Oct 17 2024 - Steep Losses

 

That's quite a steep loss - 96%.     "$100 in 1915 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $2,589.13 today, an increase of $2,489.13 over 109 years. The dollar had an average inflation rate of 3.03% per year between 1915 and today, producing a cumulative price increase of 2,489.13%. This means that today's prices are 25.89 times as high as average prices since 1915, according to Statistics Canada consumer price index. A dollar today only buys 3.862% of what it could buy back then." ~ taken from in2013dollars.com  The notion in my mind is that I can remember when butter was 50 cents a pound.  But I seem to be slightly off.  It looks like it was almost 70 cents in 1959.  That's hoping I am reading the historical Statistics Canada listing of prices correctly. It says that butter was 69.6 cents in 1959.    And what about the price of butter back then?  It seems to me as we get older the farther back we go when we compare prices.  That makes the gap bigger every time the price goes up.     Following from yesterday's pictures, here's one with the little red koi in the shot.  I'll have to be satisfied with this version if I want them both in the image.

Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Oct 16 2024 - Biggest Jackpot Win

 

When did lotteries start? I don't remember the beginning, but I was here at the time.  in Ontario is was in 1975 with the establishment of the Ontario Lottery Corp.  The Canada-wide lottery, Canada Lotto 6/49 started in 1982.   Is the history of lotteries fascinating?  It doesn't seem so to me. China seems to be the origin in 205 BC or so.  But is that fascinating?  Mostly lottery history is about scams and cheating by the lottery owners so that lotteries got banned. Maybe scamming is what is fascinating about lotteries.  So many ways and methods.   There must have been some optimism in the 1960s that governments could keep things honest and legal. The Irish Sweepstakes shows up as the first modern lottery.  It was introduced in 1963 and could be played around the world.  It was so popular that it didn't take long for other countries and governments to take note.  Government-run Lotteries rationalize their existence by allocating funds to public causes and organizations.  Here's how Ontario works it: $2.36 billion: Net Profit to the Province, of which $2.2 billion went to the operation of hospitals and other provincial priorities and the balance earmarked to problem gambling prevention, treatment and research, local and provincial charities and Ontario’s amateur athletes $265.6 million: in commissions paid to lottery retailers across Ontario $199.4 million: for goods and services purchased from Ontario businesses to support gaming facilities operated by OLG $146.3 million: to municipalities and First Nations that host gaming facilities and Charitable Gaming Centres $137.3 million: to Ontario First Nations through the Gaming Revenue Sharing and Financial Agreement $36.4 million: in Charitable Gaming proceeds distributed to participating local charities $2.5 million: to community festivals and events The story of lottery scams remains current.  There are many types of scams and many people engaged in scamming.  There is advice on how to avoid the many scams,  so the articles are long.   There are lottery defeater scams where the promise is that a secret system will help people win the lottery.  There are the fraudsters who make fraudulent claims to a lottery ticket.  A version of that is called "hijacking".  What really gets our attention is the possibility of winning so much money.  And where would the biggest win of all times be?  It would be the U.S. The largest lottery jackpot to date, a Powerball drawing, was won on Nov. 7, 2022. On Feb. 14, 2023, California Lottery officials revealed the name of the winner, Edwin Castro, but did not release further information about him at his request.  And the amount was the record-breaking $2.05 billion US. In the U.S. there are various ways of cashing the winnings.  Mr. Castr chose the single lump sum of $997.6 million.  Oops!  He had to pay taxes, too.  I asked the AI tool in photoshop to complete the little orange koi fish.  Here's one of its offerings.  I've tried this about a dozen times now.  It wants great big orange fish in the picture.

Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Copyright (C) 2

Oct 15 2024 - Dog News Today

 

Yes, there is are google headlines for "dog news today".  It isn't all good news - but we won't dwell on that.  And it is today's news.   I don't know if dog news is a recent regular item. Pet ownership is up almost 20% over pre-pandemic levels.  The increase in the US is from 38% to 45% of households.  Cats are more popular as well.  In Canada 77% of Canadians have a pet - that includes cats and dogs.  In Canada 33% own dogs.  In Britain it is 36%. So I guess that's a sizeable audience for dog news.  I get the sense that Britain does more fun things with their dogs.  The BBC has a few articles on the dog event in Sandford Parks Lido (that's British for a public, open-air swimming pool or beach). This is swimming pool is open for the last two weekends of the season to dogs. Then the pool is drained for the winter.  Lots of pictures of Australian Shepards, Labs, and Retrievers.  More than 1,000 dogs took part.  I guess that accounts for the multiple articles - very cute pictures.  Millie hasn't shown interest in swimming pools - she goes to the edge.  Spaniels are supposed to love the water and swimming.    I haven't found out if she might like Lake Ontario - as we haven't gone for a walk at Charles Daley Park in the summer. That's prime time for the Watering can where she gets the hundred hugs from all the customers. And I doubt Millie would be interested in the Lake in winter.  I could find out if she's a swimming dog -   our own Horseshoe area has dog swimming pools.  K9 Fun Zone looks like an excellent choice as it has pictures of dogs in the pool. Lots of dogs and lots of pictures.  They are always cute. This is my idea of a pool - perfect for abstract aqua photographs.

Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Oct 14 2024 - Snowbird Burdens and Blues

 

It is the season of Snowbird Sob Stories. There are up to 500,000 such stories - that's the number of Canadian homeowners in Florida.   The Friday CBC call in show at noon had the topic of snowbirds and Florida after the hurricane. I wanted to boo-hoo for them and the increase in costs of insurance and house repair.  There is a sense of people living in a fantasy realm where things should be as they want them to be.  Perhaps there is some kind of  snowbird mental freeze.  Like eating ice cream too quickly.  But wait.  The Globe and Mail pops up with a story today that gives me a formal term that might apply here - Kayfabe.  What is kayfabe?  It is a professional wrestling term for staged performances that are combined with real wrestling to give an illusion that everything is real.  It is compared with the "fourth wall" in acting.  As in the "suspension of disbelief".  Maybe Kayfabe applies to quite a few things. Here's the headline that backs me up: "Kayfabe in Postmodernist Heterotopic Society" "Postmodernism challenges traditional narratives and structures, emphasizing the fluidity of meaning and the constructed nature of reality. Heterotopia, a concept introduced by Michel Foucault, refers to spaces that exist outside of regular societal norms, where alternate realities or truths coexist. In today’s postmodernist heterotopic society, kayfabe becomes increasingly relevant as the lines between reality and fiction blur." I think this is a word that is going to get a lot of use.     I found this picture of Niagara-on-the-Lake in Autumn.  I can see the street sign - Gage Street.  This is one of the pretty streets there.  I had to remove all the poles, etc.  And in doing that we can live in the illusion of an old-fashioned town, where things are simpler and calmer.

Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca

Oct 13 2024 - Pumpkin Pie Wars

 

Who would guess that even Thanksgiving can give way to wars?  Yes, there are Pumpkin Pie Wars. What makes for Pumpkin Pie Wars?  There was a so-called pie war in 2014 between two bakeries in Cincinnati over billboards and their placement right next to each other.   Then there's a TV move in 2016 named Pumpkin Pie Wars - that's a Hallmark moment, so don't expect any fighting.  Maybe a pie fight.   Historically, the Civil Qar had a stand-off between South and North over pumpkin pie. There was no pumpkin pie in the South and they considered this a cultural domination.  Making Thanksgiving a permanent holiday was seen by prominent Southerners as a culture war - that was in the 19th century.  When it comes to dominance, there's no argument over the largest pumpkin pie in the world - 3,699 pounds in New Bremen, Ohio.  It was 20 feet in diameter.  What did their recipe have?  Canned pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, salt, cinnamon and pumpkin spice. Looks like a traditional pumpkin pie.   In relation to the largest pie records, this pumpkin pie is far behind.  The world's largest meat pie weighed 23,237 pounds, made in Stratford-up-Avon College in the UK.  And the world's largest cherry pie, in 1990, came in at 37,713 pounds and a diameter of 20 feet.  That was in B.C.  Shouldn't the largest pie be an apple one?  Yes - 40,000 pounds in 1997 in Wenatchee Valley in Washington.  Given these are foods to be eaten, you can imagine what they taste like.  Even participants involved in "building" the pies said they tasted poor.    This is a silly Millie puppy image. Just popped in a new background so we can have a Happy Thanksgiving card.

Read more daily posts here: marilyncornwellblogspot.com Purchase works here: Fine Art America- marilyncornwell.com Redbubble - marilyncornwellart.ca