Woohoo for oldies but goodies returning to Xanga-Land. Ok, they're not old.. but they are good 
It looks like this comeback is only for a month, but still, i'll take what I can get. Nice to hear from some people who disappeared from here a while back.
Yesterday I received an automated call about how now Obama's new plan can help with my mortgage. I don't have one so I hung up. It got me thinking though (and this sounds very non socialist or liberal of me) but just because I didn't buy something above my means right after graduation, now I don't get 'free' money? Granted, I also don't get the stress of a looming foreclosure..or the bad credit so i'm not TRULY complaining... but I could have been less responsible and still been ok I suppose. Oh well. haha. I'll keep my debt free self feeling self righteous instead. I'm kidding.
When I was in Richmond over the weekend, I saw the Occupy Wall Street people camping on a hill by the VCU campus. I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I have not yet gone to Occupy Wall Street in NYC. Partially I have some mixed feelings about it.. I like the idea and I support the 99%. While at first I felt like because I work in finance I can't go, now I feel more like because I work in finance, I should go and be supportive. Here's my dilemma though, I DO support the idea that the country should not be owned by corporations and the ginormous bailouts were insane. I DO like the idea of people standing up for what they believe in. I however DO NOT (and I realize this is a stigma of the occupation) like that unemployed graduates are sitting in drum circles partying it up instead of job hunting.
I've been there. I had crazy student loans after college. I was laid off in 2008 when the crisis began. I managed to pay off my loans (side note: with HUGE help from my parents after I paid off about half of it over 7 years) and I managed to find a new job (even in finance again nonetheless).
So I find myself caught between liking what the Occupy Wall Street movement stands for, and not being sure whether this party camping out thing is the way to go about accomplishing what it stands for. That said, I love that it is spreading more globally and i hope that it truly does end up having some sort of an impact. The general message I 100% support.
I also hope that everyone realizes that Goldman Sachs donated $4.6mm to the NYPD right before over 700 arrests were made on the Brooklyn Bridge in NYC. This kind of corruption is beyond wrong.
So, with all that said, I hope to see the protest this weekend and offer my support. I donated some canned food to them already but would be pleased to do more. I'll just not mention it at work 
(Have I talked about how I work with mostly republicans?).
I'm curious though, how do you feel? What do you think of the occupation? How it is spreading?
Now, the beer/tax thing below is not what I believe.. but it does explain the system I suppose.. this thing written by Cookie Monster is great. It was written by someone who calls themselves Cookie Monster..not the actual cookie. monster. Or was it?
Yes, there always going to be rich and poor. But we used to live in country where rich owned factory and make 30 times what factory worker make. Now we live in country where rich make money by lying about value of derivative bonds and make 3000 times what factory worker would make if factories hadn't all moved to China.
Capitalism great system. We won Cold War because people behind Iron Curtain look over wall, and see how much more plentiful and delicious cookies are in West, and how we have choice of different bakeries, not just state-owned one. It great system. It got us out of Depression, won WWII, built middle class, built country's infrastructure from highways to Hoover Dam to Oreo factory to electrifying rural South. It system that reward hard work and fair play, and everyone do fair share and everyone benefit. Rich get richer, poor get richer, everyone happy. It great system.
Then after Reagan, Republicans decide to make number one priority destroying that system. Now we have system where richest Americans ones who find ways to game system -- your friends on Wall Street -- and poorest Americans ones who thought working hard would get them American dream, when in fact it get them pink slip when job outsourced to 10-year-old in Mumbai slum. And corporations have more influence over government than people (or monsters).
It not about rich people having more money. It about how they got money. It about how they take opportunity away from rest of us, for sake of having more money. It how they willing to take risks that destroy economy -- knowing full well that what could and would happen -- putting millions out of work, while creating nothing of value, and all the while crowing that they John Galt, creating wealth for everyone.
That what the soul-searching about. When Liberals run country for 30 years following New Deal, American economy double in size, and wages double along with it. That fair. When Conservatives run country for 30 years following Reagan, American economy double again, and wages stay flat. What happen to our share of money? All of it go to richest 1%. That not "there always going to be rich people". That unfair system. That why we upset. That what Occupy Sesame Street about.
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THE TAX SYSTEM EXPLAINED IN BEER
Nothin' like a couple of beers to clarify things!
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Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this.
- The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing
- The fifth would pay $1
- The sixth would pay $3
- The seventh would pay $7
- The eighth would pay $12
- The ninth would pay $18
- The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59
So, that's what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve ball.
"Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20".
Drinks for the ten men would now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes. So the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men? The paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his fair share?
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.
So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by a higher percentage the poorer he was, to follow the principle of the tax system they had been using, and he proceeded to work out the amounts he suggested that each should now pay.
- And so the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% saving)
- The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% saving)
- The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% saving)
- The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% saving)
- The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% saving)
- The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% saving)
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But, once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings.
"I only got a dollar out of the $20 saving," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man," but he got $10!"
"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man."I only saved a dollar too. It's unfair that he got ten times more benefit than me!"
"That's true!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back, when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison,"we didn't get anything at all. This new tax system exploits the poor!"
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had their beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and government ministers, is how our tax system works. The people who already pay the highest taxes will naturally get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas, where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
Original Author - Uncertain
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In other news, i cancelled my Netflix subscription and then ordered and watched Horrible Bosses last night. I figure I can buy 4 movies a month from Time Warner Cable or iTunes and still pay less than Netflix. Horrible Bosses was funny stuffs. Not as good as Bridesmaids but still funny. My cousin and I ate Thai food, caught up and watched the movie. Good times! Tonight I am happy to report that I will drop off laundry, pick up the vegetable CSA share and then enjoy the rest of the evening catching up on DVR stuff on my sofa. Alone. I'm a dork for looking forward to this, right?
Nope.. strike that. I now have friends coming over to watch Survivor tonight. I was pretty clear about how I want to go to bed early and how i won't be hosting and they're not coming till 9:30PM though so most of the evening will still be relaxin'...and even with them there it will be. I'll be in PJs. LOL.
my apartment.
I'd be getting the one that I put a red box around.
So, what do you think? Yay or nay? lol. Macy's has a good 12 months 0% APR financing deal so while i could pay for the whole thing now, I could also just pay around $160 a month for a year and do it that way. The couch is currently about a thousand dollars cheaper than usual. The 3-seater I currently have is dying rapidly and I also strongly dislike all the beige in that room.
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