Welcome

Welcome to my blog http://www.skegley.blogspot.com/ . CAVEAT LECTOR- Let the reader beware. This is a Christian Conservative blog. It is not meant to offend anyone. Please feel free to ignore this blog, but also feel free to browse and comment on my posts! You may also scroll down to respond to any post.

For Christian American readers of this blog:


I wish to incite all Christians to rise up and take back the United States of America with all of God's manifold blessings. We want the free allowance of the Bible and prayers allowed again in schools, halls of justice, and all governing bodies. We don't seek a theocracy until Jesus returns to earth because all men are weak and power corrupts the very best of them.
We want to be a kinder and gentler people without slavery or condescension to any.

The world seems to be in a time of discontent among the populace. Christians should not fear. God is Love, shown best through Jesus Christ. God is still in control. All Glory to our Creator and to our God!


A favorite quote from my good friend, Jack Plymale, which I appreciate:

"Wars are planned by old men,in council rooms apart. They plan for greater armament, they map the battle chart, but: where sightless eyes stare out, beyond life's vanished joys, I've noticed,somehow, all the dead and mamed are hardly more than boys(Grantland Rice per our mutual friend, Sarah Rapp)."

Thanks Jack!

I must admit that I do not check authenticity of my posts. If anyone can tell me of a non-biased arbitrator, I will attempt to do so more regularly. I know of no such arbitrator for the internet.











Sunday, October 26, 2014

SS BENEFITS RISE LESS THAN COL FOR THIRD YEAR IN A ROW. SENIORS- LET'S ALL THANK THE AUTHOR OF HOPE AND CHANGE!


Social Security Benefits to Rise Less Than 2% for Third Year

Paper check from the United States Treasury
Alamy
By STEPHEN OHLEMACHER

WASHINGTON -- Millions of older Americans who rely on federal benefits will get a 1.7 percent increase in their monthly payments next year, the government announced Wednesday.

It's the third year in a row the increase will be less than 2 percent.

The annual cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, affects payments to more than 70 million Social Security recipients, disabled veterans and federal retirees. That's more than a fifth of the country.

The increase amounts to about $20 a month for the typical Social Security recipient.

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"The COLA helps beneficiaries of all ages maintain their standard of living, keeping many from falling into poverty by providing partial protection against inflation," said Jo Ann Jenkins, who heads AARP.

The government announced the benefit increase Wednesday, when it released the latest measure of consumer prices. By law, the increase is based on inflation, which is well below historical averages so far this year.

For example, gasoline prices have dropped over the past year while the cost of clothing is up by less than 1 percent, according to the September inflation report released Wednesday.

The cost of meat, fish and eggs is up by nearly 10 percent, but the overall cost of food is up just 3.1 percent.

Medical costs, which disproportionately affect older Americans, are up 1.9 percent over the past year.

The Beginning of COLA

Congress enacted automatic increases for Social Security beneficiaries in 1975, when inflation was high and there was a lot of pressure to regularly raise benefits.

For the first 35 years, the COLA was less than 2 percent only three times. Next year, the COLA will be less than 2 percent for the fifth time in six years. This year's increase was 1.5 percent, the year before it was 1.7 percent.

Social Security is financed by a 12.4 percent payroll tax on the first $117,000 of a worker's wages -- half is paid by the worker and half is paid by the employer. Next year, the wage cap will increase to $118,500, the Social Security Administration said.

About 59 million retirees, disabled workers, spouses and children get Social Security benefits. The average monthly payment is $1,192.

The COLA also affects benefits for about 4 million disabled veterans, 2.5 million federal retirees and their survivors, and more than 8 million people who get Supplemental Security Income, the disability program for the poor.

By law, the cost-of-living adjustment is based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, or CPI-W, a broad measure of consumer prices generated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It measures price changes for food, housing, clothing, transportation, energy, medical care, recreation and education.

Blame Low Inflation

The COLA is calculated by comparing consumer prices in July, August and September each year with prices in the same three months from the previous year. If prices go up over the course of the year, benefits go up, starting with payments delivered in January.

"In the last several years we have had extremely low inflation," said economist Polina Vlasenko, a research fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research. "Basically because inflation is low, the cost-of-living adjustment is going to be low, too. It's supposed to just compensate you for inflation."

Advocates for seniors say the government's measure of inflation doesn't accurately reflect price increases faced by older Americans because they tend to spend more of their income on health care. The rise in medical costs has slowed in recent years, but people hit with serious illnesses can still see their individual costs soar.

People on Medicare, the government health insurance program for older Americans, usually have their Part B premiums deducted from Social Security payments. The premiums, which cover outpatient care, are scheduled to stay the same next year -- $104.90 a month.

However, federal retirees face a 3.8 percent increase in their health insurance premiums next year, said Joseph A. Beaudoin, president of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association.

"News of the cost-of-living adjustment for the coming year always is eagerly awaited by the countless Americans who rely on the increase to keep up with the rising price of food, housing, transportation and medical care," Beaudoin said in a statement. "However, despite the partial relief this COLA will provide, the announcement is a reminder that our method for calculating the increasing cost of goods and services is out of sync with the reality faced by millions of federal [retirees], Social Security recipients and military retirees."

-Associated Press Writer Martin Crutsinger contributed to this story.

Says a lot about "hope and change", doesn't it, Pdge! Thx Pidge F!

3 PICTURES WORTH A BILLION WORDS!   SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT !!!

 

 
VERY GOOD QUESTION!!

 

 
Nuff Said?

 

Share this PLEASE ! Our country depends on it....

1967 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe preserved by a patriotic Marine ... Thx Ramey H!

1967 Chevrolet Corvette Coupe Unrestored with 2,996 Miles
 In the fall of 1966, 30-year-old Don McNamara of Colorado Springs, Colorado , celebrated his retirement from the United States Marine Corps with a trip to Las Vegas . It was the one and only time he would visit Sin City, and it proved fortuitous when Lady Luck intervened and a slot machine Don was playing paid out the massive sum of $5,000. By the time he returned to his parents' home where he lived, he knew what he would do with his winnings. He asked his father, a car salesman, to take the money and buy a new Corvette.
At first glance, Don's dream car appeared to be just out of reach; the features he specified pushed the price tag more than $500 past the $5,000 mark, but his father's persistence paid off when he found a dealership in Lamar, Colorado, about 125 miles away, that agreed to sell a 427 coupe for under $5,000. Built on May 10, 1967, and delivered to McNamara on May 20 by Ray Motor Co. in Lamar, the Corvette coupe was exactly as Don had ordered, with the L36 427/390 HP engine, M20 4-speed manual transmission and 3.36 Positraction rear end; tinted glass, telescopic steering wheel, AM/FM radio, side exhaust and bolt-on aluminum wheels. Don's innate patriotism influenced his choice of colors: Ermine White paint, Red Stinger stripe and Red interior - a matchup he completed by replacing the factory Black wall rubber with a set of double White-and-Blue stripe tires.

Don drove his new Corvette only sparingly for the first several months, until it inexplicably disappeared. When asked of its whereabouts, he would always answer that he no longer owned it. And yet, rumors that it was parked in his heated single-car garage persisted for years afterward, even after Don McNamara passed away in July of 2011. Only then was the truth revealed: the Corvette had been there the entire time, a full 45 years, discovered by the neighboring couple McNamara had befriended in his later years and to whom he had willed his entire estate.
Recorded interviews with the couple uncovered the story not only of the Corvette but of its enigmatic owner as well. Don McNamara was a unique man, one who loved his country and surrounded himself with its symbols of freedom and individuality while maintaining an intensely private life. He never married or had a family, never had a checking account or a credit card and always presented himself as barely getting by. He had decided to put the Corvette under wraps when after the first year the time came to pay license and insurance renewal fees, and began driving it only late at night, away from prying eyes and ever faithful to the pursuit of happiness. When the Corvette's odometer approached the 3,000-mile mark in the mid-Eighties, he retired it from the road for the rest of his life.
When the Corvette was removed from the garage in 2012, the late McNamara's next-door neighbor of 22 years saw it for the very first time. It had been discovered wrapped in a car cover, over which was draped a shipping blanket decorated with large Stars and Stripes and Marine Corps flags. It was in a virtually flawless state of preservation, entirely original except for a few personal touches under the hood comprising polished Edelbrock aluminum valve covers and four Corvette emblems mounted on the air cleaner. McNamara's Team USA Olympic jacket was draped over the back of the passenger seat, another reminder of his love of country.

The Don McNamara Corvette coupe was purchased from the executors of the estate in 2012 by Dr. Mark Davis, who arranged for it to be unveiled and displayed in the entrance to the Bloomington Gold Great Hall in June of that year. At that time, as now, its odometer showed 2,996 miles. Until its unveiling there, it had been seen by only 12 people. It had only ever been driven by Don McNamara. Only two other people were ever known to have sat in the driver's seat, and no one had ever occupied the passenger seat. It had never seen the rain or been washed with water and since its discovery had never been cleaned, sat in or touched.

The car instantly caused a sensation in the Corvette community. Numerous high profile Corvette experts including John Rettick have thoroughly documented the car with over 4,000 detail photographs, which along with the car itself serve as in-depth educational resources for Corvette restorers.

The Don McNamara Corvette is not only quite likely one of the most well-preserved, lowest-mileage and exceptionally original 1967 Corvettes in existence, it is also accompanied by exquisitely unspoiled documentation. The paperwork was kept by McNamara in a bank safe deposit box and remains in crisp as-new condition. It includes the original window sticker, showroom sales brochure, Chevrolet warranty book with Protect-O-Plate, the original keys and fob and a duplicate set of keys; the original owner's manual and plastic pouch, dealer record book issued by Ray Motor Co., a cashier's check for a deposit and a receipt for the balance of the purchase price, the original State of Colorado license registration and title issued to McNamara dated May 22, 1967 and the NCRS Shipping Data Report confirming delivery at Ray Motor Company in Lamar, Colorado.

Also included are McNamara's last driver's license, a photograph of the car he always carried with him in his wallet and video and photos documenting the car's discovery, its removal from the garage and its unveiling and display at Bloomington Gold 2012. Documentation is contained in two 4-inch binders that also include CDs containing copies of all documents and photos of Don McNamara's dream Corvette.

Yep, 2,996 original miles...
- Unrestored with 2,996 original miles
- One owner until July 2011
- Original 427/390 HP V-8, M20 4-speed and 3.36 Positraction rear end
- Original paint, interior and chrome
- Documented with practically every original document including the window sticker, Protect-O-Plate, purchase receipt, title, registration, photos and owner's manual
- The original owner, Don McNamara is the only person to have driven the car
- 3 people are known to have sat in the car
- No one has sat in the passenger seat
- Factory original side exhaust
- Telescopic steering wheel
- Tinted glass, AM/FM radio
- Original Kelsey Hayes bolt-on wheels
- Double whitewall and Blue stripe tires
- Last driven regularly in October 1967 and not driven since the mid1 980s
- Stored in a dry Colorado Springs garage for over 40 years under a car cover
- Displayed in the entrance to the Bloomington Gold Great Hall in 2012
- Mr. McNamara's belongings remain in the car
- Discovery photos from McNamara's garage
- Unveiling video from 2012 Bloomington Gold
- One of the best preserved, lowest mile, original 1967 big block Corvettes in existence
 

Burma Shave Signs ... Thx Ramey H!


 
Burma Shave: Â  To My Old-As-Dirt Friends
 
 
 

For those who never saw any of the Burma Shave signs,Â
Here is a quick lesson in our history of the 1930's and '40's.Â
Before there were interstates, when everyone drove the old 2 lane roads,Â
Burma Shave signs would be posted all over the countryside in farmers' fields.Â
They were small red signs with white letters.Â
Five signs, about 100 feet apart, each contain 1 line of a 4 line couplet.....Â
And the obligatory 5th sign advertising Burma Shave, a popular shaving cream.
 

DON'T STICK YOUR ELBOWÂ
OUT SO FAR
IT MAY GO HOME
IN ANOTHER CAR.
Burma Shave
 
TRAINS DON'T WANDER
ALL OVER THE MAP
'CAUSE NOBODY SITS
IN THE ENGINEER'S LAP
 
Burma Shave 
 
SHE KISSED THE HAIRBRUSH
BY MISTAKE
SHE THOUGHT IT WAS
HER HUSBAND JAKEÂ
Burma Shave

DON'T LOSE YOUR HEAD
TO GAIN A MINUTE
YOU NEED YOUR HEAD
YOUR BRAINS ARE IN IT
 
Burma Shave 
 
DROVE TOO LONG
DRIVER SNOOZING
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT
IS NOT AMUSINGÂ
Burma Shave
 
BROTHER SPEEDER
LET'S REHEARSE
ALL TOGETHER
GOOD MORNING, NURSEÂ
Burma Shave
 
CAUTIOUS RIDER
TO HER RECKLESS DEAR
LET'S HAVE LESS BULL
AND A LITTLE MORE STEERÂ
Burma Shave
 
SPEED WAS HIGH
WEATHER WAS NOT
TIRES WERE THIN
X MARKS THE SPOT
Burma Shave

THE MIDNIGHT RIDE
OF PAUL FOR BEER
LED TO A WARMER
HEMISPHERE

Burma Shave
 
AROUND THE CURVE
LICKETY-SPLIT
BEAUTIFUL CAR
WASN'T IT?Â
Burma Shave

NO MATTER THE PRICE
NO MATTER HOW NEW
THE BEST SAFETY DEVICE
IN THE CAR IS YOUÂ
Burma Shave
 
 
A GUY WHO DRIVES
A CAR WIDE OPEN
IS NOT THINKIN'
HE'S JUST HOPIN'Â
Burma Shave

AT INTERSECTIONS
LOOK EACH WAY
A HARP SOUNDS NICE
BUT IT'S HARD TO PLAYÂ
Burma Shave
 
BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEEL
EYES ON THE ROAD
THAT'S THE SKILLFUL
DRIVER'S CODEÂ
Burma Shave
 
THE ONE WHO DRIVES
WHEN HE'S BEEN DRINKING
DEPENDS ON YOU
TO DO HIS THINKING
 
Burma Shave 
 
CAR IN DITCH
DRIVER IN TREE
THE MOON WAS FULL
AND SO WAS HE.
Burma Shave

PASSING SCHOOL ZONE
TAKE IT SLOW
LET OUR LITTLE
SHAVERS GROWÂ
Burma Shave
 
HE SAW THE TRAIN
AND TRIED TO DUCK IT 

HE KICKED THE GAS 
AND THEN THE BUCKET !!
Burma Shave
 
A MAN  A MISS,
A CAR  A CURVE,
HE KISSED THE MISS,
AND MISSED THE CURVE,
BURMA SHAVE
 
 
Do these bring back any old memories ?Â
If not, you're merely young!!!
Â

History of a mystery in cartoons ... Thx Ramey H!

History of a mystery in cartoons

These are goooood! 



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