Death and taxes

Three observations, also gleaned from Perfectly Legal:

While the overall annual pay increase for everyone in America averaged a nickel an hour between 1970 and 2000, chief executives won pay raises that averaged $660 per hour per year.

*****

Microsoft began with a gift from his parents, Bill. Sr. and the late Mary Gates. And in significant ways it was the taxpayers who made that gift possible. The father went to college on the GI Bill. The couple bought their first house with a VA loan. Those investments by the taxpayers paid off for the Gates family, as they did for millions of other Americans. … [T]he taxpayers also paid a salary to Mrs. Gates when she taught public school. So not only did the country’s largest fortune begin with a gift that was tax-free, but also the gift money was there because of the taxpayers.

*****

Repealing the estate tax, [Warren] Buffet said, is “the equivalent in economic terms of choosing our Olympic team by picking the eldest sons of the gold-medal winners in the 2000 Olympics. … Without the estate tax, you in effect will have an aristocracy of wealth, which means you pass down the ability to command the resources of the nation based on heredity rather than merit.”

Lies, damn lies, and statistics

We often read about the state of the American economy in terms of averages. As David Cay Johnston points out in his book Perfectly Legal however, averages can be misleading.

When Bill Gates walks into a café where a dozen people are already eating, the average wealth in the room rises to billions of dollars, hardly a reasonable picture of the situation.

The Heart of America

An interesting email message from a Marine Gunnery Sergeant in Iraq.

Go read it.

Exactly

Charles Krauthammer:

The attempts to de-Christianize Christmas are as absurd as they are relentless. The United States today is the most tolerant and diverse society in history. It celebrates all faiths with an open heart and open-mindedness that, compared to even the most advanced countries in Europe, are unique.

Yet more than 80 percent of Americans are Christian, and probably 95 percent of Americans celebrate Christmas. Christmas Day is an official federal holiday, the only day of the entire year when, for example, the Smithsonian museums are closed. Are we to pretend that Christmas is nothing but an orgy of commerce in celebration of . . . what? The winter solstice?

I personally like Christmas because, since it is a day that for me is otherwise ordinary, I get to do nice things, such as covering for as many gentile colleagues as I could when I was a doctor at Massachusetts General Hospital. I will admit that my generosity had its rewards: I collected enough chits on Christmas Day to get reciprocal coverage not just for Yom Kippur but for both days of Rosh Hashana and my other major holiday, Opening Day at Fenway.

Capitol Reef National Park …

was designated as such on this date in 1971. It had been a national monument since 1937.

[NewMexiKen photo, 2002]

Lets see all the award winners

NewMexiKen thinks college football (at all levels) should come together for an annual awards ceremony to present the Heisman, Bednarik, Biletnikoff, Butkus, Walter Camp, Groza, Ray Guy, Hendricks, Lombardi, Mackey, Maxwell, Nagurski, O’Brien, Outland, Thorpe, Unitas, Doak Walker, Walter Payton and other awards.

As it is, because it’s presented by the New York Athletic Club, the Heisman gets a disproportionate amount of publicity while some of these other actually more important awards are presented in relative anonymity. A televised awards show (throw in coach of the year, best cheerleaders, what-have-you) could be a popular post season event I’d think.

And another thing. How come these awards are given before the bowl games? When first established, many of the bowl games were just post season fun. Now, with the BCS especially, the outcome of these games is critical for a team. Why determine awards before the most important game of the season?

Sweetness

From The Sports Network:

William & Mary quarterback Lang Campbell was named the 18th winner of the Walter Payton Award [Friday night] at the Division I-AA College Football Awards held in Chattanooga, TN on the eve of the I-AA national championship game.

Campbell completed a remarkable 66 percent of his passes (215-of-326) for 3,037 yards. He tossed 21 touchdowns while throwing just one interception in the regular season.

Champions

Without the benefit of polls or computers, the James Madison University Dukes defeated the University of Montana Grizzlies 31-21 Friday night to become the football champions of NCAA Division I-AA.

James Madison is a state university in Harrisonburg, Virginia (in the Shenandoah Valley).

Richard Wetherill and his brother-in-law Charles Mason …

rode out on what is now Sun Point in search of lost cattle on this date in 1888 and first saw Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde. That afternoon, Richard found Spruce Tree House, and the next day, the two men discovered Square Tower House. Al Wetherill, Richard’s brother, saw Cliff Palace sometime the year before, but he did not enter the dwelling, so the credit for “discovering” the dwelling has been given to Richard Wetherill and Charles Mason.

In 1901, Richard Wetherill homesteaded land that included Pueblo Bonito, Pueblo Del Arroyo, and Chetro Ketl in what is now Chaco Culture National Historical Park. Wetherill remained in Chaco Canyon, homesteading and operating a trading post at Pueblo Bonito until his controversial murder in 1910. Chiishch’ilin Biy, charged with his murder, served several years in prison, but was released in 1914 due to poor health. Wetherill is buried in the small cemetery west of Pueblo Bonito.

[NewMexiKen photo, 2003]

New Jersey ,,,

ratified the Constitution on this date in 1787, thereby becoming the third state.

It’s the birthday

… of Roger Smith. One of the James Bonds is 72. Jeffrey Spencer of 77 Sunset Strip is 72.

… of Keith Richards. The Rolling Stone is 61.

… of Steven Spielberg. The director is 58.

… of Brad Pitt. He’s still pretty at 41.

… of Christina Aguilera. She’s 24.