Dark Thoughts

The flight home yesterday was rough. Not extremely rough but rough enough. And I sat there and thought if it went down that there was 500k in insurance on my life. Just thought how much money my parents would get. How my sister would be able to buy a house, and my future nephew/niece would get to go to college with no problem.

My thoughts are too dark sometimes.

NYC

Gone til Tues. No updates until then.

Links edition.

Lots and Lots and Lots of stuff going on lately. We have congress passing unconstitutional laws and the public isnt buying it. But we are learning the beauty of a living will. We see hacks declaring fake qualifications for a doctor in this case. We have SS Trustees playing with the numbers to make things look worse than they are but even in doing that make the long term numbers look better. But the press can't get their story straight.

God I hope this shit comes to a halt and soon.

Surprise

Well, my sister called me this morning. Apparently, I am going to be an uncle.

Wow.

I feel old now.

They call them flippers

CNN/Money: "They call them flippers. Buy. Sell. Profit. Repeat. Investors are flipping houses to build wealth. Here's what you can learn."

They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning,
No-one you see, is smarter than he,
And we know Flipper, lives in a world full of wonder,
Buying homes over, how wrong they'll be!

If this isnt a bubble, I official give up and declare economics dead.

Hans Bethe

Hans Bethe died today.* I had the honor of hearing him speak about 11 and a half years ago. I remember almost not going to the lecture but I am glad I did. How often does one here a Nobel prize laureate talk to a small crowd? He was nearly 90 back then but you didn't know it. He still is one of the best speakers I have ever had the privilege of seeing. He was lively and warm, a trait you don't often see in the scientific types. The speech wasn't a hardcore scientific lecture but a history of things he had seen and people he met. A lot of knowledge passed out of our world today and the world is a little dimmer for it.


* login: badsiggy pass: badsiggy

Perspectives

"The man of great wealth owes a peculiar obligation to the State, because he derives special advantages from the mere existence of government. Not only should he recognize this obligation in the way he leads his daily life and in the way he earns and spends his money, but it should also be recognized by the way in which he pays for the protection the State gives him. On the one hand, it is desirable that he should assume his full and proper share of the burden of taxation; on the other hand, it is quite as necessary that in this kind of taxation, where the men who vote the tax pay but little of it, there should be clear recognition of the danger of inaugurating any such system save in a spirit of entire justice and moderation. Whenever we, as a people, undertake to remodel our taxation system along the lines suggested, we must make it clear beyond peradventure that our aim is to distribute the burden of supporting the Government more equitably than at present; that we intend to treat rich man and poor man on a basis of absolute equality, and that we regard it as equally fatal to true democracy to do or permit injustice to the one as to do or permit injustice to the other."

Theodore Roosevelt December 3, 1906


I read that quote and the first bolded line is what jumps out at me. It is my personal belief. It has been long before I ever laid eyes upon this quote. The second bolded line is what I hear coming out from the other side of the chasm. The Rich are unduly burdened. Flat taxes are more "Fair". I understand their point but I don't think it applies to the current situation. I wonder how people can be considered burdened when their wealth grows faster and faster. My future grandkids might agree with the other side. That frightens me.

And then there are bad days

Just blah today. Tired. Work sucks. Weekend will come soon thankfully. Nothing interesting to say today. Drive away by Gratitude is catchy but has stupid lyrics.

Some better ones:

She is everything to me, the unrequited dream,
the song that no one sings, the unattainable.
She's a myth that I have to believe in,
all I need to make it real is one more reason.

I don't know what to do,
I don't know what to do
When she makes me sad.

But I won't let this build up inside of me,
I won't let this build up inside of me,
I won't let this build up inside of me,
I won't let this build up inside of me

Good Day

Made a new Friend today. (If you are reading, Hi Alison!). She is obviously intellectual though a little hyper/unfocused - the joy of youth. Hell, we were even discussing human evolution for a while. I am going to enjoy talking to her. I hope she sticks around.

Greenspan

Greenspan-US economy sound, spending curbs needed - Mar. 2, 2005: "'However, tax increases of sufficient dimension to deal with our looming fiscal problems arguably pose significant risks to economic growth and the revenue base.

I hate it when people who know better act like nobody can tell they are lying. Asshole, current revenues are 16.3% of GDP. If we just rolled back the taxes cuts such that we were at 18%, which is still lower than we were at during some of the Reagan years AND lower than the level for most of Clinton's presidency, the Deficit would be roughly half and we wouldn't be having any major funding crisis. You remember the Clinton years right? Higher Tax Rates and yet we still had good growth.

'The exact magnitude of such risks is very difficult to estimate, but, in my judgment, they are sufficiently worrisome to warrant aiming, if at all possible, to close the fiscal gap primarily, if not wholly, from the outlay side,' he added."

And you know Alan, because you can do simple math, that if we cut every single cent of nondefense discretionary spending, we STILL have a deficit. Heritage knows this

President Bush’s 2005 budget request takes a first step by proposing freezes or near-freezes in most non-defense discretionary programs. However, these programs represent less than one-fifth of federal spending, and cannot provide sufficient savings to close a $500 billion deficit.

Goes to show you can NEVER trust a Randite.