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Monthly Archives: February 2012

You’ve Got ToMove!


Years ago when I was a pre teen. There was a store front church in a row of  businesses. The actual church was at the second floor level with a large plate glass window while the street level stores were about 5 steps down with a large plate glass window. As we roamed our neighborhood we would visit the various stores for mischief and sometimes for legitimate reasons. What attracted us to the church was the sounds coming from the piano, the tune had a basic beat that repeated  the same chords over and over. Our first approach was to stand outside the door and  be boys but after being invited in to the services we quickly became “members” joining in the musical repertoire and enjoying the food that was always available. A couple of our group were adept at playing “spoons” so became adjunct players. This became a destination for a long as the novelty of food and the lovely grand daughter was there but afer a time the holy scene became a bore and returned to our own devices once more. One song that the pastor played has these lyrics:” you’ve got to move, you’ve got to move, when the lord gets ready you’ve got to move, some of you people need to hurry up, cause when the lord gets ready you’ve got to move”. This reflection caused me to compare our Congress  to that song, in that we could be considered the “lord” and they have got to move. Move into doing the job they were hired to do.

Banking or The Government?


A bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for
it back when it begins to rain. This is a quotation from
Robert Frost. Looking at current actions by the Congress on taxation, they have given the tax breaks and then taketh them away.

pens


Earliest Modern ball point pen was invented by Georg Biro and his bother Laszlo in 1938 (this item was first invented in the late 19th century but never produced until the Biro brothers exploited it in the 30’s).
Early in the 1940’s Patrick J. Frawley acquired his first company, a ballpoint pen parts manufacturer that defaulted on its loan. In 1949 The Frawley Pen Company developed a revolutionary new ink, which dried instantly. The pen that delivered this ink was called “The Paper Mate”.
In 1955 the Frawley Pen Company was acquired by Gillette for $15.5 million. So what does this mean? In 1955 i was just starting high school and one of the first ball point pens I purchased was a “papermate”. This purchase was also my first experience with the dreaded leaking ball point pen .When the only available ink writing device was a fountain pen this problem was expected and cautiously avoided by not placing the pen in your shirt pocket with the point down. The earlier ball point pens were more prone to leakage until Paper mate came along but the advent of the dry ink of papermate did not completely go away until later in the 60’s as the ink making process improved. This just a little note about writing and how I am happy to have a computer with spell chek? check?.

What Is Wrong With Us?


The endless political speeches, rants and assaults on the current and past Presidents is ridiculous! This onslaught comes from all sides and all Races, meanwhile no one seems to know what they want. We have proven that we are spoiled and want it all yet give nothing for it. The many factions political and private are seeking support for their  issues and are not concerned about the effect it may have on someones elses life or civil rights.  These forces pressure the legislature, the President and even the Supreme Court Justices to get their way. It is unfortunate that we have missed the basic idea of the Constitution   yet many of us quote from a document that is fully misunderstood. If by some slim chance “we the People” could put aside the detritus of innuendo and misinformation, we might have a chance at correcting the economic  problems we face.

What It Takes.


In thinking about the past 4 years of political bluster and turmoil, I have  come to the conclusion that our Government is indeed in trouble.  Looking at a larger picture and back about 10 to 15 years, we have had a neer do well Congress who  gets a bit perturbed when something or someone seeks to change the status quo of their work(?). This has been the case with the past few Presidents and especially now with a non white Commander-in-Chief. Each  candidate enters the Oval office with some  debts to pay, these debts are to their constituents  and unfortunately many of us constituents want whats best for us individually and collectively. With this in mind we cajole and threaten  Representatives into taking actions that do not benefit our country as a whole. Once taken these actions (if they become laws) are very difficult to reverse and take valuable time from other needed work. The other part of the debts to be paid are to the “other” constituents who have deep pockets and other agendas that do not include the good of the country. To take us to where we all want to be requires us first sacrifice our attachment to individual party’s , put aside the issues of color, religion and ethnicity.  The ability to look at what is required for  good of all of the people will take stepping out of our comfort zones and look toward the changing of the guard in the Legislature.

Whitney


The recent news of Whitney Houston’s death troubles me as she has followed the path of many talented and troubled people. We as fans can hardly see the obvious pain within the souls of these delightful and talented people yet we have as much to do with it as anyone. Our adoration caused the pressure to perform increase exponentially with each appearance and recording. It is indeed possible that she could have been helped more but the limelight brings with it dangerous and immoral people who have one goal and that is to take care of themselves on any level. Our own craving for more from these performers had  the effect of continuous scrutiny by the media (mainstream and not so mainstream). Imagine the pressure to perform or be the idol each and every time you appear in public just to shop. Look at Michael Jordan being unable to shop at a store in Chicago during normal hours. Our insatiable appetite to see or touch celebrities is a daunting wall of terror to some who have ordinary problems as we all do. Would you, if you were a celebrity want to be holed in a community with guards, gates and exclusivity? Or perhaps have to hire someone to do your shopping for all of the goods we shop for on a daily basis, such as food, clothing or even electronics? We think nothing of doing these basic chores but our frenzy for celebrities relegates these people we idolize and adore to their homes or hotel rooms because of it. We must remember that these talents only want to work in their chosen professions just like you and I.

Steep Learning Curve


The mayor of Chicago (the current one) is pushing for a state wide gun registration under the guise of making the state and Chicago safer. Illinois already has  FOID cards which all legal firearms owners have and need to purchase ammo or firearms for things like hunting, sport shooting and protection (which our Police forces cannot provide) after the fact. It is well known that most of the firearm related crimes are committed by  unlicensed or non Foid card holders.  Even though there are incidents where legal firearms holders have committed some acts, the preponderance of evidence supports the illegal use and possession of firearms is greater than any committed by law abiding citizens. Apparently Mr. Emanuel does not believe  in self defense as his ancestral counter parts in Israel do. To enact new or even tamper with existing firearms laws is ludicrous,  it would make more sense to put that effort into the police department so that the illegal users of firearms can be monitored, apprehended or jailed!  There are no sound reasons, incidents or practicalities that would require any new or upgraded firearms registration.

?


Taxes looking at this phenomenon(?) Taxes have been an issue from the onset of colonization of the then “new World” by the English. It still raises the hackles of many of us yet without those funds the country would cease to function. While there are penalties for not paying or under paying taxes, most of us do what required to keep us functioning. There has been much controversy about who should pay and how much but the reality is we as Americans have a system however flawed that works reasonably well. There are many who do not like the system and even some who refuse to pay taxes but the fact remains that taxes fund the  government. We can protest, disagree and rage at how those funds are spent but it is ludicrous to rail against the tax system and refuse to pay. The chance of your winning against the IRS are slim to none if you have not paid taxes but if you are audited your chances are as good as any. The fear of audit is only as bad as your mistakes and the luck of the draw (audits are random unless something sticks out). This election run has been about  what the current office sitter has done and is doing while the issue of what each aspirant pays what in taxes plays out in the background.The 2 most prominent candidates are millionaires and each pays from 15% to 30% in taxes on their earnings. To be clear, the tax rate on earnings from investments is lower than the same amount of earnings from salary or direct payments of money. So if you have a job or own a business  that pays you a salary any money you earn is taxed at a higher rate than income from invested monies. The controversy about who pays more or should pay more is mired more in the numbers than in the facts behind those numbers. I am thinking if these runners can skew the facts now, what will they do when in office?

I am Tired!!


I am tired: I have observed and read the ongoing load of nonsense put out daily in the papers, on the airwaves , et al. I am really appalled, tee’d off and noy surprised at the information that is disseminated as truth to sway an election. My fellow Americans it is time to stop letting someone else decide how you should vote! I know most of you will protest that no none tells you how to vote yet you sway toward any one of the current aspirants for an opportunity to run for the Presidency. This is not about who will do the better job but more about who will unseat the Black guy. Forget about that, we need to concentrate on changing the Congress, these are the movers and shakers. These are the people who make and enact the laws that determine what we pay for taxes, receive for retirement, how much we pay in banking fees and on and on. I am tired of all of us not seeing the big picture. Change comes with all of us voters ignoring the “so called issues” and understanding the facts. We are pounded daily by advertised political stuff that has nothing to do with what is required to be President. I am tired, tired of political baggage that is empty.

Beaten Down By The Dollar


Billionaires are pledging millions to defeat President Obama. These are headlines or non headlines that should scare the pants off of all us. We may not agree with all of the policies of this President (we have disliked the policies of previous office holders too),but can we afford to have Billionaires dictating who gets in office and who remains in office? This is already the way our neer do well Congress remains in place in spite of our best efforts to remove some of them. Special interests are just that and not the interests of most of American voters. We as “ordinary” Americans are being hosed daily by these interests. We are in awe and adore the rich and famous (often infamous) yet these are the very people who control what laws are passed or not by virtue of the dollar. We are willing to believe that our representatives are not tainted and we are disappointed again and again. These campaign speeches have never resulted in curing the countries ills and never will as long the richest pay for their will to be done. If you have been paying attention you will notice that our problems economic and otherwise have been going south for at least 10 years and all the while most of Congress has been in place. It is of less importance who is the titular head if Congress remains the same. There are groups who swear by their representatives but these are usually niche groups who get what they need and think nothing of their fellow Americans whose needs go unaddressed. Consider the fight to stop passage of an increased tax on the wealthiest Americans, many members of Congress are or are poised to be part of that group so whose interests are being served?