Weather Tip: Never cut a hole in your umbrella to see if it has stopped raining.

Hello folks, it's Thursday, January 26, 2012, and this last couple of days of weather gives me the opportunity to discuss once again one of my all time favorite subjects, news media weather forecasters. I said the last couple of days but let's face it, we have pretty much had weather every day since I've been on the planet. I've heard it was that way even before. I'm one of those who can be thankful that Texas weather is often very unpredictable and that goes both ways, sometimes with better than expected, and also at times, a worst case scenario. On Sunday and Monday the local channels did a good job preparing us for a major rain event coming our way. Some of the coverage seemed to be a little over the top but we did get a huge rain yesterday. Thankfully, it was not as bad as it could have been. Some areas in the state were harder hit but for us we got the rain without the major flooding. Thank God for the 2-1/2 inches of rain that fell at my house because we need it, and we still need more. In fact, I think most of us who carry fresh memories from last year's drought would love a few rainy months. The potential for bad weather does drive folks to watch local news and they, like the good capitalists they are, use it for full effect. This recent rain along with some very stiff winds did uncover another wrinkle from the drought. While many of the dead trees have been taken down, there are dead limbs and branches still lodged in the trees that did survive. Many of these rained down over the last couple of days and driving in was a little eerie with all the debris scattered on the roadways. It comes down to this: If it's not one thing, it's typically something else.

I tell you I know I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer at times, but some of these abbreviations just knock me down. The other evening we had the POTUS giving the SOTU address to Congress. And those two are some of the easier ones, President of the United States, POTUS, and State of the Union address, SOTU. Many times I am reading a news article and suddenly one of these acronyms show up and typically you can figure it out by the story, but man, it seems less than informative to me. They have a database out on the web with the government abbreviations listed. I am fully aware that all businesses have their own dialogue and jargon. But our government typically knows how to make everything out there to pale by comparison to their approach. That database is filled with thousands of these unique designations. There has to be some confusion because in many instances the same abbreviation is used for different functions. You could say the CFR to refer to the Council on Foreign Relations, or it could be a different CFR, the Committee on Foreign Relations. These should not be confused with the CFR that stands for the Code of Federal Regulations. No. I am not making this up. On the very first page you will find nine different designations that use AA. I thought about making a sentence using only the abbreviations and then leaving it to you to go and decode it but I actually have a slight headache just writing about this wacky stuff. And, that's not even thinking about the trillions of tax payer dollars that support their use of FSA. FSA? Yeah, you got it right the first time, that's the Flexible Spending Account!

Time for a little exciting news. Mitt Romney has released his federal tax returns for 2010 and 2011. Five hundred pages worth. I am not a Mitt Romney supporter but it was somewhat humorous to watch the media frenzy that went after those returns. It was like watching one of those nature films of piranha devouring a carcass. I heard one prime time commentator who said they had killed a lot of trees in printing and distributing these reports to their distinguished panel of experts. She also commended these folks for working around the clock to dissect, analyze, and form an opinion about the taxes paid by Mr. Romney. This was an illustrious group of people. A professor of business from a recognized high profile college. A former director of enforcement for the IRS. A tax expert that helps high income people manage their financial portfolios. A business writer for a major newspaper and of course, the commentator herself, who has been at times called a news babe. Not by me. They laid Mr. Romney's taxes out there for all to see. Their conclusion: He paid every single tax he owed as far as they could tell. BUT, alas, their consensus was that for the huge amount of money he made, he should have paid much more in taxes. That was how they saw it but they would give the disclaimer every few minutes about how that everything he did was perfectly legal even though their slant was that it was also perfectly horrible. One thing that did stick out was the Romneys' giving to their religious affiliations and other charities. They are very generous people. Compared to our President, according to his tax returns, the Obamas' are not so inclined, (It stood at 1% when he took office but since then it has been increased to 5%. You do have to give him credit for being a quick learner.), and the Bidens' even less so. I believe the Bidens' showed less than $400 to charity for the entire year of 2010. But, the panel did not play that up, but I did, only because while I may not have my own panel, I too can look at the numbers and form my own opinion. And you can do the same. It's part of the American dream. You know, it's that freedom of speech thingy. My assessment of their coverage: "We distort, you decide." Have a great Thursday and always remember these blogs can be printed out and I've heard they make really good birdcage liners. May God bless us all. Amen.    ....More later.