I have read that the price of eggs is going to rise in 2025. Until January 19th, that rise will be entirely attributable to the evil machinations of the Biden/HARRIS junta and their millions of immigrants. As January 20th dawns, Avian flu (probaby unleashed by China) will take over as the sole cause.
"That's one of the remarkable things about life, it's never so bad that it can't get worse." Calvin
Your use of the CPI Inflation Calculator is justifiable. But comparing prices between years is tricky. Some PS reader might appreciate seeing seven ways to do it. Go to https://www.measuringworth.com/calculators/uscompare/#.
Depending on which method one chooses, Babe Ruth's $80,000 salary in 1930 was equivalent to a salary of between $1.4 million and $23.8 million today.
Good point. It is hard to know what it even means to equate income between time periods that far apart. There are so many things that are much better that do not cost much like vaccines, food quality, and safety in almost everything. To equate incomes requires putting a value on going without those things.
And, of course, some things get cheaper. I am a recovering computer systems consultant. A few days ago, I bought a 256 GB microSD card for $22, so more than 10 GB for a buck. In my youth, it cost about a dime to buy one (1) byte of storage, so 256 GB of memory (more than existed in the whole world then) would have cost 256 giga-dimes, significantly more than $22. .
Went to see Wicked over the weekend and then saw a meme drawing parallels with today. It’s not surprising (but rather depressingly predictable) that a book from 30 years ago could still be so on the nose:
— A weak white man leading a cult of personality
— His gaslighting the country about the threat the “others” pose
— His attempt to silence those same “others” and lock them in cages
— A woman of color opposing him and being branded as evil
I've heard the theory that the original Wizard of Oz is a metaphor on the state of the world in the late 19'th/early 20'th century, with some of the same parallels. Some things never change and great literature captures timeless phenomena.
It supposedly is a parable about whether gold [the Yellow Brick Road] or silver [The Wicked Witch of the West's silver slippers in the book, changed to ruby in the film because red photographed better] would be the way we backed our currency.
Regarding tip flation, I get my hair cut at SportsClips (and like the place), but for a $28 cut the tip options start at $7.00. They make me feel a bit cheap when I have to click ‘other amount’ and put in $6.
Just a minor suggestion for quotables, many X/twitter users have migrated to Blue Sky and sometimes post the same content on both platforms. The NYT Pitchbot/Douglas J Balloon quote (about three stories about Democrat problems) is on Blue Sky at:
Just a way to deny Elon Musk clicks, especially in the light of the recent throttling of posts linking to news sites, not to mention his general awfulness.
I am finding a bit of satisfaction at rumors of Trump and his inner circle getting sick of Musk acting like a co-president. I feel those two narcissists totally deserve each other.
There's one rather famous poster that asked people to respond to his posts on BlueSky that aren't showing up on Twitter. He posts in both places. Musk (or his minions) is removing posts he doesn't like from certain people. Another reason to switch.
I bit the bullet and deleted my Twitter (never X) account, after following most of my Twitter follows on Blue Sky. There are a couple of my favorite Twitterers who've not yet made the leap, but I think they will.
Regarding shopping cart returns, there is a great YouTube channel called "Cart Narcs". The agent approaches people who did not properly return their cart and attempts to shame them into doing so. The offenders often respond in a very negative fashion and that leads to some entertaining situations. Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/@CartNarcs
As to shopping carts, as I get to park in the handicapped spaces, I usually leave the cart next to it, as the cart is a great way to not need a cane to walk.
If this doesn't win Quip of the Week, you all should be ashamed of yourselves: "In the U.K .we celebrate Thanksgiving as the day we managed to ship all our paranoid religious fundamentalists off to another continent. — @wildethingy"
I agree with quip of the week. Maybe the entire year, based on current events. We mock the British for their worship of the royal family. Think about the present cultism in this country. Still want to mock the British?
Agree with you on a new Bears stadium - no public money to subsidize a billionaire family.
Several weeks before the election - when Trump was disavowing any connection to Project 2015 - at least one of your regular commenters (I can't remember whom) was taking Trump at his word. At the time I commented that if Trump won, he'd try to implement P2025 and assert that he was elected in order to implement it. Given his subsequent appointments, will wonders never cease . . . .
I read the linked article about Louisiana reducing income and corporate tax to boost business investment in favor of raising their sales tax from 4% to 5%. Anyone living in Chicago should not look askance at this since our state sales tax is 6.25% AND Louisiana has never taxed food, prescription drugs or utilities, as Illinois has.
You beat me to it. The situation in Louisiana is somewhat different than here. It's like comparing Illinois to Alaska where Chicago has more people than the entire state.
I always return my cart because I feel bad for the person that has to walk all over collecting the carts from random spots. And I hate when I can’t use a parking space because someone left a cart there. Plus I love feeling superior telling everyone how I’m a better person because I do return my cart.
There is a cost by the way. Ask any store that uses carts. The people that could be in the store helping customers are out collecting carts. Either that or stores need to hire more people.
The grocery store morality test I give to my kids goes like this: If you check the sales receipt once back in your car and find an error, do you go back inside to report an undercharge or un-scanned item as quickly as you go back in to report an overcharge?
1. Thank you for BS call on Smollett/Foxx - It annoys me how much this story continues to annoy me. Legally - technically - presumed innocent; factually he was guilty of a crime. A heinous one at the time for purely selfish reasons. A slap against all people who have truly been victims of hate crimes, racism, and mocked lynching. "... don't understand the intricacies of justice system." (Because I was just discussing this with members of his family before making a decision). Hopefully my last comment on this matter. Best luck in Dancing with the Stars, Celebrity Big Brother and Special Forces: World's Toughest Test. 2. Sue G. Everything can be reported with duality. Most obvious - Pro-Abortion (Anti-life) or Pro-Life (Anti-abortion) 3. Shopping Cart is one of many "morality tests' that people like to pull out. Stealing is wrong and you should be punished for it. I stolen bread because we had no food to eat, no money to offer, and past attempts to plea were met with anger. To through in - I always hold door open for people behind me - and in front or exiting toward me if I see them. Yes every couple of rounds I get a nonstop flow where I'm holding the door lengths of time. 4. 2027 for Mayor. What if... it is Johnson vs Republican? (I know almost like last election) If Johnson continues as is - and no one to oppose but a republican candidate. Would Chicago get it's first Rep Mayor in decades? From that list provided - Janice Jackson might have the clout (Heck she's listed twice on your list!) but are people going to want another CPS candidate after Johnson? At Least Vallas is further distanced from his CPS days. Willie-Willie-Willie! Free gas cards! 5. Bears - just pull the plug and get to Arlington Hts. You have the chance to fill your coffers and make an amazing must go destination for the generations - assuming you do it right and not a half baked UFO dome.
Bears - From my perspective (Packers fan living in Chicagoland) the "problem" with the Bears is the ownership. Throughout the changes of quarterbacks coaches and general managers, the one constant is ownership. They have a reputation of being cheap (for NFL standards) so I would not put much hope that they will do it right whether the new stadium is in Chicago or Arlington Heights.
Unlike virtually all NFL owners, the McCaskeys are billionaires BECAUSE they own the Bears (thanks to Old Man Halas) - not because their business acumen allowed them to make a pile which allowed them to buy their franchise. The foundational asset of their fortune is the football club itself. They've been carefully husbanding that asset ever since, taking the "safe" route (to preserve their fortune and collective egos) over the years. A forward-think, chance-taking ownership collective might have hired Mike Singletary or Chico as a head coach when the opportunities arose. Until the ownership changes, the Bears will continue to wallow. Now, lets talk about my Detroit Lions . . . .
The proposal the Bears put out for the Arlington Park property is one morons created. They are putting the stadium at least a half mile from the current Metra station, which was designed for huge crowds at the race track. it actually has a tunnel [not currently used] under the tracks from the east platform, so people won't have to cross the tracks at grade. Only very, very stupid people would put the stadium that far from the station, when the race track stands were next to the station. Do they really think Metra would spend multi-millions to build a new station a half mile north of there?
Yes, scum! They did nothing to get the money, other than belonging to the lucky sperm club. But they all think they're the geniuses who make the team great, which of course it's not! George Halas built the team into the $6 billion colossus it is today. Plus if George [Mugsy] Halas Jr hadn't died early, he'd be the one directing on how the team would be run through his children, who the McCaskeys managed to force out of their ownership of part of the team at a bargain rate a couple of decades ago.
I guess you forgot they first made that college professor idiot Michael the Bears president for years, until he screwed it up so bad, they removed him for his younger brother who now is the front man for them. And he's the one that fired two guys named Ryan & Matt & then replaced them with two different guys named Ryan & Matt! The absolute stupidity & insanity of that is mind boggling!
I respect you, Garry. But you're totally missing the point. The only reason so many Bears fans take public transportation to the game is the horrendous parking situation due to the stadium location. Many stadiums are nowhere near train lines and many cities do not have transportation systems like Chicago. People prefer to drive. But they need convenient ways to get there and park. Wrigley Field is another example. Out of towners don't want to deal with the CTA. So they drive and join the parking mess that includes parking in the garages of private homes. But the stadium is still full most of the time. The suburbs are where many of the fans now live. If you look at a map, the stadium would be near a number of major highways. And a point made previously in this column is that most fans will be watching on television no matter where the stadium is.
Good karma today: Finally got my first-ever ticket for "Songs of Good Cheer" and found a perfect spot on the seating chart. Thanks, you two, for keeping the tradition going this long.
I have read that the price of eggs is going to rise in 2025. Until January 19th, that rise will be entirely attributable to the evil machinations of the Biden/HARRIS junta and their millions of immigrants. As January 20th dawns, Avian flu (probaby unleashed by China) will take over as the sole cause.
"That's one of the remarkable things about life, it's never so bad that it can't get worse." Calvin
Your use of the CPI Inflation Calculator is justifiable. But comparing prices between years is tricky. Some PS reader might appreciate seeing seven ways to do it. Go to https://www.measuringworth.com/calculators/uscompare/#.
Depending on which method one chooses, Babe Ruth's $80,000 salary in 1930 was equivalent to a salary of between $1.4 million and $23.8 million today.
Good point. It is hard to know what it even means to equate income between time periods that far apart. There are so many things that are much better that do not cost much like vaccines, food quality, and safety in almost everything. To equate incomes requires putting a value on going without those things.
And, of course, some things get cheaper. I am a recovering computer systems consultant. A few days ago, I bought a 256 GB microSD card for $22, so more than 10 GB for a buck. In my youth, it cost about a dime to buy one (1) byte of storage, so 256 GB of memory (more than existed in the whole world then) would have cost 256 giga-dimes, significantly more than $22. .
Went to see Wicked over the weekend and then saw a meme drawing parallels with today. It’s not surprising (but rather depressingly predictable) that a book from 30 years ago could still be so on the nose:
— A weak white man leading a cult of personality
— His gaslighting the country about the threat the “others” pose
— His attempt to silence those same “others” and lock them in cages
— A woman of color opposing him and being branded as evil
I've heard the theory that the original Wizard of Oz is a metaphor on the state of the world in the late 19'th/early 20'th century, with some of the same parallels. Some things never change and great literature captures timeless phenomena.
It supposedly is a parable about whether gold [the Yellow Brick Road] or silver [The Wicked Witch of the West's silver slippers in the book, changed to ruby in the film because red photographed better] would be the way we backed our currency.
Regarding tip flation, I get my hair cut at SportsClips (and like the place), but for a $28 cut the tip options start at $7.00. They make me feel a bit cheap when I have to click ‘other amount’ and put in $6.
Just pay cash and you won’t have to “select” anything.
Just a minor suggestion for quotables, many X/twitter users have migrated to Blue Sky and sometimes post the same content on both platforms. The NYT Pitchbot/Douglas J Balloon quote (about three stories about Democrat problems) is on Blue Sky at:
https://bsky.app/profile/nytpitchbot.bsky.social/post/3lbksfv6rak22
Just a way to deny Elon Musk clicks, especially in the light of the recent throttling of posts linking to news sites, not to mention his general awfulness.
I am finding a bit of satisfaction at rumors of Trump and his inner circle getting sick of Musk acting like a co-president. I feel those two narcissists totally deserve each other.
I agree.
There's one rather famous poster that asked people to respond to his posts on BlueSky that aren't showing up on Twitter. He posts in both places. Musk (or his minions) is removing posts he doesn't like from certain people. Another reason to switch.
I bit the bullet and deleted my Twitter (never X) account, after following most of my Twitter follows on Blue Sky. There are a couple of my favorite Twitterers who've not yet made the leap, but I think they will.
Regarding shopping cart returns, there is a great YouTube channel called "Cart Narcs". The agent approaches people who did not properly return their cart and attempts to shame them into doing so. The offenders often respond in a very negative fashion and that leads to some entertaining situations. Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/@CartNarcs
Anyone remember this story about a woman who refuses to return her shopping cart? Thoughts?
https://people.com/woman-goes-viral-after-confessing-she-doesnt-return-shopping-cart-8658600
As to shopping carts, as I get to park in the handicapped spaces, I usually leave the cart next to it, as the cart is a great way to not need a cane to walk.
If this doesn't win Quip of the Week, you all should be ashamed of yourselves: "In the U.K .we celebrate Thanksgiving as the day we managed to ship all our paranoid religious fundamentalists off to another continent. — @wildethingy"
Beat me to the shopping cart remark.
I agree with quip of the week. Maybe the entire year, based on current events. We mock the British for their worship of the royal family. Think about the present cultism in this country. Still want to mock the British?
Eric, your mayoral poll should have included the current mayor. It would have been interesting to see what % of votes he garnered.
I'm surprised he didn't include Toni Preckwinkle on his list.
She's way to old to run.
She'll turn 80 in 2027. Trump will turn 81. So... yeah.
Agree with you on a new Bears stadium - no public money to subsidize a billionaire family.
Several weeks before the election - when Trump was disavowing any connection to Project 2015 - at least one of your regular commenters (I can't remember whom) was taking Trump at his word. At the time I commented that if Trump won, he'd try to implement P2025 and assert that he was elected in order to implement it. Given his subsequent appointments, will wonders never cease . . . .
I read the linked article about Louisiana reducing income and corporate tax to boost business investment in favor of raising their sales tax from 4% to 5%. Anyone living in Chicago should not look askance at this since our state sales tax is 6.25% AND Louisiana has never taxed food, prescription drugs or utilities, as Illinois has.
It’s the tax blessing you get when you don’t care about funding things like schools or public health (where La. ranks 49th and 50th respectively). .
You beat me to it. The situation in Louisiana is somewhat different than here. It's like comparing Illinois to Alaska where Chicago has more people than the entire state.
I always return my cart because I feel bad for the person that has to walk all over collecting the carts from random spots. And I hate when I can’t use a parking space because someone left a cart there. Plus I love feeling superior telling everyone how I’m a better person because I do return my cart.
There is a cost by the way. Ask any store that uses carts. The people that could be in the store helping customers are out collecting carts. Either that or stores need to hire more people.
The grocery store morality test I give to my kids goes like this: If you check the sales receipt once back in your car and find an error, do you go back inside to report an undercharge or un-scanned item as quickly as you go back in to report an overcharge?
Thanks for change in credit card note.
1. Thank you for BS call on Smollett/Foxx - It annoys me how much this story continues to annoy me. Legally - technically - presumed innocent; factually he was guilty of a crime. A heinous one at the time for purely selfish reasons. A slap against all people who have truly been victims of hate crimes, racism, and mocked lynching. "... don't understand the intricacies of justice system." (Because I was just discussing this with members of his family before making a decision). Hopefully my last comment on this matter. Best luck in Dancing with the Stars, Celebrity Big Brother and Special Forces: World's Toughest Test. 2. Sue G. Everything can be reported with duality. Most obvious - Pro-Abortion (Anti-life) or Pro-Life (Anti-abortion) 3. Shopping Cart is one of many "morality tests' that people like to pull out. Stealing is wrong and you should be punished for it. I stolen bread because we had no food to eat, no money to offer, and past attempts to plea were met with anger. To through in - I always hold door open for people behind me - and in front or exiting toward me if I see them. Yes every couple of rounds I get a nonstop flow where I'm holding the door lengths of time. 4. 2027 for Mayor. What if... it is Johnson vs Republican? (I know almost like last election) If Johnson continues as is - and no one to oppose but a republican candidate. Would Chicago get it's first Rep Mayor in decades? From that list provided - Janice Jackson might have the clout (Heck she's listed twice on your list!) but are people going to want another CPS candidate after Johnson? At Least Vallas is further distanced from his CPS days. Willie-Willie-Willie! Free gas cards! 5. Bears - just pull the plug and get to Arlington Hts. You have the chance to fill your coffers and make an amazing must go destination for the generations - assuming you do it right and not a half baked UFO dome.
Bears - From my perspective (Packers fan living in Chicagoland) the "problem" with the Bears is the ownership. Throughout the changes of quarterbacks coaches and general managers, the one constant is ownership. They have a reputation of being cheap (for NFL standards) so I would not put much hope that they will do it right whether the new stadium is in Chicago or Arlington Heights.
Unlike virtually all NFL owners, the McCaskeys are billionaires BECAUSE they own the Bears (thanks to Old Man Halas) - not because their business acumen allowed them to make a pile which allowed them to buy their franchise. The foundational asset of their fortune is the football club itself. They've been carefully husbanding that asset ever since, taking the "safe" route (to preserve their fortune and collective egos) over the years. A forward-think, chance-taking ownership collective might have hired Mike Singletary or Chico as a head coach when the opportunities arose. Until the ownership changes, the Bears will continue to wallow. Now, lets talk about my Detroit Lions . . . .
I think a little more forward thinking that Singletary and Chico
The proposal the Bears put out for the Arlington Park property is one morons created. They are putting the stadium at least a half mile from the current Metra station, which was designed for huge crowds at the race track. it actually has a tunnel [not currently used] under the tracks from the east platform, so people won't have to cross the tracks at grade. Only very, very stupid people would put the stadium that far from the station, when the race track stands were next to the station. Do they really think Metra would spend multi-millions to build a new station a half mile north of there?
The McCaskeys really are the scum of the Earth!
Really... Scum?
Yes, scum! They did nothing to get the money, other than belonging to the lucky sperm club. But they all think they're the geniuses who make the team great, which of course it's not! George Halas built the team into the $6 billion colossus it is today. Plus if George [Mugsy] Halas Jr hadn't died early, he'd be the one directing on how the team would be run through his children, who the McCaskeys managed to force out of their ownership of part of the team at a bargain rate a couple of decades ago.
I guess you forgot they first made that college professor idiot Michael the Bears president for years, until he screwed it up so bad, they removed him for his younger brother who now is the front man for them. And he's the one that fired two guys named Ryan & Matt & then replaced them with two different guys named Ryan & Matt! The absolute stupidity & insanity of that is mind boggling!
LOL! Okay
I respect you, Garry. But you're totally missing the point. The only reason so many Bears fans take public transportation to the game is the horrendous parking situation due to the stadium location. Many stadiums are nowhere near train lines and many cities do not have transportation systems like Chicago. People prefer to drive. But they need convenient ways to get there and park. Wrigley Field is another example. Out of towners don't want to deal with the CTA. So they drive and join the parking mess that includes parking in the garages of private homes. But the stadium is still full most of the time. The suburbs are where many of the fans now live. If you look at a map, the stadium would be near a number of major highways. And a point made previously in this column is that most fans will be watching on television no matter where the stadium is.
I miss the videos of the run up to the Mincing Rascals podcast. Any hope they will return?
Good karma today: Finally got my first-ever ticket for "Songs of Good Cheer" and found a perfect spot on the seating chart. Thanks, you two, for keeping the tradition going this long.