Guy had a birthday in the shop. So we brought in lunch today. His choice. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn, brown gravy, and peach cobbler.
That, gentle readers, was like poetry on a plate. It spoke to me physically and spiritually.
That plate belted out Steven Curtis’ “Great Adventure”, Commodore’s “Brick House”, James Taylor’s “Steam Roller”, and Aretha’s “Respect” all at the same time.
At the end, when I needed two handi-wipes and wheelbarrow, it quietly whispered “just like momma used to make.”
Testify metloaf with the corn choir raising the roof and sister potato jumping out her pew in the back row waving her gravy hanky around.
Amen Brother!
Monday, October 6, 2008
Friday, October 3, 2008
That Old Familiar Smell
Creation of a seven-year cost recovery period for construction of a motorsports racetrack: Track owners currently follow a seven-year depreciation schedule and write each year's depreciation off their taxes. The IRS wanted to increase the depreciation timetable to 15 years, which would mean the track owner's depreciation would be cut in half. The measure in the keeps the seven-year depreciation schedule for two years and would cost taxpayers $100 million
A refund of excise taxes to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands for rum: A $13.50 per gallon excise tax is placed on rum imported into the United States. The measure extends to December 31, 2009, a refund of $13.25 per gallon tax back to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, which are both U.S. territories. The refund has been in place since the early '90s. The measure would cost taxpayers $192 million.
Provisions related to film and television productions: In order to keep movie production in the U.S., production companies would be allowed to deduct the cost of producing the films from their taxes. Rep. Diane Watson, D-California, has been one of the program's biggest supporters. The measure would cost taxpayers $478 million over 10 years.
Transportation fringe benefit to bicycle commuters: The measure would allow employers to provide benefits to employees who commute to work via bicycle, such as help purchasing and maintaining a bicycle. The measure would cost taxpayers $10 million.
Deduction of state and local sales taxes: The measure allows citizens who do not pay state income taxes to deduct the amount of sales tax they pay over a year from their federal income tax for two additional years. States that benefit include Texas, Nevada, Florida, Washington and Wyoming. The measure would cost taxpayers $3.3 billion.
Read individually, you may wonder about the validity, the usefulness, the necessity of these proposed measures. Right?
Now consider this: they are riders attached to the proposed bailout package, the one that just passed a Senate vote. Not all of them mind, you. Just a sampling.
Can’t spin this. Can’t equate it to a bodily function. Can’t make this funny.
For the record, once again, crooks and self-styled demigods every one of them.
A refund of excise taxes to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands for rum: A $13.50 per gallon excise tax is placed on rum imported into the United States. The measure extends to December 31, 2009, a refund of $13.25 per gallon tax back to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, which are both U.S. territories. The refund has been in place since the early '90s. The measure would cost taxpayers $192 million.
Provisions related to film and television productions: In order to keep movie production in the U.S., production companies would be allowed to deduct the cost of producing the films from their taxes. Rep. Diane Watson, D-California, has been one of the program's biggest supporters. The measure would cost taxpayers $478 million over 10 years.
Transportation fringe benefit to bicycle commuters: The measure would allow employers to provide benefits to employees who commute to work via bicycle, such as help purchasing and maintaining a bicycle. The measure would cost taxpayers $10 million.
Deduction of state and local sales taxes: The measure allows citizens who do not pay state income taxes to deduct the amount of sales tax they pay over a year from their federal income tax for two additional years. States that benefit include Texas, Nevada, Florida, Washington and Wyoming. The measure would cost taxpayers $3.3 billion.
Read individually, you may wonder about the validity, the usefulness, the necessity of these proposed measures. Right?
Now consider this: they are riders attached to the proposed bailout package, the one that just passed a Senate vote. Not all of them mind, you. Just a sampling.
Can’t spin this. Can’t equate it to a bodily function. Can’t make this funny.
For the record, once again, crooks and self-styled demigods every one of them.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Crawfish and Killian's Principle, Part III
Now for the bail out…Once the EMS and Haz-Mat crews finished, state EPA and the Governor were called in to assess the situation. They suggested, more like demanded, that I immediately ingest a half gallon of Pepto followed by a six pound chunk of Immodium AD. They would then raid the state’s treasury to pay to clean me up and make me presentable again, and to fund the clean-up for the surrounding area. (Call it the $770 Billion bailout proposal).
As far as I’m concerned, I’m all for the bailout. Remember, I’m a financial institution that knowingly ingested way too much, but I can’t be allowed to crash and burn. Heavens no! There’s my shareholders to consider, and my executive pay that’s due..err..I mean there’s the economy’s health and consumer confidence to consider. I’d be for it as long as there weren’t any nasty riders with the bailout that led to an increase in regulation or scrutiny of my business and only in so much as I can be reasonably assured that I would perhaps be able to receive bail-out funds, be made immune to any prosecution for wrong doing, and can be relatively secure in the knowledge that the financial burden will be born by the suckers, oops, I mean tax paying citizens.
If you were Sammy’s, remember the firm packaging, selling, and making billions off of these fundamentally flawed investments, you want the bail out. You’d like it as long as there weren’t any nasty riders with the bailout that led to an increase in regulation or scrutiny of your business and only in so much as you can be reasonably assured that you would perhaps be able to receive bail-out funds, be made immune to any prosecution for wrong doing, and can be relatively secure in the knowledge that the financial burden will be born by the suckers, oops, I mean tax paying citizens.
If you were anywhere near the Texaco that evening, or let’s say the truly innocent shareholders of now bankrupt financial institutions, or those poor, poor, not-so-innocent people “duped” and “taken advantage of” who invested in these now dreaded adjustable rate mortgages, or borrowers of 125% of the value of their home, you’d be for the bailout regardless of the cost. Even if you had time to consider the fact that this will eventually come back to you in the form of higher taxes.
The rest of you, those not chemically burned from the Chernobyl like fall out, might be asking some questions:
Like shouldn’t Bill Filer help clean up and be financially liable for, Bill Filer’s mess?
Since it’s your tax dollars at stake, should you not have a say as to where it goes?
Should not everyone at the SEC, the FDIC, and the OCC be immediately fired for not stopping the train, or at least getting it to tap the brakes, before it crashed into the station?
I love Cajun food and beer. Always will. I’ll just have to wait a little while until this thing shakes out to see if I can go back to Sammy’s, or maybe find another joint to frequent. Either way, doesn’t really matter, one thing’s for sure: I’m going to eat, and eat, and eat……
As far as I’m concerned, I’m all for the bailout. Remember, I’m a financial institution that knowingly ingested way too much, but I can’t be allowed to crash and burn. Heavens no! There’s my shareholders to consider, and my executive pay that’s due..err..I mean there’s the economy’s health and consumer confidence to consider. I’d be for it as long as there weren’t any nasty riders with the bailout that led to an increase in regulation or scrutiny of my business and only in so much as I can be reasonably assured that I would perhaps be able to receive bail-out funds, be made immune to any prosecution for wrong doing, and can be relatively secure in the knowledge that the financial burden will be born by the suckers, oops, I mean tax paying citizens.
If you were Sammy’s, remember the firm packaging, selling, and making billions off of these fundamentally flawed investments, you want the bail out. You’d like it as long as there weren’t any nasty riders with the bailout that led to an increase in regulation or scrutiny of your business and only in so much as you can be reasonably assured that you would perhaps be able to receive bail-out funds, be made immune to any prosecution for wrong doing, and can be relatively secure in the knowledge that the financial burden will be born by the suckers, oops, I mean tax paying citizens.
If you were anywhere near the Texaco that evening, or let’s say the truly innocent shareholders of now bankrupt financial institutions, or those poor, poor, not-so-innocent people “duped” and “taken advantage of” who invested in these now dreaded adjustable rate mortgages, or borrowers of 125% of the value of their home, you’d be for the bailout regardless of the cost. Even if you had time to consider the fact that this will eventually come back to you in the form of higher taxes.
The rest of you, those not chemically burned from the Chernobyl like fall out, might be asking some questions:
Like shouldn’t Bill Filer help clean up and be financially liable for, Bill Filer’s mess?
Since it’s your tax dollars at stake, should you not have a say as to where it goes?
Should not everyone at the SEC, the FDIC, and the OCC be immediately fired for not stopping the train, or at least getting it to tap the brakes, before it crashed into the station?
I love Cajun food and beer. Always will. I’ll just have to wait a little while until this thing shakes out to see if I can go back to Sammy’s, or maybe find another joint to frequent. Either way, doesn’t really matter, one thing’s for sure: I’m going to eat, and eat, and eat……
The Show
One great thing about getting older is that you start to feel comfortable with the way you are. You feel a certain way about things. May not be right or wrong, but you’re at peace with it regardless.
So I say forgive me, and by that I mean hey if you do, you do and if you don’t you don’t….but I abhor politics and politicians on a national, federal level. Crooks and self-styled demigods everyone. That, dear friends, is my honest belief.
That being said, I can’t wait for the VP debate this evening. Should be good entertainment. A saying comes to mind: “Never argue with an idiot. They tend to drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.”
Which one’s the idiot you ask……..Good question.
So I say forgive me, and by that I mean hey if you do, you do and if you don’t you don’t….but I abhor politics and politicians on a national, federal level. Crooks and self-styled demigods everyone. That, dear friends, is my honest belief.
That being said, I can’t wait for the VP debate this evening. Should be good entertainment. A saying comes to mind: “Never argue with an idiot. They tend to drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.”
Which one’s the idiot you ask……..Good question.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Fourth quarter is upon us. Year end looms. About this time, many of us will be due for our annual performance review.
Top Five Things You Never Want To See Written In Your Review
#5) Sets very low personal standards and consistently fails to meet them
#4) Has delusions of adequacy
#3) Somewhere a village has been deprived of its idiot
#2) Since last report, employee has hit rock bottom and started to dig
#1) Employee should go far, and the sooner he starts, the better
Top Five Things You Never Want To See Written In Your Review
#5) Sets very low personal standards and consistently fails to meet them
#4) Has delusions of adequacy
#3) Somewhere a village has been deprived of its idiot
#2) Since last report, employee has hit rock bottom and started to dig
#1) Employee should go far, and the sooner he starts, the better
Crawfish and Killian's Principle, Part II
Alright, let’s recap from Part I…
You have me as a financial institution gobbling up all the Cajun food in sight. Cajun food, in this case, being high yielding, yet fundamentally flawed mortgage backed investments and access to easy, easy credit. All of these tasty treats being served up by Sammy’s, a reputable vendor, following all of the legal guidelines for food and beverage preparation.
Now kids, what happens when you eat too much? You generally get a tummy ache, right? The extent of the tummy ache depends on the extent of the damage done to the system. In my case, I was in Sammy’s a lot, and I tried everything on the menu. No balance to my diet. No moderation as to quantities consumed. Simply focused on the bottom line, my satisfaction, with no regard for tomorrow.
It started with stomach cramps (call it the slow down in the economy). Stomach cramps progressed to gut pain (call it declining home values). Gut pain and cramps morphed into full on gastric distress (call it the poor economy, mixed with lower home values, add in increasing foreclosures on mortgages, topped with investments in mortgage backed securities turning south) Overburdened and mistreated, my system crashed about a half mile from Sammy’s on the way home one evening (call it the cycle of bank failures, stock market declines, increasing mortgage foreclosures). My disaster took place at a Texaco on the corner of Garfield and Highland. I don’t recall putting the car in park, or turning it off for that matter. I barely made it inside. Gentle readers, I brought hell with me that twilight rendering a six block area near the LSU campus uninhabitable for the next six weeks (Call it the current landscape of the financial markets today).
Let’s make this a three part deal, shall we. Tomorrow, the exciting conclusion: “The Bail-Out”
You have me as a financial institution gobbling up all the Cajun food in sight. Cajun food, in this case, being high yielding, yet fundamentally flawed mortgage backed investments and access to easy, easy credit. All of these tasty treats being served up by Sammy’s, a reputable vendor, following all of the legal guidelines for food and beverage preparation.
Now kids, what happens when you eat too much? You generally get a tummy ache, right? The extent of the tummy ache depends on the extent of the damage done to the system. In my case, I was in Sammy’s a lot, and I tried everything on the menu. No balance to my diet. No moderation as to quantities consumed. Simply focused on the bottom line, my satisfaction, with no regard for tomorrow.
It started with stomach cramps (call it the slow down in the economy). Stomach cramps progressed to gut pain (call it declining home values). Gut pain and cramps morphed into full on gastric distress (call it the poor economy, mixed with lower home values, add in increasing foreclosures on mortgages, topped with investments in mortgage backed securities turning south) Overburdened and mistreated, my system crashed about a half mile from Sammy’s on the way home one evening (call it the cycle of bank failures, stock market declines, increasing mortgage foreclosures). My disaster took place at a Texaco on the corner of Garfield and Highland. I don’t recall putting the car in park, or turning it off for that matter. I barely made it inside. Gentle readers, I brought hell with me that twilight rendering a six block area near the LSU campus uninhabitable for the next six weeks (Call it the current landscape of the financial markets today).
Let’s make this a three part deal, shall we. Tomorrow, the exciting conclusion: “The Bail-Out”
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