I moved my blog over to http://elaine.jumping-duck.com.
Jumping Duck is a media publishing company. Its new book just came out the other day, The Indefatigable Wright Brothers by Erin Gerecke. An excellent read. Check it out on Jumping-Duck.com.
OK. See you on the other side.
It's Saturday, and the first conversation I heard was about how people take advantage of social programs in this country, and how a nationalized health care system would never work.
Now, why would a nationalized health care system not work in the United States of America?
I've heard people say that it's too expensive.
I've heard people say that it's too easy for the "good-for-nuthins" to take advantage of it.
But I'm not sure if I have heard a very good conclusive reason as to why it wouldn't be a good idea to have a good national basic health care system.
So I decided to ask my friend, Rene, who's a finance person at the Union Bank of Switzerland in Switzerland, to give me a more European perspective.
He grew up in Germany and is now living in Switzerland.
He told me that, depending on your income and marital status, you may be taxed up to 60% of your salary.
So Germans typically bitch about their high taxes a lot.
(here, I might add that Germany carries a bigger burden of the EU's health care bill than other EU countries ... ya know, burden of WWII ... guilt.)
Because social welfare "goes to the extreme," in Rene's opinion, the "overprotectiveness" of the German government produced the effect of some Germans refusing to work, since social security benefits are high enough for a good living (the worst American nightmare, right?) However, it is worthy to say that Germany has great a infrastructure, edu system, health system, and other social programs.
But then, in Switzerland, things are different because the Swiss ruled that taxes should not exceed 1/3 of a person's income. Also, maximum tax rate (which includes -- *gasp!* -- health insurance, pension fund, etc.) does not exceed 30%. In some states (or cantons, as they apparently call it), it is as low as 13%.
Yet, at the same time, the Swiss have a remarkable infrastructure, good public schools, awesome colleges and social system ....
So, I guess bitching about taxation is virtually unheard of in Switzerland.
Even though not everything is peachy over in Euro Land, it looks like things are somewhat working in at least Germany and Switzerland ... at least in the categories of 1) health care, 2) education, 3) social security and 4) public infrastructure.
The next on my list is taking a closer look at Hong Kong, for a more extended and global view on this loose topic.
This is not just because Hong Kong is where I lived for half my life, it's also because Hong Kong is famous for just plain how well they have been doing for the past century.
Coming from complete poverty after WWII, it definitely picked up from there to become "the world's freest economy" according to both Economic Freedom of the World and the Index of Economic Freedom.
Its health and prosperity is one of the best in the world.
And a lot of people attribute its growth and steadiness to its tax system.
These people seem to all notice that HK has remarkably low tax rates (and I remember, as a child, they had us MEMORIZE that HK is so great because of its low taxes -- haha!!).
If the Swiss 30% is low, then Hong Kong's maximum tax rate of 20% is remarkable.
But HOW do people of Hong Kong (I guess "my people") do it?
How do they make it so low in taxation, but excel in those 4 areas AND do so well with economic growth?
With that said, how does the US tax system compare to those of these three places?
How does taxation relate to the future of the United States? (obviously, it has a lot to do with the country's future, but HOW?)
What are the rationale behind the way the German, Swiss, Hong Kong and American tax systems are set up -- Why do the things we do?
My findings for now are basic, pre-mature and inconclusive. But my questions should yield some good insight into what the US can learn, so to improve its own tax system. It'll be an on-going investigation (as much as time allows anyway). I'll keep updating as I find out more.
Thank you, Devlin, for tipping me off to this nice and neat flow chart for a better understanding!
Now we know what the heck Pretty Sarah was thinking!
Tina Fey, Sarah Palin … wait, who’s running for veep again?
SNL Katie Couric and Sarah Palin
If I had money, I’d blow it all at the bookstore.
I’m adding Maya Angelou’s new book, Letters to My Daughter, to my wishlist that is most probably never going to be fulfilled. haha!
Well, there’s always the library … if the government doesn’t cut that, too.
My notes during the veep debate:
Pretty Sarah ...
1. did her hair differently. I think she might have added some reddish brown highlights in there. (OK OK. I'll focus on things that are more important.)
2. likes to be cute and wink when she thinks people should take her word for it.
3. wore really cute red heels with her black outfit -- gotta give her credit for that! (What are you talking about?? This IS important! It is NOT sad that these are the first things I noticed about the debate. OK. Maybe it is a LITTLE boring. Just a little.)
4. looked uncomfortable standing in those tall heels for 90+ minutes ... or was it because of the debate pressure?
5. always has cute eyeglasses on ... where the heck did she get those??
6. scribbles things down a lot, but I have no idea what she could possibly be writing down. (the word "Maverick"?)
7. likes to spend lots of time talking like a mommy and not enough time talking about what she was asked. ("Now now, Joey. You know that's not right, don't you, honey? ... Oh crap, the yellow light is on! Uh, uh, uh, ... John McCain is my daddy ... I mean, Maverick?")
8. likes to give shout-outs to her fam, like her dad, brother, granddaddy, great aunt, mother's half sister's daughter's ex-boyfriend's former best friend ... wait, wait, she's not done yet! Turn that yellow light off, damn it!
9. smiles a lot, which is great ... even if it's because she has not idea what the heck to say.
10. is a pretty lady! If she doesn't win VP, she should totally get MILF of the Year.
Ole Joe ...
1. is old ... but not as old as the ole Maverick.
2. is pretty suave, in a "relax, I got this one" sorta way. In his younger years, he might have been pretty studly.
3. likes the word "Bush's." Bushhhhhhhhs.
4. likes to LOL. I'm sure Pretty Sarah noticed it.
5. makes gaffes look popular, like an Oompa Loompa tan that teenagers (even in the rainy Northwest) sport nowadays.
6. tries to be a gentleman. He wasn't too hard on Pretty Sarah. Maybe he was afraid that the Mob of Moms outside would bust through the doors and beat his ass.
7. notices the time limit light this time!
8. forgot that he is supposed to like clean coal technology for a moment ... wait, or is he supposed to like clean coal technology? I'm not sure. Maybe he does, since he looks like such a nice man.
9. wishes he could be as cute as Pretty Sarah when using homespun euphemisms for swear words, like "darn," "gosh," and "geez."
10. tries not to look at Pretty Sarah, so that he doesn't bust out saying, "I love you, Tina Fey!"
It seems that there are times when we are (or I am) so obsessed with what we deserve or don't deserve, that we forget what "deserve" means.
How do we judge "I deserve better treatment than that" or "I worked hard enough to deserve more reward"? How do we know that we "deserve" to have more than others?
Do we distinguish what we deserve from an overt sense of entitlement?
I really don't have all the answers, obviously, and I don't know where to even begin to make a fair judgment. But I do know that often times, what we do deserve is already in the experience, no just the reward or the result of the experience.
I wonder, if we remember that better, perhaps we'd view life quite a bit differently.
Surely, our past always has a hand in shaping our future, but the way it shapes our future and who we become is entirely taken from the lessons we learn along the way, which are intended to help us to relate to our distant and not-so-distant past.
And here, we have some choices to make:
Are we willing to recognize that there are lesson to be learned?
Are we willing to do what it takes to learn them?
Are we willing to let these lessons be part of our guide?
Events, things that happen in our lives, never go away. They remain as they are in their own dimensions. And they exist simultaneously in different versions/forms in the three dimensions we know so much, but so little about: the past, the present and the future.
It is our mission to recognize each version of these events' existence and add value to them -- events in the past as memories, but their existence in the present is a lesson, and in the future, a result. This pattern goes on and on, even beyond the time of humans years and years from now.
This is part of the creative of Life.
It is disappointment that I feel. it is the prophetic "i told you so" in my stomach.
With parents like mine, there is never the absence of doubt, for better or for worse.
But I had to go ahead and do what's right despite doubt. One still must treat a friend as a friend, not just for the sake of the friend or the friendship, but for the solemn faith and commitment of what friendship essentially is.
Yes, it's laughable to the cynics. I would sacrifice -- and have sacrificed -- for a principle.
But if I give up on that principle, that ideal, then what possibility be still hope for from friendship might die, extinct.
It is up to people like me (and you) to do the right thing, at our cost, yes, to keep the light of love and humanity alive.
I will not give in to jadedness.
As I reconstruct and reconsider my own life and foundation, so is the greater society.
Today, we live in one of the most trying times in history -- not because of war, not because violent attacks, not even because of questions about our decisions -- but because this is a time that asks us to steady our hearts, our conviction, and asks us to redefine our stance. Who are we individually and collectively? What does our surroundings mean to us? Where will we go? Where does our heart lie and what does it say?
Every little bit counts.
My life is but a microscopic view of it.
All we need to do is to REMEMBER who we are and hold on to it tight because being true to that is our only protection.
The pain will not go away, but being true will keep our feet where they belong.
With this in mind, I am sending what's left of my love and compassion out to the universe -- even those that have hurt me and wronged me -- to let them know that we're in this together.
Well, ya know. You don't have to worry about me because I'm strong and resilient. I just solo it, just power through it because that's what I do ... right? Right. That's just me.
And those that do worry about me do because I'm messy, naive, haven't gotten it down, don't know what I'm doing. I walk on a thin line suspended in air with no safety net below. And, of course, I have no idea that's what I'm doing ... right? Right. That's just me.
I couldn't sleep past 7:30am. The first thing I do is to suddenly open my eyes and take a deep breath, as if I needed more air to exist in reality and not dreamland. My first thought was a whisper, "Tom ..." My first sensation was the grip of anxiety.
A year ago, I was going through the same thing. Oh, and when I say "the same thing," I mean it. Every time, it seems, I am to be frustrated about something in the relationship. I express it, but it doesn't get answered. When I finally get pissed about him evading the question, he tells me I have a "temper problem." I don't understand why he evaded the question, why he feels I have a problem, he tells me I just don't understand him, and we are not meant to be together. Of course, to come to find out, his heart is still with someone in his past. My anxiety is heightened because I feel like I can't live up to a memory. Besides, what's happening doesn't makes sense. So I try to explain, I try to ask why, but he gets impatient and eventually gets pissed off. Then, I hang up. I think about it and analyze. No, it's not. It's not true. None of it. So I write him a long e-mail trying to explain that it wasn't just me (thinking, no, please don't punish me!). Even though it made me feel better temporarily, of course, that was still a waste of time -- he would never understand. This must be a re-run of something.
Here we are again.
I'm in Central Oregon, but we have gray skies these few days. It seems like an extra shade of gray at 7:30 in the morning. Or maybe it's just me -- my heart makes my eyes gray. My roommate's brother told me I looked shorter than usual yesterday. Well, I guess my troubles make me small, too. Maybe it's because it cuts my appetite.
Here we are again.
So I am hurting. It follows the same prescription, the same recipe. Let me backtrack, and I will remember what will come next. ... Well, wait. It helped the last time to have friends around, to have a job, to have no creditors after me for student loans. Maybe there are deviations after all.
Experience tells me, though, that I will not be missed.
I read something first thing for breakfast this morning, a quote: "It started before it could be stopped, and it was over before it began." I can't even explain how I feel when I read that.
Ever wonder why we -- or anyone else -- fight?
It's because we are scared.
When you and I fight, it's because you're scared to open up, and I'm scared that you aren't opening up because you don't care/want me. The more you clam up, the more I try (because I care). The more I try, the more you evade the issue. The more you do that, the more frustrated I become. The more frustrated I get, the more frustrated you get. The more frustrated we become, the more explosive our fights are.
Here's where we divide:
I wanted to figure out WHY we fight. I wanted to fix it.
You felt that there is no bottom to it. It's easier to just say that I have a temper problem. You don't want to straighten it out ...
... because we are not in a committed relationship (but what about friendship? isn't understanding us important for being friends, too?). And we actually never asked each other what "commitment" means to us. What I think of it is first and foremost "valuing the other person and not taking he/she for granted." Time can always be negotiated. Emotional devotion can't.
You were so keen on being with me at the beginning because it was "easy." I was easy to manage -- you thought of a relationship as something to manage. And the way to gauge the quality and possibility of a relationship is by how easy it is.
But do you know why it was easy?
It was because we hadn't met our baggage, "Tara's pregnancy," yet.
No relationship goes on without fights for long. Those that haven't fought truly have not seen challenge yet.
You and I have seen battles because we haven't adequately addressed the challenge of common ground since you came back from Washington.
No inspiring relationship goes on without disagreements. Those that always agree have not been honoring their responsibility of showing the world to each other.
You and I have not seen things eye to eye because we are different and meant to be different. I have seen other sides, and I will always show you other sides. ... Or perhaps you don't want someone with a mind and experiences of her own?
(Ever wonder why you and Kelly didn't fight? 1) You WANTED it to work, 2) She didn't challenge you the way I do -- and youth of mind has something to do with it because, if she was not 21, but more like 25 or older and have seen a few more things, I'll bet you guys would not have seen eye to eye, too, 3) The circumstances and baggage weighed differently then vs. now.)
So, it really isn't just about me having a "temper problem." In fact, I don't. You know I don't -- be honest. I am a laid-back, open-minded person. But I couldn't help but to be particular, out-spoken and proactive -- in the end, even frustrated and angry -- because things were left unaddressed. You wavered on where I stood in your life, and you wavered on what kind of value you placed in me ... for months. Recall, it wasn't until fairly recently that you started voicing your feelings of "not being ready for a relationship."
It isn't fair to say that "we weren't meant to date". Surely, we are meant to be different, but that doesn't mean "we weren't meant to date." Actually, if you (... or us) were ever willing to address the baggage and the concerns that came with it earlier on, things would never have gotten as bad. Even though we don't see eye to eye, I actually understand you quite a bit more thoroughly than most. I could tell your mood just by the noise frequency of your rocking chair since the beginning -- and it wasn't just out of habit.
So, you might as well just have told me you aren't interested in me and had just wanted the sex.
Speaking of sex, it also isn't fair to rebuttal with "Come on, you liked it, too." Of course, I liked it ... but you knew I liked it only because I thought I was with you. If we were just friends, if I had known that you weren't really interested in me, you KNEW I would not have continued to sleep with you. You have known all along that I'm not that kind of girl. Why would you say such a thing as "come on, you liked it, too"?
What hurt me isn't just because you are not interested in me (which is synonymous to "commitment"). It's because you were not interested, but you still wanted to stick around for the sex, the intimacy, the "good stuff" ... but with none of the work. You're a farmer/gardener. You should know that if you actually have to tend the garden at least every once in a while and have the right attitude about the garden to get any fruit out of it later. You can't cheat the garden, just like you can't expect to get the best of me 1) with no problem, and 2) for it to last. This is what I mean by "taking me for granted."
What I want is for you to recognize and understand (if you don't, it's fine to ask -- provided that you actually want to understand). I don't expect you to understand everything -- or be willing enough to understand everything. But I think we can agree to at least some things. I value you, and it is important to me (and our friendship) for you to understand that this hurt me and why.
Please think about it. Talk to me.
My uncle called me tonight from Hong Kong. He seems like the only one in my family who has any inkling of who I am.
His support and understanding brought me to tears.
I am proud of myself today for doing something for myself -- strictly for myself. I listened to my intuition and followed it. I gave it the answer it deserved.
This is part of my growth to love and respect myself, the path to discover my power and abilities. I have faith that I will do the right thing as long as I am true to myself.
Human drama is always interesting. It is within this drama that new ideas, new aspirations and new chapters in life happen.
I have always wondered what would happen in my own story, my own drama. Would I become wildly successful? Downtrodden and sad? Would those who I love love me back? Would I be betrayed? Would I be happy?
Turns out, my life so far is even more interesting than I could ever have imagined. And the answers I've found out along the way would answer far more than just those questions.
From pedals of flowers, I realized the beauty and intricacy of life ... and it wasn't an accident (it's never been).
From the faces of clouds, I realized that all things are in transition.
From the coming and going of people in my life, I realize that I have been growing.
Life hasn't always been pleasant, but it sure has been the way it is for my own good. Its ups and downs created so much to be thankful for.
My parents were nice enough to bring me the rest of my library.
Yep, books. My companions on this journey of growth.
At the bottom of a box, I found a little gift book -- one of those 5-dollar mini books near the check-out counter at Barnes and Noble -- titled "What Every Woman Should Do Once."
This is the advice it offers:
Make up an alias.
Skinny dip.
Insist on being called "Your Majesty".
Sleep out under the stars.
Start with dessert.
Be a diva for a night at a karaoke bar.
Act out a page of the Kama Sutra.
Call in sick and spend a whole day shopping with your best friend.
Own something leather besides a coat or gloves.
Date a guy you met on the Internet.
Give someone famous your autograph.
Write your acceptance speech for your "Woman of the Year" award.
Dye your hair blonde and see if they really have more fun.
Rent a convertible and go where the wind blows.
Have an anonymous encounter.
Adopt a pet.
Go commando.
Dance on top of a bar.
Forget what your mother would think.
Try on engagement rings, even if you're not in a relationship.
Send yourself a dozen roses.
Audition for a Broadway musical or a TV show.
Go skydiving.
Bet it all on black in Vegas -- and let it ride.
Go on a carriage ride through Central Park.
Be the boss.
Try on very expensive clothes in a boutique that you know you can't afford.
Invent an interesting past.
Talk in a foreign accent all day.
Write a scathing letter to the Editor.
Buy a round for everyone in the bar.
Smoke a cigar.
Run for a worthy cause.
Pamper yourself at an all day spa.
Have a three martini lunch and go back to work refreshed.
Create your own holiday and celebrate it every year.
Go without electricity for a night.
Wear fake eyelashes and send him come hither looks.
Make a voodoo doll of your ex.
Learn to tango.
Pretend you're a food critic at a trendy restaurant.
Make snow angels.
Blame everything on your evil twin.
Eat fast food all day.
Hire a personal shopper.
Wear a feather boa and movie star glasses to the grocery store.
Borrow a motorcycle and take the driver's seat.
Invest in a piece of art.
Flirt your way through a traffic jam.
Try a extreme sport.
Taste every variety of margarita.
Kiss a guy from every state.
Throw a silk pajama party and greet guests with champagne.
Go on two dates in one night.
Volunteer at a homeless shelter.
Take the credit -- and the compliment -- and say thanks!
Start a campaign.
Send a thank you letter to a mentor.
Tell a man you love him ... first.
Resist saying "I told you so," even if you're right.
Head to the airport and fly -- anywhere.
Walk a mile in someone else's shoes.
Ask your boyfriend to paint your toenails in exchange for the remote.
Remember the a la mode.
Own the perfect shade of red hot lipstick.
Wondering what the next big regional political problem is?
It'll be in western China, the Xinjiang province.
Come on. You just can't have mounting pressure and suppression without expecting problems to explode.
Watch this video, then read this very short news flash.
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