Twenty Million To Retire? Sure!!!!!!

So the Packers have offered Brett Favre $20 million over 10 years to stay retired.

WOW! I wish somebody would give me $20 million to retire! In fact, I'd be happy with a tenth of that....it should last me the rest of my life with no problem whatsoever, and I'd be living better than I do now.


So Sayeth The Shack

A Crappy Situation On The Mountaintop

From the Centre Daily Times:

A.M. BRIEFING: Monday
Burglar leaves dog feces after break-in
State police at Rockview are investigating a burglary earlier this month in which someone went into a Snow Shoe home, stole some electronics and left dog feces inside the refrigerator.
Police said the incident happened sometime between 9 a.m. July 11 and 11 p.m. Saturday.
Someone got into Jenifer Jo Bickel’s home, 210 W. Olive St., through an unlocked porch and then through a window, police said. The person took video games, DVDs and CDs, valued more than $1,000, then left dog feces in the refrigerator, police said.
Anyone with information is asked to call the police at 355-7545.


So Sayeth The Shack

Leave The Gas Tax Alone

Over the past few months, as fuel prices have skyrocketed, there as been talk, especially among presidential candidates, of lowering or (temporarily) abolishing fuel taxes. One of the more popular ideas has been a "summer break" from fuel taxes.

According to an article in yesterday's paper, however, this talk has been mostly silenced, and replaced by the idea of raising fuel taxes. This new idea is being "quietly" discussed in congress (sounds a little like pay increase that Pennsylvania lawmakers voted themselves in the not so distant past) especially among those who have constituents who would profit from additional road construction.

At this time I feel that both of the above are bad ideas. Lowering or temporarily eliminating the tax would be bad because the money is need for road repair. And oil companies would probably just raise the prices back to where they were before the tax reduction anyway. Raising the tax is an even worse idea given the current economic situation. The consumer, the very engine that is supposed to be driving this economy, is already being suffocated by massive increases in the cost of necessities such as food and fuel. The higher tax would further increase the cost of fuel, which would, in turn, cause even higher prices for everything else. This would just strengthen the economic choke hold on the consumer and would ultimately not benefit anyone. So the best thing to do right now is to not change fuel taxes at all.


So Sayeth The Shack

No Double-Nickle, No Tolls

Two articles in today's paper aroused my ire just a bit.

The first concerns the idea of re-instituting a national speed limit of 55 mph to help save gas. This will be a massive waste of time and money. Virtually no one obeyed that speed limit the last time around and a large percentage of drivers don't even obey the current speed limits. I was on I-80 just last month and while my cruise was set at 86 (the speed limit) I was still passed by the majority of other cars. (For some reason the fastest drivers always seem to be from New Jersey or Michigan). If people want to slow down a little to save gas, that's fine, and the increasing price of gas might motivate more and more of them to do so, but I really don't think the goverment needs to spend all that time and effort necessary to re-institute a national speed limit of 55 mph.

The second concerns tolling I-80. Reading the article, I was almost tempted to change my mind on this issue. It spelled out how the money would be spent for new interchanges and other upgrades. The idea is invest the money now for later benefits. However I think that at the very least, this is a bad time. Drivers are already burdened with steeply higher gas prices and while some people can cut back on trips, the commercial drivers cannot. The cost of the new tolls will, like the higher cost of fuel, will be passed on to...guess who? you and me, the consumer. It will be reflected in the cost of the goods shipped along that interstate which, in this area, is just about everything. This at time when inflation, driven by steep rises in the cost of fuel and food, is at a pace we have not seen in a long while. Perhaps in the future when the economy has stabilized a bit, but right now is a bad time. Plus, how much is it going cost to construct and man the toll booths anyway? And where will these toll booths be? Many interchanges have rather short and steep on and off ramps so there is really no safe place without major alterations. I cannot fathom putting them between interchanges, making all the traffic stop to pay. This is extremely unsafe. Look what happens now when traffic is stopped or slowed down unexpectedly....it usually gets rear-ended by someone not paying attention. And one more thing...some percentage of drivers will simply take the "back" roads to avoid the tolls, putting more traffic on what are often narrow 2-lane winding, hilly roads that pass through small towns...creating more unsafe situations. So even though the money may be needed, I am still against the idea of tolls on I-80.

So Sayeth The Shack

Well Said

I was walking through town a few days ago and saw a bumper sticker that said: "Live Simply, That Others May Simply Live".

I think that very nicely sums up some of the things that I have been trying to say in posts concerning the economic excess of some at the expense of the unmet needs of others. If everyone in this world would simply take only what they needed. I believe that there would enough to cover the needs of everyone and that no one would be homeless or starving.

There are those who say that people who live a lavish and extravagant lifestyle have perhaps worked hard and earned the money and the right to spend it any way they want. That is true, but does anyone really need massive homes on huge plots of land, a fleet of lavish, gas-sucking vehicles, designer clothes, jewelery, etc.? It would be better that these people would donate of their excess and live humbly and simply so that others' basic needs might met.

So Sayeth The Shack

The Most Pointless Thing I've Ever Seen

This has to be the most useless "accomplishment" I have ever heard of.

And I thought I had no life!!

http://www.kare11.com/news/whatsup/whatsup_article.aspx?storyid=517399&catid=333

Man tries to break new world record on stadium sitting

	Updated: 3 hrs ago
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Getting a seat in the Rose Bowl could be a difficult task but one man in Pasadena is taking all 92,542 of them. So when I tell you there's a guy a world record stunt on stadium seat sitting you might ask yourself several questions.

World record holder Jim Mouth says "Why? Because it was here. Because this is the granddaddy of stadiums in the world and the home of the Rose Bowl."

Jim Mouth says "I challenge myself. It's kinda like fasting but I fast as far as sleeping and relaxing. And I said I'm going to raise money for a good cause, I'm going to challenge myself; I'm going to do something I've never done before. That's sit in every seat in the Rose Bowl. No one's ever done it. And it took me 20 years to get the permission. And I'm jumping on it."

You might also think "what's so hard about about that?"

Well to answer that you've got to give it a try.

92,542 times under the Pasadena sun in July.

Jim Mouth says "your knees will go out because you're spinning on your knees. And you quads, right here on the top of your thighs. Are you feeling soar?"

So now you may just be wondering about this guy.

What kind of person does things like this?

Or one of his many other Ripley's Believe It Or Not accomplishments.

Like shoving the most cigarettes, cigars, french fries, hot dogs, straws or pizza slices into his mouth.

Jim Mouth says "and the 25 mile crawl where I crawled 25 miles on my hands and knees. And that was by far the most devastating on my body. This is number four. Number four as far as brutal. I jumped a parking meter 5,000 times. Past out twice."

You almost have to be a comedian to do this.

And Jim Mouth is a comic musician. When he's not sitting around, and around, and around.

Jim Mouth says "now you're slowing me up. I'd already be on the next row by now. You know that suit ain't going to be worth much after this."

(Copyright 2008 by NBC. All Rights Reserved.)


So Sayeth The Shack

Now This Is What I'm Talkin' About!

I have often railed about how our economic system allows some people to have so much as the expense of others who have so little. Read below about a family that did something about it.


http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/07/02/hunger.house/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

By Rusty Dornin
CNN

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- One day while driving with her father, Hannah Salwen noticed a Mercedes stopped next to a homeless man sitting on the curb.

The Salwen family of Atlanta, Georgia, has decided to sell this house and give half the proceeds to charity.

"I said to my dad, 'If that guy didn't have such a nice car, then that guy could have a nice meal,' " the 15-year-old from Atlanta, Georgia, recalled.

And so began the tale of what the Salwen family calls "Hannah's Lunchbox." Watch why family wants to give away $800K »

It started as family discussions about what they needed versus what was enough. Hannah's father Kevin, an entrepreneur, is on the board of the Atlanta Habitat for Humanity and is no stranger to community work, but he said this family conversation was life-changing.

"We stopped and paused and thought about what are the things in the world that could really make a difference, a little bit of difference in the world," he said.

They talked about selling their cars or other things, but it was Hannah's mother, Joan, who came up with selling their 6,500-square-foot house, donating half the proceeds and then moving into a house half the size.

For nine years, the family lived in a historic 1912 mansion near downtown Atlanta. It boasts five bedrooms, eight fireplaces, a kitchen that would make any cook jealous and even an elevator. See the new and old houses, side by side »

When Hannah would bring friends over, she said, often their jaws would drop and they'd gasp, "Wow, you live here?"

Like most teens, Hannah loves to shop, and she jammed every space of her massive walk-in closet full of clothes. But she also knows many people are less fortunate; she volunteers at a local community food bank and other relief agencies.

Joan Salwen, a teacher, said the mansion was her dream home.

"It was a challenge," she said of giving up that house. "It was a test, almost, to see: How committed are we? I mean, how serious are these kids about what we should do? And they all nodded and there we were."

So the Salwens put the house up for sale in May 2007 and started figuring out what they would do with half the proceeds, which would amount to more than $800,000.

They spent six months researching charity organizations before deciding on the Hunger Project, an organization dedicated to helping end world hunger through people helping themselves.

Hunger Project Vice President John Coonrod said the family met with organizers in New York and notified them months later that the charity was the winner.

When the Salwen house sells, the money will be channeled through the Atlanta Community Foundation over a six-year period and end up in Ghana, Coonrod said.

"This will underwrite a process in more than 30 villages to enable people to meet all of their basic needs on a sustainable basis," he said. "They will be able to grow enough food, to build clinics and schools, and the villagers will be doing the lion's share of the work."

Coonrod said he'd never heard of a family donating in this way.

"Hannah's awakening to social injustice, and her family's ability to make a difference in that issue will make a profound difference in the lives of tens of thousands of people," he said, estimating the money could affect more than 20,000 people in Ghana.

Hannah's 13-year-old brother, Joseph, was so impressed with his big sister's ideas that he made a three-minute video of the family's project. Watch Joseph's video

The video won the grand prize in the 2008 "My Home: The American Dream" contest, sponsored by Coldwell Banker and Scholastic Publishing.

In the video, Joseph tells viewers, "We're showing you can redefine the American dream."

But the Salwens' house has sat on the market for more than a year. It's a tough time to sell any house, let alone one with an asking price of nearly $1.8 million.

Real estate agent Sally George said she's shown the house 40 or 50 times, and there have been nibbles but no buyers. See the house's real estate listing

Many people are interested in the house's rich history but often don't know anything about the philanthropic aspects of the family's project.

"I've never handled a house selling for this reason," George said. "I didn't learn about what the family was doing until early this year."

Hannah and Joseph said most of their friends at school don't know about it.

"We didn't do it for the fame or the glory," said Joan Salwen. "This was something Hannah sort of yanked us into."

Even though it was Joan Salwen's idea to sell the house, it has been tough for her to give it up. "I have to admit," she said, "I loved living in this house. Does that make me an evil person? I hope not because it's a beautiful place."

The family recently moved to a house less than half the size of their mansion four blocks away. While Hannah's friends called her old home the "wow house," this one is more ordinary and that's fine with her.

Lately the family has spent a lot of time around the kitchen table talking about an upcoming two-week trip to Ghana. The Salwens will spend six or seven hours a day visiting the villages where their money will be put to work.

Kevin Salwen said the new house is great, it's just smaller.

"We as Americans have so much," said Salwen, a former Wall Street Journal writer. "We love the concept of half. We are going from a house that's 6,000 square feet to a house that's half the size, and we're giving away half the money.

"And we do think everyone can do something if they think through half."


So Sayeth The Shack

July Fourth Waste

It's that time of year when many cities, towns and organizations spend large amounts of money purchasing fireworks and putting on displays. Many individuals also purchase their own and set them off. I personally do not see the value in any of this. All that money, all that work...what do you get out of it? A few minutes of ooohs and ahhhs and that's it for another year. I've seen some fireworks displays in my time and I'll tell ya what.....you've seen one, you've pretty much seen them all. It really wouldn't bother me if I never saw another one. As far the ones individuals can buy and set off, as I've said elsewhere on my website, you might as well just pull some money out of your pocket and set it on fire for all the good it does you. So you can call me a grinch if you want, but as far I as I'm concerned, they can take all the fireworks and send them back to China. And speaking of that, with all the problems there have been with products from China over the past year or two, I wouldn't want to be within a few miles of any Chinese fireworks!!!!


So Sayeth The Shack

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Some Of Us Have The Freedom

Here in Pennsylvania, if you ride a motorcycle, you have the choice, according to law, whether or not to wear protective headgear to reduce the chances of serious or fatal injury if you are involved in a crash. (Not to mention to make an atrocious amount of noise!!) However if you drive or ride in an automobile, van, SUV, pickup or commercial truck, the law does not afford you the same choice when it comes to seat belts. A recent news story indicated that a study has shown that head trauma resulting in injury or death has increased over the years since wearing helmets has become optional for motorcyclists. As some have opined in the local newspaper, duh!...fewer helmets, more injuries and deaths. Other studies have indicated that someone wearing seat belts are more likely to survive a crash than someone who is not. The issue here is one of both personal safety and personal freedom. Looking at it from a personal freedom viewpoint, we should all be free to decide for ourselves whether or not to wear a helmet or to use seat belts. So why is it that one group, the motorcyclists, is free to make that decision for themselves while another group has the decision made for them by the government? From a safety standpoint, it would make sense for motorcyclists to wear helmets and for drivers and passengers in automobiles to wear seat belts, no matter what the law says. So why do we need to have a law? Oh yes, because a lot of people don't have any common sense. But why the different treatment for different vehicles? Either require both helmets and seat belts, or neither. The current laws make no sense to me.

So Sayeth The Shack

A New Way To Fund Our Roads

Pennsylvania's roads and bridges are in bad shape, as are those in other states. They are in need of a great deal of repair work. A variety of ideas have been presented to pay for the needed work: leasing the turnpike, putting tolls on I-80, raising gas taxes and registration fees. Most of these will have a detrimental impact on the economy at a time when the economy is aready floundering. So it's time to think a new direction: corporate funding of our roads. We could have the "PNC Pennsylvania Turnpike", the "Capital One Keystone Shortway" and so forth. Companies would pay some amount of money in return for being able to advertise along the roadways. Rest areas and individual interchanges could also have their own sponsors. Maybe each bridge (at least the big ones) could have their own sponsors. Even construction areas could be sponsored" "road improvement next 10 miles, brought to you by (insert company name)." In a world where advertising is everywhere, why not our roads as well?

Some of the more comical ones might be "The Enzyte Expressway" and "The Viagra Viaduct Bridge"!!

So Sayeth The Shack

A New Way To Fund Our Roads

Finally Changing Our Driving Habits

Over the past couple of years as gasoline prices inched upward from one past two to three dollars per gallon, I have wondered what it was going to take for people to change their wasteful driving habits, long roads trips etc. My family and I had long ago cut back on unneccesary driving. We had made an art of combining errands and doing them on the way home from work so that once we were home, that was it. We didn't go back out unless we absolutely had to. We long ago traded the pickups for small fuel-efficient cars. Well we seem to have found the answer. Gas prices heading four dollars per gallon is what it would take to get at least some people to make some changes, as I see in the following article.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/26/gas.driving/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

"At a time when gas prices are at an all-time high, Americans have curtailed their driving at a historic rate. Americans are not driving as much as they did a year ago as gas prices skyrocket.

The Department of Transportation said figures from March show the steepest decrease in driving ever recorded. Compared with March a year earlier, Americans drove an estimated 4.3 percent less -- that's 11 billion fewer miles, the DOT's Federal Highway Administration said Monday, calling it "the sharpest yearly drop for any month in FHWA history." Records have been kept since 1942.

According to AAA, for the first time since 2002, Americans said they were planning to drive less over the Memorial Day weekend than they did the year before...."

It's about time!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So Sayeth The Shack

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

How To Spend Your Rebate

I received the folloing via e-mail. Not sure of the source but thought I would pass it on....

IRS rebate, and just who it finally Helps !

The federal government is sending each and everyone of us a $600 rebate.

If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, the money will go to China .

If we spend it on gasoline it will go to the Arabs.

If we purchase a computer it will go to India ..

If we purchase fruit and vegetables it will go to Mexico , Honduras , and Guatemala ..

If we purchase a good car it will go to Japan .

If we purchase useless crap it will go to Taiwan ....and>none of it will help the American economy.

The only way to keep that money here at home is to buy prostitutes, weed, beer, and tattoos, sincethese are the only products still produced in the USA .

Thank you for your help & please support the USA......

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The Fifty Buck Car Wash

Wow there's a new car wash in town where for fifty-some dollars A MONTH you can get your car hand washed, dried, polished, etc inside and out as often as you want. Holy crap! I don't know very many people who, given the current economic situation, are willing to dish out that kind of money for a clean car. We can barely even afford to drive our cars anymore, let alone pay that kind of money to keep them clean!

So Sayeth The Shack

One God For All?

It really bugs me when I read or hear something like the following excerpt from a letter to the editor in the local newspaper written by Donal Heller: "In his recent letter, Ed Emel asked whether we let mankind or the will of God govern us. Whose god is he referring to?" (Click here to read the full letter)

What do people mean when they ask "whose god?" Do they think that there is a different god for each of us; a different set rules or commandments to live by for each person? No wonder this world is such a mess!

If there is a god, which, by the way, I am far from certain of, then is there not only one? Ancient peoples worshiped multiple gods, but for the past few thousand years, the major religions have been monotheistic. This means one god. The same god for you as for me as for everyone else. And even though there are still many different religions, I believe that they all basically worship the same god, albeit in somewhat different ways. The existence of a god is not affected by our belief or lack thereof. We choose whether or not to believe but that does not affect the fact that a god either does or does not exist. We, at this point, can neither prove nor disprove the existence of god. But if there is one, I believe, as do the majority of others, that there is only one. So when someone asks "whose god?", the answer is "your god, my god, everyone's god", and his rules for you are the same as his rules for me and for everybody else. Each religion may have their own interpretation of things but that is because these interpretations have been altered by man down through the ages. So for those who believe, the question "whose god?" is meaningless.

So Sayeth The Shack

Welcome New Readers

I just wanted to say hi to a couple of new readers who have commented recently, terri and minnesotablue. Welcome! As you can probably see, I do not post as often as some bloggers...just when something strikes me and I feel the need to express my feelings about it. Thanks for the comments!

So Sayeth The Shack

More Worried About Animals Than People?

The circus came to town this past week. Interestingly, it arrived on the day of the primary elections. A little ironic, don't you think?

Whenever the circus comes to town, there are people who write letters to the editor of our newspaper protesting the way the animals are treated. Animals that are supposed to be running wild in Africa, Asia or wherever are instead captured, trained and made to perform for our entertainment. I do not totally disagree with the writers of these letters. However, human beings have been subjugating animals just about as long as there have been human beings on this planet. We have captured them, tamed and domesticated them, put them to work for us, made pets out of them, and made food out of them. The circus animals are probably treated relatively well compared to some of these others. But more importantly, I wonder if these same letter-writers are just as horrified by the way we treat other human beings. I am not specifying any "we" in particular, but human beings in general are not know for their wonderful treatment of other humans. Slavery, genocide, torture and war are just some of the examples. And you don't have to go to some far-flung country. Right here at home, in the news on a regular basis, are examples. In fact the majority of us are now being forced into poverty by Big Oil, Big Business and Big Government. So before we worry about how the circus animals are treated (I'm sure they are well fed, at the very least), we should worry about how we treat others, starting with our family and neighbors and going outward from there.

So Sayeth The Shack

Political Circus

Yesterdday was primary election day here. It was also the day the circus came to town. Anyone besides my see the irony?

So Sayeth The Shack

Some Pennsylvanians Unable To Vote

It has come to our atttention that a large number of rural Pennsylvanians will be unable to vote in tomorrow's primary.

The reason?

They can't afford the gas to drive to their polling place!!!!


So Sayeth The Shack

Why Be President?

I really don't understand why anyone wants to be president of this country. It's like volunteering to be captain of a sinking ship.

So Sayeth The Shack