On the way to a swamp wetlands boardwalk, we stopped at a strip mall and found Uncle Joe’s:
Here’s the menu:
Depending on who was reading the menu, the General Tao’s Chicken was either $1.85 trillion or “zero”.
(When Uncle Joe is not busy stirring the wok… September 24 Remarks by President Biden:
We talk about price tags. The — it is zero price tag on the debt. We’re paying — we’re going to pay for everything we spend. So they say it’s not — you know, people, understandably — “Well, you know, it started off at $6 trillion, now it’s $3.5 trillion. Now it’s — is it going to be $2.9? Is it…”
It’s going to be zero — zero. Because in the — in that plan that I put forward — and I said from the outset — I said, “I’m running to change the dynamic of how the economy grows.”
)
Another menu, from “Everything in the House Democrats’ Budget Bill” (NYT, 11/18):
Stepping back from this a bit, isn’t this another way to transfer money from hard-working childless Americans to those of us fortunate enough to have kids? A single drone worker in a city is not a “family” and won’t get anything out of the biggest block at top left. The drone probably will earn too much to qualify for any of the housing or health care subsidies. The drone already has a job and is already in the U.S., so won’t obviously benefit from the $133 billion spent on immigration. The drone doesn’t have $80,000 in state and local taxes to deduct (the Democrats’ new limit, up from Trump’s $10,000; average property tax rate in the U.S. is about 1.08 percent, so this new tax code will be perfect for anyone with a $7.4 million house).
How about the birdwatching from the boardwalk? It was actually better in the strip mall:
I think that the above bird is a Great Blue Heron who identifies as white. We saw some sandhill cranes on the highway just before turning into Grassy Waters Preserve. After a few minutes of strolling, we learned that immigration is detrimental to natives:
We also learned that birds and alligators do not show up when tourists want them to…
(I think the tricks for wildlife spotting in South Florida are (a) wait until mating season for animals that migrate from the north, and/or (b) wait until the mid-winter dry season when animals collect near the remaining water.)
Most bizarre thing about the boardwalk? Even in the shaded heavily wooded parts… no bugs!
Alligators are everywhere, but they’re probably scared of Greenspun. Greenspun in shorts is the Kraken.
Uncle Joe’s restaurant that serves Chynese? !!
Does the camera amplify the Blueness of the sky? In the first picture, the building looks like it’s illuminated by daylight but the sky is almost midnight blue (nice pictures, by the way).
That’s just Apple magic (all from iPhone since no birds suitable for the 800mm lens appeared).
Try go out at night with a flashlight. I was much luckier at night finding alligators, smaller ones came to the water age and big one set further in the water. You can spot any nocturnal life by light reflecting from their mirrored eyes. Do not know what was wrong with birds: I spot them everywhere, day and night.
The childless drone may not benefit from the new spending on families but theoretically won’t face increased taxes either as long as the poor sucker earns less than $400K.
It is interesting that health care, climate, and immigration are on both sides of that chart.
That white bird could be a great egret.
Dave: the new spending will be funded at least partially by (1) debt, and (2) inflation. So the middle income childless drone will pay, regardless of what the advertisements for this bill say. Unless the U.S. has infinite money, I don’t see how spending restricted to those with children can fail to have a negative impact on those without children.
(Also, the $400,000 limit sounds great, but by the time we’re beginning to pay back the new borrowing occasioned by this spending program, $400,000 might be the price of a Diet Coke.)
(b) wait until the mid-winter dry season when animals collect near the remaining water.)
In my personal experience of bringing the Great North with me to Florida, I’ve seen egrets collecting on the hood of recently driven cars (gas powered only) during mid-January 50 degree cold snaps.