Friday, March 20, 2009
Wonder what it is...
... that got me writing again? I don't remember anything different having happened over the last week or so. But suddenly I've got that urge to write again. It's not that I have anything particularly compelling to write about. On the contrary, I find myself in a constant struggle to believe that I have anything interesting to say at all, via live dialogue or the written word. But I just spent over an hour sitting at my computer working on a short story for a Writer's Journal competition. I didn't have to force myself to do it, either. I just sat down and wrote. I can't say exactly what it is that compelled me to do this, but I hope it keeps up.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
90%? Seriously?
So I've been hearing all day about the plan by congress to tax some AIG bonus recipients as much as 90% of the total bonus. Oh, and the same news sources have said something to the effect that such a tax would serve as a warning to other businesses.
Honestly I think if anyone should take a warning from this it should be individual taxpayers. This action by congress should make it clear to each and every individual that there is no limit to the level of greed in our current government. If they can get away with taxing this small group of people 90% on these bonuses, what is to stop them from picking another small group, and another, and another... until they find a reason to tax each and every one of us this much for one of a million reasons.
And has it occurred to anyone to consider that AIG might have thought this through before cutting the checks? According to a couple of news sources AIG looked into the legal consequences of not giving these bonuses out and found that they would take on an unacceptable risk if they chose to break the contracts they had with these employees. No matter how much we as individuals may dislike what was done within this company and the effect it has had on our economy, no amount of government bail out money does or should nullify pre-existing contracts the company had with its employees. Perhaps when our congress was jamming this bailout through they should have considered that handing AIG a crisp new dollar gains them no right to dictate how they spend that dollar.
Honestly I think if anyone should take a warning from this it should be individual taxpayers. This action by congress should make it clear to each and every individual that there is no limit to the level of greed in our current government. If they can get away with taxing this small group of people 90% on these bonuses, what is to stop them from picking another small group, and another, and another... until they find a reason to tax each and every one of us this much for one of a million reasons.
And has it occurred to anyone to consider that AIG might have thought this through before cutting the checks? According to a couple of news sources AIG looked into the legal consequences of not giving these bonuses out and found that they would take on an unacceptable risk if they chose to break the contracts they had with these employees. No matter how much we as individuals may dislike what was done within this company and the effect it has had on our economy, no amount of government bail out money does or should nullify pre-existing contracts the company had with its employees. Perhaps when our congress was jamming this bailout through they should have considered that handing AIG a crisp new dollar gains them no right to dictate how they spend that dollar.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
......................
Sometimes I feel like I need to scream, laugh, cry, run, sleep, talk, and just generally live out loud where everyone can see me, where one who is in the general vicinity has no choice but to see me! Unfortunately it's 2am on a Saturday night and, while not as bad as a work day, I'd rather not piss off my neighbors by running naked and screaming down Nicollet Ave. So in answer to all of life's questions, small and large, and in answer to the indecipherable results my mind spews out after pondering these questions for the nth time, I give a simultaneous middle finger and hug... Sometimes it hurts so bad and feels so good at the same time.
Sometimes I feel like I need to scream, laugh, cry, run, sleep, talk, and just generally live out loud where everyone can see me, where one who is in the general vicinity has no choice but to see me! Unfortunately it's 2am on a Saturday night and, while not as bad as a work day, I'd rather not piss off my neighbors by running naked and screaming down Nicollet Ave. So in answer to all of life's questions, small and large, and in answer to the indecipherable results my mind spews out after pondering these questions for the nth time, I give a simultaneous middle finger and hug... Sometimes it hurts so bad and feels so good at the same time.
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