Twitter 'Talk'

 Most folks who work for Twitter....will tell you that their compensation business revolves around 'gifts' of stock.  Some will even say (on camera) that more than half of what they have in yearly compensation....is really Twitter stock.  

So for these folks.....if all the stock is sold by the Board....then the young lads/lasses will be getting a check for compensating them ($54.20 per share).  Some folks might have 3,000 shares.....some 6,000 shares....maybe even some with 12,000 shares.  

A curious thing will happen....in that all this will occur in 2022, and be reported to IRS as 'income' from a stock sale.  Ton of taxation to occur?  Well....if you were the fellow with $250,000 today in value and it sold for $54.20....then your profit is likely in the $75,000 minimum and if these were discounted gifts from eight years ago.....you could be talking about $200,000 of profit.

Imagine your discussion with the tax account over the forced reporting of the money, and the frustration on your mind that the government is 'stealing' your wealth.

But why stop there?

Elon now talks about a management cut in pay.  Yeah, the upper level folks making millions per year?  That scheme won't continue....if you stay, there's a cut coming. No one says how much, but I would imagine if you were a $1-million or more a year employee....you might be talking about a 20-percent cut.

That idea of the subscription fee?  Chatter says $2.99 to have full capability.  Would people pay for better version of Twitter?  Some would....most would want just plain regular Twitter, without a lot of bells and whistles. 

That exodus of employees?  Lot of that talk, but if you gaze around....there's not any new billets being created elsewhere (yeah, bringing in all those Indian employees did screw-up that market idea).

The one thing I'd prepare myself for.....a lot of former Twitter employees grumbling about their tax bill next year.  

Yeah, About That College Debt Stuff

 Last night, I sat and read a bit over college tuition in America.

In general....the rate of yearly tuition....rises about 8-percent a year (twice inflation is the common wording used).

If you paid $17,000 a year for 2020....you'd be paying this year (2 years later) around $19,800.

This leads me to the odd mathematical situation.....that 17,000 cost related to 2030 being $36,701 (for one single year of tuition).  

The question is....can most all college graduates attain a modest salary at the end of four years in 2030, for a decent salary of $70k-plus?  I'm not really buying into that.  

You'd also be saying for a four-year period.....to meet the cost factor, you'd need to borrow $146,000.  

If you start laying these factors out on the table....a whole bunch of kids (now around 10 to 12 years old) are destined to be in a massive amount of woes in 2030 to 2035.  

Biden thinking he can save this crew today?  Some President will be sitting there between 2030 and 2040.....with people owing $100,000 minimum and some getting up into the $200,000 range.  

The Democratic Party: 1920 and 2020

 If you sat down in 1922 and gazed across the US....asking people about the Democratic Party....they'd say it was mostly for the working man and union folks.

The 1920 Presidential platform?  Pro-UN and League of Nations.  Very much into selling peace.....to all the vets who returned from the war.  They patted themselves on the bank for the banking system....which would halt all panics (nine years later, it proved worthless).  They promised to revisit the tax system....promising to fix that equality/fairness problem in taxation.

Lot of talk over women's vote, and covering the welfare of women and children. Increase in national salary for teachers?  Yeah, that's mentioned as well.  Building a federal highway system (started in 1916).....that is a big mention.

Shifting around blame on the post office system?  That gets brought up....apparently, folks thought the system was crapped out in 1920.

Suggestions in the press that they were being manipulated or controlled by the Democratic Party?  Total denial.

Flood control?  That gets hyped-up.

Three paragraphs of the platform for 1920....goes to Mexico.

Eight paragraphs of the platform chat over Alaska....particularly mentioning oil.

Two paragraphs toward the end of the platform go to blaming Republicans on corruption (especially those evil Senators).

In some ways, if you take out mention of years.....you could print the same platform in 2022, and most people would approve of the goals laid out.

So you start to think about 2020.  

It's more of a victim list and trying to explain how the government has failed the general public.

The police are the enemy......there's just never enough 'rights' to resolve LGQTB folks.....Wall Street is corrupt and evil.....censorship is a necessity.....ethnic groups need a special platform to stand on....and there's a terrible mess for people who borrowed $100,000 from the government for a college degree, which will require 20 years to pay off.

For some reason.....pronouns get mentioned a lot.

Taxes?  They actually get mentioned a good bit....but the fact that two out of three Americans now pay zero on federal taxes.....there's just not much to reform except making more of the rich pay 'more of their fair share'.

If you go beyond the urbanization areas.....those who do claim some past support of the Democratic Party....are now skeptical.  They haven't converted over to the evil Republicans....but they are less likely now than at any point in the past.....to vote a straight Democratic ticket.

For Biden to have won in 2020....it required Covid and the general fear of people being in crowds at the polling stations.  

Resolving the economy problems of 2022?  Well....virtually every single 'trick' has been pulled out of the bag, and the spiral continues on.  

In some ways, if you brought a hundred average Democrats into a square and allowed open discussions.....probably a third of them would suggest that the party can't survive as it is.....thus needing a third party to resolve differences.  Republicans feeling the same way?  Yeah, that's probably true as well.

Kinda funny....a hundred years pass, and we are more different today, than ever before. 

Yeah, About That Wing

 

I spent a fair amount of time looking over the photo today (was on Twitter).

Yeah, that's high-grade duck-tape.

According to regulations.....you can do this, and it's 'legal'.

Now if you asked me.....passenger sitting there and seeing this 3 minutes into the flight....it'd scare the crap out of me.

The word is....this was a African airlines (no name job).

Other question here....what triggered the holes?  Bullets?  Rust?

This Heard/Depp Court Episode

 Not that I really care, but I find myself spending an hour each day....watching court reporting over this Johnny Depp court action with the wife (Heard).  

He did a lot of talking this week.

Based on his commenting....she is about a '9' on the crazy scale, and you have to wonder how a guy ever got hooked up to her.  

Course, next week....she's got some chatter to give and it's probably just as bad on his situation.  

Things That I'd Like To SELF-IDENTFY As

 1.  160 pound fantastically fit guy.

2.  Micky Mantle-capable baseball player.

3.  James Bond agent.

4.  Cowboy (without any of the 12-hour horse-rides, or bronco-busting, or sleeping under the stars business), or rodeo-clown.

5.  Last Norman to leave the beach in France for the Battle of Hastings adventure on 14 October 1066.

6. Enlighted.

7.  Plato-philosopher.

8.  Retired secret Avengers member.

9.  Failed 1980s wrestler.

10.  County/western singer, who can't carry a tune.

Yeah, About That Lunch Thing

 Just odd....as VP for Obama, Biden had some deal where he actually sat down and had lunch once a week (well....most of the time, we can say).

At the beginning of his 'era'....Biden said he'd have Harris come for lunch as well.  In the 15 months that passed?  It's happened twice.

Why?  No one seems to know. 

Personally, for most of my life....I liked having lunch alone....giving me a chance to scan the newspaper while eating.  To be honest, with about 50-percent of the people I worked with....I'd just rather not have lunch with them.  

Joe's thing?  Maybe he just doesn't seem to have time to sit down for 30 minutes of a lunch.  Maybe he just chomps down on a pastrami sandwich in 12 minutes and move on.  Maybe Joe farts too much while eating.

A big deal?  No.  It's not like the 1920s when the President might not even see the VP for two weeks straight.