TheWorx

I don't like Bernie. I wish he had been anything other than a consistently ethical, moral, and empathetic politician. After all, it seems only his corporate-loving antithesis ever gets the African-American or Hispanic vote. For Bernie to cement the nomination he would need to be a fraud who switches from a Biden type into one who actually gives a hoot about what Madison called, the "humble sons of obscure and unpropitious fortune." They were, said Madison, equal to the "haughty heirs of distinguished names." I'm in that group; I don't expect to have multiple homes; I don't expect to ever buy a yacht or even Super Bowl tickets. Do I hope that Bernie would make such things possible? Not absolutely but yes, relatively more possible. He would do it by making sure that the healthcare industry doesn't rob me of everything I own because their members must maintain their status quo (like Biden would because he's married to one of the perpetrators...

In trying to get my head around why a truck--if the impact was at the stanchions--would end up way behind the front end of the train and at a considerable distance before the railroad crossing, I google-mapped the area and saw that there was a road (Marymart Farm Road) that seems to share the same space as the railroad tracks. Now, things made more sense to me. It may have been that the truck was traveling along this road when the train hit and forced it down the embankment to the right of the tracks. It was reported that a high-speed passenger train was rarely seen in this area; instead, slower-moving freight trains were the norm, giving any vehicles on that road more time to get out of the way. Question: around my neck of the woods, trains blow their loud horns; did the passenger train blow its horn to warn vehicles it was coming? Re-watching SOTU address at Greenbrier, and it's not even Groundhog Day yet! Can't tell if there's a teleprompter there but POTUS does h...

These were taken this morning. The picture at the top was when the moon was lowest in the sky--just about to set. It was at that time that the eclipse and reddish hue was most apparent. With regard to the W. Virginia crash, I believe it is unlikely that anyone on a fast-moving bulky train can detect braking especially--being mostly politicians--they were probably very animated themselves ready for that "retreat" at Greenbrier. There was supposed to be a protest at Greenbrier (many were being bused there). I wonder what will become of that protest now? I wonder if Republican representatives believe in signs from God because it seems to me that a Super Blue Blood Moon appearing hours before a train crash that kills one citizen and maims others and a SOT Uniom the night before where they applauded with gusto. . .what, wealth disparity?   NPR    has done a great job fact-checking Trump's SOTU speech, applause by applause.

This matter of small businesses and their taxation needs to be put to rest with regard to the effect  increased taxation has on hiring. The owner of an established business deducts, among his numerous expenses, the cost of labor from his taxes. The labor he employs in his business is the minimum required to fulfill his obligations to his customers and meet demand--no more, no less. If he hires beyond what is required, he is doing so for an ulterior purpose other than profits and, as such, obtains some degree of personal satisfaction from the superfluous hiring--that's his prerogative and is not to be considered here. But the true businessman hires only what he needs and deducts the expense from his revenue so as not to subject it to taxation. This businessman then obtains a profit that can be taxed by the government. At this point, it is no different than the salary that is obtained by the vast majority of U.S. taxpayers. If profits over 250,000 dollars are taxed at a hig...