The Riley Factor
Fort Plain, NY
November 30, 2012, Issue No. 125(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit-to-print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)
Fort Plain, NY
November 30, 2012, Issue No. 125(All the Rock Creek Farm news that's fit to print, along with unfit-to-print rumors, prognostications & bloviations.)
Riley and the Littles -- Former barn cat and current feline king AJ survived a bite on a rear leg from some outside predator, with a bit of a limp but not so much as a whimper. The Riley and AJ have taken to curling-up and napping together - looks a bit on the ridiculous side. Otherwise, Riley has dropped a couple of pounds and is now comfortably back into double digits on the scale. Lately, as hunting season wanes, we have seen many deer out on the trails, and The Riley and visiting canines give good chase before losing their prey. Those hounds run only half-heartedly after their quarry, having not a clue what they would do if they actually caught-up with one of the running deer.
Plowing and Planting -- Farming season has ended. See you next year.
And They're Off -- Blondie and Rio are fine these days, roaming the pasture and lobbying for apples or carrots whenever they see us.
The Herd of Five -- Calves Abraham, Isaac and Abby have grown-up since their spring and summer births, each now weighing-in at 150 pounds or so. Adult overseers Eli and Lily moo contentedly. Life in the barn seems happy.
Mowings, Musings and the Woods -- Here in Middle-of-Nowhere, deer hunting season launched on November 17. Up to that point, as we took our daily rides while running The Riley, we had been seeing more and more deer roaming around the place. Once the season starts, the deer rapidly become scarce, although lately they have begun to return.
Fowl Weather -- Although pheasant season runs through February 28, we occasionally see a ring-necked bird running around the trails. On November 11, three males wandered across our lower first field and into the back yard. As Thanksgiving came and went, most of our turkeys went to the butcher and were sold. We did keep one for our own Thanksgiving meal. Our turkeys live a calm and well-cared-for life while they are with us. This year, we raised three breeds: Broad-breasted American White, Standard Bronze and Narragansett. We have kept eight of the Bronze and Narragansetts for breeding next spring.
Visitors -- Over the Thanksgiving holidays, Mother/Grandmother Barbara Slate joined us, along with Stevie, Scott and CJ. And friend Bradley joined us for Thanksgiving dinner. Dog guests included Bruin and Dexter, who came along with Stevie and Scott.
Blog -- The Riley Factor's official blog site is located at http://the-riley-factor.
Quotes of the Month --
Governments don't want a population capable of critical thinking. They want obedient workers, people just smart enough to run the machines and just dumb enough to passively accept their situation. -- George Carlin
When the public treasury becomes a public trough, the people will send to the government only those individuals who will give them money and favor. -- Thomas Jefferson
The public welfare programs created by FDR and enhanced by LBJ created a population that increasingly relies on the government to provide them with everything. -- Judge Andrew Napolitano
Don't expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong. -- Calvin Coolidge
These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered. -- Thomas Paine
There's enough oil beneath American soil to put OPEC out of business for good. -- Briton Ryle, Wealth Daily
The market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent. -- John Maynard Keynes
The government is confiscating wealth to build a socialist state. -- RIA Biz
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act. -- George Orwell
You cannot successfully run any country for very long by imposing on society social-welfare programs that undermine job-creators, while coddling certain classes of people. -- Jeff Opdyke, The Sovereign Investor
Bumper Stickers of the Month --
LIVE HONORABLY, LIVE FREE
Interesting thought --
Status Quo Bias -- a cognitive bias in which we humans believe that what is normal today will be normal tomorrow. Because we struggle to perceive the impacts of big changes, we irrationally choose to cling to the status quo, when acting in contradiction to the status quo is clearly in our best interests.
Facts of the Month --
Most reasonably well-informed Americans know that our $16.1-trillion federal budget deficit is now larger than the nation's GDP. But what most don't realize is this figure doesn't include the unfunded liabilities for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and the Prescription Drug Benefit. That's another $121.6 trillion. Combine the federal budget deficit with the unfunded liabilities for current entitlement programs (excluding ObamaCare) and it comes to a mind boggling $1.2 million per taxpayer.
2012 Presidential Election Results ... Barack Obama 63,916,000 51% / Mitt Romney 59.886,000 48%
The world adds 200,000 people to its population total every single day.
California has the highest marginal income tax rate in the Country, and collects over 50% of its income taxes from the top 1% of earners, while being in the biggest fiscal mess of all 50 states.
Charity Begins at Home -- Many popular so-called charitable organizations are bloated bureaucracies, spending millions on executive salaries and overhead. Following are some of these organizations with the amount of each dollar donated that ultimately finds its way to those in need.
March of Dimes 10 cents
UNICEF 5 cents
Goodwill 0 cents (that's right, nothing is given by Goodwill to those in need)
Salvation Army 96 cents (almost everything collected gets through to those in need)
But there is hope. The following organizations are on the honor roll, using volunteers to manage and operate, and spending nothing on overhead, resulting in 100% of monies received going to help the needy.
American Legion
VFW
Disabled American Vets
Military Order of Purple Hearts
Vietnam Veterans Association
Make A Wish
St Jude's Hospital
Ronald McDonald House
Lions Club
Vote For ... the Union Label?
On November 15, Hostess unions decided today that they would not compromise, and management decided to close the company. Interstate Bakers, known as Hostess, was founded in 1930, and closed its doors forever on November 16, 2012. Hostess has been working in bankruptcy for many months trying to restructure company debt and union agreements in order to permit the company to survive. Many unions, including the Teamsters, agreed to concessions. But the last union, the 5,000-member Bakers Union, declined to help out. Now, 18,500 employees have lost their jobs. Alack and alas, many of those venerable snack brands may fall by the wayside forever. Stock-up on those Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Devil Dogs and Ho-Hos now. Also gone -- Dolly Madison, Nature's Pride, Drake's Cakes and Wonder Bread. Management intends to sell-off the brand names, product names and recipes. But an American icon in gone. Some of the favorite union rules with which Hostess had to deal ... union rules prohibited (1) carrying Wonder Bread and Twinkies in the same truck, requiring duplicate trucks, delivery routes and deliveries; and (2) upon arrival at the retail store the unions did not allow the truck driver to unload the truck and stock the shelves - Hostess was required to bring a second employee along for the ride and for the labor.
That said, the private sector can and should do whatever it wants with unions - the marketplace will make the decision and only the strong and well run companies will survive or fail. BUT, unions should be outlawed for all government employees. Government unions serve no legitimate purpose. From whom are the government employees seeking protection ... the government who hired them, or the people for whom they work? Government unions exists for two purposes: (1) to protect high pay, short hours and bloated pension plans for government employees, and (2) to provide a block of voters to support the Democrat party.
Commentaries of the Month --
Tax Increases
"If Obama is re-elected and raises the top marginal rate to 39.6%, as he has promised, many business owners and self-employed individuals will forfeit most of what they make to the government. The math is pretty depressing. A top marginal rate of 39.6% plus an average state income tax of 6% plus a Social Security tax of 10.4% (on income up to $110,000) plus an unlimited Medicare tax (1.45% for employees and 2.9% for the self-employed) can easily equal most of what an individual makes. And these numbers don’t include sales taxes, property taxes, sin taxes and many others.
The real problem with raising the top marginal rate is that this country badly needs entrepreneurs to create jobs in the private sector. The top 2% of the nation’s income earners – who currently pay half of all federal income taxes according to the Internal Revenue Service – are overwhelmingly small business owners. Over half of Americans work for small companies that pay taxes at the individual not the corporate rate. If the economy is going to pick up steam again, we want to encourage these businessmen (and businesswomen) to take risks.
Sadly, many in power – and others who hope to gain power – won’t risk political exile by clamping down on spending. It’s safer and easier to soak the rich. (Heck, even if they all turn against you, it’s only 1% to 2% of the vote.)" -- Alexander Green, Investment U
Obama Toast What totally has killed Bathhouse Barry is the spontaneous, unscripted, off teleprompter comment about voting for revenge… the other one; “you did not build that business”…. The two together tell the truth of the real Obama. He has bought marginal votes through the dramatic increase in food stamp eligibility, free “Obama phones”, the dismantling of welfare-to-work programs, and other hard to roll-back government payoffs. Without this the race would not even be close in the polls. It is as if Obama were standing on a corner giving out cash to buy votes. This cannot stand. He is toast and should be prosecuted for his lies, subterfuge and direct attacks on the American Constitution—enough is enough. -- Tim Straus, Eastons Point Capital, Nov. 1, 2012
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