All posts by Jack

Food Stuff

Bread Works

So, I have been driving myself crazy trying to come up with the number of calories in a cup of flour. The first problem is dealing with the American system of measurement. A cup is not a cup is not a cup. Weights range from 115 to140 grams per cup. I am trending to ~125 grams per cup, for flour. And then there are the calories per cup of flour. Again, they are flying all over the map.

I decided to try the 100 gram approach. How many calories are there per 100 grams? Things seem to stabilize a bit. Values aren’t fluctuating quite as much. Your strong flours seem to be in the 360-365 calorie range, the cake flours in the 300-340 calorie range. But, there still is some variety, even amongst the same type of flours, so I went looking for an authoritative source and found – The USDA.

https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/?query=flour

Here they have a variety of flour types, all the nutrition information you want, and they serve it up in 100 gram portions. So I go and take a look at Flour, bread, white, enriched, unbleached (I am using King Arthur bread flour at the moment) and see lots and lots of nutrient information. They’ve got proximates, minerals, even vitamins; they even have TWO values of calories! I didn’t know about the two values of calories; I always thought a calorie was a calorie, except when it was a fiber. They list calories as energy, measured by the Atwater General Factors and the Atwater Specific Factors. These numbers are not the same. I will leave it to the gentle reader to chase the Atwater Factors down the “Google” or “Duck Duck Go” rabbit hole.

I shall move forward using the Atwater General Factor of 366 Calories for 100 grams of bread flour. I am still debating as to whether a cup of flour is 125 grams or 130 grams.

Politics

Why bother with a Wealth tax?

Looking at some figures, the median net worth of an American household in 2020 is ~$121,000. If you look at older households (65+) which have had a chance to build up equity, the median net worth is ~$266,000. So rather than imposing a wealth tax, let us impose a 90% estate tax on any amount of estate over, say, 100 times the median net worth of the older household. So, any portion of an estate over $26.6 million would be taxed at 90%. Under $26.6 million, that can be tax-free inheritance.

Presumably, there will be those out there who will figure ways to game the system. We need to be vigilant and find ways to block the gamers. The primary reason for such a severe tax on large estates is to prevent the build up of an entitled aristocracy through the accumulation of generational wealth.

As I was looking at the wealth figures, I noticed that while the median net worth was $266,000 for 65+, the average, or mean, net worth was ~$1.2 Million, 4.5 times the mean.

Here is a table showing that more than 99% of households won’t even be affected by the 90% estate tax I have proposed, since they are only at $11 million. Maybe we should use the median household of $121,000 as our basis?

Politics

More thoughts on a minimum Living Wage

I discussed how to set a living minimum wage in an earlier post. Upon further reflection I would like to amend my approach. I was looking at two separate measures to determine a minimum wage: the poverty level of the nation or of an area, and the median household income for an area. The national median household income is $68,700, in 2019.

For the national minimum wage we will use 40% of the median annual income (rounded to the nearest $500)- $27,500. Working 2000 hours a year will result in a hourly wage of $13.75. This should be the national minimum wage which will be adjusted annually as the Census Bureau updates the median income.

In my earlier post I was looking at the HUD Median Family Income Calculation to derive a minimum wage for the more expensive Metro Areas around the country. My initial idea was to use the Extremely Low Income Level (30% of the Median family income) as a basis. Upon reflection, using a 40% value is more appropriate and balances with the national baseline.

Metro AreaMedian Family Income (HUD)Minimum Wage (40% MFI/2000 hours)
National$68,700$13.75
New York City$78,700$15.75
Los Angeles$77,300$15.50
Denver$100,000$20.00
Colorado Springs$81,600$16.25
Chicago$91,000$18.25
San Francisco$143,100$28.50
Seattle$113,300$22.75
Boston$119,000$23.75
DC Metro $126,000$25.25
Minneapolis$103,400$20.75
San Jose$141,600$28.25
Minimum Wage Table

Several other areas that should be addressed are piece work, gig work and personal service work.

For piece work I am thinking of jobs that pay per unit produced rather than the actual time needed to produce the units. This will require some historical information on the time it takes to produce a batch of units. If, on average, it takes 8 hours to produce 100 units then a minimum per unit wage will be 8*$13.75/100 = $1.10 per unit and earn $110 for the eight hour day. As a minimum. Now if a worker is just learning the trade they might produce only 80 units in 8 hours and only earn $88 for the day. An experienced worker may produce 120 units and earn $132 for the day. Of course, this will require honest reviews of how long the actual unit production time is. The same process can be used for filling bushels of produce, painting ‘art’ works, etc.

Gig work is another area that needs to be reviewed. Gig workers are like piece workers in that the work is on demand and produced as needed over a possible indeterminate time. If you don’t produce there is no income. One of the problems with the ‘gig’ economy is that the Ubers and Lyfts claim to be intermediaries connecting the customer with the driver and they will be glad to handle the monetary interchange, for a cut. And they set the rates. I suppose a driver could set a bottom limit to what they would drive for, but I don’t know if they would get many calls after that. I think the gig intermediaries need to have realistic rates for the amount a time their gig “contractor” will take to do a job and ensure their rate is sufficient to cover a minimum wage for the worker and all the withholding and mileage rates that accrue.

Another category of work I am trying to define are the folks who act as rafting guides, tourist guides, people who have to be on-the-job 24 hours a day, travelling and away from home. At a minimum they should be earning the equivalent of a 16 hour day, or $220 a day.

Salaried people must make at least the median family income per year. Below that they should be paid an hourly wage plus overtime as incurred.

Corporations that are paying for labor need to withhold SSA and Medicare from laborers be they employees, contractors, gig workers, piece workers or whatever. If the corporation is paying for the labor they must match the SSA and Medicare and remit the monies to the appropriate office.

Politics

A minimum wage should be a living wage

1 Comment

In the US, the poverty level for a family of four is $26,500 in 2021.

Given that someone working 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year, 2000 hours a year, should be earning, at least, a minimum, LIVING, wage, then a minimum hourly wage of $13.25 is justified. I suggest that this should be considered a minimum living wage for an individual-nationally. *

Now there is another factor to consider, location. HUD has a extremely-low-income category that it tracks.** Basically, it is 30% of the median income of a Metropolitan Area. (don’t forget, median means that half of the families in the area make more than the median and half make less)

Again, we will use the “family of four” as our baseline. In my home county of El Paso, Colorado, the Median Family income is $81,600. 30% of that is $24,500 (rounded to the nearest 100). Divide by 2000 hours, that would create a Minimum wage of $12.25. Since the National Minimum is higher, the higher one applies. Any Metro area with an median family income of less than $90,000 will use the national minimum wage. (rounding results to nearest $.25)

Metro Area Median Family IncMinimum Wage
New York City$78,700National Minimum
San Francisco$143,100$21.50
Boston$119,000$18.00
DC Metro$121,000$19.00
Chicago$91,000$13.50
Seattle$113,300$17.00
Los Angeles$77,300National Minimum
Metro Area Minimum Wages

Rather than going with a flat $15 an hour minimum wage that is being bandied about, I propose this model as one that will change as the local economy changes, growing as needed, rather than waiting for Congress do to anything. The current annual wage of a Congressman is $174,000, ~6.6 times the Poverty Level we are basing our minimum wage on. Why don’t we keep that ratio in place and tie the Congressional wages to 6.6 times the national poverty level for a family of four?

*note this applies to the lower 48 states. Alaska and Hawaii have higher baseline poverty levels.

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2020/01/17/2020-00858/annual-update-of-the-hhs-poverty-guidelines

** The FY 2014 Consolidated Appropriations Act changed the definition of extremely low-income to be the greater of 30/50ths (60 percent) of the Section 8 very low-income limit or the poverty guideline as established by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), provided that this amount is not greater than the Section 8 50% very low-income limit. Consequently, the extremely low income limits may equal the very low (50%) income limits.

General

Tv Shows I am watching

  • His Dark Materials (HBO)
  • The Expanse (Amazon)
  • Doom Patrol (HBO)
  • American Gods (Starz)
  • The Great British Bake Off (Netflix)
  • Death in Paradise (Britbox)
  • Murder in France (MHz)
  • Perfect Murders(MHz)
  • Captain Marleau (MHz)
  • The Brokenwood Mysteries (Acorn)
  • Shakespeare and Hathaway (Britbox)
  • Mock the Week (Britbox)
  • Mystery Road (Acorn)
  • My Life is Murder (Acorn)

Politics

Civics Lesson

In light of the recent insurrection, where citizens invaded the Halls of Congress, disrupting the primary business of our democracy as it was happening, I would like to propose a law:

As a requirement to graduate from high school, or to enter government service, either in the military or civilian branches, you must be able to pass the same civics test new citizens are required to take.

There are 128 questions. You have to correctly answer 12 of 20. The test is broken down into three sections: American Government, American History, Symbols and Holidays. (The Radical Republicans released the latest version of the test in December, 2020 , and their influence is felt. )

I include the government service folks since many are required to swear to defend the Constitution and it would be useful for them to know what they are swearing to.

https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship-resource-center/the-2020-version-of-the-civics-test/128-civics-questions-and-answers-with-mp3-audio-2020-version

Preparing for the worst

Where to go?

An interesting call with family today. My brothers and sisters are scattered around the country, from Alaska to North Carolina (and Colorado, New Mexico, Maryland, California,and, maybe, Delaware). We are all getting to the age of “Where is the best place to retire?”

Several factors are to be considered, least of which is Politics. (We are, primarily, a blue family. I suppose we have some purple leaning folks as well.) General Weather is a prime consideration, along with potential future climate change directions.

I brought up the WATER problem here along the Front Range of Colorado. This is a significant issue in the Mountain West and the Southwest in general. West of the Mississippi it is a major consideration except for the Pacific Northwest Coastal areas.

Colorado Springs has greatly ameliorated its water issues by diverting water from the Colorado River to the Arkansas River and drawing upon that water to feed Colorado Springs via the Southern Water Delivery System. It helps to have senior water rights to a river on the other side of the continental divide.

The West is basically an arid land. Amongst the seven western states along the Colorado River drainage region: California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming, Colorado gets the bulk (51.75%) of the half to the water designated to the northern states (7.5 Million acre-feet), in the 1922 Water Accord.

Unfortunately, evidently the 1910’s-1920’s were a very wet period in the Southwest and the values of allocated water resources may be based on excessive water availability for that decade.

Poor Mexico was supposed to receive at least 10% of the Colorado River flow and was lucky to receive anything . A 2013 Treaty says that Mexico should receive at least 10% of the water from the Colorado River (1.5 M Acre-feet). The Colorado River tributary in Mexico has dried up.

I HAVE DIGRESSED. The original topic of discussion was where to consider moving to in the next few years to enjoy retirement. Several of my sisters are looking to the Carolinas. Moderate weather most of the year , subject to hurricanes, may be getting hotter, even in the highlands. Biggest Problem, part of the Confederacy. Might be fine for white folks, not so sure about Americans.

I am happy in Colorado, though I note that when I moved here in the ’90’s we did not even think about getting a house with air-conditioning. We bought our latest house, about 6 miles east of our original house, and wouldn’t consider it without air-conditioning. (I note the 6 miles east because our old house was on the fault line of the front range and we are now well away from the mountains?) With the new water project, I think Colorado Springs is set for a reliable source of water for the next 50 years.

The rest of the Mountain West viability is really subject to water availability. I have driven up and down the Front Range and aside from Denver, Santa Fe, Colorado Spring and Albuquerque, there isn’t a lot of there, there. I suspect due to water issues more than anything else.

The Great Plains have weather extreme issues. They might be pleasant six months out of the year, but the other six are unbearable.

The New England states might be bearable once climate change becomes more established, but, right now, the extremes are extreme.

Alaska won’t be viable year-round for another 50 years or so. I have family living around Homer, and they really want to get out of Alaska in the winter.

The Eastern parts of Washington, Oregon, and California are part of the Mountain West. The Coastal parts of those States are most viable, at least north of Pebble Beach. They seem to have the temperate climates, water, and overall amenable living conditions. The only problem is whether you can afford to move there.

Some of my siblings are considering setting up family enclaves outside of the US. Costa Rica, Ireland, or, somewhere warm have been suggested. I don’t know. There are possibilities. Where is the best place to be in 20 years?

General, Preparing for the worst

Checking Facts

There are a number of fact-checking organizations out there, confirming or dismissing statements made on the internets. I think it would behoove the social media companies that provide the platforms to use these fact checking organizations to append a link when a social media item is noted in a fact check.

As an example, if a tweet is noted in a fact check, then Twitter should include a link to the fact-check with the tweet. If a tweet has been fact-checked, it probably has a long life.

Facebook may be more problematic, since a lot of Facebook posts may be corrupted through a daisy chain of shares and repostings, but Facebook has the computer power to tie the posts back to a common fact-checked source. ‘Shopped photos are one area Facebook could definitely be good at.

Other social media services will have their own fact-checking issues. I think faked pictures are probably the greatest threat, since they can jump across language barriers.

There is an International Network of Fact Checkers that has a code of principles for a fact-checking site to be accepted as a member. This might serve a a basis for finding checked fact and tying it to the social media item.

There are other fact-checking sites that that run the gamut of the political spectrum and truthfulness, and they have been identified by Media Bias/Fact Check.

Some sort of automated review of fact-checking sites for new social media postings would be most useful to help maintain the integrity of information in the shared mediaverse. The reviews need to be recurring as well, since the original post may not be fact-checked for some time after the posting.

And, of course, the satirical posts need to be readily highlighted. Especially a post taken from a satire site and reposted to a ‘legitimate’ site. The world has gotten so strange that it is hard to differentiate satire from reality, or malicious intent.

General, Liberating Thoughts, Politics

Happy New Year! 2020

Happy New Year! 2020 – the year of Hindsight! I hope it is your best one yet.

2019 wasn’t the best of years, though we did get a chance to visit Ireland, meet some cousins, and attend a Worldcon, as well as a brief visit to Iceland on the way back. Between travel and medical issues I only got to spend half a year on the golf course. The good news is that, medically, I am back in the pink for 2020. Physically, I need to continue the exercising and stretching I began last year with the Silver Sneakers program down at the gym. That should also help on the golf course.

As we enter the election year, I am conflicted. I support Bernie Sanders wholeheartedly. I believe his Democratic Socialism platform is the best for the US moving into the 21st century. Our own Constitution starts with “We the People” and mandates to:

  • form a more perfect union,
  • establish justice,
  • insure domestic tranquility,
  • provide for the common defense,
  • promote the general welfare,
  • secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our descendants,

if that’s not Socialism, I don’t know what would be. But, the man is 78 years old; I really believe he would not survive first first term. I wish he had a groomed successor in his 50’s ready to go, but the other Democrats in the running don’t seem ready to adopt his platform. This also means his VP pick will be critical and I expect that “politics” will give us a less than optimal successor. It will be an interesting year.

I do think it is time for Congress to take back its constitutional duties and to stop ceding them to the executive. Especially sending American sailors, marines and soldiers into combat at the whim of the executive. Congress opened the door about letting the Executive use military force without direct Congressional approval and the Executive has ripped the door off the hinges. Our military actions throughout the world over the past 70 years have not been the actions of a democratic republic promoting its ideals to the world.

What we do seem to be doing is making the world safe for business. Not safe for the people who patronize the businesses but the businesses themselves. And to add some confusion to the mix, businesses are becoming multi-national and and by making the world safer for business we are making it less safe for ourselves, since if the business is engaging in practices our country deems unsafe, they will just move to another country that doesn’t prohibit or limit those practices. The practices are still unsafe and continue to create a harmful environment; it is just at a remove from us. And we still protect the overall business that is engaging in these practices. Realistically, we need to ban/prohibit these businesses from doing business in our country if we find them engaging in practices that we prohibit here because they are harmful.

Business concentrates money, politics concentrates power, concentrated money buys concentrated power, concentrated power can intensify concentrated money. We need to break this cycle. Let’s start by diffusing the power. Let Representatives have a maximum number of constituents, say 100,000 per Representative. Triple the size of the Senate and let the top three vote-getters be seated in each Senatorial election. Set a restriction that a person cannot hold successive terms of office. A Congressional incumbent can not run for the same office, but they can run in the following election when they are not the incumbent.

Congress should also incorporate sunset timelines into every bill, say 20-25 years, then the bill/law expires. Of course Congress may just reaffirm all the sunsetting bills en mass, so we restrict that so no more than half of the sunsetting bills can be approved in a bundle. The rest must be approved on to case-by-case basis.

On the money side:

  • 90% estate taxes on estates in excess of $5,000,000 should help prevent the concentration of wealth.
  • Political contributions can only come from registered voters or Citizens. Get businesses out of politics.
  • All political contributions are publicly available for review.
  • 90% income tax on incomes over $5,000,000 should help as well.

Actually, I have a whole income taxing scheme that I will discuss in a later post.

Happy New Year! Let the Fun Begin!