Friday, December 10, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Change in Weekend Plans
I had plans to go away this weekend and the way the morning started out I decided that it would be a disaster waiting to happen for me to be on the highway. Therefore I decided to cancel my plans and stay home. This evening I watched a DVD that I had purchased awhile ago and was waiting to watch while visiting my aunt this weekend. When I talked to her and canceled the trip I told her I could not wait to watch the DVD any longer. Here is the trailer. A colleague at work told me about the documentary. I enjoyed the movie and place it on the must see list for every one I care about. I am not sure it scared me bad enough to correct my eating habits but it has a lot of good info and is motivating as far as making me want to learn more about the theories they describe in the movie.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Book For The Week - 11/30/2010
Nature
by
Ralph Waldo Emerson
by
Ralph Waldo Emerson
While visiting Concord Massachusetts on vacation this fall I made myself a promise that I would alternate the more popular fiction I listen to on audio with works by some of the people whose homes I have visited. One of these people was Ralph Waldo Emerson. I finished listening to his essay "Nature" while walking on the treadmill after work tonight. While I enjoyed the book it seemed that I would hear a line that would make me want to digest it and off my mind would go and when I returned to listening I had missed too much. So I think this is the type of work a person would want to read a few lines and think about and then read a few more lines. I do not think it lends itself to audio. I tried starting to listen to the beginning again, thinking the second time through I would do better, and again there is so much that is thought provoking my mind would not stay with the reader. As always click on the author's name and title to learn more. Also, I think I have figured out how to embed the player of the actual audio book I listened to. Since it is over 75 years old the book is in the public domain and there is no copyright issue.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Which States Are More Socialist?
This is a cut and paste from CNBC - I was going to link only but the text was too small. HERE is the link if you wish to go to it.
"The Most Socialist States in America
Indeed, that message was a constant in the debate over the health care reform bill as well as the Congressional midterm elections, when Tea Party conservatives made taxation a rallying cry for frustrated Americans.
As the narrative of the country’s purported move toward socialism persists, MainStreet decided to evaluate which states were the most and least socialist, to get a picture of how diverse the country is in how states manage their finances.
What is 'Socialist,' Anyway?
To evaluate the degree to which different states manifest socialist principles, we started from the core definition of socialism as a form of government in which the state owns the means of production and allocates resources to its citizens at its discretion.
In other words, a purely socialist state is one in which the state is responsible for 100% of economic output and spends all of it on social programs.
Since no part of the U.S. can be considered purely socialist, we measured total expenditures as a proportion of total economic output to compare the size of the public sector in each state. Using recently released 2009 state gross domestic product figures from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and total state expenditures for fiscal year 2009 from the most recent report of the National Association of State Budget Officers, we have come up with the 10 most socialist states in America.
Read on; the results may surprise you. (Or jump to — Alaska?!)
10. Rhode Island
Gross Domestic Product (2009): $47,837,000,000
Total State Expenditures (FY 2009): $7,587,000,000
Expenditures as Proportion of GDP: 15.9%
On the list of most socialist states, tiny Rhode Island takes the 10th spot. Progressive on many social questions (the state was the second to abolish the death penalty, and was the third to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes), its residents have voted for Democrats in eight of the last nine presidential elections.
Economically, Rhode Island continually ranks among the states with the highest tax rates. Its property taxes, sales tax and income taxes are all above the respective national averages, not surprising for the 10th most socialist state on our list.
9. Hawaii
Gross Domestic Product (2009): $66,431,000,000
Total State Expenditures (FY 2009): $11,822,000,000
Expenditures as Proportion of GDP: 17.8%
8. Arkansas
Gross Domestic Product (2009): $101,818,000,000
Total State Expenditures (FY 2009): $18,403,000,000
Expenditures as Proportion of GDP: 18.1%
7. Wyoming
Gross Domestic Product (2009): $37,544,000,000
Total State Expenditures (FY 2009): $7,123,000,000
Expenditures as Proportion of GDP: 19.0%
6. Mississippi
Gross Domestic Product (2009): $95,905,000,000
Total State Expenditures (FY 2009): $19,380,000,000
Expenditures as Proportion of GDP: 20.2%
5. New Mexico
Gross Domestic Product (2009): $74,801,000,000
Total State Expenditures (FY 2009): $15,455,000,000
Expenditures as Proportion of GDP: 20.7%
4. Vermont
Gross Domestic Product (2009): $25,438,000,000
Total State Expenditures (FY 2009): $5,341,000,000
Expenditures as Proportion of GDP: 21.0%
3. Alabama
Gross Domestic Product (2009): $169,856,000,000
Total State Expenditures (FY 2009): $46,558,000,000
Expenditures as Proportion of GDP: 27.4%
2. Alaska
Gross Domestic Product (2009): $45,709,000,000
Total State Expenditures (FY 2009): $14,315,000,000
Expenditures as Proportion of GDP: 31.3%
1. West Virginia
Gross Domestic Product (2009): $63,344,000,000
Total State Expenditures (FY 2009): $20,362,000,000
Expenditures as Proportion of GDP: 32.1%
Despite the fact that Republicans won two out of three House seats in the 2010 midterm elections, West Virginia has been a Democratic state for most of its existence.
In fact, Congress’s longest-serving member ever was Robert Byrd, the West Virginia Democrat who, at the time of his death last year, had represented the state for 57 years.
On the state level, four of the past five governors have come from the Democratic Party, which could explain how the state’s expenditures have come to account for 32.1% of total output.
- Greg Bocquet is a writer for MainStreet, part of TheStreet Network."
"The Most Socialist States in America
The Street | November 26, 2010 | 01:47 PM EST
When the Democratic Party took over the presidency and both houses of Congress in 2008, conservatives were quick to warn their supporters of a coming era of socialism led by President Barack Obama. Indeed, that message was a constant in the debate over the health care reform bill as well as the Congressional midterm elections, when Tea Party conservatives made taxation a rallying cry for frustrated Americans.
As the narrative of the country’s purported move toward socialism persists, MainStreet decided to evaluate which states were the most and least socialist, to get a picture of how diverse the country is in how states manage their finances.
What is 'Socialist,' Anyway?
To evaluate the degree to which different states manifest socialist principles, we started from the core definition of socialism as a form of government in which the state owns the means of production and allocates resources to its citizens at its discretion.
In other words, a purely socialist state is one in which the state is responsible for 100% of economic output and spends all of it on social programs.
Since no part of the U.S. can be considered purely socialist, we measured total expenditures as a proportion of total economic output to compare the size of the public sector in each state. Using recently released 2009 state gross domestic product figures from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and total state expenditures for fiscal year 2009 from the most recent report of the National Association of State Budget Officers, we have come up with the 10 most socialist states in America.
Read on; the results may surprise you. (Or jump to — Alaska?!)
10. Rhode Island
Gross Domestic Product (2009): $47,837,000,000
Total State Expenditures (FY 2009): $7,587,000,000
Expenditures as Proportion of GDP: 15.9%
On the list of most socialist states, tiny Rhode Island takes the 10th spot. Progressive on many social questions (the state was the second to abolish the death penalty, and was the third to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes), its residents have voted for Democrats in eight of the last nine presidential elections.
Economically, Rhode Island continually ranks among the states with the highest tax rates. Its property taxes, sales tax and income taxes are all above the respective national averages, not surprising for the 10th most socialist state on our list.
9. Hawaii
Gross Domestic Product (2009): $66,431,000,000
Total State Expenditures (FY 2009): $11,822,000,000
Expenditures as Proportion of GDP: 17.8%
8. Arkansas
Gross Domestic Product (2009): $101,818,000,000
Total State Expenditures (FY 2009): $18,403,000,000
Expenditures as Proportion of GDP: 18.1%
7. Wyoming
Gross Domestic Product (2009): $37,544,000,000
Total State Expenditures (FY 2009): $7,123,000,000
Expenditures as Proportion of GDP: 19.0%
6. Mississippi
Gross Domestic Product (2009): $95,905,000,000
Total State Expenditures (FY 2009): $19,380,000,000
Expenditures as Proportion of GDP: 20.2%
5. New Mexico
Gross Domestic Product (2009): $74,801,000,000
Total State Expenditures (FY 2009): $15,455,000,000
Expenditures as Proportion of GDP: 20.7%
4. Vermont
Gross Domestic Product (2009): $25,438,000,000
Total State Expenditures (FY 2009): $5,341,000,000
Expenditures as Proportion of GDP: 21.0%
3. Alabama
Gross Domestic Product (2009): $169,856,000,000
Total State Expenditures (FY 2009): $46,558,000,000
Expenditures as Proportion of GDP: 27.4%
2. Alaska
Gross Domestic Product (2009): $45,709,000,000
Total State Expenditures (FY 2009): $14,315,000,000
Expenditures as Proportion of GDP: 31.3%
1. West Virginia
Gross Domestic Product (2009): $63,344,000,000
Total State Expenditures (FY 2009): $20,362,000,000
Expenditures as Proportion of GDP: 32.1%
Despite the fact that Republicans won two out of three House seats in the 2010 midterm elections, West Virginia has been a Democratic state for most of its existence.
In fact, Congress’s longest-serving member ever was Robert Byrd, the West Virginia Democrat who, at the time of his death last year, had represented the state for 57 years.
On the state level, four of the past five governors have come from the Democratic Party, which could explain how the state’s expenditures have come to account for 32.1% of total output.
- Greg Bocquet is a writer for MainStreet, part of TheStreet Network."
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Book For The Week - 11/25/2010
Oryx and Crakeby
Margaret Atwood
Library Journal:
"The doyenne of Canadian literature (she's won both a Booker and a Giller Prize), the versatile Atwood has an uncanny ability to write in a number of literary genres. Like The Handmaid's Tale, her latest work is set in a near future that is all too realistic and almost too terrifying to contemplate. Having once led a life of comfort and self-indulgence, Jimmy, now known as Snowman, has survived an ecological disaster that has destroyed the world as we know it. As he struggles to function without everything he once knew, including time, Snowman reflects on the past, on his relationships with two characters named Oryx and Crake, and on the role of each individual in the destruction of the natural world. From its opening scene, in which the children of Crake scavenge through debris, to its horrifying conclusion, this novel challenges the reader, cleverly pairing familiar aspects of the world with parts that have been irrevocably changed. A powerful and perturbing glimpse into a dark future, this is Atwood's impassioned plea for responsible management of our human, scientific, and natural resources and a novel that will cast long and lingering shadows in the reader's mind, well after the book is closed. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 1/03.]-Caroline Hallsworth, City of Greater Sudbury, Ont. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information."
(I chose to listen to the book "Oryx and Crake" after reading a review here on MP of another novel by this author called "The Year of the Flood". It seemed like "The Year of the Flood" was a sequel to "Oryx and Crake" so I decided to purchase "Oryx and Crake" first. I finished listening to this book on audio on my way home from work tonight. It has been a story that I will not forget. During parts of the book I felt I did not like it because it seemed like the author could have alluded to some of the perversity without the complete details. But by the end of the book I had forgiven the parts of the book that I would have edited out and was totally pulled into the story. I am not a big fan of science fiction as historical novels are my favorite. Never the less, I will choose to listen to books by Margaret Atwood in the future and I would recommend "Oryx and Crake" to a friend. As always click on the author's name and the title of the book above to follow the links to more information. )
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