You know it's a sad state of American affairs when you see more people Googling Lindsay Lohan's rumored death than they actually Google the news and economics. This information is what greeted me this morning on my iGoogle home page's "Trends" widget box.
Trends is a nifty thing to follow in your spare time and usually returns some interesting insights. Perhaps, us news hounds know how to better retrieve what we're looking for than following the rumors of celebrity gossip? Either way, I am often mortified that my fellow Americans still haven't woken up like us informed citizens and I hope they find the light sooner rather than later.
14 July 2010
Boomers, China, & Rosevelt Theory
Honestly, there is nothing more powerful and stealthy in the US Military's arsenal than that of a ballistic missile sub. Turn one of those boats into a space for 154 cruise missiles and 60 special forces commandos, capable of disappearing for months on end, and then reappearing anywhere in the world without announcement, and that is what SOCOM refers to as "the tip of the spear."
Needless to say, when three boomers surface at roughly the same time, in roughly the same area, for no real reason whatsoever, someone is going to take notice. China happened to take notice of someone in the Navy playing a bit of Roosevelt Doctrine (walk softly and carrying a big stick.) For those that are mistaken that the cold war is over, it's merely shifted focus from the Red Russians to the Red Chinese, and unfortunately for the US, the Chicoms are better organized, better populated, and are on the correct side of potential economic warfare.
Unfortunately for the brain that is locked away in the Naval Warfare College that thought it a good idea to turn ballistic missile subs into cruise missile subs, his face will never be donned upon the Wheaties box, though it really should be.
(Full credit goes to Yahoo News and AK Fan for the link, it's a good read).
Needless to say, when three boomers surface at roughly the same time, in roughly the same area, for no real reason whatsoever, someone is going to take notice. China happened to take notice of someone in the Navy playing a bit of Roosevelt Doctrine (walk softly and carrying a big stick.) For those that are mistaken that the cold war is over, it's merely shifted focus from the Red Russians to the Red Chinese, and unfortunately for the US, the Chicoms are better organized, better populated, and are on the correct side of potential economic warfare.
Unfortunately for the brain that is locked away in the Naval Warfare College that thought it a good idea to turn ballistic missile subs into cruise missile subs, his face will never be donned upon the Wheaties box, though it really should be.
(Full credit goes to Yahoo News and AK Fan for the link, it's a good read).
Holy Taxman, AK FAN!
A nameless buddy of mine (who we shall call AK Fan since he didn't want me to sarcastically disguise him as ObamaFan) runs a family business. We had the following conversation pertaining to unemployment insurance earlier this week:
AK Fan: Just got a letter from the state. They are upping the taxable wage base on
unemployment and workers comp. I believe it was $8000 last year now its
10k.
Me: unbelievable
AK Fan: But effective 1/1/11 it's 13k
Me: All these taxes and fees. HOLYSHIT!
AK Fan: And effective 1/1/12 it's 16k
Me: That's a 30% increase! Honestly, we're bankrupting ourselves!
AK Fan: And a new penalty for the mis-classification of workers is $5000 per
unreported worker per report and reports are quarterly. So, it's up to $20k
per year for an unreported employee. Crazy.
Me: Holyshit, that's crazy!
AK Fan: Social handouts sucking $$$$ from productive business
AM me: Yep. Nothing more.
The sad thing is, it's not just unemployment tax and workers comp. Most people don't realize that employers have to match your Social Security Tax as well. So, what is 7.65% of your gross taxable wage, your employer kicks in 7.65% as well. That's for every employee! What's worse is, that starting this year, with the new tax/health care, you will see a new line item called "medical benefits paid by employer" on your W-2 form. This is the portion of your health insurance that is funded by your employer that you don't really see. Now, no one is currently taxed on that, but we know how the government operates on the boiling frog method (for those who don't know what that is, you boil a frog by putting it in a pot of cold water and slowly turning up the heat).
From working in accounting, we see taxes for all sorts of stuff, on top of your normal income taxes. In all honesty, the associated fees with business make business almost not worth while.
If we took a normal LLC, run out of one's home or perhaps a small owned or leased office, here's a short list of taxes and assesments one would see. We'll also assume that there are a few employees and there aren't any private contractors.
1) Fed Tax
2) State Tax
3) Local Tax
4) Sales / Use Tax
5) Personal Property Tax
6) Real Estate Tax
7) Registration Fees
8) Regulation authority Fees
9) Worker's Comp Insurance
10) Unemployment Insurance
11) Compliance examination fees
12) Incorporation Fees
13) Employer's portion of FICA
To think, like we discussed above, in one way or another, these taxes and fees find their way into paying for every worth while program (roads, schools, military) and every worthless program (social security, medicare, medicaid, and food stamps). That sucking sound we hear, is the continued economic "recovery."
AK Fan: Just got a letter from the state. They are upping the taxable wage base on
unemployment and workers comp. I believe it was $8000 last year now its
10k.
Me: unbelievable
AK Fan: But effective 1/1/11 it's 13k
Me: All these taxes and fees. HOLYSHIT!
AK Fan: And effective 1/1/12 it's 16k
Me: That's a 30% increase! Honestly, we're bankrupting ourselves!
AK Fan: And a new penalty for the mis-classification of workers is $5000 per
unreported worker per report and reports are quarterly. So, it's up to $20k
per year for an unreported employee. Crazy.
Me: Holyshit, that's crazy!
AK Fan: Social handouts sucking $$$$ from productive business
AM me: Yep. Nothing more.
The sad thing is, it's not just unemployment tax and workers comp. Most people don't realize that employers have to match your Social Security Tax as well. So, what is 7.65% of your gross taxable wage, your employer kicks in 7.65% as well. That's for every employee! What's worse is, that starting this year, with the new tax/health care, you will see a new line item called "medical benefits paid by employer" on your W-2 form. This is the portion of your health insurance that is funded by your employer that you don't really see. Now, no one is currently taxed on that, but we know how the government operates on the boiling frog method (for those who don't know what that is, you boil a frog by putting it in a pot of cold water and slowly turning up the heat).
From working in accounting, we see taxes for all sorts of stuff, on top of your normal income taxes. In all honesty, the associated fees with business make business almost not worth while.
If we took a normal LLC, run out of one's home or perhaps a small owned or leased office, here's a short list of taxes and assesments one would see. We'll also assume that there are a few employees and there aren't any private contractors.
1) Fed Tax
2) State Tax
3) Local Tax
4) Sales / Use Tax
5) Personal Property Tax
6) Real Estate Tax
7) Registration Fees
8) Regulation authority Fees
9) Worker's Comp Insurance
10) Unemployment Insurance
11) Compliance examination fees
12) Incorporation Fees
13) Employer's portion of FICA
To think, like we discussed above, in one way or another, these taxes and fees find their way into paying for every worth while program (roads, schools, military) and every worthless program (social security, medicare, medicaid, and food stamps). That sucking sound we hear, is the continued economic "recovery."
13 July 2010
RIP George Steinbrenner: Enjoy your Tax Free Death
Lucky Steinbrenner! I wish I could pick such a timely and fast paced death. While that statement is pretty distasteful, it is unfortunately the truth for the majority of the people on earth. No one really wants to die, but we all hope and pray that our return to the dusts of the earth is always quick and fairly painless. Certainly, if you happen to kick the bucket in 2010 it has the added bonus of being tax free!
Before I continue, I do want to offer my thoughts and prayers, apologetically to the Steinbrenner family. As a humbled Oriole's fan, the Steinbrenner family has my support and condolences in mending their broken hearts.
Mr. Steinbrenner was able to live out two completely American dreams through hard work and determination. He was a self made millionaire and accomplished the prestige associated with owning the most prominent franchise in all of America's Pastime. Having bought the Yankees for a measly ten million dollars in 1973, it's estimated that the team is worth over one billion dollars, a one hundred fold increase. During that time, Steinbrenner won seven World Championships, countless pennants, and saw a massive change of baseball.
Of course, George gave players breaks, broke their careers, and was the quintessential capitalist of baseball. He opposed salary caps, probably despised the "luxury tax," and all the while "hired minorities and fired white managers." (Limbaugh from today's program) It shows, that when the free market is allowed to invest in itself, it can achieve nothing but greatness, even if it is dubbed the "evil empire" for doing nothing but win over the last 40 years.
Unfortunately, in today's world, we see the free enterprise attacked at every angle, in an effort to create a class division and pit us against one another. Perhaps the economic recovery would get this nation moving again if it were allowed to follow the Steinbrenner business model: Pay your employees who perform, well enough to motivate them to achieve great things, sanctions and regulation be damned.
So Mr. Steinbrenner, enjoy your peace, your baseball, and may your heirs enjoy the continued winning tradition of firing / hiring Billy Martin.
Before I continue, I do want to offer my thoughts and prayers, apologetically to the Steinbrenner family. As a humbled Oriole's fan, the Steinbrenner family has my support and condolences in mending their broken hearts.
Mr. Steinbrenner was able to live out two completely American dreams through hard work and determination. He was a self made millionaire and accomplished the prestige associated with owning the most prominent franchise in all of America's Pastime. Having bought the Yankees for a measly ten million dollars in 1973, it's estimated that the team is worth over one billion dollars, a one hundred fold increase. During that time, Steinbrenner won seven World Championships, countless pennants, and saw a massive change of baseball.
Of course, George gave players breaks, broke their careers, and was the quintessential capitalist of baseball. He opposed salary caps, probably despised the "luxury tax," and all the while "hired minorities and fired white managers." (Limbaugh from today's program) It shows, that when the free market is allowed to invest in itself, it can achieve nothing but greatness, even if it is dubbed the "evil empire" for doing nothing but win over the last 40 years.
Unfortunately, in today's world, we see the free enterprise attacked at every angle, in an effort to create a class division and pit us against one another. Perhaps the economic recovery would get this nation moving again if it were allowed to follow the Steinbrenner business model: Pay your employees who perform, well enough to motivate them to achieve great things, sanctions and regulation be damned.
So Mr. Steinbrenner, enjoy your peace, your baseball, and may your heirs enjoy the continued winning tradition of firing / hiring Billy Martin.
12 July 2010
George Soros is Orwell's Big Brother
Over the weekend I completed reading George Orwell's best known work, the modern classic 1984. This complimented my completion of reading Animal Farm earlier this year, and is only a fraction of my "mandatory" reading list to actually become a fully educated American.
Over the last few years I have been attempting to rectify the failure of the public education for which I was never provided in college and high school. The fact that every major school in the country fails to train it's students in classical history and philosophy means that today's workforce has an extremely limited skill set to determine right and wrong, and then correlate that to the values over American history, commerce, and personal freedom. As I study the modern philosophical classics, as well as the authors of the founding era, I hope to instill personal intelligence and context to today's decaying society. (Sidebar: if you have a book that is worth reading that fits into the context of the above paragraph, please post it or email it to me).
Obviously, from a metaphysical level of thinking, morals and values are purely subjective and impossible to argue. Arguing what is right and wrong with someone is like an irresistible force against an immovable object; pure calamity. My limited study of philosophy though, has taught me to follow Immanuel Kant's primary rule of metaphysics; "See people as ends in themselves, not a means to an end."
Unfortunately for the world, George Soros and his army of minions is playing a 1984 game, with Soros staring as "Big Brother" and his minions as the "the party."
In Orwell's book, Winston Smith is confined to his own mind, which ultimately betrays him and every moral thing in which he believes. Of course, in the struggle of his re-education, Winston is forced to accept that there is nothing more to "why the party" treats it's subjects the way it does, except for the fact that pure power is their only objective. Nothing more, nothing less. It is this disgusting perversion that drives the motives of the overlords, whom have become so brainwashed that they themselves believe in one mind, one party and an immortality on earth through the perpetuation of the party. What exists in the eyes of the party is the only reality of the world and arguments otherwise are pure insanity.
Mr. Soros has already made billions upon billions on this planet, and has often done so through the the "capitalistic, immoral greed" with which he now claims to be fighting. The pledged fifty million dollars to form the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET), which appears to be yet another fascist, Keynesian push group, is merely a front to be able to force the world into a direction that begets more power for our "Big Brother." Comments from the article linked in the title show that ultimately, they want the masses to decrease their standard of living, have less, and suffer from a condition of less happiness as "the party perpetrates wealth spreading to developing nations." Now, I'm not sure why, any person on this earth should feel the need to tell others how their money should be forfeited and then subsequently spent by others, but if that is not power for an end's sake, I can't imagine what is.
One thing that Orwell's book fails to take into account though is the human spirit. Winston is but one mind in a collective mass of moderately educated people whom had the wool pulled over their eyes for too long to question anything other than what Big Brother said. To be able to see the manipulation of their interpersonal connections, and take a stand, the freedom afford our country is a prime target for people like Soros. Without an uneducated, over taxed and over worked mass population behind him, he will never achieve what he hopes or his party hopes to achieve; world financial power.
Over the last few years I have been attempting to rectify the failure of the public education for which I was never provided in college and high school. The fact that every major school in the country fails to train it's students in classical history and philosophy means that today's workforce has an extremely limited skill set to determine right and wrong, and then correlate that to the values over American history, commerce, and personal freedom. As I study the modern philosophical classics, as well as the authors of the founding era, I hope to instill personal intelligence and context to today's decaying society. (Sidebar: if you have a book that is worth reading that fits into the context of the above paragraph, please post it or email it to me).
Obviously, from a metaphysical level of thinking, morals and values are purely subjective and impossible to argue. Arguing what is right and wrong with someone is like an irresistible force against an immovable object; pure calamity. My limited study of philosophy though, has taught me to follow Immanuel Kant's primary rule of metaphysics; "See people as ends in themselves, not a means to an end."
Unfortunately for the world, George Soros and his army of minions is playing a 1984 game, with Soros staring as "Big Brother" and his minions as the "the party."
In Orwell's book, Winston Smith is confined to his own mind, which ultimately betrays him and every moral thing in which he believes. Of course, in the struggle of his re-education, Winston is forced to accept that there is nothing more to "why the party" treats it's subjects the way it does, except for the fact that pure power is their only objective. Nothing more, nothing less. It is this disgusting perversion that drives the motives of the overlords, whom have become so brainwashed that they themselves believe in one mind, one party and an immortality on earth through the perpetuation of the party. What exists in the eyes of the party is the only reality of the world and arguments otherwise are pure insanity.
Mr. Soros has already made billions upon billions on this planet, and has often done so through the the "capitalistic, immoral greed" with which he now claims to be fighting. The pledged fifty million dollars to form the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET), which appears to be yet another fascist, Keynesian push group, is merely a front to be able to force the world into a direction that begets more power for our "Big Brother." Comments from the article linked in the title show that ultimately, they want the masses to decrease their standard of living, have less, and suffer from a condition of less happiness as "the party perpetrates wealth spreading to developing nations." Now, I'm not sure why, any person on this earth should feel the need to tell others how their money should be forfeited and then subsequently spent by others, but if that is not power for an end's sake, I can't imagine what is.
One thing that Orwell's book fails to take into account though is the human spirit. Winston is but one mind in a collective mass of moderately educated people whom had the wool pulled over their eyes for too long to question anything other than what Big Brother said. To be able to see the manipulation of their interpersonal connections, and take a stand, the freedom afford our country is a prime target for people like Soros. Without an uneducated, over taxed and over worked mass population behind him, he will never achieve what he hopes or his party hopes to achieve; world financial power.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)