pianogonzology

Sunday, December 24, 2017

You Ask . . .

. . . how does an atheist pray? . . .

(from http://theothercloset-atheism.blogspot.com/2009/12/19-atheists-christmas-prayer.html)
This Christmas, I pray that the struggle over the “true meaning” of the holiday is wiped away, replaced by the desire to honor what Christmas means to you and not to your neighbors.
I pray that we as a nation can learn to put aside the party lines and shields of segregation to leave the world better than we found it.
I pray that we as a race can learn to prosper without greed, without indifference.
I pray that the good times outweigh the bad, and that we enter the lives of those we are lucky enough to encounter with the grace and respect that everyone deserves, regardless of their status, regardless of our creed.
I pray we wake up one day with the recognition that – black or white, rich or poor, religious or not – we all want the same things, even if we disagree on how best to achieve them.
I pray that those who need shelter will find it.
I pray that those in pain will find an end to suffering.
I pray for peace.
I pray for hope.
Most of all, I pray that tomorrow will be better than it was today.
For all of us.

Two-Chord-Go-Two
©2017 Raymond M. Jozwiak

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Saturday, December 23, 2017

Check . . .

. . . the facts . . .

(from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gop-tax-overhaul-fact-checking-lopsided-political-arguments/)
". . . The tax cuts are not nearly as lopsided as many Democrats are portraying them. Almost all of the middle class would initially pay less in taxes. . . For the next eight years, the vast majority of middle-class taxpayers — those earning between $49,000 and $86,000 — will receive a tax cut, albeit a small one. In 2018, nine-tenths of the middle class will get a cut, according to the Tax Policy Center. In 2025, 87 percent will. The tax cut won't be very big: just $930 next year for the middle one-fifth of taxpayers, the center's analysis concludes. For those paid twice a month, that's about $40 a paycheck. . . . Schumer and other Democrats are basing their assertions on the fact that nearly all personal tax cuts expire after 2025, which would result in a slight tax increase for about two-thirds of the middle class by 2027. The top 1 percent would still get a cut that year. . . Only in 2027 do the wealthiest taxpayers get 83 percent of the benefit, as Schumer says. In 2018, roughly 21 percent of the tax cut's benefits go to the richest 1 percent, a much smaller figure, though still a disproportionate share. Just 11 percent will go to the middle one-fifth. . ."

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Friday, December 22, 2017

Kind Of . . .

. . . like it . . .

(from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_tango)
". . . Tango is a dance that has influences from African and European culture. Dances from the candombe ceremonies of former slave peoples helped shape the modern day tango. The dance originated in lower-class districts of Buenos Aires and Montevideo. The music derived from the fusion of various forms of music from Europe. The words "tango" and "tambo" around the River Plate basin were initially used to refer to musical gatherings of slaves, with written records of colonial authorities attempting to ban such gatherings as early as 1789. . . Initially, it was just one of the many dances, but it soon became popular throughout society, as theatres and street barrel organs spread it from the suburbs to the working-class slums, which were packed with hundreds of thousands of European immigrants. . . In Argentina, the onset in 1929 of the Great Depression, and restrictions introduced after the overthrow of the Hipólito Yrigoyen government in 1930, caused tango to decline. Its fortunes were reversed as tango became widely fashionable and a matter of national pride under the government of Juan Perón. Tango declined again in the 1950s, as a result of economic depression and the banning of public gatherings by the military dictatorships; male-only Tango practice—the custom at the time—was considered "public gathering". . ."

Kind Of A Tango
©2017 Raymond M. Jozwiak

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Thursday, December 21, 2017

Bad. . .

. . . news

(from https://www.nbcnews.com/)
"Sessions orders fresh look at Uranium One deal"
"U.S. life expectancy falls for second straight year — as drug overdoses soar"
"With CHIP funds running out, 'there are no good options,' official says"

"Car that hit crowd in Australia's Melbourne was deliberate act, police say"

"What the tax win means for Trump, now and in 2020"
"South Korea fires warning shots at DMZ after soldier defects from North"

(from https://www.healthline.com/health/depression/statistics-infographic)

". . . 80% of individuals affected by depression do not receive any treatment. . . statistics show that diagnoses are growing at an alarming rate. In addition, states with higher rates of depression also show high rates of other negative health outcomes, such as obesity, heart disease, and stroke. Individuals suffering from depression are more likely to be unemployed or recently divorced than their non-depressed counterparts, and women experience greater risk of depression than men. Despite all of these statistics on depression, this infographic shows that many people suffer symptoms of depression without seeking care, and that undiagnosed depression costs the U.S. millions of dollars each year. Now a global health issue, depression awareness, diagnosis, and treatment are matters of crucial significance in building a healthier, happier world. . ."

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Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Redux . . .

You've always been ahead of me
One fact that I
In my infinite wisdom
Could not always see
But in the end you always convinced me
Things aren't always
What they appear
The things I've always looked for

Once long ago before we met
I thought I could
Singlehandedly make the
Spinning world go away
Just like some king
from back in those bygone days
But I was wrong
I don't belong
Inside this category

Seemed to be
At the time to me
To my advantage
Missing why
Not knowing
When to try
To start believing
In my very own
Self determination

Sometimes at night
When I'm alone
The solitude
And the quiet can bring out
All the worst in my head
But now it seems that isn't so big or bad
I've learned a thing

Or maybe two
And just ahead
There's
Always
You

Always You
©2005 Raymond M. Jozwiak

Originally from Put A Finger On It
©2006 Raymond M. Jozwiak

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Tuesday, December 19, 2017

Rights . . .

(from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/07/14/the-magnitsky-act-explained/?utm_term=.54640b771c9c)

". . . Natalia Veselnitskaya, the Russian lawyer who attended the June 9, 2016, meeting at Trump Tower with Donald Trump Jr., has for years been working to overturn the Magnitsky Act, a 2012 U.S. law that barred Russian officials suspected of human rights abuses. . . is named after Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer and auditor who in 2008 untangled a dense web of tax fraud and graft involving 23 companies and a total of $230 million linked to the Kremlin and individuals close to the government. Magnitsky was the target of investigations, arrested by authorities and kept in jail without charges. He was beaten and later died under mysterious circumstances in jail just days before his possible release. . . The Magnitsky Act was signed by President Barack Obama in December 2012 as a retaliation against the human rights abuses suffered by Magnitsky. The law at first blocked 18 Russian government officials and businessmen from entering the United States, froze any assets held by U.S. banks and banned their future use of U.S. banking systems. The act was expanded in 2016, and now sanctions apply to 44 suspected human rights abusers worldwide. . ."

(from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Browder)

". . . William Felix Browder (author of Red Notice: A True Story of High Finance, Murder, and One Man's Fight for Justice)is an American-English financier, the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of the investment fund Hermitage Capital Management, an investment firm that at one time was the largest foreign portfolio investor in Russia. . . After the death in prison in 2009 of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer and auditor who had represented his company and conducted an investigation into massive tax fraud related to it, Browder lobbied for Congress to pass the "Magnitsky Act", a law to punish Russian human rights violators. . ."

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Monday, December 18, 2017

Pitch . . .

(from https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-wrongly-says-he-won-t-benefit-gop-tax-plan-n825066)
". . . Trump made another sales pitch for his tax plan . . . repeating his erroneous claim that the Republican bill, if passed, would cost him and other rich Americans “a fortune.”. . . He added that his “very wealthy friends” were “not so happy with me” when it came to the bill . . . In fact, Trump and his family could save more than $1 billion under the House tax plan . . . according to an NBC News analysis. . . "

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