Tuesday.  I would say "happy tax day" but the only thing that most of us would be happy about is the deadline has come and will soon be gone.  I found this item first thing this morning.  For how long have we been bombarded with claims that our "job creators" are so overburdened by taxes that they are hampered in their job creating activities?  Well, evidently not so much.  What I like about this account is the researchers looked not simply at the nominal tax burdens at the federal level.  Instead they also looked at income and social security taxes less the applicable offsets.  The result: we are 25th out of 34 industrialized nations.  On a happier note: blessings to all who celebrate Passover.

We woke to snow on the ground but not sticking to paved areas.  I think I mentioned that the second rose arrived yesterday.  I will bring in one of my large pots to warm up so I can plant it tomorrow.  It will join the other in front of the stationary part of the patio doors until spring truly arrives--sometime.  The already potted rose is showing some definite and very welcome signs of life.  Outside the only signs of green are the strawberries and pyrethrum.

I wonder if they will give back what they have already taken.  Probably not.  I wonder who was the bright ass who stuck the item into the farm bill.  No one (that I have found so far) is taking credit (or blame).

Well, I guess we needed an academic study to tell us that what we have felt in our guts is true--the wealthy and business interests have far more influence than ordinary Americans.  In fact, "mass-based interests" and "average Americans" have no influence at all.

I am not surprised at this Zero Hedge article--as many as half of U.S. colleges and universities may fail within the next 15 years.  As one who has spent far too much of her life in academia, I don't think I am sorry about the prospect.  It is quite clear that our current model of education (public and private) is not working.  Most of the jobs available in our post-industrial economy don't really need tertiary education but HR departments can easily demand degrees as a means of weeding out the applicants.  Once upon a time the difference in lifetime earnings between a college graduate and someone without a degree justified the front end expense in money and time to acquire the degree.  That is no longer true.  But no one is asking some crucial questions.  Who is being educated, for what, at what cost and who pays?