A word to the wise

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Once again, I post other people’s words.  They are far better at putting pen to paper than I am, yet they resonate so strongly within me I am compelled to share them with my tiny circle of friends.  Be inspired, be motivated, be loved.

Here is the first, from 2005, 11 years ago.

And here is the second.  Most of my friends are familiar with, and perhaps tired of, my fascination and delight in Hamilton.  But Lin-Manuel Miranda is exceptional, in that he so meticulously followed through on one of his life choices.  And here is his 2016 commencement speech.

https://heatst.com/entertainment/full-transcript-lin-manuel-mirandas-commencent-speech-at-upenn/

Nature

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Nature can do a lot to soothe a brain burp.

Here, in Oregon, amid trees, waterfalls, and wildlife, I take refuge from the world.

Here, things seem calmer, quieter, and more acceptable.

Here, I can hear myself think, I can feel my heart swell with love, and I can see wonders I usually overlook.

Here, the house beckons you to stay.

www.whisperingpinesoregon.com

 

 

There is no explanation

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Ever wonder why we even exist?  I do.  But there are no answers.  No explanation. Nothing.

So then I wonder “where we are going?” on this journey through life.  And I marvel at how man has developed life, with its many inconvient complications and unintended consequences.

Despite whether one agrees or disagrees with our evolvement, here we are, in all our glory, so to speak.

“America” has been tossed around a lot, and what many fail to understand is that we are not just a nation, we are an idea, conceived by those who sought freedom from tyranny, freedom from government, freedom from oppression. And we achieved it.  Now what?

Now it appears we in danger of going full circle, and losing what others fought for and gifted us.  The men who established our country knew this was a risk, and forewarned of it, but unfortunately, we humans have short memories.  And our foes count on that.

I take our freedom seriously, especially in light of Russia’s aggression, Syria’s unrest, ISIS, Hamas attacks against Israel and the resulting battle.  This is a very serious time we live in, and to my dismay, many do not seem to recognize this. Recently, a young FaceBook friend lamented politics being posted on Facebook.  Politics! The one thing that has the power to control your life, and this youth and others want to avoid discussing it?  Are we a world gone mad?

There simply is no explanation for such irreverence, except innocence (in the case of the very young) or ignorance (in the case of the not-so-young).

There is a good book out now – Things That Matter, by Charles Krauthammer.  I can only hope people will read this book, and others, that encourage the study and examination of politics in the name of freedom.

If we do ultimately lose our freedoms to those who wish to oppress us, there will be no good explanation except laziness.  There will be a new way of life, one that none of us imagined possible in our current reality of a free lifestyle, but make no mistake, we will regret we were not diligent with our politics.

It is moments such as these, when these thoughts whirl around my brain such that I cannot sleep, that I am glad I am older and on my way out. It is painful to watch the masses elbow or crowd out the ideas our country was founded on.  Personal liberties, freedoms and responsibilities are being traded for self-indugencies and dependencies.  I fear we are the spoiled child, and it is only when we are denied our blessings that we will realize the error in our ways.  I also fear that at that time, it may be too late, and we will be submerged in a long, dark period.

And while there is no explanation of this – I do hope for a new youth that will rise up before too long, and bring political discussions back to the dinner table and the coffee houses, and the forefront of our national conversation. We need to keep a firm grip on matters that shape our nation.

CSPAN – not your usual soundbite

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I love CSPAN. Can’t get enough of it. When my husband is traveling, I have it on all the time. When he is home, I watch it in snippets.  At the gym, I always get one of the channels tuned to CSPAN 1 2 or 3.  But come the weekend, I watch it in batches.

On the weekend, Booktv.org is aired, and this show features non-fiction writers. Their stories are fascinating. For example, we just watched Catherine Neal on her book about the Tyco Executive who was sent to prison for a number of felony charges tied to compensation. Ms. Neal, who is an Associate Professor of Business Ethics and Business Law, often used the case as a case-study for her students, but often times was left with feeling she didn’t fully understand what the wrong-doing actually was. She used her sabbatical time (plus) to investigate, and her findings are outstanding. Here is a snippet http://www.foxbusiness.com/business-leaders/2014/01/17/truth-and-justice-eluded-former-tyco-execs-kozlowski-and-swartz/.  When you hear her discuss her research on BookTV.org, you first feel incredulous, then almost fearful, as it can happen to any one of us – regardless of race, gender, or religion.  All it takes is some class-envy and complexities beyond the normal complexities one might encounter when purchasing a house.  Here is the link to her Booktv.org interview.  If the video is unavailable, as it sometimes is, the interview will next be aired again in a few days, March 29th.

Then there was the interview for the book titled ‘A Nation of Cowards; Black Activism in the Obama’s post-racial America‘.  The title came from  Eric Holder’s 2009 speech, and while I am not a fan of Mr. Holder’s, I am beholden to these authors for their succinct insights and remarks on race and racism in America.  I found the interview with Mr. Ikard and Mr.  Teasley interesting enough that I ordered their book and am in the process of reading it.  Very insightful.  Their interview can be seen here: http://booktv.org/Watch/15467/BookTV+in+Tallahassee+Florida.aspx

When I share these experiences with others, I am amazed no one even knows about BookTV, much less how great CSPAN is.  I must confess I myself was under-informed prior to my retirement, but now, having discovered this wonderful source of unfiltered information about our nation, our country as it is happening on the Hill,  I am beside myself with enthusiasm.

It is this enthusiasm that drives me to my computer to write this little blog, when in these quiet early-morning hours, I could be elsewhere, doing more self-indulgent things.  I urge all to listen the proceedings in the Senate and the House whenever you can (google CSPAN LIVE to stream or go to http://www.c-span.org/schedule/ to find your local listings, (mine are 350 and 351 for DirectTV in my area), then compare what you heard to the soundbites we are fed via MSNBC and FoxNews.  You will soon realize how much we are being spoon-fed by our system, and hopefully this realization will have many of us seeking stronger information sources so that we may form our own opinion, and not parrot someone else’s opinion.  One final note, a good news agency I have found is The Hill.  Try it, and evaluate their information for yourself.  TheHill.com

Happy learning!

Meteoric Demise

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They came in, heralding their expertise. Halfway through it, I knew one was a self-indulgent con, the others just plain conceited and ignorant, a deadly combination. Yet “meteoric rise” was a phrase the con liked to use, but truth was, he’d executed a “meteoric demise”.

Sadly, others believed in them, despite the warning signs. Some believed because they were too junior to know better, others because they felt they were too senior to start again, and others just because they wanted to believe – the promises sounded so good and it all sounded easy.

I have a poem for you, and later, I’ll write the book – a “How NOT to….” versus a “How to…”. Because I have witnessed first hand how not to do certain things in life. And some things should not remain a secret.

In the meantime, here is a post that they (and I) should have read before agreeing to do ANYTHING together. I think the first point would have signaled all that this was not going to be a good move.

“When your ego is too big to manage a company”

Where does the time go?

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We are struggling to keep up with ourselves. It seems we just got up, and we turn around, and it’s time for bed!

Yes, we are early risers. And these days, we are spending about 3 hours hiking the hills. By the time you get up and piddle around the house, do chores on the computer, we head out by 8 or 9 am if we are lucky. Finish that hike around 11 or so. Now we are hot and grimy, so home to shower and clean up. But oh wait, what about those errands? – think we can squeeze them in while we are out? Sure! So a stop here and there for supplies, and we are home around 2:30 or 3. Now it’s shower time, stretch, upload photos and document the hike, and 6 pm is here before we know it. A glass of vino, some chores around the house, and bedtime.

And tomorrow we will do the same thing, but different hike, different errands, and different chores. And the next day, and the next day. So when people ask what’s new?, well, nothing really. Morning, noon and evenings all blur into one warm cozy memory.

We look forward to better weather, which will force earlier hikes, and patio dinners (which will force more gardening chores). And friends over to enjoy the evenings. We are happy with this simple life. And we hope you are, too. If not today, maybe tomorrow.

And here we go

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Enjoying a Saturday morning, after a 3 mile run. Best morning, with coffee and IBD (except the hot water heater stopped working, but that is another story).

Sequestration has begun. The President got his tax hikes a while ago, and couldn’t find his way to negotiate away from his own “bad idea” sequestration policy. He could find his way to campaign against Republicans in his constant blame-game.

My notes:
So IBD reports (and I want to capture here) that Americans, in January paid record taxes ($2.6B for personal and social insurance (Obama-care)), as the payroll tax relief expired, and tax rates rose on higher earners. And let’s not forget the Medicare payroll tax hikes.

Real personal spending was anemic -> 0.1% of GDP. Personal income was down 3.6% in January, with disposable income down by 4%. Households about $250k now face a 3.8% hospital insurance tax on income – earned and investment gains.

Personal income suffered the biggest drop in 20 years, and disposable income its biggest drop in 50 years.

These essentially erased on all the income gains since September. Consumer spending did increase – but not due to prosperity – rather due to rising energy prices.

It is my personal belief that Obama’s redistribution of wealth plan is not aimed just at the wealthy or upper middle class, but at all Americans.

It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that if I work 60 hour weeks to get ahead, but the government takes half of that, then I might as well only work 30 hours, net about the same, and have more free time.

As a matter a fact, here are two true stories for you:
First, and ex-employee returned to our business to apply for a work. He had originally left 5 years earlier to go to a competitor, and since he was a good worker, I was happy to have him back. Seeking info on my competitor, I asked why he left them. He replied that he had left them years ago. I then asked why he now wanted to come back to us and he replied, “because my unemployment insurance ran out”.

Second true story. A contractor friend of mine had a (legal) visiting worker from Mexico, who later brought his wife and young son to the States. The son had spina bifoda. It was not long before CA had purchase a brand new shiny wheelchair for the family. The wife became pregnant. Twins. Wife became pregnant again, twins again. All the while, they were on food stamps. The worker had to ask the contractor to pay him half in cash, because his benefits were going to be cut due to his income. When the contractor refused, the worker quit. And we taxpayers are paying for the son’s special needs, and the food supplies for that family, and their extended family.

Meanwhile, our daughter and her family sold their home and are moving out of CA due to the high cost of living here.

Catching Pigs….

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Forwarded to me in an email. You decide…is this what is happening? Are we the frogs in the pot of water?

CATCHING PIGS….

There was a chemistry professor in a large college that had some
exchange students in the class.

One day while the class was in the lab, the professor noticed one young man, an exchange student, who kept rubbing his back and stretching as if his back hurt. The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country’s government and install a new communist regime.

In the midst of his story, he looked at the professor and asked a
strange question. He asked: “Do you know how to catch wild pigs?”

The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line.
The young man said that it was no joke. “You catch wild pigs by finding
suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground.

The pigs find it and begin to come every day to eat the free corn.
“When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence.

“They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side.

“The pigs, which are used to the free corn, start to come through the
gate to eat that free corn again. You then slam the gate on them and
catch the whole herd. Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom.
They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught.

Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for themselves,
so they accept their captivity.”

The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening in America.

The government keeps pushing us toward Communism/Socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tax exemptions, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, etc. while we continually lose our freedoms, just a little at a time.

Are you one of the caught pigs? Do you monitor the government classes taught in school to your kids? Ask your child about the Constitution. Do they know anything about it? Ask yourself about the Constitution. Do you know anything about it?

Protect our American rights. Don’t be lulled into a pen.

Protected: Musing from my dream-state thoughts

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US Coporate Taxes

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This blog is taken, in part, from WSJ letters to the Editor, specifically from a Frederick C. Van Bennekom and Colin S. Jackson.

At issue in recent Presidential debate is the discussion of taxes, and more specifically, taxes incentivized companies to move off-shore. This was President Obama’s statement, to which Mitt Romney replied, “Mr. President, I have been in business for over 25 years, and I don’t even know what you are talking about”. While I tend to believe Mr. Romney, I still wanted to research it.

Here’s what I have come up with.

There are three things in play when one looks at the corporate tax policies:

1. the taxing of overseas profits earned by US firms
2. the deferral of that tax
3. the overall corporate tax rate.

First of all, the US is the only major country that taxes overseas profits, effectively creating an un-level playing field for US-based companies.

The deferral discourages US-based companies from investing in America (because if they bring the money back (repatriate) into the US, they pay taxes on it AND a penalty), which in turn encourages them to invest it elsewhere.   The folly of this is seen when a company is repatriating profits from a country with a lower tax rate than ours.  If it was your company located in Ireland, would you bring the profits back to the US to face the 35% corporate tax rate PLUS the 22% penalty repatriation penalty, or would you invest your profits in the local facility and face just a tax rate of 22.5%?  Think of the hiring you could do there, the equipment, the automation, the advancement of your processes! So you effectively BUILD your business there, to take advantage of where your money can be best put to work.

Had the President’s Bowles-Simpson commission’s recommendations to move to a territorial tax system been followed, this would hav eliminated this issue, leveling the playing field.

However, at the same time, the US also has the highest corporate tax rate of any major nation. This tax is levied on profits earned in the US by foreign firms, effectively discouraging these foreign firms from outsourcing to America.

It is offered that high corporate tax rates are the “currency of politicians”, as they use these rates to create loopholes for their favored groups.  This corrupts at all levels, and undermines everything we are working for.

In 1994, there were 10 OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development www.oecd.gov) countries with higher corporate tax rates than the US.  In 2012, there are none.

Bottom line, without serious corporate tax reform, the US losing out on investments, revenues, and jobs.