Well, we missed the big snow blow that hit New Bedford, Massachusetts pretty hard, sticking out into the Atlantic the way it and Cape Cod do. Now, tomorrow, the excitable weather folks are warning of another "snow storm of the century". Come on, guys.. there has got to be other news that you can concentrate on. How about in depth reporting on the changes just made concerning Trust Fund transfers that will probably reduce SSIDI payments to people who really need it. And, why no reporting on the lack of tax increases for the wealthy 1%?
Well.. I have only 45 minutes.. let's see how much commentary I can come up with for a few items.
01. "They are probably monitoring our stupidity."
Information from the Air Force's "Project Blue Book" is now online, and folks who have read the information have found 700 "unidentified" objects from 1947 to 1969. If this piques your curiosity, check on current UFO "sightings" at www.MUFON.com. Very interesting.
02. Wait a minute... we can't do this? Are you serious?
According to The Week magazine, a Georgia man was ticketed for "distracted driving" while eating a hamburger. The cop was quoted as saying: "You can't just go down the road eating a hamburger."
I'll bet you can in France! "To hell with you, copper, I'll continue to eat as I drive. Try to stop me!"
03. Oh, Wolfie.. you rascal!
The BBC Music magazine writes about a bit of Mozart fun. He and Haydn once had a bet for a case of champagne. Haydn said that Mozart could not write anything that he, Haydn, could not play. Mozart called his bluff and wrote a piece of music that required the right hand to be playing at one end of the keyboard, while the left hand played at the other end.. and with a note to be played right in the middle of the keyboard. Can you play it? Haydn said: "Impossible." Mozart showed the skeptical Haydn by simply leaning forward and pressing the key with his nose. So.. Wolfie won the bet "by a nose." Unfortunately, the musical piece has been lost.
04. When to take Social Security.
When I worked in a District Office capacity at the Social Security Administration, I often answered letters from people who wanted to know if they should begin their Old Age benefits at age 62, or wait until age 65. One of those persons who wanted to know was my father in law. He had been a Republican business man who always thought that he would never want to take Social Security money.. he said that he didn't believe in it. I told him that he had contributed all of his working life and the money was there for him to use as he saw fit.
I finally convinced him to think about filing... he then wanted to know if he should take it now.. at age 62 or wait and get a larger amount at age 65. I convinced him to "take the cash and let the credit go," because who knew how long one would live. He did so and was so happy that he had a separate "small" check coming in each month that he could use for coffee and donuts and fishing line and other things.. that way, he never had to tap into his bank accounts.
Michael Silverstein has written a poem in the Progressive Populist. The title is When to Take Social Security. Michael writes that financial planners usually advise clients at 62 to wait until age 67 or 70, to get a larger monthly amount. Michael's poem goes:
Wen it comes to So. Security
All the experts seem to feel
Wait to take this pension money
That's the long-run better deal.
I ain't saying that their numbers
Aren't figured right or rigged
But another way to figure
To a poet's view I've twigged.
Take the cash said Omar Khayyam
And the credit due ignore
Cash today is spending money
When you wait the take ain't sure.
True at some time in the future
This approach may leave you broke
That's kinda sad but something sadder
Before that time arrives you croak.
Michael has written some satirical books of poetry, including: Songs of Wall Street, Beltway Follies and Street Verse. I can't wait to read a comic novel he has written: Fifteen Feet Beneath Manhattan. Check him out at www.wallstreetpoet.com.
05. Do your Joints Ache?
Elaine and I both have touches of arthritis. But, we both go to appointments with one of the nation's foremost arthritis experts. His name is Robert Shaw, MD and he is an instructor at Johns Hopkins, is on all kinds of medical boards related to his practice, which centers on Carroll County Maryland. We take his advice very seriously.
We have also read where local weather factors can increase arthritis pain. There is a place where you can get information on the weather where you live and the predicted daily joint-pain level.
www.ArthritisToday.org/Weather
There is also another place where you can find information on how arthritis is bothering you and can offer ways to treat and manage it. www.ArthritisToday.org/BodyPart.
OK.. my time is up. See Ya!
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