Category: Uncategorized

Ignore This Till After the Holidays


Thanksgiving’s around the corner, so I’d better get this one out of the way. Just file it away so you can start fresh after the holidays.

We are perpetually hammered with stories about how “fat” we’ve become as a society. And just as often, that increasing girth is randomly attributed to Big Macs, Whoppers, cheesesteaks, hoagies, pizza, Egg McMuffins, and just about any other fat-filled, high calorie American meal that can be had in minutes from a roadside fast-food dispensary.

But why do we ignore the other side of bodily functions? Why do we focus primarily on the fuel that goes into our bodies and give secondary consideration to the engine that uses that fuel? Simply put: I believe our “fatness” is due more to our inactivity than to the ingestion of a Big Mac.

A recent article in American Legion Magazine indicated that the average American burns 150 calories less per day at the workplace than they did 50 years ago. That’s because many American jobs today involve more sitting around (usually in front of a computer screen) and less moving around.

That means we carry around more than thirty-seven-thousand calories per year—every year. That’s fuel that we store instead of burn up. And that’s how we get fat.

And it’s not just the workplace. Think about it. Fifty years ago, if you wanted to change the channel on your TV, you had to get up from your seat, walk across the room, turn the channel selector, and walk back to your seat.

Most cars in 1960 had windows that had to rolled down manually. Even that burned a few calories at the toll both—at least a few calories more than are burned by the act of pressing a power window button. In fact, now we don’t even have to do that. We have E-Z Pass!

Military Tidbit Of The Day

Paul Morphy, in 1846, beat Gen. Winfield Scott in a game of chess.  Scott had been called by the Duke of Wellington the greatest living general.

Morphy was eight years old.
Yes Christopher Anthony, Scott was upset about it.

Surprise! Jobless Claims Soar After Election

Reader Tom C notes that the Department of Labor has announced that new jobless claims rose by a staggering 78,000 in the first week after the election.

Gollllllyyyy. Who’d have thought it.

John McAfee Update

Software pioneer John McAfee, who earlier this year was being chased around Belize by police, is being chased again, this time as a “person of interest” in the death of his neighbor fellow ex-pat American  Gregory Viant Faull.

Apparently the men had a dispute about McAfee’s dogs,  after which several of the dogs were poisoned.
McAfee denies having anything to do with Faull’s death saying in a cellphone interview: “Certainly he was not my favorite person and I was not his. He was a heavy drinker and an annoyance. But the world is full of annoyances; if we killed all of our annoyances, there would be nobody left,”
McAfee says he believes it is the Belize government that has poisoned the dogs.
“I don’t want to be unkind to the gentleman, but I believe he is extremely paranoid, even bonkers.” said Dean Barrow, the nation’s prime minister.
He said McAfee was only wanted for questioning and that he should report to authorities.
The one silver lining in this, is that McAfee chose Belize rather than Newtown Square.

Sack Lunches

Hat tip Cathy Domizio
I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. ‘I’m glad I have a good book to read. Perhaps I will get a short nap,’ I thought. 
 
Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation. 
 
‘Where are you headed?’ I asked the soldier seated nearest to me. ‘Petawawa. We’ll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we’re being deployed to Afghanistan  
 
After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars… It would be several hours before we reached the east, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time… 
 
As I reached for my wallet, I overheard a soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. ‘No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn’t be worth five bucks. I’ll wait till we get to base.’ 
 
His friend agreed. 
 
I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill. ‘Take a lunch to all those soldiers.’ She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. ‘My son was a soldier in Iraq ; it’s almost like you are doing it for him.’ 
 
Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, ‘Which do you like best – beef or chicken?’ ‘Chicken,’ I replied, wondering why she asked. She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class. 
 
‘This is your thanks.’ 
 
After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room..  A man stopped me. ‘I saw what you did. I want to be part of it… Here, take this.’ He handed me twenty-five dollars. 
 
Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand and said, ‘I want to shake your hand.’ Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain’s hand. With a booming voice he said, ‘I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.’ I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.. 
 
Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm. 
 
When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to deplane… Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars! 
 
Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. 
I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. ‘It will take you some time to reach the base. It will be about time for a sandwich. 
God Bless You.’ 
 
Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers. 
 
As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals. It seemed so little… 
 
A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to ‘The United States of America ‘ for an amount of ‘up to and including my life.’ 
 
That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.’ 

Cryptowit

By William W. Lawrence Sr

Sgt oy huxt zu robk, tuz zu vxkvgxk lux rolk.
Huxoy Vgyzkxtgq
Answer to yesterday’s puzzle: “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” 
― Winston Churchill

Off The Internet– Obituary

Courtesy of Mickey Rair

In 1887 Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the
University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the
Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior:  ” A democracy is always
temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent
form of government.  A democracy will continue to exist up until
the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous
gifts from the public treasury.  From that moment on, the majority
always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from
the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally
collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a
dictatorship.” 
“The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the
beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200
years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence: 
From bondage to spiritual faith; 
From spiritual faith to great courage; 
From courage to liberty; 
From liberty to abundance; 
From abundance to complacency; 
From complacency to apathy; 
From apathy to dependence; 
From dependence back into bondage.”
The Obituary follows:
Born 1776, Died 2012  
It doesn’t hurt to read this several times. 
           
Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law in
St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning
the last Presidential election: 
Number of States won by:           Obama: 19              McCain: 29 
Square miles of land won by:       Obama: 580,000       McCain: 2,427,000 
Population of counties won by:     Obama: 127 million   McCain: 143 million 
Murder rate per 100,000 residents
in counties won by:                    Obama: 13.2            McCain: 2.1  
Professor Olson adds: “In aggregate, the map of the territory
McCain won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens
of the country.
Obama territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in low
income tenements and living off various forms of government
welfare…”
Olson believes the  United States is now somewhere between the
“complacency and apathy” phase of Professor Tyler’s definition of
democracy, with some forty percent of the nation’s population
already having reached the “governmental dependency” phase.
If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million
criminal invaders called illegal’s – and they vote – then we can say
goodbye to the US A in fewer than five years. 
If you are in favor of this, then by all means, delete this message.
If you are not, then pass this along to help everyone realize just how
much is at stake, knowing that apathy is the greatest danger to our
freedom..
This is truly scary

Let Chester-Upland Die, Joe

Joe Watkins, the pastor and conservative talk show host who has been tasked with trying to save the Chester Upland School District, is recommending staff cuts, school closings and tax increases to accomplish this goal.

He hopes to regain the students and their subsidies lost to charter and cyber schools.
Here’s a better idea: close all the district’s schools and make all the students attend charter and cyber schools.
Here’s even a better idea: take the state subsidies the children get  and apply it to vouchers for the kids to attend any school that will take them.
When things are improving i.e. children leaving broken schools for working ones, don’t stand in the way.
Any tax increase to help that district is throwing good money after bad and wasting desperately needed resources.

Cryptowit

By William W. Lawrence Sr.

“Ackkmaa qa vwb nqvit, niqtczm qa vwb nibit: qb qa bpm kwcziom bw kwvbqvcm bpib kwcvba.” 
― Eqvabwv Kpczkpqtt

Answer to yesterday’s puzzle: Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.
John Lennon

Tax Rebate Deadline Looms

The deadline to apply for the 2011 Property Tax/Rent Rebate program is Dec. 31, reports State Rep. Jim Cox (R-129).

If you’ve already applied and/or received your rebate check for 2011, please note that applications for the 2012 program will not be accepted until next year, probably in mid-February. 

Eligible participants can receive a rebate of up to $650 based on their rent or property taxes paid in 2011. The program benefits eligible Pennsylvanians who are 65 years or older, widows and widowers 50 years or older, and those 18 years or older with permanent disabilities. 

Eligibility income limits for homeowners are set at the following levels, excluding 50 percent of Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, and Railroad Retirement Tier 1 benefits: 

•

$0 to $8,000, maximum $650 rebate (homeowners and renters).

•

$8,001 to $15,000, maximum $500 rebate (homeowners and renters).

•

$15,001 to $18,000, maximum $300 rebate (homeowners only).

•

$18,001 to $35,000, maximum $250 rebate (homeowners only).