Cam-Pains

Leading into election time a lot of ads on the television are the political "slam the opponent". Of course they all go for the most emotionalized buzz phrases they can find. One that constantly repeats itself here in Kentucky is "He voted to dip into the Social Security Trust Fund". It amazes me how many people take this seriously, especially people past or near the age to draw Social Security. Everyone that has even a little knowledge of this Social Security Trust Fund knows there is no money there to dip into. Every penny of the FICA goes straight into the general fund, an IOU goes into the "trust fund", and the money is spent as quickly as it comes in. Acutally quicker with deficit spending. Voting to dip into the trust fund would be voting to take out IOU's and try to spend them.

I wrote this on the other blog about a year and a half ago...

Social Security in a nut shell

• More money comes into Social Security each year than is paid out to recipients.
• The surplus is spent by the government and Social Security is credited with this surplus on paper (it receives an IOU).
• All the money in the Social Security "Trust Fund" is in the form of these IOUs (no actual cash).
• With the increase of recipients each year, by the year 2018 (13 years from now) there will no longer be an annual surplus and we will be paying out the same amount we take in.
• After 2018 all the increases in Social Security recipients will have to be paid out of the general fund in ever increasing amounts since the Social Security Trust Fund has no actual cash reserves. This either requires the government to spend less on other programs (fat chance), or raise taxes.
• In other words Social Security is bankrupt in just 13 years. Any Congressmen who says Social Security is fine with no changes is lying through their teeth, and probably plans on retiring before the piper has to be paid.
• Privatization will not immediately heal all the problems, and after 2018 Social Security will have to be bolstered from the general fund for a while. At least privatization will halt all such draws in a few years, where leaving the program as is will only provide an ever increasing draw from the general fund, bankrupting America just as similar programs are doing for so many European countries today.

My brothers and I have not spent enough time going through the photographs mom and dad had in their home. One of my brothers did send this rather poor quality picture (click on the picture to enlarge it). This was taken about 1900 in front of the home of my paternal grandmother. A notation on the back of the picture says that is her on the horse, but doesn't identify the others. Since she had five sisters we've presumed they are next to her, with her father by the horse and her mother to the right. The other four male figures are a total mystery. Grandma was born in 1888 so I'm guessing at the date of the picture based on that. There is one other, studio quality photograph of the six sisters at my youngest brothers home, and a tinted oval photograph of this home. I've learned the house still stands a little over a hundred miles from here, so I'm going to take a drive up that way just to see it.

One of the photos I have here is the entire highschool classes 1929 - 1932 on the front step of the old high school in the town where I was raised. My mother is on the front row of that picture, dad is on the back row, near dad is my uncle, and my grandfather who was custodian of the school at that time, is standing to the right of the picture. I was able to acquire a list of the names of all but one of the people in that picture, and most of the adults I knew growing up are in the picture somewhere. Dad's best friend is next to him in the picture. After school that friend joined the Navy and eventually was Quartermaster on Admiral Byrd's ship during his South Pole expedition. One brother has a letter written to my parents while he was on that expedition and it has a large cancellation stamp on it identifying it as originating on Adm. Byrd's South Pole expedition.

Old photos are fun to browse through, especially when they directly relate to you own past, ancestry and the like.

It ain't to fence me in

Thursday, October 26th, President Bush authorized the construction of nearly 700 miles of fence along the U.S. Mexican border.

The bill authorizes Homeland Security to use cameras, unmanned planes and satelites, as well as creating more checkpoints, improved lighting and vehicle barriers.

Think Straight

Each day my daughter in Indiana sends out a little inspirational type message. Often I write a brief and smart aleck reply. Today she sent the following through, and below that is my answer.

When your striving interferes with and overshadows your experience of daily living, that's when it's impossible to find that peaceful feeling and satisfying way of living.

That "peaceful feeling and satisfying way of living" is attained when we learn to count our blessings instead of our desires. If anyone has trouble doing this, do a little research on third world countries where they will have several people living in a one room, dirt floor hut. No electricity, no running water (they have to fetch it from a questionable well a half mile away and carry it home). They might or might not have anything to eat today, instead of cupboards, freezers and refrigerators stocked full, cash in your pocket and restaurants of all sorts in easy access to you. Many of those people have short, miserable lives and never travel more than a hand full of miles from their place of birth, often are illiterate, no access to medical help. wear rags, shiver in the cold because many generations have burned all the trees for heat and cooking. It's possible to write a lengthy article comparing the average American's lifestyle to that of millions of the less fortunate in this world. Be thankful every day you were born when and where you were. It gives a feeling of peace and satisfaction, and doesn't let anything overshadow that.

I'm Over HERE !

For some reason I'm locked out of my own blog. It keeps telling me it's the wrong password, will not send me a link to get back in. Tells me it's the wrong e-mail address, etc. AAARGH!

I've set up this blog as either a temporary site to get me back on blogger, or a permanent replacement if they keep insisting I'm illegal.

Gayle and her friend Rob have been trying to help, but it's almost as if my blog has been hijacked. For what reason I haven't a clue and nothing is being added or deleted from the blog that I can see. Do you know you cannot reach a person on blogger? All you get are automated responses, and when that response doesn't work there seems little alternative.

Anyhow, Hi. I'm now Fish-2 instead of just Fish, and instead of Just Ramblin's the blog is called More Ramblin's.