The Half Baked Lunatic

The star studded 1983 movie "The Big Chill” was about a weekend reunion of a bunch of old college friends – now in their early 30’s – who all get together for the funeral of Alex, one of their classmates who committed suicide. The movie is poignant, intelligent, very funny, and somewhat disturbing all the same time. It’s about rekindling old friendships, coping with the shock of their friend Alex’s death, and wondering what happened to the social idealism that they all shared when they attended the University of Michigan in the late 60’s. They were all anti-establishment, idealistic, smart, enthusiastic, with a vocal desire to change the world and make it a better place. Alex, now deceased, was a charismatic science major. Everyone thought he was the most intelligent one of the bunch – and their mutual friendship really survived through the years because of him. He was the glue that kept them all together, but he was never able to get his own life straightened out. Now, in 1... [More]

  A good friend of mine forwarded the following email to me the other day.  Now, before I begin, this friend is one of the smartest people I know.  He is the CEO of a rapidly growing company, introducing successful new products into the marketplace even in this economy. He is a vocal Republican, so all I ever heard from him for about 20 years was that “it’s the Democrats fault” when referring to ANY problems in the world.  I’m neither democrat nor republican, so it's never bothered me any. But then, halfway through the second term of the Bush administration, he swung around and admitted that maybe it’s not ALL the Democrats fault, the Republicans need to take some part of the blame for the state of the world’s affairs. And horror of horrors, he hesitantly (accidentally?) said some positive remarks towards Obama during the election (but really, I think it was more of an anti-McCain sentiment than anything, in one email he said &l... [More]

There is absolutely NO WAY that any kind of a mortgage bailout will be fair.  The people who would benefit from mortgage assistance are generally the ones least likely to deserve it. Hardest hit are people who either bought a bigger house than they could really afford, and people who snagged one of those great “no money down” loans.  Are YOU willing to subsidize someone who is living in a luxurious home they shouldn’t have been able to afford in the first place?  Is that the kind of behavior that we are trying to encourage? Absolutely not! While I do have great sympathy for someone who is losing their home after 20 or 30 years, let’s look at the reality of who this might be: Assume someone bought a house twenty years ago, with a conventional 30 year fixed rate mortgage and a 20% down payment.  At the time, the national average home price was just about $75,000 (not inflation adjusted).  Our example homeowner has been paying on their mortgage for twenty ye... [More]

It sure is interesting living in Washington D.C. I’m not talking about the inauguration yesterday, which was spectacular by the way – but in general, you just can’t get away from politics here. The latest issue that’s getting my goat is this idiotic push to make Washington DC the 51st state.  The DC license plates proudly proclaim “Taxation without Representation” and there are posters all over the city pushing for DC statehood. The underlying issue is the fact that DC has no representation in congress.  Some residents feel that our voice isn’t heard because of this, so we shouldn’t be subject to federal income taxes. HOGWASH, I say! I got to vote in the presidential election. We get MORE than our fair share of government funding, with free museums, monuments that are managed by National Park rangers, and we benefit from just about every federally sponsored program you can imagine. And since there is no “state&... [More]

  Tax reform is coming - again (and again, and again!)  It seems that every few years, the government realizes that the tax code is broken and they make a bunch of changes to "fix" it. More precisely, they usually ADD a bunch of new laws, making the labyrinth of regulations so complex that not even the trustiest and experienced of tax advisors can really say what's what anymore. There are three tax laws that, in my opinion, should be first on the chopping block: The Alternative Minimum Tax This is one of the least popular (if ANY tax law can be considered "popular") regulations on the books.  It came about in 1970 as a way to make sure that the wealthy paid some minimum tax, no matter how many deductions they were able to scrape up. It was, from the start, a half baked idea - and the regulations have gotten so complex over the years as the laws are patched to fill in the loopholes that a sm... [More]

  I've done a lot of media licensing in my life.  A lot .... hit songs, video clips, still images (including a picture of Elvis Presley once, that was fun). I'm fairly up to date on licensing laws and procedures, and I have a high regard for artists rights. And I certainly wouldn't dream of using someone's copyrighted material in a national advertisement without their permission.  So why is John McCain trying to sue Jackson Browne after he used "Running on Empty" without permission?  This is just plain stupid: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27820970 Basically, McCain's campaign used Jackson Browne's hit song "Running on Empty" in an ad that targeted Obama's energy plan.  Jackson Browne sued, rightfully so, stating that 1) McCain didn't have rights and 2) the usage created a "false association or endorsement". Now, McCain is counter-suing Jackson Browne.&nbs... [More]

  Americans are spoiled. We want to have a semi-socialist government that provides entitlements and health care, but no one wants higher taxes to pay for it. We want high wages, but then we complain when everyone buys cheap foreign made goods. We're straddled with trillions of dollars of debt, and no one wants to raise taxes to pay for it. We want it all, and we don't want to pay for it.  Spoiled. Something has to give! Believe me, I think our taxes are too high as it is and I don't want to pay any more - especially when the money is being spent on an idiotic war that has no end in sight, on a bailout which has very little chance of saving our debt driven economy, and social programs that give freebies to people that really don't contribute much in return. But let's be realistic. For 150 years, we've gone back and forth, trying to decide how and how much to tax to make things "equitable".  Let's fac... [More]

  For the last two days, I've seen numerous reports calling for job seekers to submit their resume's on Obama's website www.Change.gov I'm a seasoned manager with great credentials.  I have very few skeletons in my closet, and as an added bonus I am currently living in Washington D.C.  So I've decided to give it a try.  I filled out the "expression of interest" form last night.  Lest you think I'm doing this as a joke - I'm not.  Although I don't really NEED a job at this point, I would seriously consider the opportunity if I manage to get through the vetting process. I'm curious if they'll even respond to my "expression of interest" (that's such a politically correct way of stating it.  Hmmph.)  An MSNBC news report published today says that administration applicants will go through the most "extensive and invasive" application p... [More]

  It's time for the press to stop bringing up Barack Obama's race whenever his name is mentioned.  It's only been one day, and it's already getting tiring. For one thing, Obama is bi-racial.  His mother was white and his father was African American. But that doesn't matter.  What matters is whether or not he is the right person for the job.  I don't give a rats ass if he's green, pink, tan, black, or bluish purple. Yes, it is a big deal to be the first obviously bi-racial president - I'm not denying that (reportedly, there have been others, but they were "mostly white"). In any event, the leadup to this election has been in the works for a long time.  At one point, in some city, we must have had the first black mayor. And I'm sure that was big news at the time.  I'm not sure who/when/where it was - but no one bats an eye anymore when a black man (or woman, or Chinese, or In... [More]

The Bush administration will go down in history as one of the worst - make that the absolute worst - in U.S. history.

George Bush Senior should whip the president's ass with a ping pong paddle for making such a mess of things. In public.

In the last 8 years, [More]