I found the article on GenealogyBank.
Today I received a letter from the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP). The letter seemed to have 2 main points: education on the many accomplishment and projects of the MPP and raising funds to support that work.
If you didn’t get a letter, here is your chance to see the website and support the MPP if you agree with their goals and work.
I guess the title of the post was misleading. They did not actually send marijuana in the mail. I suspect that may be illegal.
I was watching TV news tonight and saw a somewhat related story. It seems the majority of Americans now support legalization.
It seems to me that there are several good reasons for legalization.
First there is case that marijuana is not as harmful as currently legal substances and there is no harm to others so there is no any good reason for the government to interfere with an individual choice.
Then there is a compassionate case for medical marijuana.
And if it was legal, it could be regulated and taxed. Governments could certainly use the money.