Who-d a-thunk it? Government involvement in sports stadiums and the Olympics are financial boondoggles?

Who-d a-thunk it? Government involvement in sports stadiums and the Olympics are financial boondoggles? | AEIdeas:
"Carpe Diem
Who-d a-thunk it? Government involvement in sports stadiums and the Olympics are financial boondoggles?
Mark J. Perry | February 6, 2014, 3:58 pm
From James Surowiecki’s article in The New Yorker “The Sochi Effect“:

Whatever happens on the ice and snow of Sochi in the next couple of weeks, one thing is certain:
this Winter Olympics is the greatest financial boondoggle in the history of the Games.
Back in 2007, Vladimir Putin said that Russia would spend $12 billion on the Games. 
The actual amount is more than $50 billion. (By comparison, Vancouver’s Games, in 2010, cost $7 billion.)

As Josh Barro points out in a Tweet, $50 billion is 2.5% of Russia’s GDP, and the equivalent of the US spending $400 billion on the Olympics (that’s also equivalent to the annual Gross State Product of Massachusetts).
HT: Greg Allar"

Frustrating Medicare catch: Who's an in-patient at the hospital and who's under observation?

Frustrating Medicare catch: Who's an in-patient at the hospital and who's under observation? | Fox News:
"But when she was 95, Felton fell late one night at home and was taken by ambulance to the emergency room, where doctors found she'd broken her pelvis in three places.

Brier said the doctors told her that after leaving the hospital, her mother "would have to go to rehab and learn to walk again and learn to function again."

But Brier and her sisters were told that would mean a skilled nursing facility, which is expensive. But, if she "stayed three full nights, we were told that was the criteria for having Medicare pay for the rehab," Brier said.

There's a nasty catch, however-- many people in the hospital are not officially considered "in-patients" but rather "under observation" although the difference is not obvious.

Says Toby Edelman of the Center for Medicare Advocacy, “Once they are in the hospital and in a bed for several days, getting care and treatment and medicine and food, (a) wristband, they think they're in-patients.  People have no idea that they're out-patients.""

History for February 7

History for February 7 - On-This-Day.com:

50 years ago, The Beatles landed at JFK Airport, New York City, from London, to tremendous crowds and press attention.

Reporter: "Aren't you afraid of what the American Barbers Association is going to think of you?"

Ringo: "Well, we run quicker than the English ones, [so] we'll have a go here, you know."

Birth anniversary of author, journalist, orator, publisher Charles Dickens (1812-70).

Birth anniversaries of  Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951), Sir Thomas More (1478-1535)

Happy Birthday! Garth Brooks, Gay Talese

1795 - The 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. 


1882 - The last bareknuckle fight for the heavyweight boxing championship took place in Mississippi City. 


1893 - Elisha Gray patented a machine called the telautograph. It automatically signed autographs to documents. 


1922 - DeWitt and Lila Acheson Wallace offered 5,000 copies of "Reader's Digest" magazine for the first time. 


1944 - During World War II, the Germans launched a counteroffensive at Anzio, Italy. 


1986 - Haitian President-for-Life Jean-Claude Duvalier fled his country ending 28 years of family rule. 


1991 - The Rev. Jean-Bertrand Aristide was sworn in as Haiti's first democratically elected president. 

Transparency Website Shows True Cost of Unionized Government in California

Transparency Website Shows True Cost of Unionized Government in California | Union Watch:
"The real shockers, however, are in the individual examples.
On the Transparent California website, click on “All Pensions – 2012” and view the results.
Three retired public servants collected pensions of over $500,000! 
Try your hand at Excel – click on “Download all Pension data for 2012” and sort by amount.
The $200,000 pension club now has a respectable showing at 582 members.
And the much vaunted $100,000 “pension club” now has 31,527 members. 
But why stop there?

The maximum Social Security benefit is currently a whopping $31,704 per year.
For that you have to work until you’re 67 years old, and contribute 12.4% of your total compensation – presumably for over 40 years.
How many retired state and local government workers – that we know of – collect twice that much? Transparent California’s data shows 140,461 retirees collecting $63,408 or more in pensions during 2012. 
Since the “average service life” of a government pensioner is 20 years, very few worked 40 years before retiring."

Oh yeah! This is gonna be GREAT for Detroit!----------Nation of Islam convention to bring 30,000 visitors to Detroit

Nation of Islam convention to bring 30,000 visitors to Detroit | Detroit Free Press | freep.com:

"The Nation of Islam will return to its roots when it holds its annual convention in Detroit later this month, a gathering that’s expected to draw up to 30,000 visitors to Detroit over four days.

 One of the oldest Muslim and black nationalist organizations in the U.S., the Nation of Islam usually holds its annual gathering in Chicago, where the group is based.

But it will be held in Detroit this year for the first time since 2007, when about 50,000 packed Ford Field to hear its leader, Minister Louis Farrakhan, speak.

Farrakhan will speak on Feb. 23 at Joe Louis Arena on the last day of the convention.

 Called Saviours’ Day, the event celebrates the birthday of Wallace Fard Muhammad, who founded the Nation of Islam in Detroit in 1930.

The Nation of Islam’s first temple still exists in Detroit, where its message of black empowerment resonates in the largest black-majority city in the U.S."

A better map would compare debt/capita with states/countries------US States Renamed For Countries With Similar GDPs

131 – US States Renamed For Countries With Similar GDPs | Strange Maps:

"Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a convenient way of measuring and comparing the size of national economies. Annual GDP represents the market value of all goods and services produced within a country in a year. Put differently:

GDP = consumption + investment + government spending + (exports – imports)"

Elitist lipstick on the CBO pig

Blog: Elitist lipstick on the CBO pig:
"The congressional number-crunchers, perhaps the capital's closest thing to a neutral referee, came out with a new report Tuesday, and it wasn't pretty for Obamacare.
The CBO predicted the law would have a "substantially larger" impact on the labor market than it had previously expected: 
The law would reduce the workforce in 2021 by the equivalent of 2.3 million full-time workers, well more than the 800,000 originally anticipated.
This will inevitably be a drag on economic growth, as more people decide government handouts are more attractive than working more and paying higher taxes."

WeMOG Feb 7

Ski Pickerel Lake on Friday, February 7.

 

Meet in the parking lot at 1:30 PM and ski 1.5 to 2 hours.   

This area has many hills. 

There is one easy trail around the lake suitable for beginners and snow shoes.  

Directions:

From 131 take West River Drive Exit and go East on West River Drive. Cross East Beltline and continue on Cannonsburg road towards Cannonsburg.   After a while, you will see Cannonsburg ski area on your right.  Continue about another mile and turn left on Ramsdale.  Townsend Park will be on your right. Continue on Ramsdale till you see Pickerel Lake on your left. 

The parking lot entrance will be just past the lake on your left.

http://www.michigan.org/property/pickerel-lake-park/

Parents’ ‘blood boiling’: Colo. school says celebrating America for ‘spirit week’ is offensive

Parents’ ‘blood boiling’: Colo. school says celebrating America for ‘spirit week’ is offensive - BizPac Review

A Colorado high school is barring students from hosting a day to honor the United States for fear it may offend non-Americans — offending students and parents in the process.

As a part of next week’s “Winter Spirit Week” at Fort Collins High School, the students broached the idea of “‘Merica Monday,” with everyone dressed in red, white and blue. Not so fast, said school administrators, according to Fox News.

“They said they didn’t want to offend anyone from other countries or immigrants,” a 16-year-old member of the student council told Fox News on condition of anonymity. “They just really did not want to make anyone feel uncomfortable.”

She called the incident “shocking,” saying, “There are men and women fighting for our country, and we should be able to celebrate that and be proud that we live in a country where we are allowed to vote – the right to free speech. They won’t even let us celebrate it.”

Parents were equally outraged.

“It’s bizarre and idiotic that we’ve come to this crossroads in our society that we are having to sacrifice our own culture and belief system,” one parent told Fox. “I can’t even tell you how it got our blood boiling.”

Thrown into the mix is the hypocrisy of Fort Collins High students being required to celebrate Cinco de Mayo each year. For the proposed “‘Merica Day,” classmates would only be encouraged — not required — to dress in patriotic colors.

OMG! The NYT has lost its mind!!!------------Freeing Workers From the Insurance Trap - NYTimes.com

Freeing Workers From the Insurance Trap - NYTimes.com:

The Congressional Budget Office estimated on Tuesday that the Affordable Care Act will reduce the number of full-time workers by 2.5 million over the next decade. That is mostly a good thing, a liberating result of the law. 

Of course, Republicans immediately tried to brand the findings as “devastating” and stark evidence of President Obama’s health care reform as a failure and a job killer. 

It is no such thing.

The report estimated that — thanks to an increase in insurance coverage under the act and the availability of subsidies to help pay the premiums — many workers who felt obliged to stay in a job that provided health benefits would now be able to leave those jobs or choose to work fewer hours than they otherwise would have. In other words, the report is about the choices workers can make when they are no longer tethered to an employer because of health benefits. The cumulative effect on the labor supply is the equivalent of 2.5 million fewer full-time workers by 2024.

Some workers may have had a pre-existing condition and will now be able to leave work because insurers must accept all applicants without regard to health status and charge premiums unrelated to health status. Some may have felt they needed to keep working to pay for health insurance, but now new government subsidies will help pay premiums, making it more possible for them to leave their jobs.

Newspeak-The Word is Our Oyster

Because Obama is president, unemployment and a miserable economy is ,,,,,,, cool!

Belmont Club » The Word is Our Oyster:
"The companion piece to Spengler’s article on the bone-tiredness of the US economy is SFGate’s upbeat story on “funemployment”.
While Spengler worries that the US economy is losing steam, SFGate says: don’t worry, be happy.
It writes:
 Michael Van Gorkom was laid off by Yahoo in late April.
He didn’t panic.
He didn’t rush off to a therapist.
Instead, the 33-year old Santa Monica resident discovered that being jobless “kind of settled nicely.”
 What most people would call unemployment, Van Gorkom embraced as “funemployment.”"

Obama administration announces 'climate hubs'

Obama administration announces 'climate hubs':
"WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Wednesday detailed plans to establish seven regional hubs tasked with helping Americans to mitigate the scourge of climate change."

Sooooo. Not working is good for americkans........Sadly, most libs (those who are even aware of this disaster) will only hear this version of Obama's Healthpocalypse----No, CBO did not say Obamacare will kill 2 million jobs

No, CBO did not say Obamacare will kill 2 million jobs:

The Facts

First, this is not about jobs offered by employers. It’s about workers — and the choices they make.

The CBO’s estimate is mostly the result of an analysis of the impact of the law on the supply of labor. That means how many people choose to participate in the work force. In other words, the nonpartisan agency is examining whether the law increases or decreases incentives for people to work.

One big issue: the health insurance subsidies in the law. That’s a substantial benefit that decreases as people earn more money, so at a certain point, a person has to choose between earning more money or continuing to get the maximum help with health insurance payments. In other words, people might work longer and harder, but actually earn no more, or earn even less, money. That is a disincentive to work. (The same thing happens when people qualify for food stamps or other social services.)

Thus, some people might decide to work part-time, not full time, in order to keep getting health-care subsidies. Thus, they are reducing their supply of labor to the market. Other people near retirement age might decide they no longer need to hold onto their job just because it provides health insurance, and they also leave the work force.

Look at it this way: If someone says they decided to leave their job for personal reasons, most people would not say they “lost” their jobs. They simply decided not to work.

A vast left wing insanity!--------White House: It's A Good Thing That Obamacare Will Drive 2.5 Million Americans Out Of The Workforce

White House: It's A Good Thing That Obamacare Will Drive 2.5 Million Americans Out Of The Workforce - Forbes:
"But the CBO wasn’t responsible for the most amazing thing that happened yesterday.

That title belongs to the Obama White House, where Press Secretary Jay Carney claimed that 2.5 million Americans leaving the workforce was a good thing, because they would no longer be “trapped in a job.”"

And now: 7 government ‘hubs’ that will ‘help Americans mitigate the scourge of climate change’

And now: 7 government ‘hubs’ that will ‘help Americans mitigate the scourge of climate change’

"I’ve always told you what global warming is really about. 

Expansion of government. 

It’s an excuse for government to “take action” on the premise that something is threatening our future and they and only they can do anything about it.

This is the only reason liberals tout belief in global warming. It is merely a means to an end - the end being a new set of taxes and regulations that will expand government control over industry and over people’s day-to-day habits, and will empower bureaucrats to enforce these rules and make up new ones.

And now, because we have a liberal president who sees no need to wait for Congress to do anything of the sort, their day has come":

The Obama administration will detail plans today to establish seven regional hubs tasked with helping Americans to mitigate the scourge of climate change.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is expected today to formally announce plans to establish the first climate hubs in Ames, Iowa; Durham, N.H.; Raleigh, N.C.; Fort Collins, Colo.; El Reno, Okla.; Corvallis, Ore.; and Las Cruces, N.M.

The centers, which the administration is calling “climate hubs,” will be overseen by the Department of Agriculture. They are tasked with studying fires, invasive pests, flooding and droughts and using the research to provide guidance to farmers, ranchers and forest landowners to cope with the problems.

“Climate Hubs are part of our broad commitment to developing the next generation of climate solutions, so that our agricultural leaders have the modern technologies and tools they need to adapt and succeed in the face of a changing climate,” Vilsack said in a statement.

History for February 6

History for February 6 - On-This-Day.com:
Happy birthday Honeybunch!

Birth anniversaries of Aaron Burr (1756-1836), Babe Ruth (1895-1948) 

Happy Birthday! Fabian,  Zsa Zsa Gabor,  Rip Torn

1911 - The first old-age home for pioneers opened in Prescott, AZ. 


1932 - Dog sled racing happened for the first time in Olympic competition. 


1933 - The 20th Amendment to the Constitution was declared in effect. The amendment moved the start of presidential, vice-presidential and congressional terms from March to January. 


1952 - Britain's King George VI died. His daughter, Elizabeth II, succeeded him. 


1987 - President Ronald Reagan turned 76 years old this day and became the oldest U.S. President in history. 


2000 - Russia's acting President Vladimir Putin announced that Russian forces had captured Grozny, Chechnya. The capital city had been under the control of Chechen rebels. 

Kathy Hoekstra - The headlines are quick to tell us that the...

Kathy Hoekstra - The headlines are quick to tell us that the...:

Kathy Hoekstra via Job Creators Network

The headlines are quick to tell us that the Affordable Care Act will force 2.3 million people from their jobs. The truth is worse. The Congressional Budget Office says due to the subsidy structure of ACA, more people will choose to leave the workforce. Where does this leave America?

Job Creators Network: The ACA and CBO - Even Worse Than the Hype

jobcreatorsnetwork.com

The fact that the ACA now creates an optimal choice for people to not want to work is even worse than if it were 

Will The Overselling Of Global Warming Lead To A New Scientific Dark Age?

Will The Overselling Of Global Warming Lead To A New Scientific Dark Age? - Forbes

Paltridge lays out the well-known uncertainties in climate forecasting. These include our inability to properly simulate clouds that are anything like what we see in the real world, the embarrassing lack of average surface warming now in its 17th year, and the fumbling (and contradictory) attempts to explain it away.

While the politically correct name for the last 17 years is “the pause,” it’s much more like the P-wave, which reflects the crustal slippage that occurs before the shaking (and tsunami, if beneath the sea) of a catastrophic earthquake. Humans can’t feel them, but many animals can, which is why birds alight shortly before all hell breaks loose.

Climate scientists have been profoundly defensive about the known problems. Paltridge elegantly explains that this has to be the case, and describes the likely horrific consequences when the day of reckoning finally arrives.

That day is coming closer, because, as Paltridge notes, people are catching on:

“…the average man in the street, a sensible chap who by now can smell the signs of an oversold environmental campaign from miles away, is beginning to suspect that it is politics rather than science which is driving the issue.”

My new friend John. 90 plus. 100 missions in SPD Dauntless dive bomber

Jim Riley - My new friend John. 90 plus. 100 missions in SPD...:

My new friend John. 90 plus. 100 missions in SPD dauntless bomber World War 2. Flu Panthers in Korea. Skiing like a maniac today.


Jim Riley He had amazing stories. Flew land based USMC SBD Dauntless dive bombers in WW2. Then one of the first navy jets, the F9F Panther in Korea. We talked about the wonderful movie "The Bridges at Toko Ri" where F9s bombed bridges under hevy fire. He said he had many similar missions but never with as much AA as in the movie. He then was a flight instructor. Taught Ted Williams and John Glenn. I could have spent the entire day with this hero.What a guy. What a generation!

Corrupt congressman tries to not let door hit him on his way out

Corrupt congressman tries to not let door hit him on his way out | Rare:
"Following the recently announced retirements of California Reps. George Miller and Henry Waxman, New Jersey Democrat Rob Andrews announced Tuesday he will also retire.
 Andrews, a member of Congress since 1990, will retire in two weeks to join a private law firm in Washington, D.C. During Andrews’ tenure, he sought higher office twice with failed bids for a Senate seat and the governor’s mansion.
 Andrews, a moderate Democrat who almost always voted with the party, was named as one of the most corrupt members of Congress in the last two years. 
The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington noted in 2013 that “the Garden State Democrat got caught spending campaign funds on perks like a family trip to Scotland, travel to Tinseltown with his daughter, and even a high school graduation party.
Rep. Andrews has also earmarked more than $1.5 million for Rutgers University School of Law, his wife’s employer.”