Enjoy my mind wanderings. Thought provoking. Serious humor. Stimulating thought since 2006. Nathaniel Hawthorne-"Easy reading is damn hard writing." Tertullian-"Credo quia absurdum", I believe it because it is absurd. John Lennox-"Nonsense remains nonsense, even when talked by world-famous scientists." George Burns-"Someone who makes you laugh is a comedian. Someone who makes you think and then laugh is a humorist." Willy Wonka-"A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men."
Friday, May 03, 2019
Facebook Users Beware!
Monday, April 29, 2019
Tell Me Again Exactly Why I Should Buy Your Medicine
Saturday, April 20, 2019
When Did Russia Start Trying To Interfere Electronically With The Good Ole USofA?
I don’t like having people who are ill informed reading my silliness. If you were in agreement as you read through the above paragraph, maybe my blog is not for you. May I recommend People Magazine or Comic Books?
First of all, you are way off with your thinking that Russia started electronically meddling in the last 3 years. How much way off? Don’t get your feelings hurt because you have a lot of other people believing this 3 years estimate but you and your other people are about 40 Years Off.
Ø A Keylogger is a particularly insidious type of Spyware that can record and steal consecutive keystrokes (and much more) that users enter on a device.
Ø Using a Keylogger can allow Cyber Criminals to eavesdrop through your System Camera or through your Smartphone’s Microphone or through your Keyboards.
Do you remember the Typewriter? Go a step further. Do you remember the IBM Selectric Typewriter? The Russians started meddling with the IBM Selectric Typewriter in the Mid-1970s.
Way back then Soviet spies developed an amazingly clever hardware Keylogger that targeted IBM Selectric typewriters in the US Embassy and Consulate buildings in Moscow and St Petersburg.
Once installed, the Keyloggers measured the barely detectable changes in each typewriter’s regional magnetic field as the print head rotated and moved to type each letter.
In those days we were smarter than Russians because we figured out what they were doing and we thwarted their sneaky efforts by opting to use manual typewriters rather than electric ones for typing classified information.
We showed them. We made them crawl back into their dark places and say to their collective selves, “Selves, those Americans sure are smart! We are never going to ever try that kind of sneaky thing again!”...Or were they going to not?
Would I kid u?
Smartfella
Monday, April 15, 2019
Let's Go Ahead Because We Now Have The Go Ahead...Or Should We Wait Before We Go Ahead?
Friday, April 12, 2019
I’m Going To Sue The Heck Out Of Snickers Candy Bars
Monday, April 08, 2019
Your Wife Is Going To New York City To Buy A $3,000 Dress And You Quickly Realize That That Dress Is Going To Cost You A Lot More Than $3,000
Saturday, April 06, 2019
Making It All Better
There is an article in the Wall Street Journal that starts off with a Big Bold Promise...
“All Americans would be able to get care from their chosen providers without having to pay premiums, deductibles or copayments.”
I will not attempt to explain all of what the author of the article says to get to the point where he talks about Taxes. I’ll just lay out the Taxes part because that is the part we fear the most and understand the least.
Eventually the author says that the government would need to take about $1 Trillion out of what businesses and families now pay to private insurers.
(Here I go again but this time in more depth... Remember $1 Trillion is 1 Thousand Billion Dollars and $1 Billion is 1 Thousand Million Dollars.)
Where is the $1 Trillion to come from? The author says it will come from a Confusing Array of Taxes and Fees (another word for taxes)...
Ø He proposes that all businesses that currently purchase health insurance for their employees be mandated to pay into Medicare for All 92% of what they now spend to purchase that health care insurance.
Ø He proposes that larger firms that haven’t provided coverage for every worker would pay $500 for each uninsured worker.
Ø He proposes that small businesses would be exempt from these premiums. (This makes me wonder how many currently small businesses will strive to stay small because they will not be able to “afford” to become big.)
Ø He proposes that after two or three years, this system could make a transition to a 1.78% Tax on Gross Receipts.
Ø He proposes the possibility that the above 1.78% Tax on Gross Receipts could be bypassed in favor of an 8.2% Payroll Tax.
Ø He proposes a National Sales Tax of 3.75% on nonnecessities (Congress will argue over what is a nonnecessity forever).
Ø He proposes a Wealth Tax of 0.38% (after exempting the first $1 million of all families’ net worth).
Ø He proposes taxing Long-Term Capital Gains as Ordinary Income.
The Bottom Line: The sum of these revenue streams will allow Medicare for All to operate with a 1% Budget Surplus.
How in the name of heaven can these many New Complicated and Confusing Taxes be imposed on a Fluid and Volatile Economy and this man has the gall to look into our wide disbelieving eyes and say, “All of this will result in a 1% Budget Surplus”?
Would I kid u?
Smartfella
Lagniappe: If you want to read the entire article for yourself, click below, however, I warn you, if you think what I wrote in this Blog Posting was confusing, the confusion you just read was the tip of the iceberg… https://flipboard.com/@WSJ/the-case-for-medicare-for-all/f-89912b738f/wsj.com
Tuesday, April 02, 2019
Are We Headed For Our First What’s His/Her Name President?
If you are to become President of the Good Ole USofA, should not someone have heard of you before you are sworn in?
I recently saw a news clip on my TV which showed pictures of 9 Presidential Candidates. There were 5 pictures on the top row and 4 on the bottom row. The Unseen Talking Head said the names of the 5 on top in a sentence that contained this kind of wording...
...of the announced presidential candidates, Warren, Sanders, Booker, Gillibrand, Harris and others...
Since I am a Accomplished Noticer I noticed the “and others” part of the sentence. I thought to myself, “What chance does one have of being elected if the Talking Heads of the Good Ole USofA don’t even mention your name during your presidential run?”
Do voters go into the voting booth thinking to themselves thoughts like...
Ø I would be really impressed with that candidate if I knew anything about him.
Ø I am ready to vote for that guy on the bottom row but I can’t remember his name. I am almost certain that it began with a “P”. I’ll just go down the list here and see if there is a name that begins with a “P”.
Ø Eeny, meeny, miny, moe…
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Not only do I Notice but I also wonder. I started wondering how many people were actually running for President. I searched the Internet and came up with an article in USA Today that listed a lot more than the 9 I talked about above. That means there are some that have even less of a chance of being elected than those 4 on the bottom row.
Below is an alphabetical listing of the people who have officially announced their Candidacy or have formed an Exploratory Committees (whatever that is)…
Ø Cory Booker
Ø Pete Buttigieg
Ø Julián Castro
Ø John Delaney
Ø Tulsi Gabbard
Ø Kirsten Gillibrand
Ø Kamala Harris
Ø John Hickenlooper
Ø Jay Inslee
Ø Amy Klobuchar
Ø Beto O'Rourke
Ø Bernie Sanders
Ø Elizabeth Warren
Ø Marianne Williamson
Ø Andrew Yang
I never heard of some of these candidates and, some of the ones I have heard of, I have only heard of because I heard they announced their candidacy for president.
I could Google the ones I do not know but I’ll just wait for a bunch of them to drop out and save some Googling Time and Effort.
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Every one of these candidates claims that they can “Bring People Together”. They usually say this while they are swirling around in controversy.
John Hickenlooper stands out from the crowd because he is the first candidate in the history of the Good Ole USofA (probably the world) who has puffed out his chest and said, “You should vote for me because I took my mother to see Deep Throat”.
I found an article on the Internet about Hickenlooper that years ago would have immediately caused a candidate to Drop Out Of The Race. It appears John is so proud of his “accomplishments” that he put his “accomplishments” in his autobiography. The article’s headline is... “Hickenlooper offers something different in crowded Democratic field: A detailed history of his sexual conquests”.
The first 3 paragraphs of the article are...
If Democratic voters are struggling to see what sets John Hickenlooper apart from the 2020 pack they need to look no further than his autobiography, which outlines in excruciating detail his quest to lose his virginity and, seemingly, every sexual exploit since.
The candidate's book, The Opposite of Woe: My Life in Beer and Politics, outlines the journey from a child in the Philadelphia suburbs to the president of a brewing company, mayor of Denver, and then governor of Colorado.
Sprinkled throughout is the minutiae of his angst-ridden relationships with women, named and unnamed. A Washington Examiner analysis totaled Hickenlooper's declared sexual partners at seven, including his two wives. Even his experience of the 9/11 terrorism attacks is viewed through the prism of whom he was in bed with at the time.
Where were you when you heard the news of the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks? Yes, my Dear Readers, John knows where he was...
At one point, Hickenlooper's romantic desires eclipsed one of the gravest moments of American history. He devotes four paragraphs to his experience during the 9/11 attacks, when he was 49, which he introduces by saying that he "was visiting the intriguing Helen Thorpe in Austin Texas" that day.
"On September 11, 2001, Helen and I were just getting out of bed in Austin when we heard the news that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center."
Last but not least, I prove my contention above about Bringing People Together by offering you the last paragraph of this Internet Article...
"I believe that not only can I beat Donald Trump, but that I am the person that can bring people together on the other side and actually get stuff done". (Yea, I did the underlining.)
Would I kid u?
Smartfella
Lagniappe: I just watched a promo video about Hickenlooper. At the end of the video a Former Hickenlooper Strategist says, “…I think he can speak his mind and do so in an unscripted way but with core values that more align with the country”. Silly me. I always thought Core Values and Detailed History of Sexual Conquests were not that closely related.
Saturday, March 30, 2019
They Can’t Be Serious!
There are Known Knowns ... Things that we know we know.
There are Known Unknowns ... Things that we know we do not know.
There are Unknown Unknowns ... Things that we don’t know that we don’t know.
Reading over the above confusion makes all of us want to have a discussion of Bestiality...Or does it? And, if it does...Why does it?
I’m going to begin by talking about Known Knowns. On the Negative Side Known Knowns are things that are accepted by all of us as being wrong. No need to question them. Certainly there is no need to pass laws about them...Or is there?
Governor Bevin Signs Bill Outlawing Sex Between People And Animals In Kentucky
My first impulse is to think this is a waste of time. Why bother with such a law? People don’t go around having sex with animals...Or do they?
As I educated myself about this subject by reading through the news article I found about Kentucky and their Animal Sex Problems, I found out that Kentucky is not a trail blazer on this issue. Now that Kentucky has passed its Bestiality Law there are only 4 States left without Anti-Bestiality Laws on their books. They are Wyoming, New Mexico, West Virginia and Hawaii.
I wonder if there are Gaggles of Bestiality Loving People Flocking to these 4 states?
Kentucky easily passed the House and Senate Bills earlier this month and all of the restrictions below remain in effect for at least five years after the convicted ones complete their sentences.
The Kentucky Law has these kinds of provisions...
Ø Sex crimes against an animal are a Class D felony.
Ø They are punishable by one to five years in prison.
Ø The convicted are prohibited from owning animals.
Ø The convicted cannot live in a household with animals.
Ø The convicted cannot work or volunteer in a place where they would have unsupervised access to animals.
All of this comes as a shock to me. I have often claimed to be a Smart Fella in my Blog Postings. Many times this is actually said by me with my tongue planted firmly in my own cheek. However, I do actually think I am pretty smart compared to some people, like members of congress, but I had no idea this activity was so popular among my fellow man and animals.
I guess we learn something new every day.
Would I kid u?
Smartfella
Sunday, March 24, 2019
Did I Just Hear You Say You Don’t Believe In Inflation?
Smartfella
Friday, March 22, 2019
My Post Card Must Have Gotten Lost In The Mail
Do you remember all the talk about our being able to do our Income Taxes on a Post Card? Go ahead and admit you forgot all about this vote getting promise. The people who ask for our votes count on us forgetting about such things. History has proven they know how to count.
This is the kind of promise that will always get out the vote. It got votes in the last election and it will get votes in the next election. That’s why in political circles it is called, A Never Ending Promise.
If it became a Fulfilled Promise it would quickly become a Forgotten Promise and it would no longer be effective in gathering votes. No one is going to get excited when a politician makes a promise to give you something that you already have.
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Here is how I came to remember this Post Card Promise...
Ø I was in Starbucks the other day and I took note of this Buckster who looked really beaten up.
Ø I asked him why he looked so frazzled and he replied, “I’m a CPA and it is Tax Season and, as usual, we are covered up in boxes of Raked Paperwork”.
I interrupted him to ask what Raked Paperwork was.
Ø He said that was where the American Taxpayer goes into his garage gets his garden rake and uses it to clear off his desk by raking all his tax documents into a big box and brings that box into his CPA, leaves it there saying as he leaves, “Hurry up”.
Having answered my interruption, he got back to explaining his frazzled state...
Ø He said it’s worst than awful this year because of the Post Card Promise various politicians had campaigned on (again) in the last election.
Ø The politicians had turned the promise over to the IRS for implementation and then they went to Happy Hour.
Ø The IRS had performed a vague swipe at the Post Card Promise which resulted in the 2018 Tax Return incorporating 5 New Tax Schedules into the madness that we have all come to hate so much.
The Bottom Line is, to put your tax calculation numbers on a Post card (if there actually was a Post Card) the Tax Payer must still make a Humongous Number of Calculations on Tax Schedules and 5 New Tax Schedules have been added.
The CPAs are being driven over the edge this year more than ever. They are feeling Betrayed, Put Upon, Beaten Up but one thing they are not feeling is Surprised.
************************
I tried to cheer my new CPA friend up. I cracked a few jokes but they all fell flat like, “It could be worse. They could have come up with 6 New Tax Schedules”. It was about then that I thought he was going to hit me.
I quickly ascertained that cheering him up was hopeless. I started backing away leaving him to his misery.
By the time I backed out of the door the poor fellow had actually started to whimper loudly and the Bucksters nearest to him were beginning to relocate further away from him and/or put in their Starbucks Logoed Earplugs that are displayed right next to the Baconless, Eggless, Glutenless Bacon and Egg Biscuit Display.
Would I kid u?
Smartfella
Monday, March 18, 2019
Governmental Protection or Governmental Confusion
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act stipulates that we (the minions of the Good Ole USofA) are entitled to an Annual Wellness Visit.
My Family Doctor likes me. (I pay him well to like me.) He performs an Annual Physical on me during my birth month each year and he follows that up 6 months later with a Mini Physical.
I am going to turn down the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s Annual Wellness Visit because I see it as overkill and at my age I avoid anything with the word “kill” in it.
However, after reading the letter my doctor is required to send to me by my Governmental Protectors, I am thinking I need to schedule a visit to my Well Paid Doctor to address a New Area of Concern that I now have. My New Area of Concern is I have now become Confused.
See if you can understand why I am confused...
“The components of this examination are detailed in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. According to Congress, the AWV examination is considered a screening and preventive examination only. If a person has any specific medical complaints, symptoms or active problems that require evaluation outside the definition of the preventive nature of this exam, then the visit may not be considered preventative.”
Why do my Governmental Protectors do these kinds of things to us? Are they going to be laughing at Happy Hour tonight about how confused they have made us or are they just confused themselves?
I don’t know which it is but I bet they are not looking forward to phone calls from us minions where we say to them, “Can you explain this to me.”
Would I kid u?
Smartfella
Friday, March 15, 2019
After Reading Darn Near Any Paragraph Of Darn Near Any Law Passed By Our 9% Approval Rated Congress This Question Is Sure To Be Asked... “Huh?”
I have done this kind of analysis in the past for Foolishness...Or Is It?. I am doing it again because you were not paying attention last time.
Point of discussion for today: Our Laws Are So Confusing They Can’t Be Understood
Send in the Regulators (or as Frank Sinatra used to sing), “Send In The Clowns”. These Civil Servants tell us what the laws mean based on their understanding of what the words say...
Ø Or is it...What they think they say.
Ø Or is it...What they are told they say.
Ø Or is it...What they want them to say.
We will never know. We just comply as best we can and, if we get it wrong, we go to jail.
I contend that the excerpts you are about to read below are Silliness That Even the Creators of this Confusion Do Not Understand.
------------------------
I promise you that the 3 paragraphs below were taken completely at random from...
PUBLIC LAW 115–52—AUG. 18, 2017 entitled
“FDA Reauthorization Act of 2017”
My completely at random first paragraph:
(J) in subparagraph (A) of such paragraph (2), by
amending the first sentence to read as follows: ‘‘Except
as provided in subparagraphs (B) and (C), each person
who is named as the applicant in a human drug application,
and who, after September 1, 1992, had pending before
the Secretary a human drug application or supplement,
shall pay the annual prescription drug program fee established
for a fiscal year under subsection (c)(5) for each
prescription drug product that is identified in such a human
drug application approved as of October 1 of such fiscal
year.’’;
------------------------
Another completely at random paragraph from the same law:
(G) scientific or operational challenges associated with
performing an investigation described in section
505B(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic
Act, including the effect on pediatric studies currently
underway in a pediatric patient population, treatment of
a pediatric patient population, and the ability to complete
adult clinical trials;
------------------------
The last completely at random paragraph from the same law:
‘‘(A) data, analysis, and discussion of the changes in
the number of full-time equivalents hired as agreed upon
in the letters described in section 301(b) of the Generic
Drug User Fee Amendments of 2017 and the number of
full time equivalents funded by budget authority at the
Food and Drug Administration by each division within
the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, the Center
for Biologics Evaluation and Research, the Office of Regulatory
Affairs, and the Office of the Commissioner;
All Regulatory Interpretations usually come down to one or all of the following...
Ø Trust us.
Ø We are smart and you’re not.
Ø You owe more taxes.
Would I kid u?
Smartfella
Lagniappe: If you want to practice your Written Law Understanding Skills, click on the link below and you can read this Unable To Be Understood Foolishness in its entirety. You will then be able to hone your skills on the 38,241 or 39,917 words contained in the law (I took 2 different counts and got 2 different totals)...
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/2430/text?format=txt



