Atrocity, U.S.A. - 2013

When will the apathetic public get MAD​?​ 

The rich got a HUGE TAX CUT - maybe the biggest of all time - Payroll Workers got a big TAX INCREASE - 

​and ​Congress got a pay raise.

The new Tax Law makes the Bush tax cuts PERMANENT - taxes investment earnings at a lower rate than YOUR earned income - lets the ultra rich treat ALL their income as investment income - increases taxes on Social Security - and NOBODY EVEN GOT MAD. 

And in case you haven't noticed, U.S. average life expectancy is decreasing and now lags most of the OECD nations, the U.S. is one of the most income-unequal nations in the developed world, and everyone is singing "Sunny Side of the Street".

What to expect:

Since the buying power of the poor has been decreased, domestic demand will drop, while demand for luxury goods may rise slightly (made in China). So it's a good time to go "invisible" and search for government benefits like unemployment payments, food stamps and the like. The markets may soar as sidelined funds return, but since none of our companies will be able to expand demand, don't look for permanent prosperity.

​Leave a comment to tell me why I'm wrong.

If you never frown, how do we know when you're smiling?

And if you never criticize, what changes for the better?

Bob Malone
001.832.598.7783

Spud's Garden (& To Do List Entry Form)

Google 360 Interactive Virtual Tour Photographer in Austin, TX

Bruce Malone Photography  has added new Google tours to their website.  

Check one out here! &nbsp: http://brucemalone.com/torredipietra.html/

For the best view of the new 360° tours, click the "full screen" link in the top right corner of any picture and use your mouse to tour through the picture. 

Then look through more tours from the list at the left side of the page.  

13 Scientific Reasons To Drink Coffee - Business Insider

http://www.businessinsider.com/13-scientific-reasons-to-drink-coffee-2013-11

The boss makes how much? Study shows huge pension, pay gap - NBC News.com

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/boss-makes-how-much-study-shows-huge-pension-pay-gap-2D11591448

​No comment.​

The better you write, the higher you go

On September 7th, 1982, Advertising Guru David Ogilvy sent the following internal memo to all Ogilvy and Mather Agency employees:

"The better you write, the higher you go in Ogilvy & Mather. People who think well, write well. Woolly minded people write woolly memos, woolly letters and woolly speeches.Good writing is not a natural gift. You have to learn to write well."

Here are David's 10 hints: 

How to Write

1. Read the Roman-Raphaelson book on writing. Read it three times. 
2. Write the way you talk. Naturally. 
3. Use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs. 
4. Never use jargon words like reconceptualize, demassification, attitudinally, judgmentally. They are hallmarks of a pretentious ass. 
5. Never write more than two pages on any subject. 
6. Check your quotations. 
7. Never send a letter or a memo on the day you write it. Read it aloud the next morning — and then edit it. 
8. If it is something important, get a colleague to improve it. 
9. Before you send your letter or your memo, make sure it is crystal clear what you want the recipient to do. 
10. If you want ACTION, don’t write. Go and tell the guy what you want. 

   David

This, and much more of Ogilvy’s timeless advice, can be found in The Unpublished David Ogilvy (public library):

Robert Reich's Opinion

Robert Reich: The argument is that inequality is bad for everyone, not just the middle class and poor. The rich would do better with a smaller share of a rapidly growing economy then they're doing now with a large share of an economy that is barely growing at all. It's not growing because there's not enough purchasing power in the middle class, and the lower-middle class and everybody aspiring to join the middle class, to keep the economy going.

We've seen this from the pioneering work of Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty, looking back at tax records. They've brought that research up to 2012 and they see that 95 percent of the gains, the economic gains, since the recovery began in 2009, are going to the top 1 percent. Meanwhile, median household income keeps dropping, adjusted for inflation. Well, where are people going to get the money they need to keep the economy going? We can't go back into debt like we were in before 2008. So there's a fundamental threat to the economy.

There's also a very fundamental threat to the democracy we live in because, as even Louis Brandeis, the great jurist, understood in the late 19th century, when we last had this extraordinary gap, "We can either live in a democracy," he said, "or we can have a huge amount of wealth concentrated in few hands, but we can't have both."

Molly's Graduation Party!

Molly's Family - Houston, TX - June 25, 2013

Thanks for coming!

Molly's College Decision

CONGRATULATIONS TO AN AMAZING YOUNG LADY!   And to her amazing Dad!  Spud is proud of you both.  Check out the signing ceremony here.

Who put this THING on me?

Eeeeeek! I look like a walking candy store! Let me out of here!

The Contrasts

 $2.13 per hour vs. $3,000,000.00 per hour

http://www.alternet.org/economy/five-ugly-extremes-inequality-america-contrasts-will-drop-your-chin-floor

ETA Press Release: Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report

ETA Press Release: Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report