Back in the 1980s in Indianapolis we had Comcast as our TV provider. When we bought the house, it had already been wired for cable in a couple of spots and the TV reception was bad so we ordered Comcast, which was the only cable provider available. Read more
Category: news
Maybe a little about current events
Federal Income Taxes and You
The Congressional Budget Office released the following figures: 1Historical Effective Tax Rates: 1979-2005. Released December 2007
| % of Population |
Approx Annual Income |
% of Tax Burden Paid |
|---|---|---|
| Top 1% | $1.3 M or more | 38.8% |
| Top 20% | $512 K or more | 86.3% |
| Top 40% | $58 K or more | 99.4% |
| Bottom 60% | Less than $58 K | 0.06% |
| Bottom 40% | Less than $37 K | 0.00% 2Many in the category will get money “back” even though they paid no taxes. |
Education and Sports
“America believes in education: the average professor earns more money in a year than a professional athlete earns in a whole week.” –Evan Esar, American Humorist (1899 – 1995)
Troubling News
AP March 11, 2008.
25% of Young Women Infected: Shocking results from a recent study by the Center for Disease Control show that one out of every four girls ages 14-19 has an STD. That translates into approximately 3 million infected girls – about 40% of all girls who admit to having had sex. The HPV virus was the most common infection.
And you thought pregnancy was the worst thing that could happen with casual sex. Folks, HPV is incurable and is a primary cause of uterine cancer.
Green Done Up Brown
When somebody did something very well, my mom said, “They did it up brown.” At the time I didn’t know where the phrase came from, but I now suspect it had cooking roots.
Anyway, The Villages, announced a trash recycling program that they’ve been working on for three years. Three years, you say? This required careful coordination with several trash companies and two of the three affected local county governments. They have also coordinated with local merchants like Publix, Wal-Mart, Lowes, Ace Hardware, and Home Depot, to make sure there will be enough supply of the required trash bags. 1That they’ve all sold out is not The Villages fault
Here’s the plan:Homeowners collect recyclables into 13 gallon clear drawstring trash bags. Pretty much everything that is recyclable is eligible: plastic, newspaper, magazines, phone books, aluminum and steel cans, glass, etc. (See the reprint on the left) Then they leave the recycling bags at curbside on one of the two “trash pickup days” each week. Simple as that. No sorting. On top of that it’s only $1.47 per month added to the trash bill and the first month, March, is free.
Some folks are complaining about the $1.47 and that the system’s too complex. I guess there’s no pleasing some folks. For me, it’s a painless way to be a little bit green…and do it up brown.
Footnotes
| ↑1 | That they’ve all sold out is not The Villages fault |
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