JustThinking.us

I'm just wandering around some this morning, asking myself questions.

So, for lack of a better idea to be perfectly honest about it, let's start here.

As always, you can click on any of the maps below to go to the source material.

This map shows Federal government spending as a percentage of total state GDP for the years 2004-2013.

As you would expect, Virginia benefits mightily from Federal government spending as it surrounds the nation's capital.. Answers to questions regarding New Mexico and Mississippi show up below.

The following provides twenty year cumulative totals of taxes paid into the Federal government as compared to Federal spending received. Surplus, in this conversation means that green states are paying more into the federal government than they are receiving in returned government spending.

Nearly 2/3 of Federal spending went to benefit payments for individuals.

You can read just about the exact same thing below, I'm not really clicking yet this morning.

As for the growth in government spending from 2004-13 ....

I hit this one a couple weeks ago, but I do believe it to be one of the two most important issues facing America today, so ..... I hit it again.

As you would fully expect.

I'm about out of time for today, but going back one conversation .....

I'm thinking we need to step up our defense of the Canadian border.

Kidding!

I'd like to be offering a whizbang solution or failing that, some conclusion for all of the above this morning, but ..... evidently ..... no.

I'm just thinking.

As an aside, that's just a real good looking horse going around there, I don't care what anybody says.

  It's Saturday night. Time to rock.

The Head Buckaroo and I went and saw The BusBoys ... I can't remember where.

I do remember it being one of the funnest shows I have ever seen.

It was made more fun by the fact that we got there way early for a general admission show, met Kevin O'Neil wandering around up in the balcony and then watched the show from right down in front, smashed up against Brian O'Neil's Fender Rhodes piano.

  I may be prejudiced by the experience, but I can't think of many bands that have ever rocked as hard as The BusBoys, or many records I have played more than Minimum Wage Rock And Roll.

  I've waited a long time to write this post mostly because I couldn't find a video that I thought did justice to their live show.

  From Friday Night, probably best known for their unreleased for the better part of 20 years hit single The Boys Are Back In Town from the Eddie Murphey/Nick Nolte film 48 Hours, here is Brian O'Neil on vocals and keyboards, Kevin O'Neil on vocals and bass guitar, Vic Johnson on lead guitar, Mike Radi playing still more keyboards, Steve Felix on the drums and Reggie Leon doing James Brown as good or better than even James Brown did James Brown, along with a bunch of other stuff I don't even know what it is.

The Bus Boys.

KKK and Johnny Soul'd Out

Minimum Wage.

Let the games begin.

The following are some charts taken from research done by the St. Louis Fed.

As always, click on any chart for a trip to the site from whence it came ..... probably.

The following charts were taken from research published by the New York Fed.

Interesting how it is that your "public four year colleges" have increased in cost so much more rapidly than both "private nonprofit" and "public two year colleges".

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. It's nearly impossible and for damn sure expensive to get student loans discharged via bankruptcy.

Just sayin'.

 Seemingly and despite protestations otherwise, most notably from Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, as far as the electorate in the state of Michigan is concerned, Donald Trump is fit to carry the conservative mantle. Particularly in Macomb County Michigan, home of the storied "Reagan Democrats".

On the other side, Bernie Sanders edged Hillary Clinton in a shocking upset as Hillary was holding huge, double digit leads across the board in pre-primary polling. 

From The New York Times, click on this little gear right here  for some very nicely done interactive maps for the raw numbers and percentages from each of Michigan's counties.

Saturday night.

It's time to rock.

Performing live at Atlantic Records 40th Anniversery Concert.

This is Molly Duncan and Roger Ball, aka the Dundee Horns on saxaphones. Onnie McIntyre, wondering just when the hell are we going to start this thing, on guitar. Steve Farrone playing the drums. Alan Gorrie laying down the bass. And Hamish Stuart playing guitar while rocking a kilt like no other.

This is the Average White Band.

Pick Up The Pieces.

On February 25, 1836, Samuel Colt received US patent number 138, later changed to 9430X from the United States Patent Office for his 'revolving gun".

Colt's "revolver" featured a revolving cylinder with five or six bullets along with an innovative cocking device that was a marked improvement from the multiple barrel approach that had been the standard for the multiple shot weapons of the time. Colt's weapons became so popular that revolving pistols, regardless of manufacturer were referred to a Colts for many years.

Colt's interchanging parts systems were as innovative as the design of his weapon and allowed him to adopt production line manufacturing techniques that turned out an estimated 400,000 revolvers in the first 25 years of production.

As always, you can click on either image for a more complete telling of Samuel Colt's story.

Click on the chart below and take a quick trip over to Baby Name Wizard and check out the popularity of your name in America going back to the 1880s,

You can sign up for the additional free app, Baby Name Voyager, that explores trends in baby names in more detail.

I didn't, but maybe you should. There might be something there worth knowing that could come in handy at some cocktail party someday.

You never know.