No doubt you’re as saddened by the news that Gilligan Gregory has been shitcanned from Press the Meat as I am. Sad, mostly because they replaced him with Chuck Toad. But I guess when you have to clear your selection through John McCain and Li’l Lindsey Graham as well as the Comcast Board of Directors, you’re choices are somewhat limited. Me? I’d have gone with Luke “Timmy Jr” Russert.
Hey, did you hear the shocking news from Ferguson? If you don’t treat police work (which once upon a time was defined as “to serve and protect”) like a full-on military assault, people will protest peacefully even after you continue to kill their unarmed kids.
Who knew?
Why cops in an urban setting wear jungle camo is beyond me. I guess ‘cuz it looks cool or something. Perhaps they should just go ahead and join the Army if that’s what they’re after.
So, like most people facing a day of work, I’ve been sitting here trying to figure out how long it’ll be before I die. Our HR department just sent out an e-mail detailing “the importance of accumulated sick leave credits.” Among other things, you can use up to 200 days of credit when you retire to pay for (or at least supplement) your share of retiree health insurance premiums.
Basically, they take the dollar value of your remaining sick days and divide it by the number of months they figure you’ve got left to live when you retire and then that’s the monthly credit you get off your insurance.
So the goal is to retire with 200 days of sick leave (and not one damn minute more). According to the retirement system, if I retire at 62, I’ll have a life expectancy of 269 months – meaning I’ll be dead when I’m about 84-85 years old. As I review the impressive pulchritude that is my physique and combine that with the knowledge that my dad only made it to 74 and longevity doesn’t exactly run on either side of my family, I’m thinking 269 months is a bit optimistic.
Still, assuming the Republicans don’t completely nuke Medicare and Social Security in the next 10 years or so, I at least shouldn’t have to worry about health insurance as I move forward on the journey toward my ultimate demise, no matter when it happens.
Assuming it’s not going to happen today, though, I reckon I’d better get back to doing some work. TGIF.
The Ferguson
soldierspolice said Michael Brown had robbed a store of cigars and that Officer Wilson stopped him because he was a robbery suspect. Now they say the officer did not know he was a robbery suspect b ut stopped him because he was walking in the middle of the street and impeding traffic. It would be nice if they got their story straight, which would be much easier if they started with and stuck to the truth.Doesn’t matter. I’m pretty sure the penalty for both stealing cigars and walking in the middle of the street is death.
I believe the story shifted when the surveillance video of the cigar pincher noted very different shoes/socks etc. than what Michael Brown was wearing at the time of his untimely death. Don’t quote me on it, but that is what I got from the Twitter machine.
PS If it makes you feel better, pj, I was told by an insurance dude that my expiration date is much sooner. What a way your hospital has of promoting taking no sick leave. Geez. If you get disability before that 62 early pay-out, you’ll max out your social security retirement, btw. And be elligible for Medicare sooner.
oops typos…curses
The family has stipulated that it is Michael on the video at the store.
Why would he be eligible for MediCare sooner? I have been delaying getting SS since my 62nd birthday in May but I was thinking I should get it going as a source of income for rental applications but I am not sure how it might affect my ObamaCare.
Medicare typically kicks in 24 (actually 29, but that’s another story) months after the onset of disability (yes, the disabled have to fend for themselves for healthcare). So if he were to get disability at 60, for example, he would be eligibile for Medicare at 62. Early retirement at 62 doesn’t give you Medicare. Medicare starts at 65. Disability freezes your retirement so if he were found disabled at 60, he would not have to take the reduced Social Security offered at 62. As for Obamacare, income may affect your premium, but I should think you’d still qualify with early retirement, but I’m not 100% sure on the Obamacare thing. Disclaimer: I’ve had a glass of wine.
I didn’t think it was a disability situation.
That’s the Great State of New York. And it’s actually a pretty darn good benefit. Just being able to accumulate up to 200 days of sick leave is pretty nice. Once you’re maxed out, if something nasty happens that puts you down for a long time, you at least don’t have to worry where your pay is coming from for 40 weeks (plus any vacation time you have squirreled away – I keep mine up there around the max of 8 weeks). And as long as you’re out on sick leave, you keep your health insurance intact (even though they jumped up the employee contribution last contract, the State still pays I think 84% and it’s really very good coverage) and you even continue to accrue sick leave (SL) and vacation at the regular rate (not to mention 13 paid holidays).
So that would get you through a year, and I think once you’re out of your job for a year in NY, you’re SOL and it’s time for disability. Though there’s also an employee leave donation program where other union members can donate vacation days to somebody who’s in danger of exhausting their SL (though I’m pretty picky about who I’ll donate to – there are a lot of sick leave abusers out there who use their time as soon as they get it, and it’s hard to have sympathy for them).
Once I retire, my existing health insurance will remain in place and my share of the premiums will be covered 100% (assuming something really bad doesn’t happen like getting hit by a bus or cancer or something). Once I get Medicare (assuming it continues to exist), the NY insurance becomes medicare supplemental insurance, and it will reimburse me for the Medicare Part B premiums.
And, really, barring something unfortunate happening with you or your family (SL covers family sick stuff, too) if you’re not a SL abuser, it’s really easy to max out (you don’t really even need to max out – any SL you have when you retire will count toward paying for your insurance when you retire. I think I figured that if I retire maxxed out, my credt will be about five times what I need to pay my health insurance).
I only wish I still had all the SL I walked away from after my first 10 years. Fortunately, my pension picked right back up where I left off.
This is why I’m firmly locked into the State at this point – just trying to run out the clock until retirement, hoping the Feds don’t screw with my SS and Medicare (in order to mess with my NY State pension, they’d have to amend the NYS Constituion, which I suppose is theoretically possible, but it wouldn’t be easy and the NY State Public Employee Unions are not easily trifled with).
I’ve got less than 9 years to go (and would be happy to go longer if I’m in good health and enjoy what I’m doing when the time comes). Every year I stay increases my pension, though at some point you have to figure out just how much you’re going to work for and see if it’s worth the effort.
Sounds like a plan like they want you to get what’s coming to you rather trying to figure out how to cheat you to take it away. Are you sure Snotball knows about this?
Unless you leave State service before you retire – then you get screwed out of what accruals you had. But I think of the sick leave as insurance in case something happens. And it’ll be nice to know I have health insurance if I live to make it to my golden years.
A shame I had a break in service. A friend of mine who’d been with the State since he was 17 just retired last October at 55. If you have over 30 years you can retire with no penalty at 55, so he gets a full pension with 38 years of service and he’s still young (and ambitious) enough to go do a/c and refrigeration work on the side. Good deal for a good guy.
It’s one of those things that make Public Employees hated – decent benefits and the possibility of retiring without having to live in a refrigerator box under a bridge.
I think that if Stretch had been able to scratch out a few more years, Lil Luke could have taken Timmeh’s seat at the table. I am pretty sure if PtM manages to stay alive (which is in some doubt right now), eventually he will get to sit in teh Timmeh seat. I’ll bet they have it in storage somewhere in anticipation.
Something that is bothering me about today’s report from Freguson is those cigarillos. I don’t know anything about cigars aside from what my father smoked but the pictures look like he has one of those small 6 packs. The report supposedly says they were valued at $50 or more. That price seems very high to me and if they were indeed that expensive, why weren’t they in a locked case in the first place?
Oh, yeah, that Freguson sheriff is awful on every level. I hope he hears the other side of a big barred metal door closing on him from the other side than what he is used to. What they did to the victim today was unforgiveable although I guess it was small change after last Saturday.
(apologies it’s sponsored by an unmentionable.)
Davis tosses 2-hitter at LLWS – ESPN.com – Go.com
This Missouri mess continues and keeps on bothering me. This ‘chief’ in Ferguson has to be relieved of duty yesterday. His irresponsible actions Friday were cynical, calculated, bitter, vindictive, malicious, dishonest, provocative and dangerous. Beginning with his release of the name of the murderer at the same time he released the ‘case report’ information with a prejudicial video tape unrelated to the execution of an unarmed citizen in a surrender position without comment or questioning, he spent a good part of his day trying to stir up shit. He laid it out there in the morning to see what reactions would be so he could come back with a presser to revise, tweak, and ‘correct’ any criticisms. Even after that he was forced to make a number of calls to amend some of his statements after they were dissected and disemboweled. He also took several shots at those who had moved in to halt his police state activities and managed to have a peaceful night Thursday. It seemed as though his intentions were to do whatever he could to make sure Friday would not go as smoothly and it didn’t but the police reaction was measured and reasonable.
I would like to see all of the Freedom of Information requests he referred to that ‘forced’ him to release the material he laid out yesterday. I think he was lying about some of that and what he did put out was partial, selective, spiteful and meant to cause trouble.
It’s time for ‘chief’ Jackson to be relieved and an immediate full-bore Federal investigation of him and his department begin above and beyond any pertaining to the murder of Michael Brown.
And now I hear that doing the looting last night, the Ferguson police stood by and watched and did nothing. Eventually, other demonstrators came to the aid of shop owners. I guess if you take shooting unarmed people out of acceptable tactics, it just isn’t safe to do the job any more so why bother. They should just put them all on unpaid leave or dismiss them and bring in a temporary replacement force until they can build a new department.
Tension Flares In Ferguson After Police Blockade Street
Racism has become more apparent than it has been in a while. The police chief adds ham handed to it. Very sad and very scary.
I blame it on Obama. It was bad enough when them people just wanted to eat at the same lunch counters and use the same toilets. But when one of them got elected Preznit? Boy howdy, that sure stirred things up.
(ROT–3) Fkulvwrskhu Doohq 7/18/1989
http://psychiccrimefighter.com/forum/thread/3415/corey-newell-12-29-2013-meadow-lakes-alaska-found-deceased/
http://www.adn.com/article/20140306/palmer-man-faces-felony-charges-after-anchorage-crime-lab-review
Don Pardo dies at 96; ‘Saturday Night Live’ announcer
Don Pardo, the legendary NBC announcer whose deep, resonant voice was heard for more than three decades on “Saturday Night Live,” has died. He was 96.
BTW, if anybody out there has a One Plus One invite and would like to pass it along to me, I’d be most obliged.
Looks like the edit feature is fubar.
NFL Asks Musicians for Money to Play Super Bowl
League hopes Rihanna, Katy Perry or Coldplay will contribute part of post-performance tour earnings or make contribution to league