I'm not sure if it's amusing or angering when companies bailed out with tax payer money decide to pay six-plus figures in bonus salaries to their upper echelon employees. Aren't they receiving the funds in the first place due to irresponsible behavior and lack of judgment... They sure learned.
Everyone is up in arms (including Steven Colbert with a pitchfork) over the recent revelation that AIG, the financial institution that received one of the largest allocations of TARP money, paid out $165 million in bonuses. The company has refused to release the names of these employees due to fear of public reprisal of violence. This is some scary shit.
Edward Liddy, the company's CEO, said he is attempting to cooperate with federal lawmakers in order to have these funds returned. Right now Congress is trying to pass a law that would require all companies receiving bail out cash to pay a 90% tax of such payment if it is used in the same fashion as AIG. Such a law would only apply to 2009 allocations.
Unfortunately, what most people don't know, is that back in the end of 2008, Meryl Lynch gave close to $3.5 billion (no, that is not a typo) in bonuses, making AIG look like they're passing around chump change. According to a FoxNews blog, because the transaction occurred last year, the government will most likely not be able to claim any funds from the firm.
I guess we'll just have to see what happens.
By Justin Ellis
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Who's under fire now...
By Michelle Koyanagi
Seeing that this is our last blog assignment and reading some of the blogs already posted, I just want apologize if this will be a rather boring blog to read.
For this week, I looked at blogs about one of the most current topics being discussed on Capitol Hill: the controversy over AIG’s bonuses. Like the rest of America, I too am perplexed, angry, and ashamed of AIG (and other financial groups because AIG can’t be the only one) and certain government officials (Senator Chris Dodd, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, etc.). I’m sure President Obama is extremely frustrated about this also.
Bloggers have commented on how controversies like this show us just how quick Congress can move when they are scared of their constituents turning on them. As an intern for my Congresswoman, I know just how angry some people can get when they call in to the office and voice their opinions about this messy situation.
However, there was one particular caller I got this week who not only voiced his complaints about AIG, but also voiced complaints about many other financial groups and people who he felt should also get put under fire, but at the moment, they were not.
This made me wonder… with all this talk of scandals, our government officials and big companies who were found to owe back taxes—how much more troubling would it be if the public found out that this sort of stuff was going on for decades, but we just never heard about it? I mean, surely there are many other politicians, companies who have hidden skeletons in their closet. How much more disturbing would it be to find out exactly how often crimes like these go on and how many people get away with it.
Seeing that this is our last blog assignment and reading some of the blogs already posted, I just want apologize if this will be a rather boring blog to read.
For this week, I looked at blogs about one of the most current topics being discussed on Capitol Hill: the controversy over AIG’s bonuses. Like the rest of America, I too am perplexed, angry, and ashamed of AIG (and other financial groups because AIG can’t be the only one) and certain government officials (Senator Chris Dodd, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, etc.). I’m sure President Obama is extremely frustrated about this also.
Bloggers have commented on how controversies like this show us just how quick Congress can move when they are scared of their constituents turning on them. As an intern for my Congresswoman, I know just how angry some people can get when they call in to the office and voice their opinions about this messy situation.
However, there was one particular caller I got this week who not only voiced his complaints about AIG, but also voiced complaints about many other financial groups and people who he felt should also get put under fire, but at the moment, they were not.
This made me wonder… with all this talk of scandals, our government officials and big companies who were found to owe back taxes—how much more troubling would it be if the public found out that this sort of stuff was going on for decades, but we just never heard about it? I mean, surely there are many other politicians, companies who have hidden skeletons in their closet. How much more disturbing would it be to find out exactly how often crimes like these go on and how many people get away with it.
People need to take a chill pill
Lately I’ve noticed that people don’t know how to relax. We live in such a rushed society that the slightest inconvenience makes people impatient and downright rude. We have a demanding society in which people are always on the go to their next destination and just don’t have time to slow down. People just need to let loose a bit.
My sister deals with impatient people everyday at her work. Everyday she comes home with a new story about the customers. They’ll complain to her if they’ve had to wait five minutes in line as if it was my sister’s fault. Or even worse, they’ll get snappy at her if there was a mistake on a previous transaction, although she was not even the one who processed it in the first place. In her words, “Everyone just needs to chill out!”
I’ll admit that I am a victim of our rushed society. One of my pet peeve’s is when I’m stuck behind someone walking ridiculously slow. I can’t stand it. However, as I was on my way home for spring break I had to stop to load my SmartTrip metro card. So I’m fiddling in my purse for money and a girl comes to get in line and she stands right… next…to…me. I turn around and there she is hovering over me with her arms crossed waiting to get a metro ticket. Really now. I wanted to tell her that standing on my tail isn’t going to get her a ticket any faster. Could I have some personal space? We’re all going to get on the metro. I’ll also mention that the same thing happened to me on my way back to D.C. A man stood right next to me as I was loading my card, impatiently waiting his turn.
People just need to learn how to take a breath and relax. You’ll get to your destination. There’s nothing you can do if the train isn’t coming until another ten minutes. Your transactions will be fixed. The world isn’t over. Everything will work out. Just CALM DOWN.
Layal Brown
My sister deals with impatient people everyday at her work. Everyday she comes home with a new story about the customers. They’ll complain to her if they’ve had to wait five minutes in line as if it was my sister’s fault. Or even worse, they’ll get snappy at her if there was a mistake on a previous transaction, although she was not even the one who processed it in the first place. In her words, “Everyone just needs to chill out!”
I’ll admit that I am a victim of our rushed society. One of my pet peeve’s is when I’m stuck behind someone walking ridiculously slow. I can’t stand it. However, as I was on my way home for spring break I had to stop to load my SmartTrip metro card. So I’m fiddling in my purse for money and a girl comes to get in line and she stands right… next…to…me. I turn around and there she is hovering over me with her arms crossed waiting to get a metro ticket. Really now. I wanted to tell her that standing on my tail isn’t going to get her a ticket any faster. Could I have some personal space? We’re all going to get on the metro. I’ll also mention that the same thing happened to me on my way back to D.C. A man stood right next to me as I was loading my card, impatiently waiting his turn.
People just need to learn how to take a breath and relax. You’ll get to your destination. There’s nothing you can do if the train isn’t coming until another ten minutes. Your transactions will be fixed. The world isn’t over. Everything will work out. Just CALM DOWN.
Layal Brown
strange death
It strange how quickly something as innocent as falling on a bunny hill ski slope can change into a tragic death for a talented individual. We all take things as simple as skiing as granted, and no one thinks that a small bump on the head will turn into a brain injury that kills them. Most people are shocked by the news, and there are plenty of blogs out there discussing the most recent The Parent Trap actress, Natasha Richardson, death. James Meikle writing for Gaurdian, a blog from the U.K. suggests that perhaps it should be a requirement for people participating in sports such as skiing to wear a helmet to prevent freak accidents such as the one Richardson experienced. Many other bloggers mention that she didn’t receive medical attention immediately after the fall either. ..and I doubt she thought she needed to. It’s just an unfortunate thing that makes us all wonder when where we should take precautions, and what we should consider something serious enough to be looked at.
~Amanda Yerby
~Amanda Yerby
Tent Cities
By Alissa Scheller
A few weeks ago, Oprah decided my hometown’s tent-city was a newsworthy story. I don’t really know why, though.
Of course, there’s the recession, which has unarguably caused people to lose their homes, and I’m not denying that Sacramento is home to many people who do not, in fact, have homes.
But the tent city near the Sacramento Loaves and Fishes has been there for years. In my memory, at least, there have always been homeless people living down by the river. This is not news.
This article from the Huffington Post discusses the great American tradition of tent cities. Sure, it’s not glamorous, but I can’t quite bring myself to believe it’s news either.
The thing about news is that it’s generally new, and tent cities are not. We had Hoovervilles in the 30s, and John Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath years ago.
Sacramento’s Mayor Kevin Johnson recently said that the tent city would be coming down. While I think it’s commendable that the city, along with homeless advocates and others, are doing something to help the people who live there, I have to wonder what the motivation for doing it now is. The tents have been there for years. Did it really need a huge economic recession and Oprah’s mention to become an issue worthy of this much discussion?
A few weeks ago, Oprah decided my hometown’s tent-city was a newsworthy story. I don’t really know why, though.
Of course, there’s the recession, which has unarguably caused people to lose their homes, and I’m not denying that Sacramento is home to many people who do not, in fact, have homes.
But the tent city near the Sacramento Loaves and Fishes has been there for years. In my memory, at least, there have always been homeless people living down by the river. This is not news.
This article from the Huffington Post discusses the great American tradition of tent cities. Sure, it’s not glamorous, but I can’t quite bring myself to believe it’s news either.
The thing about news is that it’s generally new, and tent cities are not. We had Hoovervilles in the 30s, and John Steinbeck wrote The Grapes of Wrath years ago.
Sacramento’s Mayor Kevin Johnson recently said that the tent city would be coming down. While I think it’s commendable that the city, along with homeless advocates and others, are doing something to help the people who live there, I have to wonder what the motivation for doing it now is. The tents have been there for years. Did it really need a huge economic recession and Oprah’s mention to become an issue worthy of this much discussion?
What Were We Supposed to Write on Again?
By Jordan Coughenour
Epic.
I thought we were supposed to write on Congress, so I was going to do something about DC Voting rights, because it was the most interesting thing I could possibly think of to write about Congress. It always amazes me when TV anchors and bloggers can find something quirky and weird to write about what's happening on 'The Hill." Usually you can tell it's the result of some deep digging. Like when Fox found catfish in the stimulus package. Well- money going to a catfish farm.
My personal take on DC Voting Rights is neither shockingly exciting nor particularly valid. Even if DC did receive actual voting rights, I would most likely not be taking use of them- for two reasons. The first being, that I am registered in Colorado, and plan to keep it that way, thus avoiding my civic duty of forced jury servitude. (I don't really know if it works that way, but 30 Rock says it does, so I'll believe it) The second being that, though I am over 18 years old, a legal US resident and not currently incarcerated, I have not ever voted in an election.
30 Rock demonstrates another brilliant another brilliant way of avoiding jury duty
Voting has been built up to such a mighty expression of liberty and freedom, that do carry out the action of it without the strongest convictions in your preferences seems almost blasphemous nowadays. I mean- did Susan B and the other feminist leaders march and fight just so people like me could bubble in who they might sort of kinda think was the best candidate? I just don't really have that strong of a sway to any party or particular person in politics. When I confer my failure to vote to those around me, their reaction is frequently somewhat akin to that crazy German kid who wanted to play "Unreal Tournament."
Only, you know, with my face as the keyboard
Sometimes I just walk away from the confrontation, but other times I counter back with a witty and intellectual philosophic retort, such as, "Well, did you vote in ComicVine's poll yesterday about which race was the most superior in World of Warcraft?" or "Who did you invest your sacred democratic trust in for today's imdb poll on which Alan Moore adaption was the best?" There's more than one way to express your civic duty! Life's too short to go through it whining about the latest stimulus bill in a droning manner on your politic blog no one who doesn't go home and cry themselves to sleep every night actually reads. Put your trust in something a little more reliable than a politician- the ability of a humor to lighten a dreary time.
Which would you prefer- this video or a HuffPost article about CEO's and back taxes?
The Forgotten Art of Ice-Fishing
Alex Haines
My father comes from Detroit, Michigan, a state home to Swedish ice-fishers of every variety, temperament, and disposition. It is simply a lost art that we, as a society, have forsaken due to our great neglect and tragic forgetfulness. Without the great ice-fishers in our time, generations of northern Americans, including my father, would have had nothing to survive on or satiate themselves.
Longer fishing expeditions can be mounted with simple structures. Larger, heated structures can make multi-day fishing trips possible, but these are eschewed by many seasoned fishers, who fish with no protective structure, attired only in heavy winter wear.[citation needed].
A structure with various local names, but often called an ice shanty, ice shack, fish house, shack, bobhouse, or ice hut, is sometimes used. These are dragged or trailered onto the lake using a vehicle such as a snowmobile, ATV or truck. The two most commonly used types are portable and permanent. The portable houses are often made of a heavy material that is usually water tight. The two most common types of portable houses are when your shelter flips behind the user when not needed, or a pop up shelter so the only means out is through a door. The permanent shelters are made of wood or metal and usually have wheels for easy transport. They can be as basic as a bunk heater and holes or having satellite TV, bathrooms, stoves, full size beds and may appear to be more like a mobile home than a fishing house.
In North America, ice fishing is often a social activity. Sometimes, the consumption of alcohol is involved. Some resorts have fish houses that are rented out by the day, often, shuttle service via Snow Track or other vehicles modified to drive on ice is provided.
In Finland, solitary and contemplative isolation is often the object of the pastime. In Finland, fishhouses are a rare occurrence, but wearing a sealed and insulated drysuit designed of space-age fabric is not.
In North America, Houses appear to create a city at locations where fishing is best.
Many fishermen will go out with 2.5 inches of good ice for walking, but the recommended is 4", 5-6 inches for Sleds (Snow Machines, Snowmobiles) 7-12 for light cars and 14-16 inches for full sized trucks. Care must be taken, because sometimes ice will not form in areas with swift currents, leaving open areas which freeze with much thinner ice. On the Great Lakes, off-shore winds can break off miles-wide pans of ice stranding large numbers of fishermen. Just such a circumstance occurred in Lake Erie in Feb. '09, with 100 fisherman having to be rescued by helicopters, local authorities and the Coast Guard, and one man who'd fallen into the water dying on the rescue flight.
Late-winter warm spells can destroy the texture of the ice, which, while still of the required thickness, will not adequately support weight. It is called "rotten ice" or soft ice and is exceedingly dangerous. Some ice-fishermen will continue to fish, since even with the bad ice normally 8 inches is more than enough. Fisherman may carry a self-rescue device made of two spiked handles connected by a string to pull themselves out of the water and onto the ice.
Many cars, trucks, SUVs, snowmobiles, and fish houses fall through the ice each year. Current environmental regulations require the speedy recovery of the vehicle or structure in this situation. Divers must be hired, and when the trouble occurs far from shore, helicopters may be employed for hoisting.
Other risks associated with ice fishing include carbon monoxide poisoning from fish house heaters and frostbite due to prolonged exposure to wind and low temperatures, although most new houses are fitted with air exchange systems that allow air flow preventing poisoning.
My father comes from Detroit, Michigan, a state home to Swedish ice-fishers of every variety, temperament, and disposition. It is simply a lost art that we, as a society, have forsaken due to our great neglect and tragic forgetfulness. Without the great ice-fishers in our time, generations of northern Americans, including my father, would have had nothing to survive on or satiate themselves.
Longer fishing expeditions can be mounted with simple structures. Larger, heated structures can make multi-day fishing trips possible, but these are eschewed by many seasoned fishers, who fish with no protective structure, attired only in heavy winter wear.[citation needed].
A structure with various local names, but often called an ice shanty, ice shack, fish house, shack, bobhouse, or ice hut, is sometimes used. These are dragged or trailered onto the lake using a vehicle such as a snowmobile, ATV or truck. The two most commonly used types are portable and permanent. The portable houses are often made of a heavy material that is usually water tight. The two most common types of portable houses are when your shelter flips behind the user when not needed, or a pop up shelter so the only means out is through a door. The permanent shelters are made of wood or metal and usually have wheels for easy transport. They can be as basic as a bunk heater and holes or having satellite TV, bathrooms, stoves, full size beds and may appear to be more like a mobile home than a fishing house.
In North America, ice fishing is often a social activity. Sometimes, the consumption of alcohol is involved. Some resorts have fish houses that are rented out by the day, often, shuttle service via Snow Track or other vehicles modified to drive on ice is provided.
In Finland, solitary and contemplative isolation is often the object of the pastime. In Finland, fishhouses are a rare occurrence, but wearing a sealed and insulated drysuit designed of space-age fabric is not.
In North America, Houses appear to create a city at locations where fishing is best.
Many fishermen will go out with 2.5 inches of good ice for walking, but the recommended is 4", 5-6 inches for Sleds (Snow Machines, Snowmobiles) 7-12 for light cars and 14-16 inches for full sized trucks. Care must be taken, because sometimes ice will not form in areas with swift currents, leaving open areas which freeze with much thinner ice. On the Great Lakes, off-shore winds can break off miles-wide pans of ice stranding large numbers of fishermen. Just such a circumstance occurred in Lake Erie in Feb. '09, with 100 fisherman having to be rescued by helicopters, local authorities and the Coast Guard, and one man who'd fallen into the water dying on the rescue flight.
Late-winter warm spells can destroy the texture of the ice, which, while still of the required thickness, will not adequately support weight. It is called "rotten ice" or soft ice and is exceedingly dangerous. Some ice-fishermen will continue to fish, since even with the bad ice normally 8 inches is more than enough. Fisherman may carry a self-rescue device made of two spiked handles connected by a string to pull themselves out of the water and onto the ice.
Many cars, trucks, SUVs, snowmobiles, and fish houses fall through the ice each year. Current environmental regulations require the speedy recovery of the vehicle or structure in this situation. Divers must be hired, and when the trouble occurs far from shore, helicopters may be employed for hoisting.
Other risks associated with ice fishing include carbon monoxide poisoning from fish house heaters and frostbite due to prolonged exposure to wind and low temperatures, although most new houses are fitted with air exchange systems that allow air flow preventing poisoning.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)