So this is the deal….every year….the social security guys give out a raise….that goes hand in hand with inflation. Sometimes, it’s one percent. Sometimes, it’s two percent. Sometimes, it’s three percent. Well…this year…inflation was negative growth…first time since 1975.
So naturally, the government feels awful damn sorry and woeful over this lack of a pay raise for you folks over 65. So, in typical stimulus fashion….they are now chatting over a January $250 one-time check to be issued….which you can rush out and plan a trip to some casino, buy a new flat TV (the cheaper 32” type), buy a case of Jacky D’s on sale, or spend five days at some Orlando 2-star resort hotel.
The curious thing is that there was zero growth….in fact, negative growth. So there should have zero added onto the yearly payment, and no $250 payment. Instead, you have the mindset that we have to pay these kindly folks something…anything….to make things right.
What happens if next year’s growth is negative? Well…same deal….another $250 check for these retirees. And 2011? Same thing….could be another $250 check. The logic here is that you shouldn’t pay anything and just do things by the book, and save the nation $500 million or more. But we aren’t that ethical or capable….are we?
So my advice…when you get the $250 check….go over to the butcher and order up $250 of beef steak…at a discount….and make the beef ranchers of America happy. Every two weeks, you could enjoy a fine steak with a baked potato for most of the year. The money would stay in America and you’d actually enjoy the $250 over a lengthy period of time.
And if this isn’t your cup of tea….then get yourself a new set of tires made in the Philippines.
Thursday, 15 October 2009
Some People
My associate came over today. His girlfriend is in the medical profession…a contractor of sorts. Apparently, the government had a position up in the UK….and found this person to hire (a GS hire from the states). So they did the contract, arranged for shipping for the gal’s baggage, and flew her over. She in processed on Monday. On Friday morning, she came into the office and announced she couldn’t take this anymore and was going to leave over the weekend. She stayed less than seven days in country.
The amusing thing is that her household goods had yet to arrive, and the government won’t pay to immediately ship it back.
She never gave an explanation…just that she couldn’t take UK living and had to go.
It’s a funny thing about military people….we are all forced into moving to undesirable or unusual places. We just accept it. From the states….folks who never spent time in the military….I’d imagine that fifty percent couldn’t take living overseas….in any civilized or uncivilized location.
If you came up to me….and offered me a job in Honduras for twelve months for the right pay….I’d go. I wouldn’t make a big deal about surroundings or environment….but that’s more due to military training than anything else.
The amusing thing is that her household goods had yet to arrive, and the government won’t pay to immediately ship it back.
She never gave an explanation…just that she couldn’t take UK living and had to go.
It’s a funny thing about military people….we are all forced into moving to undesirable or unusual places. We just accept it. From the states….folks who never spent time in the military….I’d imagine that fifty percent couldn’t take living overseas….in any civilized or uncivilized location.
If you came up to me….and offered me a job in Honduras for twelve months for the right pay….I’d go. I wouldn’t make a big deal about surroundings or environment….but that’s more due to military training than anything else.
The Non-Profit Charity-Mafia
It was an interesting NPR news episode today....US aid to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The boys who all run the charity-mafia-non-profit aid programs are highly disturbed. Basically, they believe the State Department and the administration are cutting them out their special deal. There were several serious complaints as the boys cried to the NPR journalists.
First, apparently that evil Czar of the region, Holbrook.....has been pushing take the chunk of money that America flushes toward Pakistan for aid....and just hand to the Pakistani government to run via their own programs. Naturally, this is really terrible because it cuts out the funding bucket that these non-profit charity-mafia organizations were taking their cash from.
Second, they were upset that the State Department hasn’t appointed a chief of aid....which naturally...would disperse the cash the way that the non-profit charity-mafia organizations desired. Their fondest hopes? That the government would just take their suggestions for the guy to appoint and make sure the “right” guy got appointed. For some reason....Holbrook and the boys are delaying this appointment....maybe until hell freezes over.
Then, the boys were upset that the aid-for-the world mentality wasn’t getting them the status like the Pentagon guys. They believe that aid ought to have the same level as the war business. This discussion went on for a minute or two as they made a passionate appeal for real recognition.
The problem here is that since the 1950s when aid first started up....nothing in the uncivilized world has really improved. Billions upon billions have been flushed into every region of the world, and you can’t show any significant improvement.
In the original vision....the idea was to take US grown corn, wheat, beans, and rice....and buy via a government program, which would increase the value to farmers. More competition....more money. In the 1950s, it was simple.
You bought 10,000 tons of corn. You put it into standard bags with a US flag on it and stamped it “made-in-America”. You got US freighters to deliver it to various countries. You had trucks pick up the 500 bags of 80-lb of corn. Then you drove to the middle of nowhere and offered up a bag of 80 pounds of corn to Joe....free of charge. Joe was happy...and this provided some level of extra food for a month or two. It was free, so naturally, no one turned it down.
The program grew. In the 1970s, it became an organizational thing. Various charity groups began to hire up some college educated guys and turn this into a massive program.
By the 1990s, the charity-mafia groups began to sleep and drink with congressmen and senators....plus the Administration folks.....to get more money and funding. They grew to a higher class of non-profit charity-mafia. Naturally, if you asked them....they would always say there is plenty of work but they can’t cite a end point....which is the curious thing.
Before the 1950s....you survived or you died. These charities came around and started pumping you up with pictures of half-starved folks. Naturally, they didn’t have the heart to tell you the entire story or to really think through a plan to make these people flourish on their own.
Holbrook in this case is correct....if you gave the money to the local government and said just make the program work correctly....they’d do a better job than the non-profit charity-mafia crowd. But then, there is this corruption factor....you can’t be sure of anything over the money. Then you turn back to the non-profit charity-mafia folks, and you start to laugh over their management and salary structure.
The amazing thing is that some folks have spent their entire lives involved in the charity-mafia, and they don’t have much else to show for their resume. If they were unemployed, then what? You’d have to find them work and there just isn’t anything that matches up to something like this.
So much for non-profit charity-mafia operations.....
The boys who all run the charity-mafia-non-profit aid programs are highly disturbed. Basically, they believe the State Department and the administration are cutting them out their special deal. There were several serious complaints as the boys cried to the NPR journalists.
First, apparently that evil Czar of the region, Holbrook.....has been pushing take the chunk of money that America flushes toward Pakistan for aid....and just hand to the Pakistani government to run via their own programs. Naturally, this is really terrible because it cuts out the funding bucket that these non-profit charity-mafia organizations were taking their cash from.
Second, they were upset that the State Department hasn’t appointed a chief of aid....which naturally...would disperse the cash the way that the non-profit charity-mafia organizations desired. Their fondest hopes? That the government would just take their suggestions for the guy to appoint and make sure the “right” guy got appointed. For some reason....Holbrook and the boys are delaying this appointment....maybe until hell freezes over.
Then, the boys were upset that the aid-for-the world mentality wasn’t getting them the status like the Pentagon guys. They believe that aid ought to have the same level as the war business. This discussion went on for a minute or two as they made a passionate appeal for real recognition.
The problem here is that since the 1950s when aid first started up....nothing in the uncivilized world has really improved. Billions upon billions have been flushed into every region of the world, and you can’t show any significant improvement.
In the original vision....the idea was to take US grown corn, wheat, beans, and rice....and buy via a government program, which would increase the value to farmers. More competition....more money. In the 1950s, it was simple.
You bought 10,000 tons of corn. You put it into standard bags with a US flag on it and stamped it “made-in-America”. You got US freighters to deliver it to various countries. You had trucks pick up the 500 bags of 80-lb of corn. Then you drove to the middle of nowhere and offered up a bag of 80 pounds of corn to Joe....free of charge. Joe was happy...and this provided some level of extra food for a month or two. It was free, so naturally, no one turned it down.
The program grew. In the 1970s, it became an organizational thing. Various charity groups began to hire up some college educated guys and turn this into a massive program.
By the 1990s, the charity-mafia groups began to sleep and drink with congressmen and senators....plus the Administration folks.....to get more money and funding. They grew to a higher class of non-profit charity-mafia. Naturally, if you asked them....they would always say there is plenty of work but they can’t cite a end point....which is the curious thing.
Before the 1950s....you survived or you died. These charities came around and started pumping you up with pictures of half-starved folks. Naturally, they didn’t have the heart to tell you the entire story or to really think through a plan to make these people flourish on their own.
Holbrook in this case is correct....if you gave the money to the local government and said just make the program work correctly....they’d do a better job than the non-profit charity-mafia crowd. But then, there is this corruption factor....you can’t be sure of anything over the money. Then you turn back to the non-profit charity-mafia folks, and you start to laugh over their management and salary structure.
The amazing thing is that some folks have spent their entire lives involved in the charity-mafia, and they don’t have much else to show for their resume. If they were unemployed, then what? You’d have to find them work and there just isn’t anything that matches up to something like this.
So much for non-profit charity-mafia operations.....
someone might get offended
I wrote the title for this blog in small caps….for an obvious reason.
In recent months, there have been a rash of episodes where folks were told to remove the American flag from their front porch, their car, their office area, etc.
This past week…it was an apartment complex in Oregon….who told a motorcyclist to remove the US flag from the back of his motorcycle.
In the beginning….I laughed mostly over this thing of folks getting offended by the flag. After a while, I began to realize that it really wasn’t “others” offended….as much as the guy who made the comment “someone else might get offended”. These folks always hinted of someone saying something, but when the heat was applied….they melted away. They couldn’t ever cite the guy or gal who complained. They couldn’t be honest in a moment of reality.
The curious thing is that folks actually want you to know that they get offended by the flag. It represents something bad or negative to them.
They seem to want to describe the military as part of their negativity….but then they seem to lack any true argument as to why the flag relates to the military.
In most of these cases….if you started asking history questions….I would fear that they’d freeze and just look at you. They didn’t pay much attention in high school and other than stuff they see on CNN…they really don’t know much of anything….other than the flag bothers them.
Most of these people have come to the mind that the US military represents some evil and we don’t come to help or rescue anyone. We seem to always fly this “evil flag” wherever we go….and it’s just not right.
So I will offer this advice. When you hear someone suggest that someone might be offended by the flag….smile, twist your head an inch like a cat, and then ask which person precisely. When they won’t answer the precisely part….tell them that you’d like to personally engage anyone who finds the flag offensive.
When they suggest some foreigner might be upset, then ask them which foreigner and that you’d like to engage them in defending the flag.
When they suggest that it represents something “bad”….then engage them about what’s really “bad”. Make them lay out an argument. They will stand there for a minute or two….and begin to realize how stupid they really look.
Finally, when someone does come to defend their position and really jump up to take down the flag….just stand there and ask what else would they like to take down. The Constitution? The Bill of Rights? Driver’s licenses? Taxes? Let them know that you might be willing to agree with them but you’d really like for the whole US government to be taken down….it offends you. Make them suddenly move to the opposite side…defending the government, defending the Constitution, and finally defending the flag. At that point….just smile and tell them to have a “nice day”.
Secret Climate Change
It was an impressive story today…..the apparent creation of a CIA center to study climate change. Yep, this unit would “engage” with government employees and private-sector experts…..to focus on potential national security implications of climate change.
I kinda laughed when I read the entire statement from the CIA. They say that they will examine the national security impact of climate-change phenomena. Then they rattled off: desertification, rising sea levels, population shifts and heightened competition for natural resources….as part of what they would survey.
They even mentioned that they would use satellites but declined to identify what satellites. Obviously, there will be secret environmental satellites somewhere down the line.
I paused here….thinking of all the things that the CIA could check out….like illegal banking (which they’ve done a marginal job), terrorism (another marginal job), illegal shipment of forbidden missile or aircraft parts (another marginal job), drug trafficking (another marginal job), and finally, potential coup actions (another marginal job). Basically, if you were an environmentalist and counting on this organization doing some kind of real analysis….you’d best forget about that.
So now that we’ve begun this trend…would there be any problem in getting the CIA to step up to Loch Nessie? How about aliens and UFO’s? How about solar flares? How about evil rich people avoiding their fair taxes to the US government?
For some reason, I don’t really see much here to worry about. In fact, if you are a CIA analyst assigned to this center…I’d start to look at my resume and worry about finding a real job after three years there.
I kinda laughed when I read the entire statement from the CIA. They say that they will examine the national security impact of climate-change phenomena. Then they rattled off: desertification, rising sea levels, population shifts and heightened competition for natural resources….as part of what they would survey.
They even mentioned that they would use satellites but declined to identify what satellites. Obviously, there will be secret environmental satellites somewhere down the line.
I paused here….thinking of all the things that the CIA could check out….like illegal banking (which they’ve done a marginal job), terrorism (another marginal job), illegal shipment of forbidden missile or aircraft parts (another marginal job), drug trafficking (another marginal job), and finally, potential coup actions (another marginal job). Basically, if you were an environmentalist and counting on this organization doing some kind of real analysis….you’d best forget about that.
So now that we’ve begun this trend…would there be any problem in getting the CIA to step up to Loch Nessie? How about aliens and UFO’s? How about solar flares? How about evil rich people avoiding their fair taxes to the US government?
For some reason, I don’t really see much here to worry about. In fact, if you are a CIA analyst assigned to this center…I’d start to look at my resume and worry about finding a real job after three years there.
Son of Joe, Lord Biden
Rumor today of Beau Biden running for dad’s old senate seat. Shocking, isn’t it? No.
The scheme was laid out months ago….a no-name guy was handed the senate seat after Joe Biden became VP. This was to show a clear lack of connection between the Biden name and permanently retaining the seat within the family.
Frankly, up in Delaware….no one really cares. If the Democrats came up with any name and said he was the top guy….that’s the end of debate.
As for Beau….he’s pretty much set for the rest of his career….a twenty-year episode and then he can retire and turn the seat over to his son. Kinda like the “Lords” of the UK….in a way, you know.
The scheme was laid out months ago….a no-name guy was handed the senate seat after Joe Biden became VP. This was to show a clear lack of connection between the Biden name and permanently retaining the seat within the family.
Frankly, up in Delaware….no one really cares. If the Democrats came up with any name and said he was the top guy….that’s the end of debate.
As for Beau….he’s pretty much set for the rest of his career….a twenty-year episode and then he can retire and turn the seat over to his son. Kinda like the “Lords” of the UK….in a way, you know.
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