One year ago today: November 14, 2018, WIP
Five years ago today: November 14, 2014, fear not!
Nine years ago today: November 14, 2010, remember “Scottish” peppers?
Random years ago today: November 14, 2017, that familiar abandoned station.
I see the Democrats are gearing up again to push for the wealth tax. It’s one of their traditional vote-grabbing schemes. I’m against it even though I agree the wealth gap in this country has become obscene in the past 40 years. I’ve seen the corporations get rich on tax cuts and use it to buy the government. The first thing I did when I knew I’d be forced to work for a living was join a strong union. You can’t do that any more because they’ll just move the factory overseas. It has never been possible to get ahead in America by working hard, but now the system has changed to prevent almost anybody from getting ahead no matter what they do.
So why am I against a wealth tax? Simple. Look at what happened to the inheritance tax and the income tax. It is sold on the political platform of making the rich pay their share. Instead, once granted the power, the state quickly turns it on the lower classes. In reality, I am against the state having any more control than they already have because they always abuse it. Oddly, according to the liberal progressives, I am rich. I own a house paid for and more than one vehicle. Since you can’t get rich by hard work, and everything I own was gained by hard work, I don’t appreciate being targeted for higher taxes.
[Author’s note: I am for a flat-rate end-user sales tax no matter what consequences that may have for the rest of the system. I’m of the opinion that anyone who would suffer from that tax is getting a free ride or some kind of crook to begin with. The only exempted items would be groceries and I would allow a higher rate of sales tax on recognized luxury items that cost more than, say, 1,000 times the minimum wage. I would abolish all other taxes and deductions. Also, the tax would remain anonymous to anyone who paid it in cash.
I would also make it illegal for anyone to propose any law which in any way would raise taxes. That’s not enact the law, but to merely propose it. You know why the south holds so many Civil War re-enactments? Because they’re are getting ready for a rematch.]
Here’s another example of a rip-off that will go unheeded until it becomes common. It’s similar to how US companies can sell you a three year service contract after they have filed bankruptcy. It nearly happened to me.). This scam is from Best Buy. They will sell you a “smart” appliance without any guarantee that the company supplying the service will be around for any length of time. There is no universal standard for IoT and a lot of people are going to pay for smart and receive dumb.
Vintage glass marbles.
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What, an even 250 hits from Italy today? There you have it. Italy never makes the American news any more but it is still there. Actually, the blogger map shows Sardinia, but not Sicily, so assuming the Pope doesn’t follow my redneck ways, I could have a following from Cagliari. I thought that was a brand of seafood.. According to Google, I looked, a million and a half people live on the island. Unless there is some law against pictures, Google also shows there are no women under 25 in the population. A three star hotel costs $69 per night, but the airfare from here is like $3,000. I like the way they paint their houses.
ADDENDUM
The good news is I’ve gone through the song lists and between us we can already play 48 tunes. No practice, no rehearsal, just get on stage and play them. This is a far cry from Florida, where it can take up to three months to get a guitar player to get up to 24 songs, the point at which I will gig. I fill n the blanks with bass solos. If I add my three-chord specials, a list I keep handy for really inept guitarists, plus tunes on his list that I’ve played at some time in the past, that’s another 33 tunes. That’s over 80 songs ready to go within a week, maybe two.
No dancing in the streets yet. As before, there is but one chance in 88 that this will go anywhere. My enthusiasm is that if it fails, it won’t be for the same tire excuses that Florida people hand me. Among my favorite band break-up lines over the Florida years would be:
My wife says we can only play her church for free.
My jaw is broken.
You hate Puerto Ricans.
If my friend Steve can’t join, I quit.
You’re just the bass player.
Holiday means “holy day” so I won’t play the Holiday Inn.
I can only sing songs I like.
That’s how my other band used to play it.
Dang, I didn’t bring my PA system this time because I knew it would be cold. That doesn’t bother the gear, I just hate hauling it around when it’s freezing out. Did enough of that in Montana when I was 13. I’m confident enough this will at least get to some stage work that I’m taking the evening off and compiling a practice folder.
