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Add another negative ranking for Louisiana: 4th worst state to live in for those 65 and older (but we beat ‘Bama—again)

February 18, 2020 by tomaswell

If you’re 65 or over and live in Louisiana, get out now.

If you’re not yet 65 and live in Louisiana, get out before you reach that age.

According to 24/7 Wall Street, that online service that does surveys on government, consumerism and just about anything else, Louisiana is the 4th worst state in which older Americans can reside.

Worse even than Alabama (though barely: it was 5th worst), but better than West Virginia (the worst), Arkansas (a surprise at 2nd worst) and of course, Mississippi (3rd worst).

We already know that lousy political support makes Louisiana a horrible state for teachers of all ages, so, what, exactly, makes Louisiana such a poor choice for older Americans?

Well, for openers, try these statistics on for size:

Our life expectancy at age 65 of 83.1 years is tied for 8th lowest. West Virginia is lowest at 82.5 years.

We’re 8th highest with 38 percent of our population aged 65 and older with a disability (welcome to my world).

Our poverty rate of 12.4 percent for those 65 and older is tied with Mississippi for 2nd highest in the nation (New Mexico is highest at 13.3 percent).

The $36,345 median income for 65 and older households is 2nd lowest (West Virginia was lowest at $36,147 while Mississippi and Arkansas have the 3rd and 4th lowest median incomes for older households, respectively).

Louisiana has the 10th lowest population aged 65 and older at 720,610 which could mean that our older citizens, like my good friend and Ruston High School classmate John Sachs, took the hint and left the state (though John’s choice of Arkansas is somewhat questionable in retrospect).

In case you’re wondering, the national median income of retirement-age households is $44,992, more than $8,600 higher than Louisiana.

As an added incentive for us old folks to git while the gittin’s good, Louisiana crime rate—both property and violent crime—ranks among the highest in the country. (With our open carry laws and our obsession with guns to protect ourselves, you’d think that figure would be a little lower. Just sayin’.)

But even though I flooded in 2016 and subsequently was screwed by FEMA and the Restore Louisiana program, I was born in this state, my children and grandchildren live here, and while I abhor Baton Rouge traffic, I love Louisiana’s people, our culture, our food and our music.

I’m stayin’.

Posted in Economy, Education | 9 Comments »

Notable Quotables (in their own words)

February 18, 2020 by tomaswell

[Instead of posting a quote by Dear Leader Trump, today I’m going to cut and paste a question and response from Quora, an online service that posts questions and answers about just about any topic one could imagine. I believe the question and answer speak for themselves and the answer tells us all we need to know about POTUS.]

If Trump or his family invited you to work for them in any capacity, why would you accept or decline? And how would you do so?

Reader’s response:

“The husband of a good friend of mine started a marketing/advertising business in midtown Manhattan years ago. He immediately got a small printing job from the trump organization. He met a very tight deadline that they had imposed and before he even got the first bill out they hired him for 4 other jobs in quick succession. He was working 16 hours a day to make sure that he got everything out on time. Shortly after he finished the fifth job he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. My friend was a principal in a large Manhattan school at the time. They had two young children in school in Brooklyn. My friend sent multiple bills and invoices to the trump organization. She called multiple times. She finally went up to the office. Her husband was dying. She had two little kids. As trump is known to do, he ignored her. Her husband had done over $100,000 worth of marketing and printing work for the trump organization and they hadn’t paid them a penny. At one point they told her to go to the remote Queen’s office which turned out to just be a way of getting rid of her. The Queen’s office didn’t even have an accounting department and had no idea why she was there. At one point she was removed by security from the Manhattan office. She eventually got a check for $15,000 marked paid in full. When she called the accounting office to dispute the amount, they told her to sue them.

“I know builders and architects in Atlantic City who were also scammed by trump. The company I worked for years ago hired a number of people from the trump organization. We have been in meetings with these people and no one who has ever worked for him has anything good to say about him.

“I remember when my friend’s husband got the first job from trump, he was so excited that such a large organization had given him an opportunity. He quickly realized that the trump organization can’t get anyone in New York to work for them because everyone knows he doesn’t pay his workers.”

[Now, the first question is: if he would do that to a terminally-ill vendor, what do you think he is capable of doing to social security/Medicare/Medicaid recipients—or, for that matter, anyone who disagrees with him? The second question: Do you really think he gives a damn about you? There is no third question.]

Posted in Notable Quotables | 4 Comments »

Notable Quotables (in their own words)

February 17, 2020 by tomaswell

“Perhaps Barack Obama’s biggest shortcoming as president is he failed to unite the country.”

—Donald Trump tweet, May 30, 2012.

Posted in Politics | 9 Comments »

Notable Quotables (in their own words)

February 16, 2020 by tomaswell

“Russia has never tried to use leverage over me. I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA—NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!

–Donald Trump tweet, Jan. 11, 2017. [He sometimes shouts in his tweets.]

 

“Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets.”

–Donald Trump, Jr., 2008.

 

“We don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.”

–Eric Trump, 2014.

 

[Reuters News Service said 20 units in Trump Towers I, II, and III were purchased by individuals with Russian passports or addresses. Buyers with Russian passports or addresses also purchased 16 units in Trump Palace, 27 units in Trump Royale, and 13 units in Trump Hollywood. Russian fertilizer magnate Dmitry Rybolovlev in 2008 bought of one of Trump’s mansions in Palm Beach for $53 million more than Trump had paid for it four years earlier. Russian buyers have also brought links to Russian organized crime. In 1984, Russian David Bogatin, who was tied to Russian mob boss Semion Mogilevich, bought five condos in Trump Tower for a total of $6 million. Three years later, Bogatin pleaded guilty to evading millions of dollars in state fuel taxes in what officials called one of the largest gasoline bootlegging operations in the nation.]

 

Posted in Notable Quotables | 8 Comments »

Notable Quotables (in their own words)

February 15, 2020 by tomaswell

“Right from the beginning, there’s no hesitation, one of the great memories of all time.”

–Donald Trump, Oct. 25, 2017, denying he couldn’t remember a fallen soldier’s name during a call to his widow.

 

“I don’t have to verify because I have one of the great memories of all time.”

–Trump, on June 12, 2018, in response to a reporter’s question on whether or not he had notes to verify details of a meeting in Singapore with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

(There were 35 times he said couldn’t remember something during a deposition in the Trump University lawsuit in December 2015.)

 

“I remember you telling me, but I don’t know that I said it,” Trump said, adding: “I don’t remember saying that. As good as my memory is, I don’t remember that.”

–Trump, unable to remember saying he had “the world’s greatest memory,” The Washington Post, Nov. 3, 2017.

 

“I do not recall.”

–Trump’s response to 19 of 22 questions submitted in writing by special prosecutor Robert Mueller.

Posted in Politics | 1 Comment »

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