Thomas Sowell on the numbers game

"The Internal Revenue Service can follow individual people over the years because they can identify individuals from their Social Security numbers. During recent years, when “the top one percent” as an income category has been getting a growing share of the nation’s income, IRS data show that actual flesh and blood people who were in the top one percent in 1996 had their incomes go down — repeat, DOWN — by a whopping 26 percent by 2005.

How can both sets of statistics be true at the same time? Because most people who are in the top one percent in a given year do not stay in that bracket over the years.

If we are being serious — as distinguished from being political — then our concern should be with what is happening to actual flesh and blood human beings, not what is happening to abstract income brackets.

f we are being serious — as distinguished from being political — then our concern should be with what is happening to actual flesh and blood human beings, not what is happening to abstract income brackets.

There is the same statistical problem when talking about “the poor” as there is when talking about “the rich.”

A University of Michigan study showed that most of the working people who were in the bottom 20 percent of income earners in 1975 were also in the top 40 percent at some point by 1991. Only 5 percent of those in the bottom quintile in 1975 were still there in 1991, while 29 percent of them were now in the top quintile.

People in the media and in politics choose statistics that seem to prove what they want to prove. But the rest of us should become aware of what games are being played with numbers."

The link: http://rightwingnews.com/column-2/numbers-games/

The Democratic National Convention lays off workers in Charlotte

The Sister Toldjah blog has a post showing how the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina next year is laying off non-union employees at the Ritz Carlton, where Obama is expected to stay, and hiring out-of-state union workers instead of Charlotte-area workers.

The link: http://sistertoldjah.com/archives/2011/11/07/red-meat-monday-the-truth-about-the-democratic-party-and-civil-rights/

This story was actually broken on Nov 4 by this blog: http://www.laborunionreport.com/portal/2011/11/breaking-dnc-discriminating-against-charlotte-workers-forcing-furloughs-of-hotel-workers/

The Democratic Party and Civil Rights

The Sister Toldjah blog adds: "One can argue that the large blocs in Congress opposing civil rights legislation were “less Democrat” than they were Southern, the legacy of both the region’s history with slavery and the place where Jim Crow originated and was most strongly in force. (Though Jim Crow was not limited to the South, to be sure.) This line of argument also would point out that they were Democratic politicians because of the Civil War, in which a Republican administration first crushed the Confederacy and then imposed the hated Reconstruction. And that would be a fair observation. BUT… it is also fair to note that Northern and Western Democrats continually allied with racist Southern Democrats to win national elections and get legislation passed, each giving the other what it wanted. Which means there is no way around it: the Democratic Party as a whole owns that dirty history."

The link: http://sistertoldjah.com/archives/2011/11/07/red-meat-monday-the-truth-about-the-democratic-party-and-civil-rights/

Friends

Hi! My name is Sara, and I am going to be eight-years-old next Sunday. Today I want to write about making friends. If someone is not your friend, but you want her to be your friend, come up to her and say, "I want you to be my friend. Please stop being mean to me." If she says no, ask her why. If she explains what you did that made her angry, tell her you are sorry. If she says, "Do you mean it?" Say "Yes, I do mean it!" If she forgives you, then you can go outside and play with her at recess!

I started in a new school in the middle of the fall semester this year, and so far, I don't have any friends there.

One t.v. is enough!

Hi! My name is Sara. I will be eight-years-old Sunday. Today I am writing about why we don't have five t.v.s and our neighbors do have five t.v.s. When you watch too much t.v., your eyes can hurt, you don't get enough exercise, you don't go outside, and you don't use your imagination. If you have one or more computers, you only need one t.v.

"There is bad, and there is worse."

Grim writes:

"We shall face the next four years with some sort of crony capitalist in office; we must decide which kind. Those of us who would prefer to build a citizenry rather than a workforce, or an economy built around small businesses and farms -- that Jeffersonian model favoring the private ownership of individual means of production -- we will not see any joy out of the next President. Still, there is bad and there is worse, and it may be that the bad is not entirely without its silver lining."

He links to a post by Walter Russell Mead about the symbiosis between Blue Wall Street and the state. But, what about crony capitalism?. Will we get the Red Model, which uses government to favor corporate interests (Perry), or the Blue Model (Romney)?
The link to Grim: http://grimbeorn.blogspot.com/2011/11/blue-wall-street.html
The link to Mead: http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2011/11/06/occupy-blue-wall-street/

Breaking Night

I am about one-fourth of the way into a book entitled Breaking Night. When I go to the library, I usually hurriedly pick up several books that look interesting, but I usually read only one or two of the pile I pick up and take home. I didn't think I would read this one, because it is about a girl who is the daughter of drug addicts in New York City. After a career in child protection, the last thing I want to do is open up all those memories.

Yet, I did begin to read the book. The writer is the younger of two daughters. Her older sister was temporarily removed from the home when the mother was pregnant with the writer. That period in foster care was enough to show the older sister that there are families who actually provide for their children on a consistent basis. Upon being returned to her mother, the older sister felt cheated, victimized, and was always angry at being neglected.

The author, Liz Murray, on the other hand, was her parents' caretaker, wanting their love and attention more than anything else in the world. She never blamed them for their horrendous addictions. She knew they loved her and needed her. And, she knew how to maximize opportunities for her to assist her parents.

Liz is a wonderful writer.

Birthday girl

Sara turns eight Sunday. We surprised her with a cake today, so I could celebrate with her.

 

Flipflopping

Jon does a backflip at the Bigtime Fun Trampoline Center. He says backflips are easy, but they are scary.

 

Indiana Jones wannabe

Greg loves to swing on the ropes at the Bigtime Fun Trampoline Center. It makes him feel like Indiana Jones escaping gunfire from Nazis.

Ninja wannabe

When the kids are with me in Colorado, our favorite place to go is the Bigtime Fun Trampoline Center in Arvada. The young man in this photo is named Kyle. He spent two hours today teaching the kids various tricks and moves. Here Greg is about to jump over this foam wall. Greg likes this place because it makes him feel like a ninja!

 

Oil independence

The mentalfloss blog has a post about oil drilling in NorthDakota. That state has a one billion dollar surplus and a 2% unemployment rate! Horizontal drilling and fracking have produced half a million barrels of oil daily, and the region is said to hold 24 billion barrels of oil! Across America up to 2 trillion barrels of oil could be pumped through these new methods, making us completely independent from the middle east oil.
The link: http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/105898

On being a parent and a child

Hi! My name is Sara. I am seven-years-old. I am going to tell you about my life. It is hard being a kid, but sometimes it can be fun. When you're a grown-up, it is difficult, because when you have kids, they think you are just going to boss them around all the time. But it is actually fun being a parent, because you get to choose the things you want to do. I don't really want to be a grown-up, because it is fun being a kid!

My parents said I am going to be tall when I grow up. I am going to do lots of things. I will be able to afford to buy nice presents and take care of my family. I will buy them a new car, new house, and they wouldn't have to pay me back.

I think I'm done.

Sara's farms

Hi! My name is Sara, I am seven-years-old, and I am going tell you about our farm and dairy in New Mexico. We used to have one in Colorado, and we still have our house there. We have ducks and chickens, and horses and cows. We also have pigs! We have lots of land. Our farm is a great place to be, but sometimes I want to spend time in Colorado, because it is pretty there, also. Our farm in Colorado just has chickens. If you want to come down to our farm in New Mexico, it is easy to get to, but you have to know where New Mexico is. Our farm is way far in there.

In Colorado we grew some tomatoes. At our friend's farm, they grew pumpkins and squash. Sometimes we visit other farms. The Clarks have cows, goats, and other animals. We have six cats: three here in Colorado, and three in New Mexico.

I hope you had a great time knowing about my farm; and my other stories, too. I love to write a lot and spend time with my dad. He is writing this on the blog. I am telling him what to write. That is what I like to do in my life. How about you?

"Puss in Boots"

Anonymous and Greg saw the movie "Puss In Boots" today. I asked them to write a review for the blog. Anonymous liked the movie, but he did not want people to think he liked it. Greg thought the movie was better than he thought it would be, because before he went to the movie, Greg did not know that Steven Spielberg directed it. I asked them to write a review of the movie. The following is Greg's summary of the movie.

Puss in Boots was a little kitten who got put in an orphanage, and he was raised with Humpty Dumpty. Humpty Dumpty believed in magic and he liked to invent things. Puss and Humpty were always looking for magic beans so that they could plant a beanstalk and climb it to the top of the clouds, where there is a floating castle, where the goose that lays golden eggs lives. There is a twist to the movie. You have to go see it, because Anonymous and Greg don't want to spoil the movie for you.

(Anonymous thinks this blog post "sucks.")

Cute girl realizes she is better than girls who are not cute

Jon and Greg (ages 11 and 10) told me to go to the Onion to read a blog post there about an eight-year-old girl who is just beginning to realize her physical attractiveness makes her better than ugly girls. Jon says it is funny because she "comes right out and says outrageous things." Greg says "it is funny that she thinks she is better than her sister because her nose is prettier than her sister's nose."
Here is the link. You can decide for yourself if the Onion story is funny: http://www.theonion.com/articles/cute-8yearold-starting-to-realize-how-much-better,26536/

Gotcha!

found at http://mostlycajun.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/reporting.jpg

Fired for speaking the truth?

Major General Peter Fuller, deputy commander for training Afghan security forces, was relieved of his job in Afghanistan today. He gave an interview to Politico (there they go again), saying that their military and people were isolated from reality. He called President Karzai "erratic" for recently saying Afghanistan would side with Pakistan if the latter declared war on the U.S.

"Why don’t you just poke me in the eye with a needle!," Fuller was quoted as saying. "You’ve got to be kidding me … I’m sorry, we just gave you $11.6 billion and now you’re telling me, 'I don’t really care'?"

Fuller said Afghan leaders "don't understand the sacrifices that America is making to provide for their security. And I think that's part of my job to educate 'em."

Sounds like he was speaking the truth!

The link: The link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45169527/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/#.TrS44HJ3Hz4

Horses, by Sara and Bob

Hi! My name is Sara. I am going to write a blog post about horses. I have two horses in New Mexico named Peanut and Slingshot. They are good horses. You can teach them easily. I'm seven-years-old and I can ride a horse. Sometimes my mom teaches me. We used to have two more horses. One of them had to be sold, and the other one got an infection or something, because she got taken to the vet.

The two horses I have are very strong. The first thing you do is put a saddle on. The second thing you do is take all the dirt out of their feet. The third thing you do is polish their nails and put the halter on. Instead of putting bits in their mouths, you can use the ones where you put them on their noses.

Some horses like to jump, and some don't like to listen to you. Here's something about a horse that is very dangerous: if you kick it too much and hit it, sometimes it can go very fast and you fall off. Never stand in back of a horse, because some can break your neck or your nose. If you get a pony, they might be very dangerous. They might buck you off and the other horses could trample you.

The reason why you want a horse is because it can teach you how to get exercise, by walking the horse around. There is a horse called a mustang. It is very wild. You never want to catch it, because it can kill you. Mustangs live in groups in the wild. Don't take it, even when it is young. How is it going to nurse, if it doesn't have a mom? The picture at the top of this blog post is of a group of three mustangs.

Cruelty

Have you seen the video of the Texas Family Court Judge beating his daughter, who has had cerebral palsy since her birth? As I understand it, what she did, that she was being punished for, was to download video games and music that were illegal to download at that time (seven years ago when she was sixteen). The daughter uploaded the video to You Tube recently, and the judge admits that he is the man doing the beating in the You Tube video. The vicious Family Court Judge whipped his daughter over and over and over with a belt and cursed her repeatedly. The cowardly wife got in one good lick, too. I hope they both do time, but he, especially, needs to be voted out of his position as a Family Court Judge.