Thought To Go

here's a bit to think about ....

in the 1960's a first class postage stamp cost $0.08 ... will go up to $0.44 in May. That is a 550% increase!!

Okay name ONE OTHER service that has gone up that much .... not even cars have gone up that much ... okay, maybe gas, but at least that price fluxuates -- once the cost goes up on stamps, it never comes down.

so where does the money go? Well we might think its going for equipment or workers but here's a few facts:

Post Master General
salary in 2007: $186,000
salary in 2008: $265,000 (that's about a 43% raise ... $78,000)
plus $135,000 bonus (total income of $403,000 ... although I guess he doesn't get his bonus until after he leaves the position)
his salary is capped at 20% of what the Vice-President earns [so what is Biden earning then? because I thought the president was making $400.000/yr? well the math is adding up to $1,325,000]{according to wikianswers: the VP makes $221,100/yr}

The postal service will lose about $6M this year, after having lost $3M last year -- how do they stay in business??? And why is this guy getting bonuses?
and remember that the post office facing such a 'budget crunch' that they need to cut back on the number of days they will deliver.
The post office is supposed to run solely from the money it raises from postage -- so that it is not a burden on the tax payers ... yeah right - you wait.

Thought to Go: Question for candidates

okay so there are three presidential debates coming up and two VP debates ... so I've been thinking of a good question that could be asked of each candidate that would get an idea of their mind set. Here's what I came up with:

A lot of hay has been made over Sen. Obama's & Gov. Palin's "readiness" for office ... being that the senator was in office for only a year before beginning his campaign and that the governor had only been in office two years when nominated for VP....

my question is ...
With less than 2% of Vice-Presidents having to assume the office of President due to death or resignation of the elected President ... and while those elected President assume the office 100% of the time for at least a portion of their elected terms ... why is it that Palin's political background is being held up to the same ruler as Obama's??

an alternative question is:

The Nixon years in the White House have put a 'black eye' on the office of Presidency that it has never been able to shake ... he first VP, Spiro Agnew, has many similarities in his background as those of Sarah Palin (having been Governor of his state only 2 yrs before being nominated for Vice President, and having done questionable that led to investigations-or possible investigations) ... do you see a similar situation here?

alternate question #2:

Polls are indicating that it is very likely that both houses of Congress will break towards the democratic party in the up coming elections ... what do you see the effect of this will be on your agenda proposals and what will it mean to our taxes -- straight talk please, no 'middle class', no 'upper 10%', no double-speak -- we are tired of not hearing the whole, unvarnished, unscripted truth for ONCE in this campaign.

**********************************************

So what, non-Bush based, question would you like to ask?

Why "non-Bush" based?

because he isn't running ... even though McCain is republican he is not a Bush-fluky as many would have you believe (McCain's support of President Bush's position has been as low as 77 percent (in 2005), and his support for his party's position has been as low as 67 percent (2001)-Fast Check.org ... and this June and only for this year did he vote nearly 90% in favor of the Bush proposals - and remember these stats only go back within Bush's years, it does not incl. McCain's entire career)

Take feelings for Bush out of the equation and tell me your question!

Thought To Go ....

I got a copy of this on my iGoogle page:

" You might be a REDNECK if...
...there is a gun rack on your bicycle. "

Or if you are a resident of North Minneapolis ... or Detroit .... or from the North Side of Chicago ... or East LA ... or San Francisco (oooo that's another story) .... or {insert your nearest high crime area here}

Deez be dangerous times peoples .... no matter where you are from.

Thought To Go

Nothing original this time, just some old fashioned - ever truthful - Shakespeare (just replace ears with eyes and he could have been speaking of the internet-or television [cough, cough, MSNBC, cough, cough]

"You cram these words into mine ears against the stomach of my sense. "

Thought To Go

{not my own original .... it was a 'Things To Ponder']

Do you think Santa is so jolly because he knows where all the naughty girls live???

Friday Freak Out

Okay maybe this is more like a Thursday "thought to go" .... but why is it that in a Presidential race, after the candidates have said such hurtful, hate-filled things during the primaries they can turn around and ask these people to be their VP?

someone should go back on Youtube and find the debates and see what was said about each other .... the repubs were kind of nasty with each other ... the dems seemed to only go after Bush (like he was going to be in the race).

although it did start to get a little nasty there for a while -- and real nasty when it was down to BO/HC ... but still they seemed to be running against Bush, the same way that the Repubs kept acting like they were running against BC ... but then it was Al Gore that was running - so it was more plausible that it would be 'more of the same'.

Now if only they would stick to the real issues instead of playing head-games with the American public .... yeah right. C'mon - just be honest and say 'there is no way we are going to be able to give any tax cuts without raising taxes to begin with' or 'listen, we all know that no matter what we say -- your taxes are going to go up' or 'you know, we really aren't that different from each other -- the only difference is the R or D by our name'

Wouldn't it be a kicker if McCain/Obama chose each other as running mates and all we had to do was decide which one was Pres and which was VP?

You know -- that's the way it used to be .... highest vote was Pres, second highest was VP. That's the way the forefathers had it set up!!

Thought To Go ....

nope ... nothing ... not a single thought.

listen to that echo.

Thought To Go

As kids we ate paste because it tasted like mint ...

why as adults do we cringe at mint flavored medicine?

Thought To Go

Okay here's a thought:



nope .... I lied.

Haven't got one to spare today.

Thought To Go

(so I'm an hour or so late)

Kids bring sunshine in our lives -- why do they think parents bring the clouds??

Thought To Go

AUTO VS. HORSE.; Six-Day Test Shows Motor Car Cheaper and More Efficie... - Article Preview - The New York Times:

"October 9, 1910, Sunday Section: Drama Society Music Automobiles, Page XX7, 1047 words"

So apparently this issue has come up before, way back in 1910, about 19 years before the Depression that crippled the world (not just the US) and 20 yrs before the dust bowl.

I wish I had the actual article but they saved it as a pdf which you can veiw here.

Please notice the cost of 5 gallons of gas and oil remember that this was a time when there weren't that many cars on the road....$1 ~or~ 20cents/gallon!!
It looks like they did a comparison of how far you could go in one day before stopping -- but how many people drive like that? Its the stop/go/idling that makes having a car so expensive.

And - no insurance back then either! That would add another $5-20/day depending on where you live and your age.

Also notice that they compared having your own spot to garage your car to having to get a livery service for the horse ... if everyone had a horse, just like in the pioneer days, you would pretty much learn to do it all yourself - including horse shoeing - and you would more than likely come out on top.

But at $4/gallon for gas alone, one has to wonder if this 'study' would still hold up today.

Oh And Finally -- the people who paid for the study???

The American Automobile Association (hey, its triple A!) ... yeah because they were going to be completely unbiased.

{{{{FOLLOW UP}}}}}

I found a newer article (no publishing date given) which compares the annual costs for caring for a horse (conventional vs. holistic) but it gives great insight to how much actual caring for a horse is: notice that they are likely feeding the horse much less feed than above and are using less hay as well.

Comparison of Cost and Effectiveness of Holistic Care vs. Conventional Care for Horses by Dr. Madalyn Ward, DVM

" >>> Holistic Horse <<<>Oats (2 lbs/day): $131 Hay (3 bales/week): $780 Super Blue Green Algae (1-2 tsp/day): $156 VEWT, West Nile Vaccinations: $48 Spectrabiotic Natural Wormer: $115 2 Fecal Exams: $32 Acidophilus (for occasional immune support): $7
TOTAL ANNUAL COST: $1269

>>> Conventional Horse <<<>Oats (4 lbs/day): $262 Hay (2 bales/week): $520 Hoof Supplements and Dressings ($30/month): $360 VEWT, West Nile, Flue, Rhino, Rabies Vaccinations: $80 Dewormer (6 times/year): $92 2 Bottles Penicillin: $20 A Course of Sulfa Antibiotics: $32 Fecal Exams: $32 12 Grams Bute: $10
TOTAL ANNUAL COST: $1408 "

Raising a horse by either means is cheaper than filling your car! That is about 352 gallons of gas .... average tank size is 15-18 gallons (according to wikianswers) ... so that is about 23 1/2 tanks full (at $4/gal) .... I don't know about you but we fill our tank 1/wk in the winter & twice that in the summer ..... so that would be 10 fill ups in the summer & 20 in the winter.
(higher cost of owning a horse and conservative amount of fillups).

Hmmm. this isn't looking that bad, really. Garages can easily be converted into a barn.

Thought To Go

Here's a thought to take with you today:

During WW2 the average person was allotted only 4 gallons of gasoline a week. Cars that were deemed essential for the war effort were allowed to get 8 gallons of gasoline a week. Truckers carrying supplies has unlimited gas.

Maximum speed allowed nationally was 35 mph!!

Even though the main idea was to conserve rubber instead of gas ....

How well could YOU survive these days on those rules???