Let it snow...

So it snowed yesterday in NY (12" in some places) and has been cold in much of the Northeast.  Even London has seen its first snow in October since 1922 (as they debate a global warming bill).  Seems like this has been a trend the last few years- cold temps and snow in the midst of all the talk about global warming.  

In all of our efforts to prove our point one way or the other, I wonder if this irony is G0d trying to tell us we are missing the point?

Redistribute this!!!

Joe the Plumber made the presidential campaign a little more difficult for the Obama/Biden ticket when he asked Senator Obama about his tax plan - raising taxes on those who make over $250,000/year to give tax cuts/credits to those who do not.

I believe Obama's words were "spreading the wealth around".

Should Obama be elected, I will be one of the beneficiaries of his tax cuts.  He can keep it.  Instead I want him to give me a view out of my apartment window like this.  (These pictures are from the 73rd floor of an apartment building on 59th street in Manhattan.)

Unbelievable, right?  The view, not the fact that they want to spread the wealth around.   It just doesn't seem right.  Although it doesn't seem right for a such a great disparity between the rich and poor either - a CEO and a waitress is the popular example.   Why don't they ever say between an actor like Tom Cruise and the janitor who sweeps the sets or an athlete like Tiger Woods and the guy who mows the fairway?  Why doesn't that wealth get spread around?

There has to be a better way.  I am exploring the idea of a redistribution of worth or a redistribution of value.  But I do not think the government will able to lead in this.  It will have to be a grassroots movement by people with good hearts and self-less ambitions who will not only look after their own interests but also the interest of others.

Where's the Rage Part II...

Our presidential candidates want to put government back on the side of the people and want to make it cool again. 

Great.

I renewed my vehicle registration last month.  The check to pay the fee has been cashed 4 weeks ago.  I have not received my new registration.  Right now I am breaking the law by driving an unregistered car.  But what else am I suppose to do?

So I finally got a ticket(s) while parked downtown from a meter maid.  Not only did I get a ticket for an expired registration but also an additional ticket for failure to affix a current registration.  Is that not unbelievable???

The state inspection is up-to-date so I am okay there.

It is so frustrating - the 100 bucks but more so the two tickets for the same offense.  Twist the knife big brother.

Where is the Rage???

In both the presidential and vice-presidential debates a majority of the blame for the current financial meltdown has been placed on greed from Wall Street.  A closer look at the history of the situation seems to prove otherwise.

The government needs to take full responsibility for this collapse of the financial markets because they are at fault.  By the government I mean specific Congressional Members who ignored the warnings and made reassuring statements that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were sound institutions.

Whether Republican or Democrat these men and women should resign.  If not, the people of their states should not re-elect them.  I do not know how Chris Dodd, Barney Frank, Chuck Schumer and others can show their faces in the midst of this crisis.  For lack of a better words they need to be cursed out.  They put those responsible for the fall of companies like Enron through Congressional hearings.  They too should be subject to the same grilling and then fired.

Neither presidential candidate is addressing this and because of that I find it very difficult to respect them and believe that they will bring the "change" they claim to represent.  If they do not do it now in the campaign I do not believe they will do it during their term in office.  I am disappointed, especially in John McCain and Sarah Palin.  They seem to speak the loudest about reform and being "mavericks" yet they have said nothing.  They seem ignorant when they speak of Wall Street greed when we know this is not the whole story.  Barak Obama received $126,000 in campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (McCain received $21,000) so there seems to be conflict of interest.  I wouldn't expect to hear any criticism from his lips.  But wouldn't it be refreshing if we did?  One of his advisors is Franklin Raines, former CEO of Fannie Mae who stepped down because of an accounting irregularities.  Awesome.

Fear is driving the markets right now.  I fear our politicians do not know what they are doing.

Check this out:

This shall be my greatest performance...

 I heard Joe Biden say that he wants to "take" money away from rich people, via taxes, to redistribute through government.  Conservatives will call this the Robin Hood theory.

Unless I am mistaken, or Walt Disney is wrong, but didn't Robin Hood spend the entire movie stealing from the government (poor Prince J0hn) to give to the poor?

Out of 300 million Americans our choices are these four people.   Wow.

Get Physical...

Riding the train in and out of Manhattan for 3+ hours each day doesn't leave much time for the gym.  So I have instituted a little program called the work-out at work.  

My office is on the 9th floor of the building- that is a lot of steps for 8 in the morning.  And with no air conditioning the elevator is the only sensible option. 

All summer I have been working up the courage to start taking the stairs.  So a few weeks ago I started small getting off at the 8th floor and walking to the 9th.  The next week I hit the button for 7.  It is a little embarrassing writing this but two flights of stairs can get the heart rate up quick. This week I am ending my elevator ride at the 6th floor. I wonder what people think when I immediately get out of the elevator and go to the stairwell.

In a month, if I'm taking all 9 flights, I'll be surprised.  

Quote...

"It is a mistake to think business men are more immoral than politicians."    John Maynard Keynes