Archive for 2008
Ladies of a Common Thread
Seven Days in December
I set aside seven days
To clean my house this year.
My husband asked, “Is that enough?”
I said, “Don’t worry dear:
I’ll mark it on my calendar
So I will remember.
I think I’ll plan it for sometime
Midway through December.
On Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
I will dust and mop in between activities
And time to Christmas shop.
On Thursday I will make the bed
And feed the potted plants.
On Friday I will do the dishes
If I get a chance.
On Saturday I’ll need to play
Just a little bit.
On Saturday I will rest and pray
To keep me spiritually fit.
So dear, don’t worry about the house
Just wait until year’s end.
Why should I do all year through
What will wait ’till then?”
©2006 Loralie Harris
No commentsThe Making of a Traditional
I have had plenty to say recently but haven’t posted anything. I was unable to access the admin functions so could not write a post. Errrr… Anyway, it is fixed now.
When I was little my Granny used to make homemade noodles every year for Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas dinner. When I got old enough, she taught me how to make them, and I have carried on the tradition. Besides, I just know that if I skip making them my nose will fall off. They are very easy to make and really quite yummy so I don’t mind. And, truth be told, I am a sucker for traditions.
When my Granddaughters got old enough to hold a rolling pin, I started teaching them how to roll the noodles out. They are now 7 and 9 and have literally helped since they were each old enough to stand in a chair and roll. Next year, we start learning how to make the dough. But, I digress…..
Their Mother has learned to make them as well and does a very good job for the Christmas dinner. I still do them for Thanksgiving, and the girls make a special visit just to make the noodles. As we were rolling them out this year, the girls started talking about how they were making a traditional. My “Granny” taught me to make them. Their “Granny” is teaching them to make them and, to keep the traditional going, how they will teach their grandkids.
That’s a long way off and times change. I don’t know if they will. I do know that the memories of time spent with their whole family is the real traditional and that they will pass on.
P.S. I get really sappy this time of the year.
No commentsOur Tax System, Explained in Beer
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. “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 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 roughly the same percent, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
“I only got a dollar out of the $20,”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 than I!”
“That’s true!!” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!”
“Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison. “We didn’t get anything at all. The 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 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 college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes 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.
Learn it or we are going to live it!
Socialism:
1: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or
governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and
distribution of goods
2 a: a system of society or group living in which there is no private property
b: a system or condition of society in which the means of production are
owned and controlled by the state
3: a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and
communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay
according to work done
Spread the wealth around….
Me or Bill Gates, I don’t care who you are. If you work for it, if it’s your idea, and you implement it, it’s yours. It’s not right for someone to decide you make too much…that the wealth needs to be spread around.
“When you consider socialism, do not fool yourself about its nature. Remember, that there is no such dichotomy as ‘human rights’ versus ‘property rights.’ No human rights can exist without property rights. Since material goods are produced by the mind and effort of individual men, and are needed to sustain their lives, if the producer does not own the result of his effort, he does not own his life. To deny property rights means to turn men into property owned by the state. Whoever claims the ‘right’ to ‘redistribute’ the wealth produced by others is claiming the ‘right’ to treat human beings as chattel. - Ayn Rand”
No comments