Taxes and Lifestyle, there is a connection

My thanks to Wally and John for this information and insight

If you hate paying taxes, please do the following.

1. Do not use Medicare
2. Do not use Social Security
3. Do not become a member of the US military, who are paid with tax dollars.
4. Do not ask the National Guard to help you after a disaster.
5. Do not call 911 when you get hurt.
6. Do not call the police to stop intruders in your home.
7. Do not summon the fire department to save your burning home.
8. Do not drive on any paved road, highway, and interstate or drive on any bridge.
9. Do not use public restrooms.
10. Do not send your kids to public schools.
11. Do not put your trash out for city garbage collectors.
12. Do not live in areas with clean air.
13. Do not drink clean water.
14. Do not visit National Parks.
15. Do not visit public museums, zoos, and monuments.
16. Do not eat or use FDA inspected food and medicines.
17. Do not bring your kids to public playgrounds.
18. Do not walk or run on sidewalks.
19. Do not use public recreational facilities such as basketball and tennis courts.
20. Do not seek shelter facilities or food in soup kitchens when you are homeless and hungry.
21. Do not apply for educational or job training assistance when you lose your job.
22. Do not apply for food stamps when you can’t feed your children.
23. Do not use the judiciary system for any reason.
24. Do not ask for an attorney when you are arrested and do not ask for one to be assigned to you by the court.
25. Do not apply for any Pell Grants.
26. Do not use cures that were discovered by labs using federal dollars.
27. Do not fly on federally regulated airplanes.
28. Do not use any product that can trace its development back to NASA.
29. Do not watch the weather provided by the National Weather Service.
30. Do not listen to severe weather warnings from the National Weather Service.
31. Do not listen to tsunami, hurricane, or earthquake alert systems.
32. Do not apply for federal housing.
33. Do not use the internet, which was developed by the military.
34. Do not swim in clean rivers.
35. Do not allow your child to eat school lunches or breakfasts.
36. Do not ask for FEMA assistance when everything you own gets wiped out by disaster.
37. Do not ask the military to defend your life and home in the event of a foreign invasion.
38. Do not use your cell phone or home telephone.
39. Do not buy firearms that wouldn’t have been developed without the support of the US Government and military. That includes most of them.
40. Do not eat USDA inspected produce and meat.
41. Do not apply for government grants to start your own business.
42. Do not apply to win a government contract.
43. Do not buy any vehicle that has been inspected by government safety agencies.
44. Do not buy any product that is protected from poisons, toxins, etc…by the Consumer Protection Agency.
45. Do not save your money in a bank that is FDIC insured.
46. Do not use Veterans benefits or military health care.
47. Do not use the G.I. Bill to go to college.
48. Do not apply for unemployment benefits.
49. Do not use any electricity from companies regulated by the Department of Energy.
50. Do not live in homes that are built to code.
51. Do not run for public office. Politicians are paid with taxpayer dollars.
52. Do not ask for help from the FBI, S.W.A.T, the bomb squad, Homeland Security, State troopers, etc…
53. Do not apply for any government job whatsoever as all state and federal employees are paid with tax dollars.
54. Do not use public libraries.
55. Do not use the US Postal Service.
56. Do not visit the National Archives.
57. Do not visit Presidential Libraries.
58. Do not use airports that are secured by the federal government.
59. Do not apply for loans from any bank that is FDIC insured.
60. Do not ask the government to help you clean up after a tornado.
61. Do not ask the Department of Agriculture to provide a subsidy to help you run your farm.
62. Do not take walks in National Forests.
63. Do not ask for taxpayer dollars for your oil company.
64. Do not ask the federal government to bail your company out during recessions.
65. Do not seek medical care from places that use federal dollars.
66. Do not use Medicaid.
67. Do not use WIC.
68. Do not use electricity generated by Hoover Dam.
69. Do not use electricity or any service provided by the Tennessee Valley Authority.
70. Do not ask the Army Corps of Engineers to rebuild levees when they break.
71. Do not let the Coast Guard save you from drowning when your boat capsizes at sea.
72. Do not ask the government to help evacuate you when all hell breaks loose in the country you are in.
73. Do not visit historic landmarks.
74. Do not visit fisheries.
75. Do not expect to see animals that are federally protected because of the Endangered Species List.
76. Do not expect plows to clear roads of snow and ice so your kids can go to school and so you can get to work.
77. Do not hunt or camp on federal land.
78. Do not work anywhere that has a safe workplace because of government regulations.
79. Do not use public transportation.
80. Do not drink water from public water fountains.
81. Do not whine when someone copies your work and sells it as their own. Government enforces copyright laws.
82. Do not expect to own your home, car, or boat. Government organizes and keeps all titles.
83. Do not expect convicted felons to remain off the streets.
84. Do not eat in restaurants that are regulated by food quality and safety standards.
85. Do not seek help from the US Embassy if you need assistance in a foreign nation.
86. Do not apply for a passport to travel outside of the United States.
87. Do not apply for a patent when you invent something.
88. Do not adopt a child through your local, state, or federal governments.
89.Do not use elevators that have been inspected by federal or state safety regulators.
90. Do not use any resource that was discovered by the USGS.
91. Do not ask for energy assistance from the government.
92. Do not move to any other developed nation, because the taxes are much higher.
93. Do not go to a beach that is kept clean by the state.
94. Do not use money printed by the US Treasury.
95. Do not complain when millions more illegal immigrants cross the border because there are no more border patrol agents.
96. Do not attend a state university.
97. Do not see any doctor that is licensed through the state.
98. Do not use any water from municipal water systems.
99. Do not complain when diseases and viruses, that were once fought around the globe by the US government and CDC, reach your house.
100. Do not work for any company that is required to pay its workers a livable wage, provide them sick days, vacation days, and benefits.
101. Do not expect to be able to vote on election days. Government provides voting booths, election day officials, and voting machines which are paid for with taxes.
102. Do not ride trains. The railroad was built with government financial assistance.

The fact is, we pay for the lifestyle we expect. 

Without taxes, our lifestyles would be totally different and much harder. The less we pay, the less we get in return.  By attacking taxes we really only reward corporations and the wealthy. Low taxes weaken our infrastructure and way of life. 

So next time you object to paying taxes or fight to abolish taxes for corporations and the wealthy, keep this quote in mind…

“I like to pay taxes. With them, I buy civilization.” ~Oliver Wendell Holme

Did you ever wake up and wonder?

Every day we wake up to a new reality. Do you ever think that your reality today and every day is based entirely on your own hopes and fears, thoughts, and feelings, words, and deeds?

Believe it, act on it so your world becomes easy to understand

Alzheimer's: Can a challenging job and exercise keep the condition at bay?

As we age, many of us fear the onset of dementia or Alzheimer's, there is some interesting research that shows that you can train your body and your mind to help, if not prevent, the onset of dementia. The following is taken from a story written by Yella Hewings-Martin, Ph.D., published in July 2017. The full story is here.

Needless to say, understanding how lifestyle and targeted interventions affect the brain is complex. However, keeping the brain and body active throughout life certainly seems to have positive effects on brain health.

A study presented by Bianca Bier, Ph.D., from the University of Montreal in Canada, looked at the effects of two different types of brain training.

Single attention training allowed participants to focus on one of two tasks and practice it repeatedly. But in the divided attention training group, participants performed two different tasks at the same time, controlling which one they paid the most attention to.

In a study of 30 healthy adults, these two different training schemes had very different effects on the brain. For instance, divided attention training activated those regions of the brain responsible for multitasking, but this plateaued halfway through the study.

Meanwhile, single attention training resulted in rapid activation of regions responsible for the particular task the participants were performing up to the halfway study point, but it declined afterward.

Dr. Bier explained that this is important as it means that all brain training exercises are not equal and that it will be important to choose the right type for individual patients.

This assessment was echoed by Narlon Silva, a Ph.D. student at Western University in Ontario, Canada, who looked at physical exercise and cognitive function.

His study included seniors who had all self-reported some cognitive decline. He compared regular mixed physical exercise - which consisted of aerobic and strength training - with an additional group that performed a new form of mind-motor training.

In this type of training, an instructor demonstrates a stepping pattern on a mat that is marked with four columns of equal squares. As the instructor moves along the mat, he places his feet on different squares, creating a stepping pattern that can range from simple to complex.

Participants were then asked to copy the stepping pattern demonstrated to them in an exercise lasting 15 minutes. These exercises were repeated three times per week for 24 weeks.

Both groups improved their cognitive function after 24 weeks, but there was no difference between the groups. However, during a subsequent follow-up at 52 weeks, the mind-motor training group had improved significantly more than the exercise-only group.

This led Silva to speculate that the training tested in the study had a delayed effect, and that, as Dr. Bier had found, all training is not equal.

The data presented at AAIC certainly point to exercise, cognitive training, and cognitive complexity in daily life as all having a positive influence in preventing a decline in old age. But do scientists know anything about the underlying causes?

The findings were only significant for white study participants, who showed that one particular variant of this gene was associated with higher exercise levels during the study period. However, regardless of which variant of the gene a particular participant carried, all had reverted back to pre-intervention exercise levels at the 12-month follow-up.

Prof. Rosso speculated that higher dopamine levels may play a role in sticking to exercise regimes in lifestyle interventions, but more work is needed.

Scientists are continuing their search for the best methods to keep our brains young and protect them from the deadly neurodegeneration that occurs in Alzheimer's disease.

Top online courses to improve writing

In retirement, many people take on new adventures and new hobbies. Some take up writing so the following would be of great interest to those bloggers and writers who are interested in improving their writing skill sets. A blogger named Arthur Gutch has chosen his 10 ten online writing classes. The full story is here, but I have listed the top three from Arthurs list below:

Some of the courses are free, some cost as much as a normal college class, but all of them give you the opportunity for real growth in your writing career

1.           Writing Science Fiction   Offered by MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), this class is free and includes all assignments and materials. It's a non-credit class focusing on the world of science fiction writing.

2.           English Composition  Offered by Arizona State University, this class includes a number of writing projects, and helps you to develop research and critical thinking skills. The class is free to take, and students who earn a C or above can pay $600 to receive a college credit for the class.

3.           How to Write About Murder  The Australian Writer's Centre offers this course for true crime writers, as well as crime fiction authors. It teaches how to research murder cases, using both sides of the story as POV. The price is $195.