Richard W. Rahn, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and chairman of the Institute for Global Economic Growth writes about the nine states that have no state income tax and why the other states should follow suit.

It turns out that the states without state income taxes have had "far better economic performance for most of the past several decades" than those states with state income taxes.  Some of the states with the worst fiscal problems have the highest individual state income taxes, like New York and California, while some of the states with no state income tax have the least fiscal problems.

People are already moving from high-tax states to lower-tax-rate states.  Next year, the combined federal, state and local income tax rate in New York City will be over 50 percent (wow!) compared to around 38 percent for Texas and Florida, which is why many people are moving to these states.

Will good economics result in good politics?

Bob Barr writes in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about a small, but growing trend called resomation, which apparently is a more "eco-friendly" alternative to cremation or regular burial.  It looks like the main customers of this trend are those who want to live as "green" of a lifestyle as possible.  Once you get to know the specifics of the actual process, it might make some think twice about wanting to go through with it.

But hey, you're already dead!

A handful of states, including Florida and my own Minnesota, have already approved of it.  So if you want to put a bottle of grandpa up on the mantle next to grandma's urn, now you can!

"Anything can happen in the strange cities of the mind."

(C.D. Wright)

"I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day."

(Frank Sinatra)

From Smashingapps is an interesting "infographic" concerning the social media effect, showing the path from content creation to viral marketing results, which can (and does) happen rapidly.  However, you have to have excellent content in order to have this happen.   Ch-check it out.

Yes, that was a truly epic debut by Stephen Strasburg of the Washington Nationals.  Only 299 more wins to go!

I can't wait to find out how good he is when he gets to pitch against a Major League team.

It's true!  Oh yes, it's true.  (In addition to that, Minnesota is the 9th "greenest state" in the country.  Uh oh, the land of "purple and gold" is green!)

The rankings apparently identify cities with the best eco-ranking based on water availability/drinkability, quality of sewage systems and waste removal, air and traffic congestion/pollution, and so on.  Calgary topped the list, followed by Honolulu, Ottawa and Helsinki in 3rd, Wellington, Minneapolis, Adelaide, Copenhagen, and then Kobe, Oslo and Stockholm.

Another reason why Minneapolis is so great.

I just got off the phone with the doctor at Mercy Hospital.  It looks like the results of my echocardiogram were negative for any heart-related issues and positive for extreme awesomeness and excessive genius-like abilities.  That's a good thing at least.  Like I mentioned previously, although my father had heart issues growing up, I was always healthy myself.  In fact, before I was transported to Mercy by ambulance, it was the first time I'd been in an ambulance or been seriously hurt/injured since around the 8th grade, when I was paralyzed in a martial arts accident.

Hopefully, it's the last time I'll be in an ambulance.  Thanks again for your support.

That's what I thought was happening this morning when I couldn't get out of bed or move at all.  The previous night when I was finishing up an article I was writing, I began to feel slight chest pains.  I thought it was odd, because I didn't do anything remotely strenuous the entire day, haven't worked out in awhile, and was home the whole time.  I made a mental note of it and went to sleep.  When I woke up this morning, the pain had intensified where I couldn't even breathe without the sharp pain.  Luckily, my BlackBerry was charging at the head of my bed.  If it was at my computer where it usually is, I could not have grabbed it or even rolled/fell out of bed to grab my regular phone.  I called 911 and was transported by ambulance to Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids.  Nothing required me to be admitted overnight, and the initial diagnosis is "pleurisy without effusion."

Hopefully, that's all it is, even with the excruciating pain that I have right now.  Being that I've never had a heart attack before, I didn't know what it would feel like or what the symptoms of one were (until now, when I looked it up ).  Obviously, there's too much remaining on my Why Not/Bucket List, so I'm not ready to die. 

Thank you to the paramedics, the doctors and nurses at Mercy Hospital, as well as family and friends for all the messages, phone calls and texts.  I'll keep you posted.

Check out an excellent article about America's "net worth obsession."  Did you know there's even a social-networking website where people track/compare their net worths to other people?  It's true.