Archive for September, 2008
Do the Math Before You Forward Emails…
I had several people forward the following email to me… and found it funny that none of them actually crunched the math on this one before hitting the send button…
I’m against the $85 BILLION bailout of AIG. Instead, I’m in favor of giving $85,000,000,000 to America in a “We Deserve It” dividend. To make the math simple, let’s assume there are 200,000,000 bona fide U.S. citizens, aged 18+.
Our population is about 301 million counting every man, woman and child. So, 200,000,000 might be a fair stab at adults 18 and up. Now, divide 200 million, 18+ adults into $85 billon - that equals $425,000.00 each! Yes, my plan is to give that $425,000 to every adult as a “We Deserve It” dividend.
Of course, it would NOT be tax free. So, let’s assume a tax rate of 30%. Every would pay $127,500.00 in taxes. That sends $25.5 billion right back to Uncle Sam! It also means that every adult 18+ has $297,500.00 in their pocket. A husband and wife would have $595,000.00!
What would you do with $297,500.00 to $595,000.00?
· Pay off your mortgage – housing crisis solved
· Repay college loans – what a great boost to new grads
· Put away money for college – it’ll really be there
· Save in a bank – create money to loan to entrepreneurs
· Buy a new car – create jobs
· Invest in the market – capital drives growth
· Pay for your parent’s medical insurance – health care improves
· Enable Deadbeat Dads to come clean – or else
Remember this is for every adult U.S. citizen, 18 and older (including the folks who lost their jobs at Lehmann Brothers and every other company that is cutting back) and of course, for those serving in our Armed Forces.
If we’re going to re-distribute wealth let’s really do it! Instead of trickling out a puny $1,000.00 (“vote buy”) economic incentive.
If we’re going to do an $85 billion bailout, let’s bail out every adult U.S. citizen!!
As for AIG – liquidate it.
· Sell off its parts.
· Let American General go back to being American General.
· Sell off the real estate.
· Let the private sector bargain hunters cut it up and clean it up.
We deserve the money and AIG doesn’t. Sure it’s a crazy idea that can “never work,” but can you imagine the coast-to-coast block party?!
How do you spell Economic Boom? W-e D-e-s-e-r-v-e I-t d-i-v-i-d-e-n-d! I trust my fellow adult Americans to know how to use the $85 Billion “We Deserve It” dividend more than I do the geniuses at AIG or in Washington, D.C..
And remember, The Birk plan only really costs $59.5 billion because $25.5 billion is returned instantly in taxes to Uncle Sam.
Ahhh…I feel so much better getting that off my chest.
Kindest personal regards,
Birk
T. J. Birkenmeier, A Creative Guy & Citizen of the Republic
I guess this guy started it as an email to see who would forward it without doing the math… pretty funny how viral the internet is!!
I love the idea of the goverment giving us the actual $3,500 that would come if every U.S. citizen over the age of 18 was given an equal share of the $700,000,000,000 that the government wants to give to private businesses because they were run poorly. (there are actually about 200,000,000 adults in the US, and the government ended up wanting to hand over 700 billion, not just 85 billion)
As a private business owner, I’ve gotta say, the idea of never having to worry about failing because I know the government would just give me the money I’d need to stay in business would be great… lol… YIKES!
Hugh and Lisa’s Calamigos Ranch Wedding in Malibu
I always have a great time with my clients and finding out about their lives/backgrounds and chatting to Hugh and Lisa about their work, and specifically Hugh’s job as a Urologist. (I had no clue what that was and had to ask) Hugh assured me if/when I ever have problems he’ll make sure I’m well taken care of, so we made sure to get some sweet shots for them of their wedding day ;-)
It was really neat to witness/document the Ketubah Ceremony with Hugh and Lisa’s closest family and friends and learning a bit more about Jewish tradition.
Check out Hugh and Lisa’s slideshow from their Calamigos Ranch Wedding.
Patrick and Nicole’s Firestone Vineyard Crossroads Estate Wedding
I seriously have to say that this is one of my very favorite venues to photograph at in Santa Barbara County. The light is ALWAYS soooo creamy, there are tons of different backdrops to choose from and everything is right there, it just lends itself to a relaxing wedding.
Patrick and Nicole were our second wedding of the weekend and you couldn’t ask for a bride who was more ready to be photographed. If she wasn’t smiling and being herself, she was striking beautiful and relaxed posses for the camera and loving every moment in the spotlight.
Definitely check out the rest of the pictures from Patrick and Nicole’s Firestone Crossroads Estate wedding on this slideshow.
Thanks to Melissa from MFushions Event Planning for making the day flow flawlessly.
Pure Joy catered the yummy food
Julie Morgan - Makeup and Hair
Ambient - Lighting
Camille/Modern Day Design - Flowers
Decadence - Cake
This WILL NOT be me at your wedding
Wow and wow (I have no clue who the photographer in this video is, but man… he’s outta control)
I always am amazed at the rules we get when we show up at churches and such:
No going past the last pew of guests
No hard soled shoes
No chewing gum
And on and on…
Usually I just sign the agreement that I won’t be “that guy” without really any clue who “that guy” is… well, here you have it, this is THAT guy:
YIKES!
And wearing jeans to the wedding to top it off!!
Joe and Bonnie’s Fess Parker DoubleTree Resort Wedding Photography
This past weekend we had the pleasure of photographing three weddings in three days! Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Going into it I was a bit worried about how we’d hold up, but we did AWESOME and had tons of energy for each wedding!
This is Joe and Bonnie who were a super sweet couple and were absolutely adorable (ok.. Joe wasn’t adorable, he was manly…) ;-)
You can check out Joe and Bonnie’s complete slideshow here.