States Rebel Against Republican Tax Plan

The Republicans changed tax law so that starting in 2018 there will be a upper limit of $10,000 for state and local tax deductions to federal taxes (SALT). If you happen to be impoverished, low income or live in a relatively low tax state the impact of this change on you will probably be small or non-existent. If you however live in one of the relatively high tax coastal states and/or happen to be somewhat well off then the impact will be a bit greater. And it may not be a very nice change. Unless the states make other changes, placing a limit on federal deductions for local taxes means that all else equal some people will pay more in federal taxes. Or to put it another way, the federal government will no longer help shield you in toto from your state's tax policy. States will then have less money available for local initiatives.

This delights many Republicans for at least four reasons. (1)They really do believe in low taxes for the wealthy and low services (at least for the poor and middle class). (2) They deeply resent their perception of federal underwriting of higher tax bases in Democratic leaning states. (3) They enjoy watching people who claim to support higher taxes on the wealthy in general turn around to fight effective higher taxes on their wealthy. (4) Most of the states impacted are "blue" states, not "red" ones. Here it's very important to point out that the cost of living/housing can vary widely from state to state. Someone in say SE Michigan with a household income of $180K and a home valued at $500K may be better off even before taxes than someone in New York City with a household income of $250K and a home valued at $700K. Generally the South and Midwest are lower cost regions than the Northeast and West coast.

Cow goes rogue and joins Bison herd

Apparently this cow decided that it was better to risk starvation, death by wolves, cold, or disease than stay safe and wind up in the one way line to the slaughterhouse. I guess that is a smart cow. I've often thought that it is a dirty trick to raise cattle from birth, keep them safe, clean, healthy and well fed only to kill them and literally rip them limb from limb. 

Jan. 25 (UPI) -- A domesticated cow that ran away from its farm in Poland last fall surprised researchers by taking up with a herd of bison for several months.

Biologist Rafal Kowalczyk said he spotted the Limousin cow, a French breed popular in Poland, this week with a 50-strong bison herd in the Bialowieza Forest, three months after the smaller bovine ran away from a farm and was first spotted socializing with the wild animals. "She is not very integrated with the group, as bison act like one organism and she stands out," Kowalczyk told TVN24.

He said the bison herd don't seem to mind the cow's presence, however, and are likely responsible for keeping the smaller animal safe from wolves. Kowalczyk said he is concerned the cow could breed with the bison and contaminate their gene pool with hybrids. "Another danger is that hybrid calves are large, and the cow could die giving birth," he said.

The cow may die in birth but if it did it would also die in freedom.😇

LINK

Book Reviews: The Rise and Fall of a Casino Mobster

The Rise and Fall of a Casino Mobster: The Tony Spilotro Story
by Frank Cullotta

If crime stories aren't your thing then you know what to do with this review. If you are interested in such tales this concise story may fill some holes in your knowledge. However, the book jumps around in time so much that by the ending the reader will still have may unanswered questions. If you've seen the Martin Scorsese movie Casino starring Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci, Sharon Stone, Frank Vincent, and James Woods, you know this story's general narrative. The author was a technical adviser on Casino.

Up until the seventies and eighties, the criminal organization known as the Chicago Outfit, on its own and with various other satellite crime families, owned pieces of several Las Vegas area casinos and hotels. The Outfit maintained influence over various entertainment unions, talent agencies and actor management companies. Via control of the Teamsters Union, shared with East Coast and Detroit area crime families, the Outfit bankrolled new business ventures across the U.S. The Outfit used these businesses to diversify profits and launder monies from dirtier businesses. The Outfit placed two people in charge in Nevada.

These two Outfit Nevada managers were Mr. Inside (Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal) and Mr. Outside (Tony "Ant" Spilotro). Each man had different responsibilities. Lefty worked inside the casinos. Lefty's job was to hire and manage casino personnel, stay clean, maximize casino profits and ensure that the skim (the amount of money stolen before taxes were reported) was generated every day. Spilotro worked outside of the casinos. Spilotro's tasks included making sure the skim got back to Chicago, stopping any rival mobsters from extorting Lefty, preventing Lefty or other Outfit affiliated mobsters from skimming the skim, taking over other criminal rackets for Chicago and "fixing" any problems. Spilotro's "fixes" could range from bribes to business mergers to threats to torture, beatings or murder. It all depended on Spilotro's mood, his orders from Chicago and how serious the problem was.

Grace, #Metoo, Ashleigh Banfield, and Aziz Ansari

The #metoo movement has emboldened many women to share stories of actual or attempted rapes, sexual assaults, threats, or harassment. Women have also spread stories of uncomfortable interactions that were not illegal.

An anonymous woman referred to as Grace went on a date with Aziz Ansari, an actor, writer and comedian of note, and male feminist. The couple returned to Ansari's apartment. Unfortunately Grace did not enjoy herself. Sadly, it was probably difficult for Ansari to be sure that Grace wasn't enjoying herself as she engaged in a number of sex acts multiple times with Mr. Ansari. You can read her entire LONG account here if you are so inclined. 

The summary is that by Grace's retelling Ansari was an inattentive and pushy partner. Ansari ordered the wrong wine at the restaurant; Grace's joy lessened from there. Per Grace, Ansari was overeager for what many heterosexual men and women would consider the main event. She declined that. Ansari didn't recognize Grace's non-verbal cues that she wanted to move more slowly. Ansari made requests. Grace claimed she felt compelled to comply with them. Grace harshly describes many of Ansari's sexual idiosyncrasies or boudoir moves which offended her. Grace was irritated at Ansari's repeated and insistent requests to do that last thing. Finally she left the premises. Ansari offered a qualified defense/apology for anything he may have done wrong:

“In September of last year, I met a woman at a party. We exchanged numbers. We texted back and forth and eventually went on a date. We went out to dinner, and afterwards we ended up engaging in sexual activity, which by all indications was completely consensual. “The next day, I got a text from her saying that although ‘it may have seemed okay,’ upon further reflection, she felt uncomfortable. It was true that everything did seem okay to me, so when I heard that it was not the case for her, I was surprised and concerned. I took her words to heart and responded privately after taking the time to process what she had said.

Michigan Service Pigs ?

There are certain rules that society has set up by which everyone has agreed to live, more or less. We are all interconnected with each other to a greater or lesser extent. So if you happen to live in a city there are different rules by which you must abide than if you happened to live in the country.  For example, you probably won't be allowed to put your old car up on blocks in the front yard. You may not be able to park your boat in the driveway. You won't be able to run your snow blower or lawnmower before 6 AM or after 10 PM. And you probably won't be allowed to keep livestock in your home. All of these are restrictions on your right to dispose of your property. However I think they are all reasonable laws. A local couple disagrees with the last constraint and is fighting it in court.

YPSILANTI, Mich. (WXYZ) - You are welcome to stay- but your livestock has to go. That is the message the city of Ypsilanti is giving a couple living in a house with four potbelly pigs.
Now the couple is arguing their case in court, saying their pigs are much more than just livestock.

“This is Vinny. He is our second oldest,” said Jeffery Rowland as he introduces WXYZ to his pigs. He and his wife Stephanie Rowland say their four pigs are part of their family. They both are on disability and say the pigs ease their symptoms of anxiety or bipolar disorder.

“What you have to have are doctors notes. I have between me and Jeff, eleven doctors who say: they need this,” said Stephanie. 

Video below

Government Shutdown 2018

Well here we go again.
WASHINGTON — Much of the federal government officially shut down early Saturday morning after Senate Democrats, showing remarkable solidarity in the face of a clear political danger, blocked consideration of a stopgap spending measure to keep the government operating. The shutdown, coming one year to the day after President Trump took office, set off a new round of partisan recriminations and posed risks for both parties. It came after a fruitless last-minute negotiating session at the White House between Mr. Trump and Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader. With just 50 senators voting in favor, Senate Republican leaders fell well short of the 60 votes necessary to proceed on the spending measure, which had passed the House on Thursday. 

Five conservative state Democrats voted for the spending measure. Five Republicans voted against it, although one of those, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, did so for procedural reasons. As the clock ticked toward midnight, when funding for the government was set to expire, senators huddled on the floor of the crowded Senate chamber, searching for some way forward. Then, in the early morning hours, Mr. McConnell proposed a measure that would keep the government open for another three weeks, not four as the House measure would have done, and said the Senate would come back to into session at noon Saturday.

Book Reviews: The Troop

The Troop
by Nick Cutter

Stephen King wrote that this book was old school horror that scared the hell out of him. Based on that blurb and other people's ravings about the book I decided to give it a read. Although this is not a new book it is still the best book I've read this year. It's the best book I've read in a while actually. After I finished it I looked up some more information about the writer. I was pleased to confirm my suspicion that Cutter (the name is a pseudonym) is a David Cronenberg fan.While reading this book I couldn't help but think back to Cronenberg films such as They Came From Within or The Fly. The Troop is body horror at its finest. I'm interested in reading other works by the author now. 

It stinks to be sick. For most ailments your body's immune system can marshal some pretty effective defenses to isolate and/or kill anything in your body that is not you. Your body is even smart enough to recognize what it kills and develop immunity to new versions of what it killed and ejected. Occasionally however you run across some creatures, bacteria or viruses that aren't so easily dismissed. Some of these things might even become permanent residents of your particular universe. No power on earth can get rid of them. You have no choice but to deal with them.

Canadian Scoutmaster Tim Riggs and his five teen Boy Scouts are on a wilderness camping trip to a small deserted island, one that will allow Riggs' charges a chance to put their outdoors skills to the test and of course gain more scouting patches. Some of the boys are more enthusiastic about this trip than others. All of them are right around the age where girls will become more interesting than running around the woods tying knots or identifying edible types of fungus. They are also around the age where they're starting to test how far they can challenge adult authority.