Perspective
For weeks we all have seen on TV the members of the Occupy Wall Street
movement. Their main complaints are the CEOs and the money that they earn yearly
and their bonuses. For perspective, let's look at how CEOs got to where they
did:
First they got the proper education, then they worked 70, 80, 90 hours a week
for 30 to 40 years. They made their companies money and made their companies
compete in the business world. Then those companies paid them bonuses anywhere
from $1 million to $10 million.
Fair? I don't know. If everything was fair I would win the lottery at least
once a month. But what everyone forgets is that they worked to get where they
are today, they worked hard and long (key words are "hard" and "long").
Now for the perspective: Professional athletes get huge stupid yearly
salaries. They get millions upon millions to play a sport that we as common
people play for fun. Plus they only work a little more than a half year. Of
course, they have to work out on their down time. So do I.
Now even though my bank gives out huge bonuses, I can still do business with
it. But with the professional athletes, I can't afford to go to a game (me and
my wife). Plus if my bank's CEO isn't satisfied with his or her bonus, he or she
isn't going to go on strike or have a lock-out. That's my perspective.
KENNETH D. "WAYNE" SMITH
Winston-Salem
Adding applause
On Sept. 28, the Journal published an editorial supporting both the DREAM Act
and Texas Gov. Rick Perry for his contributions to the matter ("Rick Perry is
right, but it may cost him: DREAM ACT"). As a local college sophomore doing what
she can to encourage the passage of the DREAM Act, I would like to add my
applause to that of the Journal.
In high school, I became aware that several of my classmates would soon be
denied admittance to both college and, thus, the majority of society thereafter.
My best friend is in much the same situation as Moises Serrano; he cannot
contribute to the nation he knows and loves because he was born somewhere
else.
The DREAM Act would provide a way for many brilliant, passionate and
patriotic young people to become contributing citizens to the nation they've
invested their lives in. As Serrano said, "This is my country."
I want to extend my congratulations to both Perry and the Journal for
recognizing the need for equal higher-education opportunities. This truly is a
great country in which we live; I simply want to see it grow through the
contribution of these students. Thank you for your solidarity.
KATHRYN WILLIAMS
Winston-Salem
Breakdown
Defend marriage? That is what the Defense of Marriage Act on the upcoming
spring North Carolina primary will do. Thirty other states have adopted similar
constitutional amendments. But marriage as a vowed, committed relationship
between a man and a woman, witnessed by their communities and recorded in
courts, has been taking a hit for some time. As far back as the 1970s, men and
women started "cohabiting." That was the big word then. Now, "moving in … living
together" among heterosexuals has become a norm. Can anyone tell me — really,
what does that word "fiancé" mean?
This breakdown in the heterosexual community has set the gay culture's demand
for the "right" to be married. Let's be clear. Their demand is not a
civil-rights issue. Their demand is about changing culture. Further. No one is
telling gay people they can't be gay, and nobody wants to take away their
"right" to be gay, as the gay pride participants last weekend seemed to think ("
'I'm happy with who I am,' " Oct. 16).
What the upcoming primary vote in May will say is that gay people cannot
redefine the word "marriage."
Ah … there's the rub.
ROSE M. WALSH
LTE #1.... Perspective! Yes, and as Einstein proved, it's all relative to your frame of reference.
ReplyDeleteLTE #3..... Rose, please, if you're going to try and use the Constitution against a minority, at least know what your talking about, but I've seen your posts before, and I guess I am expecting way too much of you. Defense of Marriage Act in the spring? Hardly, Rose. It's a constitutional amendment, Rose. Men and women have been co-habitating Rose since, well, since there were men and women.
Rose, did you know that there appeared to be many marriages taking place without witness or ceremony in the 1500's. The Council of Trent was so disturbed by this, that they decreed in 1563 that marriages should be celebrated in the presence of a priest and at least two witnesses.
...
The definition of words have changed so much over time that it has it's own study: etymology --the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.
Many people hold the view that regardless of how people enter into matrimony, marriage is a bond between two people that involves responsibility and legalities, as well as commitment and challenge. That concept of marriage hasn't changed through the ages. And no one is asking to change that concept of marriage.
And Rose, it's not just gay people that are in favor of marriage equality, unless 53% of Americans are gay. May, 2011 -- For the first time in Gallup's tracking of the issue, a majority of Americans (53%) believe same-sex marriage should be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages.
While big majorities of Democrats and young people support the idea of legalizing same-sex marriage, fewer than 4 in 10 Republicans and older Americans agree. I'm guessing you're an old republican, Rose.
What was that? Did you see the new ad by Herman Cain where his campaign manager smokes a cigarette and blows smoke into the camera? Is blowing smoke into a camera suipposed to be an appealing image?
ReplyDeleteBank of New York Mellon Corp. on Thursday took the extraordinary step of telling large clients it will charge them to hold cash.
ReplyDeleteThe unusual move means some U.S. depositors will have to pay to keep big chunks of money in a bank, marking a stark new phase of the long-running global financial crisis.
Through most of Western civilization, marriage has been more a matter of money, power and survival than of delicate sentiments. In medieval Europe, everyone from the lord of the manor to the village locals had a say in deciding who should wed. Love was considered an absurdly flimsy reason for a match. Even during the Enlightenment and Victorian eras, adultery and friendship were often more passionate than marriage. These days, we marry for love—and are rewarded with a blistering divorce rate.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200505/marriage-history
“There is...an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, without either virtue or talents.... The artificial aristocracy is a mischievous ingredient in government, and provisions should be made to prevent its ascendancy.”
ReplyDelete“I hope we shall take warning from the example of England and crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations which dare already to challenge our Government to trial, and bid defiance to the laws of our country”
“If Americans ever allow banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children will wake up homeless”
No this is not the Occupy Wall Street creed. They are quotes from Thomas Jefferson.
The following link is to an article that appeared in the Wall Street Journal February 25, 2004 DEJA VU column By CYNTHIA CROSSEN which I found intriguing.
ReplyDeleteDeja Vu - marriage in early US history - 2/04
http://lists101.his.com/pipermail/smartmarriages/2004-February/001818.html
Word!!! I mean my great grandmother was a preacher's daughter who was married 3 times but never to my great grandfather.
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather was born 2 months after her second husband died. One need not be Fellini to figure that one out.
ReplyDelete"Their demand is not a civil-rights issue. Their demand is about changing culture."
ReplyDeleteRose M. Walsh
Again one of the LTE writers hits the nail on the head. The civil right to join together in a legal relationship is really not in dispute in most circles-particularly given our tax laws. The dispute revolves around homosexuals trying to force their way of life down on heterosexuals. There is little doubt that that is their aim, because of recent efforts to force schools to teach about homosexuality.
Just as I've said before, even if government changes the legal definition of 'marriage', marriage will still be viewed culturally as a union between a man and woman, not between two men or two women, or what is coming next-marriage between man and beast.
"what is coming next-marriage between man and beast."
ReplyDeleteBucky, that's just stupid and you know it.
"May, 2011 -- For the first time in Gallup's tracking of the issue, a majority of Americans (53%) believe same-sex marriage should be recognized by the law as valid, with the same rights as traditional marriages."
ReplyDelete---Bob
We'll see in May if North Carolinians feel that way.
Many people follow peer pressure or the politically correct position of the day. However, if you phrased the question: Is it normal for a man to go after the badend of another man? Most would say no.
what is your hang up with "normal" it's normal to be overweight and have a 100 IQ, I'm glad I am not normal, and if you are "normal" I hope I never am normal. I'm way above normal Bucky. You can be stuck in normal all day long. Normal Bucky, Hey Norm,.
ReplyDeleteI've never been average, Bucky. Tell me what it's like to be average, please!!!
ReplyDeleteI'll tell you what's not normal, Bucky. It's not normal for a straight man to constantly be thinking about gay sex. That's not normal.
ReplyDeleteBobby, I believe following the laws of nature is an appropriate way to live one's life. If you want to get off the beaten path (i.e. going after a badend or two), that's your right. But don't try to tell me it's normal.
ReplyDeleteBut that's ok, Bucky, the fact that your abnormal doesn't bother me.
ReplyDeleteBobby, if you weren't such an incessant advocate for the gay agenda, I don't think we would end up talking about gay sex so much. Have you ever thought about that?
ReplyDeletenormal is not the goal, bucky, if you want to wallow in your normality, that's your choice, I like being unique and better than normal. And Bucky, you are not the keeper of the laws. The laws of nature also say when one is hungry and one sees food, one eats it, no matter who it belongs to. That's the law of nature bucky. So it's ok to take food when one is hungry? that's the way it's done in nature, bucky.
ReplyDeleteUntil you can show me a child that has been born out of a badend, I'll still to my laws of nature, not yours.
ReplyDeleteI have never mentioned gay sex. I don't even talk about it. You do. I do believe in equality, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
ReplyDeleteI'm celibate, so I'm no longer "sinning"
ReplyDeletegay people don't need to have children, we have breeders like you to do that for us.
ReplyDeletebesides, marriage is not about having children. There are no laws that say a married couple must have children.
ReplyDeletestick...
ReplyDeleteHey Bobby, another little tid bit....some people are trying to ram homosexuality down people's throats in churches now. And there's been, and going to be, a lot of blow back.
Have you heard about that?
what the hell do you care about churches, you denied the Lord 3x already.
ReplyDeletewant to make it a 4th?
ReplyDeleteBobby....just a topic for discussion. Don't get on your high horse, okay?
ReplyDeleteHeres an article about you, bucky:
ReplyDeleteNarcissists' Overconfidence May Hide Low Self-Esteem
http://news.yahoo.com/narcissists-overconfidence-may-hide-low-self-esteem-143204891.html
Bob at 6:12. You have money in Mellon Bank?
ReplyDeleteI'm not overconfident. I am confident that I know what 'normal' is better than you though, Bobby.
ReplyDeletelol, yes, I keep large chunks of cash there.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you do, Bucky, you are the epitomy of normal and normal is ok with me. I just refuse to bring my self down to that level.
ReplyDeleteI raise the bar for normal, Bucky.
ReplyDeleteI hope you stay normal, Bucky. I would hate for you to do anything extraordinary. It would be against your nature.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of Banks.....did you hear where Obama is trying to pull another Barney Frank, and force banks to give out loans to unqualified people?
ReplyDeleteno, I didn't.
ReplyDeleteYeapers....., he wants to banks to 'free-up' loans. I'm not an idiot genius like Rush, but I think that's code for give out loans to people that wouldn't otherwise qualify.
ReplyDeletewere you talking about those people whose mortgages are underwater and getting them refinanced? That's only for those whose payments are current. Is that not qualified enough for ya?
ReplyDelete. One late payment within six months, or more than one in the past year, would mean disqualification. Perhaps the biggest limitation on the program: It's voluntary for lenders. A bank remains free to reject a refinancing even if a homeowner meets all requirements.
forcing banks? try harder, Bucky, try harder
what part of voluntary do you not understand?
ReplyDeleteIt's my mission in life, bucky, to raise normal people up to better than normal, so if you need help understanding definitions, just ask.
ReplyDeleteThe Piedmont Triad's HOTTEST place to be when the sun goes down! Check for our nightly specials, and don't miss our fabulous cabaret night on Friday, then it's party night on Saturday. Amateur nights on the first and third Thursday of every month. Two HUGE dance floors, three full service bars, and an outside patio too. Club Odyssey brings you the most gorgeous drag kittens on the East coast, and the hottest male strippers anywhere! If you're 18+, the place to be is Club Odyssey! Open six nights a week except Monday! Visit our website for this month's calendar and more events at: http://www.ClubOdyssey.info
ReplyDelete_____________
Drag Kittens....? What's up with that Bobby?
I didn't know they had male strippers over there, and they have drag kittens? Sounds like a wild place. I thought it was just a gay bar.
ReplyDeleteClub Odyssey? HA, Bucky, it's been called CO2 now for about a year. But then I wouldn't expect you to be current on anything. I was born about a mile from behind South Fork Elementary School. I've never been but did go to the Power Company back in the 70's and early 80's when it was located across the street from Calvary Baptist Church. It mysteriously caught fire one night. Some say it was arson. Some say spontaneous combustion.
ReplyDeleteDRAG; female impersonators, bucky, like Milton Berle, he was a famous female impersonator.
ReplyDeleteMy point Bobby is a man dressed in a hyena suit in a club beating people in the face with the costume's tail, all the while making homosexual gyrations, may be 'normal' to some people, but abnormal to most, like me.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know you had been to a drag show at CO2 bucky? Kudos to you? Is that what they do?
ReplyDeleteWell, bucky, I've schooled you enough for this am. I will be back later.
ReplyDeleteAnd as a teacher, I never quit.
ReplyDeleteI used to think teachers were respectable, but after the Wisconsin teacher riots, I've changed my mind.
ReplyDeleteOT....when you come on, I responded to your post from last night er early this am. Today's topics have changed.
ReplyDeleteCome on, Bob. If drag shows were normal they would have had them in ancient China and Greece.
ReplyDeleteOh, they did?
Hey, Bucknorm, if everybody was "normal", we would still be sleeping in trees or caves or on the ground and eating raw meat and drinking contaminated water and living to be 22 if we were lucky.
ReplyDelete"Normal" people like you do nothing to advance the cause of homo sapiens (that means humans). They just sit around watching Fox News and obsessing over banging bucks and gay hyenas.
I am intrigued, as always, by one of your brilliant phrases: homosexual gyrations. Could you describe that for those of us who have NOT made it to CO2 yet? How is it different from other gyrations? Do people have to wear hyena suits to do it?
Rudy Giuliani in Drag
ReplyDeleteSo Bucky, the first law of nature is survival. If a human is starving and sees food then the first law of nature says take it and eat it. Is that ok with you?
ReplyDeleteGood afternoon folks!
ReplyDeleteLTE 1: The track to CEO differs from company to company and individual to individual. The production workers also worked long, hard hours to make the company profitable. Worker productivity has never been higher, but the gains from the increased productivity have all gone to the top executives while the wages for everyone else have remained stagnant. Pro athletes are individual contract workers with a very short career. If they mess up, they are the ones who suffer. If a CEO messes up, the production workers are the ones who suffer while the CEO walks away with millions. My perspective as well as my personal experience.
LTE 2: This is the only country many of them know. An infant or a toddler doesn't come here on his own free will. The Dream act seems to be a suitable path to citizenship.
LTE 3: Defend marriage against what? Divorce? Cheating spouses? Domestic violence? Boredom? The very idea of marriage being a commitment of one man to one woman is a recent development. Polygamy has been practiced for centuries and still exists today. Many of those marriages were between blood relatives. In essence, marriage as a one to one commitment based on love itself is a redefinition of the word "marriage". Btw..culture is always changing whether you want it to or not. As far as "No one is telling gay people they can't be gay" goes, I don't think permission has anything to do with whether or not someone is gay. They simply are / aren't whether you want them to be or not.
Excellent comments, especially #3.
ReplyDeleteRush, if you want to pound the back end of another man, have at it. I still think it's abnormal, and against the laws of nature.
ReplyDeleteHave I called you an idiot lately? I didn't think so.
Rush, you're an idiot!
An idiot, dolt, or dullard is a mentally deficient person, or someone who acts in a self-defeating or significantly counterproductive way.
If anybody wants to know what goes on over at CO2 (Gay Club on Country Club). Check this video out.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7moGlHRNi8&feature=related
Ketamine is used as an animal tranquilizer. Guess what it's used for over at CO2?
Ketamine is actually used in human and veterinary medicine.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI may be wrong, but somehow I don't think it is "normal" for a self-professed straight guy to be watching gay videos on line.
ReplyDeleteCome on, Normy, shut down the computer and trek on over to CO2 and do what you really want to do. Leering is optional.
Rush.....since Stab has abated this website, I've appointed you as the new head nitwit. It's a promotion you truly deserve. Congrats!
ReplyDeletelol, I assure you bucky, the clubs in South Beach make CO2 look like a southern baptist convention.
ReplyDeleteSorry, bucky, all promotions go through me.
ReplyDeleteYou forgot to say "Daddy may I"
ReplyDeleteHa, ha...Normy, you take the cake. Bob is now the head knocker around here. As he says, all promotions go through him. I'm just a low level member of the club.
ReplyDeleteYou really need to work on your vocabulary. "Abate" does not mean what you seem to think it does. Using $25 words that you don't understand is always a sure sign of a phony. I notice that you frequently have that problem.
As to South Beach, as my wife's 40th birthday approached, she seemed to be getting a little depressed, so I took her to SB for a two week vacation.
ReplyDeleteThe clubs blew her mind. It took her about 12 seconds to get into the whole scene. By the end of our stay she was on a first name basis with every bouncer on the beach.
I can just see Bucknorm down there. When those leering boys started asking him "Who's your daddy?" he'd be calling their names in his sleep. Never want to come home.
Good evening, folks!
ReplyDeleteReports of my "abating" this website are premature. I am very busy of late, working 6 days a week, taking of Dad, and riding a circuit from my abode to work to Dad's to Mrs. Stab to grocery store to CVS and start over. As much as I respect OT, I retain my Head Nitwit title.
LTE1: An interesting book called "Outliers" notes that it takes about 10,000 hours of training, practice, and experience to be excellent at something, whether it's science, business, artistic endeavors, or sports, to name a few. This puts a different light on athletes' salaries.
Also, athletes are charging what the market will bear, same as businesses, unions, performance artists, etc. If the market can't bear it, then salaries and prices drop, or businesses, unions, performance artists, and athletes become un- or underemployed.
LTE2: These folks are here, not going away. As noted above, they know only this country. We might as well harness their ambition to achieve and let them become more contributing members of society as productive citizens. DREAM on, I say.
LTE3: Here I sit in my quarters, doors locked, shades drawn, feel no effects from others' relationships. Whether Adam is married to Steve somewhere, or Alice to Eve, has no bearing on my existence. The LTE writer is a mean-spirited busybody.
Rush, I bet you liked getting your prostrate rubbed by some big buck down in South Beach when your 'wife' wasn't around.
ReplyDeleteDid you make the trip over to 'News Cafe'?
I'm still making you the head nitwit in here. I going to over ride the peanut gallery's objection, and appoint you the nitwit of all nitwits in here.
Well, yeah, Stab is still the real head knocker. Just not around as much...same for me, because things are kind of piling up at the moment.
ReplyDeleteRe the 10,000 hours, I'd say that's a bit of a lowball. Almost all PhD/MD candidates probably spend twice that getting ready, counting internships, residencies and post-post grad work. In upper grad school, even when you're having lunch with your colleagues and/or professors, it's a part of the process.
As to sports, I know plenty of folks who spent at least 15,000 hours and never got past high school varsity. And the money is silly, but not unearned.
Once upon a time owners of pro sports teams raked in the lion's share of the money. But nobody goes to the ballpark to see the owners. Credit Cardinals outfielder Curt Flood for breaking the owner's grip and redirecting the money to the rightful beneficiaries.
If Americans are stupid enough to spend $5-10,000 to attend a Super Bowl game, at least the money goes to the people who brought them there. And never forget that one play that goes wrong can end a lucrative career in a split second.
Ain't room for but one Head Nitwit in this site, me bucko, and that Head Nitwit be I.
ReplyDelete70% of the people in a CNN poll think welfare recipents should pass a drug test.
ReplyDeleteFunny how a judge doesn't think so.
More interesting to me is that President Obama has added a Wall Street lobbyist to his campaign. So much for the winks and nudges to the OWS folks. They might as well roll up their Che posters and go home.
ReplyDeleteBucknorm wants SO badly to be an insider, but doesn't understand that just looking stuff up on the web doesn't get the job done. You have to actually be there, Bucky Boy.
ReplyDelete"News Cafe" indeed. Sorry, no banging bucks, nor anything else so exciting to you. Just a place to eat mostly mediocre food and people watch.
The first few times we went to South Beach, before it became the parody of itself it has now become, News Cafe didn't even exist.
Yeah, in its early days Versace and other celebs used to show up now and then, but it has become a hangout for naive tourists. Only a fool would go to News Cafe today, or even South Beach itself. Both have been supplanted by more interesting places.
The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on... Need to get out more, Bucktooth. The times they are ALWAYS a-changin'. By the time somebody like you finds out about something, its time has always passed.