On That Huge Powerball Jackpot Tonight

Once again, I am reminded of my two favorite quotes on millionaires.

"I am opposed to millionaires, but it would be dangerous to offer me the position." 

 --Mark Twain, US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 - 1910)

and 

"I've never been a millionaire but I just know I'd be darling at it."

--Dorothy Parker US author, humorist, poet, & wit (1893 - 1967)

Good luck, y'all.  Have a great weekend. Regardless.

Link:  $900 Million Prize, 1 In 292 Million Odds — And A Few More Lottery Numbers

My opinion: the Dubai Islands had mistake written all over them

I predicted--and, I have to admit--even hoped these artificial "Dubai Islands" they created over there would fail.

It's not like I wanted to wish ill on anyone, either.  It's just that it made no sense. It goes against nature and it does so on far too grand a scale.

And here it is, proof positive, it seems:

According to evidence presented to a property tribunal, the World islands off the coast of Dubai are sinking.

The "Dubai World Tribunal" was set up to hear cases arising out of the multiple problems that the outlandishly ambitious scheme has faced since it started in 2003. Evidence brought by Richard Wilmot-Smith QC, representing Penguin Marine, the company holding the rights to provide transport to and from the islands,  showed "erosion and deterioration of The World islands." So, in a nutshell, "the islands are gradually falling back into the sea."  As well as the foundational sands of the islands sinking there is also evidence that the navigational channels between the islands are silting up.

The development, consisting of 300 islands, was designed to look like the countries of the globe when seen from above (or from the top of Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building onshore in the city). The islands were intended to become luxury hotel complexes and private properties, each tailor-made to suit its owners. According to the developer, Nakheel, 70% of the islands have been sold. However, only one of the islands has completed development: 'Greenland' is owned by Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Emir of Dubai, and is a showpiece for the scheme.

Remember the old saying, the old advertisement?  "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature..."  BOOM

It's been a big day for hypocrisy, ignorance and possibly an education in the headlines today

To wit:

U.S. millionaires say $7 million not enough to be rich

More than four out of ten American millionaires say they do not feel rich. Indeed many would need to have at least $7.5 million in order to feel they were truly rich, according to a Fidelity Investments survey.



Some 42 percent of the more than 1,000 millionaires surveyed by Fidelity said they did not feel wealthy. Respondents had at least $1 million in investable assets, excluding any real estate or retirement accounts.


"Every person in the survey is wealthy," said Sanjiv Mirchandani, president of National Financial, a unit of Fidelity.

Once again I'm reminded of the George Harrison Beatles' song "Piggies", for painfully obvious reasons:

Have you seen the little piggies

Crawling in the dirt

And for all the little piggies

Life is getting worse

Always having dirt to play around in.

Have you seen the bigger piggies

In their starched white shirts

You will find the bigger piggies

Stirring up the dirt

Always have clean shirts to play around in.

In their styes with all their backing

They don't care what goes on around

In their eyes there's something lacking

What they need's a damn good whacking.

Everywhere there's lots of piggies

Living piggy lives

You can see them out for dinner

With their piggy wives

Clutching forks and knives to eat their bacon

Link to original post:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_fidelity_survey/print

Why the gap between rich and poor matters in the US and the world

Don't think the tax rates on the wealthiest 1% should rise to that whopping 39% from where they are, by letting the George W. Bush Tax Cuts expire?  Then read on, McDuff:


First, income in America is now more concentrated in fewer hands than it’s been in 80 years. Almost a quarter of total income generated in the United States is going to the top 1 percent of Americans.

The top one-tenth of one percent of Americans now earn as much as the bottom 120 million of us. 


The marginal income tax rate on the very rich is the lowest it’s been in more than 80 years. Under President Dwight Eisenhower (who no one would have accused of being a radical) it was 91 percent. Now it’s 36 percent. Congress is even fighting over whether to end the temporary Bush tax cut for the rich and return them to the Clinton top tax of 39 percent.


The perfect storm: An unprecedented concentration of income and wealth at the top; a record amount of secret money flooding our democracy; and a public becoming increasingly angry and cynical about a government that’s raising its taxes, reducing its services, and unable to get it back to work.

We’re losing our democracy to a different system. It’s called plutocracy.  --Robert Reich, Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley


And so we're reminded, this from none other than Plato, all those centuries ago:  


"An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics."  

Link:  http://robertreich.org/post/1344561814

Rebuttal to Ben Stein and the selfish rich

As a teenager, a favorite button a friend of mine mentioned, for a laugh, read "Eat the rich". Too frequently, in humankind's history and experience, it becomes a good idea, it seems. Have a great week, y'all.

Quote of the day--Ladies and Gentlemen, the Republican Party

"When virtually all the gains from economic growth go to a small minority at the top -- and the broad middle class can no longer pretend it's richer than it is through debt -- the result is deep-seated anxiety and frustration." --Robert Reich, Former Secretary of Labor, Professor at Berkeley Link to original post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/the-root-of-economic-frag_b_644465.html