sabato 19 dicembre 2009
mercoledì 14 ottobre 2009
Why I Do Not Hate the Rich Folks
°°° My little cousin, astonished at the selfishness of the Healthcare Haves directed towards the Healthcare Haven'ts, proposes a solution. A solution the Rich Folks wouldn't like at all. It is as if he hates his betters.
°°° No use my hating the Rich, I don't know but two of them, unless you count F T. I call "rich" someone who can count on the income from an estate of at least $100,000,000. And even then, I may be lowering the cut-off a bit much. Grandma Agnelli, with a pension of 700,000-odd euro the month, for life, plus, I suppose, a palace or two thrown in--Grandma Agnelli I call rich. She doesn't have to trouble herself with the family business, the checks clear, a million bucks a month.
°°° I wish her well.
°°° And no, I don't hate the Rich Folks.
°°° First of all, I was brought up Francescan. That means that I think a banquet is 1500 calories of firm but still chewable pugliese bread, and the day's nutritional balance made up in local ripe olives so abundant nobody else has wanted them. A feast is the same, except the bread doesn't have so much sandy grit ground into the wheat that it makes my teeth sore.
°°° Possessions enslave. Even benign possessions enslave by symbiosis. It's not just a Truthy Truism, it's Truly True. Slaves are forever getting under foot, not to mention their spitting in our lemonade behind our backs.
°°° Second, Do Not They Bleed, If We Prick 'em? Don't Rich Folks die? Don't they be dreadful parents? Don't they grow old and have to stuff their faces with cow goo, till their eyebrows climb halfway up their foreheads? Don't they make fools of themselves over slimy married jerks? Don't they snort the coke just to get through the day? And F T even has to work, like Anna Wintour.
°°° Third, the wealth of the Rich Folks doesn't amount to a hill of beans. Suppose Bill Gates got religion, and distributed his entire wealth to his grateful and worthy fellow citizens. If Microsoft is in a bubble, he has $60,000,000,000 to spread around. If Microsoft has had the air squeezed out, he has $30,000,000,000, a wife, chirren, and a palace or two. He can keep the wife, the chirren, and the palace, nobody else wants them.
°°° But, 300,000,000 American citizens dividing $30,000,000,000. Yes folks, that's only 2 zeros extra.
°°° 2.
°°° Ergo, each of us grateful and worthy fellow Americans would receive a fabulous legacy of $100. One time. Then Bill Gates would have nothing, except the wife chirren and palace, and how would he pay the heat bill? And after one trip to the grocery store, the entire body of worthy and grateful fellow Americans would have nothing too.
°°° I guess you really have to be a selfmade trillionaire, like Bernanke, S. p. A., to have a red cent nowadays.--Giac.
°°° No use my hating the Rich, I don't know but two of them, unless you count F T. I call "rich" someone who can count on the income from an estate of at least $100,000,000. And even then, I may be lowering the cut-off a bit much. Grandma Agnelli, with a pension of 700,000-odd euro the month, for life, plus, I suppose, a palace or two thrown in--Grandma Agnelli I call rich. She doesn't have to trouble herself with the family business, the checks clear, a million bucks a month.
°°° I wish her well.
°°° And no, I don't hate the Rich Folks.
°°° First of all, I was brought up Francescan. That means that I think a banquet is 1500 calories of firm but still chewable pugliese bread, and the day's nutritional balance made up in local ripe olives so abundant nobody else has wanted them. A feast is the same, except the bread doesn't have so much sandy grit ground into the wheat that it makes my teeth sore.
°°° Possessions enslave. Even benign possessions enslave by symbiosis. It's not just a Truthy Truism, it's Truly True. Slaves are forever getting under foot, not to mention their spitting in our lemonade behind our backs.
°°° Second, Do Not They Bleed, If We Prick 'em? Don't Rich Folks die? Don't they be dreadful parents? Don't they grow old and have to stuff their faces with cow goo, till their eyebrows climb halfway up their foreheads? Don't they make fools of themselves over slimy married jerks? Don't they snort the coke just to get through the day? And F T even has to work, like Anna Wintour.
°°° Third, the wealth of the Rich Folks doesn't amount to a hill of beans. Suppose Bill Gates got religion, and distributed his entire wealth to his grateful and worthy fellow citizens. If Microsoft is in a bubble, he has $60,000,000,000 to spread around. If Microsoft has had the air squeezed out, he has $30,000,000,000, a wife, chirren, and a palace or two. He can keep the wife, the chirren, and the palace, nobody else wants them.
°°° But, 300,000,000 American citizens dividing $30,000,000,000. Yes folks, that's only 2 zeros extra.
°°° 2.
°°° Ergo, each of us grateful and worthy fellow Americans would receive a fabulous legacy of $100. One time. Then Bill Gates would have nothing, except the wife chirren and palace, and how would he pay the heat bill? And after one trip to the grocery store, the entire body of worthy and grateful fellow Americans would have nothing too.
°°° I guess you really have to be a selfmade trillionaire, like Bernanke, S. p. A., to have a red cent nowadays.--Giac.
domenica 27 settembre 2009
Double Feature
I like Anna Wintour. She describes herself as "decisive." She appears so to be. Therefore, she possesses an abundance of a quality I lack practically altogether.
I like Grace. I like the luckless Italian fotografer. I like the little muscle-guy who knows how to print out fotos. I like the models, the designers, the slaves, the vassals.
For, they're all wholeheartedly in pursuit of an ideal, il bello.
I never knew before, for I've never had a copy of Vogue in hand.
They're painters, artists. They take young flesh and brilliant costumes and distinctive settings, and create foto-paintings.
God bless their hearts, one and all.
Besides, The September Issue was so much funnier, and so much more suspenseful than advertised, I was delighted to have bought the ticket.
Meanwhile, down the hall, was Lord, Save Us from Your Followers. Always glad to see Jon Stewart, that handsome dog. And Senator Franken, that--er--entertaining dog. And Bono's hair.
And so very many Uncle Toms, wherever did the presenter find them?
And the self-confessing, self-forgiving presenter. How pat he has it down. A little lipstick on the pig, no need for a change of heart. Or self-examination. Or a sense of justice.
A most disheartening movie, so glad I didn't buy the ticket.--Giac.
I like Grace. I like the luckless Italian fotografer. I like the little muscle-guy who knows how to print out fotos. I like the models, the designers, the slaves, the vassals.
For, they're all wholeheartedly in pursuit of an ideal, il bello.
I never knew before, for I've never had a copy of Vogue in hand.
They're painters, artists. They take young flesh and brilliant costumes and distinctive settings, and create foto-paintings.
God bless their hearts, one and all.
Besides, The September Issue was so much funnier, and so much more suspenseful than advertised, I was delighted to have bought the ticket.
Meanwhile, down the hall, was Lord, Save Us from Your Followers. Always glad to see Jon Stewart, that handsome dog. And Senator Franken, that--er--entertaining dog. And Bono's hair.
And so very many Uncle Toms, wherever did the presenter find them?
And the self-confessing, self-forgiving presenter. How pat he has it down. A little lipstick on the pig, no need for a change of heart. Or self-examination. Or a sense of justice.
A most disheartening movie, so glad I didn't buy the ticket.--Giac.
domenica 21 giugno 2009
home economy
I was searching for an old recipe for pâté de fruit.
I didn’t find it.
Instead, in a 1929 cookbook published by the Woman’s Missionary Society of the Pope First M. E. Church South, I came across this recommended budget for household expenses:
Well.
Health insurance costs so much nowadays that a family of four would have to have an after-tax income of $200,000 in order for medical expenditure to be only 5% of the budget. Something has to give. I hope it won’t be Amusement.
As for the perpetual harping on Americans’ refusal to save “12%” of their annual incomes--pish tush. Social Security deductions do that for us.
Only, the deductions stop before they get to the CEOs.
And just God bless the Woman’s Missionary Society for slashing the tithe, doubtless they knew best.--Giac.
I didn’t find it.
Instead, in a 1929 cookbook published by the Woman’s Missionary Society of the Pope First M. E. Church South, I came across this recommended budget for household expenses:
36%--Operating Expenses (rent, utilities, ecc.)
24%--Food
10%--Wearing Apparel
6%--Advancement (education, donations)
5%--Health
12%--Investment
7%--Amusement
24%--Food
10%--Wearing Apparel
6%--Advancement (education, donations)
5%--Health
12%--Investment
7%--Amusement
Well.
Health insurance costs so much nowadays that a family of four would have to have an after-tax income of $200,000 in order for medical expenditure to be only 5% of the budget. Something has to give. I hope it won’t be Amusement.
As for the perpetual harping on Americans’ refusal to save “12%” of their annual incomes--pish tush. Social Security deductions do that for us.
Only, the deductions stop before they get to the CEOs.
§§§
And just God bless the Woman’s Missionary Society for slashing the tithe, doubtless they knew best.--Giac.
martedì 20 gennaio 2009
Yes, I Did
Am I old enough to know better?
YES! I! AM!
Yet, during the Inauguration this morning, did I grow misty-eyed, did I chortle with glee a dozen times, did I jump up and down like a grunge-boy at Kurt Cobain's mausoleum?
YES! I! DID!
Auguri, America.--Giac.
Auguri, America.--Giac.
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