Not the Time for Greed and Entitlement
Permalink | September 26, 2008 by John in Family, In the News, Money, Politics
My dad sent me the latest e-mail form letter circulating the net calling for the $85 Billion AIG bailout (now $700B) to instead be given to the American citizens. It calls this the “‘We Deserve It’ Dividend.” I call bullshit on that. I get a lot of e-mails like this from my family (don’t even get me started on the religious ones) and I don’t generally reply. Now I know he didn’t write it but it irks me that he (Update: he doesn’t) and probably most other Americans think this is a good idea. So I had to reply this time. I’m sure my reply will be written off as just another of John’s rants…
Whoever wrote this is retarded. It’s just more greed and entitlement. Nobody “deserves” anything.
How about they don’t spend the money at all, money we don’t have because of the war and because the republicans have been spending like drunken sailors (no better or worse than if the democrats by the way) and STOP FINDING WAYS TO DEVALUE THE DOLLAR FURTHER! Devaluing the dollar is essentially a hidden tax. We all pay for it and don’t even realize it.
These companies should be allowed to die for their poor business practices.
Unfortunately the bailout will go ahead, further damaging our country and our currency value in the world. We need to avoid printing more money. This is not the time for greed and entitlement. It’s time for us to tighten our belts and clean up this mess.
Here is the original message (YES, the math is incorrect, but I’m trying to make a larger point):
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My House, My Rules :: Update
Permalink | August 2, 2008 by John in Family, Household
Well, just over a month six weeks after my mom moved in, she’s moving out. She found a place just south of the hospital, on Fairmont Court, and to get it she had to take it as of August 1st. We took two loads over this morning (despite my vow years ago never to move her stuff again) in our cars and she’s over there organizing and putting away that stuff. It’s a pretty nice place. Lots of space. The timing is pretty good because I don’t believe we’ve seriously gotten on each others nerves …yet.
My House, My Rules
Permalink | June 24, 2008 by John in Family
My mother is moving in.
The irony has not escaped me. This is the first time I’ve had anyone close (family, romantic interest, whatever) live with me under a roof I pay for. Last time I lived with anyone it was with her, over 10 years ago when I first moved back to Helena (that was only for two months, hint, hint). I’m resisting the urge to create a bunch of rules, but there will definitely be boundaries.
She got a job in Helena and is in the process of moving back here from Great Falls. TEMPORARILY she will be staying with me, while she finds an apartment. I offered up my place because I feel the need to facilitate this change, for her sanity and mine. The job she just left was shit. Most of the people are shit (lawyers, duh). The upper level management is shit (bureaucrats, duh). The stress was insane. The new job should be stress free and is a little more money to boot. As a bonus, the new job is with a State organization so her pension and vacation surplus stay intact.
So, anybody know of a nice little 2 bedroom house or apartment in a quiet neighborhood?
Why are People Having Fewer Kids?
Permalink | February 28, 2008 by John in Dating/Relationships, Family, In the News, Leykis
Why are People Having Fewer Kids? (via The Tom Leykis Show):
“Economists have modeled the impact of many variables on people’s overall happiness and have consistently found that children have only a small impact. A small negative impact,” reports Harvard psychologist and happiness researcher Daniel Gilbert. In addition, the more children a person has the less happy they are. According to Gilbert, researchers have found that people derive more satisfaction from eating, exercising, shopping, napping, or watching television than taking care of their kids. “Indeed, looking after the kids appears to be only slightly more pleasant than doing housework,” asserts Gilbert in his bestselling, Stumbling on Happiness (2006).
Of course, that’s not what most parents say when asked.
Are Bedards Gullible?
Permalink | January 17, 2008 by John in Family, Ranting and Whining
Lately I’ve been getting a ton of bogus chain e-mails forwarded from the Bedard side of my family, mostly political in nature.
As always I fact check with snopes.com. If the message is especially slanderous, I ‘reply-all’ with my findings, usually “false,” on Snopes. The standout gems of late include how Barack Obama is a radical, madrassa-indoctrinated muslim, and the North American Union, or how the U.S., Canada and Mexico are supposed to be combined into one union with one currency called the “amero.” Both, of course, are false. But these are just the two most recent examples. I’ve been fact-checking my family’s e-mails for years.
I’ve been guilty of being gullible, more so when I was younger. What I’m starting to believe is that the gullibility is a Bedard trait, whilst the healthy cynicism I have that keeps my gullibility in check comes from the Stewart side.
I get my stubbornness from both. 