Fire Us Up

George Will makes the mock of the cliff divers and cliff dwellers.

Comments

[Gus]

Ignatz, my Mother passed away in Feb 2011. The estate will close before the end of the year. I took care of my Mother, I found her dead, I arranged her funeral, I cleared out her house, had an estate sale, had a couple rooms carpeted and painted, cut the grass, in her last year on earth, she broke her leg falling from a ladder, she called me, 28 miles away, when 2 siblings lived within walking distance. While in the hospital having her knee replaced, her house was flooded. I took care of her medical, insurance and home insurance problems. I found her dead, and called my siblings. The day I found her, I gave her car keys to my older brother who was broke and had a blown engine on his car. We buried Mother at Arlington National Cemetery last July. My older brother made the trip, but had a tantrum at the hotel and did not show up for the MASS or BURIAL. His wife and son did show up.
He is the ONLY ONE holding up the closing of her estate. My mother worked for the second largest law firm in WISCONSIN..IN PROBATE. She DID NOT HAVE A WILL!!!!!!!!

[Old Lurker]

Mel I do know how much it has changed and also how good their intel is in catching folks. The game changed when the staffers inside the banks started selling CDs of data.

The penalties are so harsh the risk reward formula is now out of balance.

[Ignatz Ratzkiwatzki]

You have my sympathies Gus.
I have bought several properties from battling heirs and potential heirs who dump stuff off for peanuts just to get out of each others hair or make a quick buck.

An aunt by marriage died with an absolutely legitimate, iron clad trust to take care of her estate of a few hundred grand and a few hundred acres. Woodwork relatives still appeared and wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars before being tossed out of court on their ears.
It's sick.

[Old Lurker]

Gmax you will find good advisors in Boca Raton and Denver. The bigger name is in Denver. You don't have to look too hard for them both.

[Gus]

Oh Ignatz, I forgot to mention that I sold her home too.

No help. Nothing.

[Clarice]

I'm with DoT. I think the dems know that if Obamacare is enforced as written, my pitchfork business will be red hot.
I'm with Iggy on the effect of inheritances,
Jane , there's no one I'd rather have as the barkeeper.
Narciso will have a special stool there to coach us on history and espionage.

[Old Lurker]

Iggy why do you think I keep trying to hook your brother up with my sister. THEN there would be justice. :-) Now that we have Gus' brother in the mix, I should be able to dump my sister soon! Course that would mean I would have to talk to her to arrange the intro....so never mind.

[Gus]

Ignatz, fortunately for me, I am 1 of 5. My 2 younger brothers are FANTASTIC. One is former USAF Fighter pilot, now with the State Dept, diplomatic Security. The other a Suburban Denver Sheriffs Deputy. I am the middle of 5. I have a quorum and 3 votes. I've handled everything, and the Law firm that Mom worked for....knows me, and only me. They are power of attorney, and I am the power.

[Clarice]

Gus,Iam sorry you've had to endure that.

[Jane - Mock the Media!]

Dot,

I agree with the leverage - however I was thinking the way to play it was to demand to overturn the entire bill and start again. I think your plan is a lot more realistic.

And even tho the proposed changes will help my state, I am more than happy to root against them because of the people asking for them.

[boatbuilder]

Frau--That Jonah G article on Nock was very good. Thanks.
I think that you are mostly right about us JoMers--but I think Jonah's take is what most of us aspire to--at least on our better days.

[Gus]

Danube, the only technique that will work for Boehner and US, is for Boehner or McConnell to actually get in OBAMA'S face in private. To play hard ball, and to tell Obama to MAKE LOVE to HIMSELF.

As if he doesn't already.

[narciso]

That took me out of my happy place, there Gus, the various details that Kerry and co, are now
verklempt about, are features not bugs, all part of the mechanism of implenentation,

[Rick Ballard]

OL,

My Italian friends have indicated the same problem regarding tax authorities. No more trips to Gruyere for cheese tasting. They have also lost all faith in the euro. It's back to basics - the return of Au to Mother Gaia in the sure and certain hope of a future resurrection (with maps for the kids).

You really don't need that big a hole at $2 million per cubic foot.

[narciso]

No visiting the Whimsley Dell Cheese shop, Rick,
of course, with 'Mumbles' Monti, out they are still insisting ala Chip Dillard 'all is well;

[Melinda Romanoff on Kindle]

Ah, oro di tufa. One of my favorite dishes.

Gmax-

Ask among friends, on a hard line, as OL suggested.

[Marcia in Phoenix]

The latest from Roger L.Simon is riveting. JiB can no doubt add more color to the translation and pick up some of the background audio.

This is a must-see video re one brave, lone dissenter to sharia:

http://pjmedia.com/rogerlsimon/

[Ralph L]

It's very, very rare compared to the number of kids who participate
I hope the permanent brain damage is also rare, but with some of these guys, how can they tell?

Gus, my great-grandfather, also a Gus, a lawyer and judge, died in 1935 pushing 90 without a will and deeply in debt. (Clarice, he was also Bill Otis's g-gf). My great aunt rented an apartment in her parent's mansion for decades after. My grandfather, also a lawyer and the county clerk since 1929--and notoriously picky about paperwork--died in 1964. They found he'd never finished settling his father's estate, apparently because of some nearly worthless land of questionable title. I think he'd inherited his mother's chronic depression, as he did her pancreatic cancer.

[Old Lurker]

Interesting about your Italian friends Rick. Everybody wants the OPM.

[Janet]

Agree, Marcia. That is a great video.

[Captain Hate]

Speaking of being out of one's happy place, I found out tonight about how a former coworker died right before Thanksgiving and nobody told me until a mutual friend who'd been out of town called me. He'd been in bad shape for a while so this is no big surprise but it still rocks you on your heels to find out. He was one of the smarter people I knew at the third rate utility, both in raw smarts and cutting through all the bullshit at that place. He was the only person who made working there tolerable and even fun at times. His true vocation was a math teacher but he figured out he couldn't afford a house and a Corvette doing that; although he kept his hand in it by tutoring. He could've done better if, like me, he'd left that dump although he played the game better than I did and places like that depend on people having low self esteem. The last time I tried to call him my call ended up being transferred to his half brother (with whom he shared an awesome Lionel train collection) because he was in the hospital so I knew things weren't looking good for the long haul.

I should've called him up to rag on him when Saint Ignatius, where he attended and taught, lost in the football playoffs to a public school just to rag on him one last time. Even though he was Catholic he hated Notre Dame almost as much as Penn State (every time JoePa suffered a televised defeat we were on the phone for a significant portion of it).

[Janet]

...and boatbuilder, thanks for pointing out the Nock link by Frau.

[Clarice]

Sorry, CH. From time to time I learn of the death of old colleagues with whom I'd been out of touch.Because I am usually away when it happens and don't learn of it until much later, it's an odd feeling...as if they still are around out there somewhere.

Niters.

[Jim Miller]

Ignatz - Here's a possible example for your generalization about inheritances: According to news reports, that mall shooter in Oregon had just received a big inheritance, big enough so that he was planning on living on interest from it.

I can't help but wonder if that tipped him over the edge.

[Gus]

Clarice. You are a CLASS ACT. Thank you for being a friend Clarice.

[Captain Hate]

It is an odd feeling and one I'm not dealing with as well as I was hoping. Thanks for the comment.

[Captain Hate]

Between Gus and Iggy, I've become somewhat more appreciative of my brother than I'd have previously thought possible.

[Danube of Thought on IPad]

LUN for the WSJ take on the Obamacare implementation laff riot.

The GOP should enshrine that law, exactly as is, as a sort of Museum for the Display of Democratic Life Planning. Much as Cuba and North Korea remain useful as Museums of the Miracle of Communism.

GOP agenda: after January 20, we'll negotiate tax reform. If Obama compromises significantly with us, ee'll move on to entitlement reform. And if he's a good boy in those negotiations, then and only then will we discuss his signature achievement, Obamacare. And our opening offer is repeal.

[narciso]

My late Philly Cop friend was a lot like that, before I came to know you all, he was possibly
the only person I could really talk to and he's get most of the references, His health had really deteriorated around the time, I asked around the JOM legal clinic, a little over two years ago,

[Ralph L]

he'd get most of the references
We're faking it. It's much easier on the internet.

[Ralph L]

I can't imagine any entitlement or tax changes that the Democrat leaders would sign onto that would actually do some good and not make things worse in some way or other. Unlike Clinton, they're not going to turn into Eisenhower Republicans.

[Danube of Thought on IPad]

CNBC:

"Only 15 states have told the federal government they plan to operate health insurance exchanges under President Barack Obama's reform law, leaving Washington with the daunting task of creating online marketplaces for two-thirds of the country.

"On the eve of a federal deadline for states to say whether they will run their own exchanges, a top health care policy official told lawmakers that the exchanges will start enrolling eligible families starting on Oct. 1."

[OldTimer]

In search of a charismatic communicator...

http://spectator.org/archives/2012/12/12/replacing-speaker-boehner

[Dave (in MA)]

I get most of the references. Maybe I should start commenting like this,

[Danube of Thought on IPad]

There is an opportunity--a very golden opportunity--to cross the enemy's T and defeat him in detail. Think Tsushima Straits. Think Surigao Straits. Hell, think Salamis.

Byron York:

"Amid the other momentous events coming in 2013 -- bitter fights over federal spending, debt, entitlements and immigration -- the biggest story of the year, and of 2014 as well, will be the arrival of Obamacare in the lives of every American.

"For millions of people, Obamacare will mean, alone or in some combination: higher insurance bills, unwanted changes in status at work, higher taxes, loss of employer-based health insurance and a bewildering bureaucracy that will make today's already complex insurance maze seem downright simple."

[Frau Steingehirn]

Gus, you are made of special stuff and your mother recognized it.

boatbuilder and Janet, glad you liked the article about Albert Jay Nock.

[boatbuilder]

I'm going to read up on him,Frau. His partiality to Belgium suggests that he has been reincarnated as JiB.

[Manuel Transmission]

Matt, Some of it came from crash research from the military as well.

Right out of school, I got to crash a lot of cars and aircraft, all while campaigning my own and others' race cars. I'd probably still be doing it, except that family life wasn't all that compatable.

Optimized seatbelts, crashworthy crew seats and testing others' efforts provided a rare insight into many of the details that mattered in saving lives.

[bgates]

Frau, this week's Bible study included some readings from Isaiah. I passed the Nock article on to the guy leading the class, and I expect he'll appreciate it as much as I did.

leaving Washington with the daunting task of creating online marketplaces for two-thirds of the country

I predict Ear Leader will be undaunted. "I don't want to hear excuses. Just get the marketplaces set up", he'll say dauntlessly.

[daddy]

you don't know anyone's and I do mean ANYONE'S true nature until they are or are about to become an heir.

I may be wrong since it's from long ago reading, but I believe that Leo Tolstoy had a mid life crisis moment where he despised himself for owning anything, therefore he decided to put all his property and all his money in his wife's name and under her control. Then a few years later when he awoke from that "I don't want to own anything "phase, she refused to give it back to him and pissed him off considerably...Something like that.

[bunkerbuster]

Republicans won the popular vote in five of the six presidential elections preceding the end of the Cold War and have lost five of six thereafter.
Unless and until they understand why that is, they will only win the occasional election by luck.

[peter]

I have a theory about intrafamilial estate battles. Often the money is irrelevant, but the siblings bicker to settle old emotional scores, along the lines of Mom always loved you best, sort of thing. Of course, some times the money is very relevant.

[rse]

Aye intrafamilial estate battles and the classic problem when one or two siblings become professionals and others choose to just get by with far more leisure time. Should their life circumstances then be equalized? What about the tendency for professionals to marry professionals? So sad all the cousins are not living comparably.

I agree with Clarice about finding out someone you knew well is gone much later means there was no finality. But it also means they are in your mind at the age you knew them. A bit like JFK--never aging.

[Melinda Romanoff]

As co-executor of my grandfather's estate, my uncle sued my mother, who cared for him for the last 6 years of his life, while caring for my disabled and declining father. Ran the meter up and cleaned her out so as to force her to settle.

That was 11 years ago.

He's now bankrupt, turned out he ran his business a tad too Ponzi-ish.

My father had a saying from family lore: "Time wounds all heels."

Truer words were never spoken.

[bunkerbuster]

Was interested to learn why Aetna's Bertolini thinks Obamacare will double premiums. Of course, turns out, he doesn't actually think that:
from bloomberg.com:
``Premiums are likely to increase 25 percent to 50 percent on average in the small-group and individual markets, he said, citing projections by his Hartford, Connecticut-based company.
High Estimate
``The one-time jump in rates also includes increases in costs that would come even without the law, Bertolini said.''

But with a little Republican math, who knows, maybe they'll triple.

[NK]

Peter@657-- shrewd observation. I've done legal work for a family real estate company for 20 years. Through dumb luck and timing, I was able to get them to have a truce long enough in 2007 to sell out at the the top of the market-- they did extraordinarily well. they hold one property -- and they bicker to this day. One side are 3 brothers aged 55-67, personally I believe their bickering is all about who got the most pancakes from mom in 1962.

[NK]

According to Aetna Obamacare will raise premiums 4-8K per employee (depending on lots of variables). Sounds about right-- goodbye group healthcare for milllions of workers, their employers will dump them into exchanges and buy their own insurance for their families. Obamacare will do exactly what conservatives said it would do. BB is such a schmuck he can't even figure out he proves the conservative case. DoT- I do disagree with you, Obama will never-- ever -- amend Obamacare, instead his fascist bureacrats will just enforce the few provisions that help them politically, and ignore the stuff the voters hate. Remember, in 2008-2009, the only part of Obamaacre Obama cared about was the expanded Medicaid entitlement. He's a giant welfare industry guy, so as long as there was that bribe for do nothing Medicaid beneficiaries and their immigrant doctors and healthcare workers, BarryI was satisfied. The insurance market? he just wants that to go away.

[NK]

MelR, Gus, Ig-- sorry to hear all these family histories of acrimony. I should consider myself very lucky-- very little drama like that dor me. Regards.

[Clarice]

My grandmother left her jewelry--and it wasn't much--to my mother for some reason. She ceded it evenly to her siblings. Good grief, with all the troubles in the world why would anyone want to add to them by behaving badly to your closest family?

[شات عراقنا]

thank you

[دردشة عراقنا]

thank you