| Steve 的个人资料My Thoughts on .NET照片日志列表 |  工具  帮助 |
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9月16日 Letter to Congress...The U.S. Postal Service was established in 1775 - you have had 234 years to get it right; it is broke. Social Security was established in 1935 - you have had 74 years to get it right; it is broke. Fannie Mae was established in 1938 - you have had 71 years to get it right; it is broke. The "War on Poverty" started in 1964 - you have had 45 years to get it right; $1 trillion of our money is confiscated each year and transferred to "the poor"; it hasn't worked and our entire country is broke. Medicare and Medicaid were established in 1965 - you've had 44 years to get it right; they are broke. Freddie Mac was established in 1970 - you have had 39 years to get it right; it is broke. Trillions of dollars were spent in the massive political payoffs called TARP, the "Stimulus", the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009... none show any signs of working, although ACORN appears to have found a new bitch: the American taxpayer. And finally, to set a new record: So with a perfect 100% failure rate and a record that proves that "services" you shove down our throats are failing faster and faster, you want Americans to believe you can be trusted with a government-run health care system? 20% of our entire economy? With all due respect, Are you fucking crazy? 7月25日 Dinner at the White House - a parableOnce upon a time, I was invited to the White House for a private dinner with the President. I am a respected businessman, with a factory that produces memory chips for computers and portable electronics. There was some talk that my industry was being scrutinized by the administration, but I paid it no mind. I live in a free country. There's nothing that the government can do to me if I've broken no laws. My wealth was earned honestly, and an invitation to dinner with an American President is an honor. I checked my coat, was greeted by the Chief of Staff, and joined the President in a yellow dining room. We sat across from each other at a table draped in white linen. The Great Seal was embossed on the china. Uniformed staff served our dinner. The meal was served, and I was startled when my waiter suddenly reached out, plucked a dinner roll off my plate, and began nibbling it as he walked back to the kitchen. "Sorry about that," said the President. "Andrew is very hungry." "I don't appreciate..." I began, but as I looked into the calm brown eyes across from me, I felt immediately guilty and petty. It was just a dinner roll. "Of course," I concluded, and reached for my glass. Before I could, however, another waiter reached forward, took the glass away and swallowed the wine in a single gulp. "And his brother Eric is very thirsty." said the President. I didn't say anything. The President is testing my compassion, I thought. I will play along. I don't want to seem unkind. My plate was whisked away before I had tasted a bite. "Eric's children are also quite hungry." With a lurch, I crashed to the floor. My chair had been pulled out from under me. I stood, brushing myself off angrily, and watched as it was carried from the room. "And their grandmother can't stand for long." I excused myself, smiling outwardly, but inside feeling like a fool. Obviously I had been invited to the White House to be sport for some game. I reached for my coat, to find that it had been taken. I turned back to the President. "Their grandfather doesn't like the cold." I wanted to shout- that was my coat! But again, I looked at the placid smiling face of my host and decided I was being a poor sport. I spread my hands helplessly and chuckled. Then I felt my hip pocket and realized my wallet was gone. I excused myself and walked to a phone on an elegant side table. I learned shortly that my credit cards had been maxed out, my bank accounts emptied, my retirement and equity portfolios had vanished, and my wife had been thrown out of our home. Apparently, the waiters and their families were moving in. The President hadn't moved or spoken as I learned all this, but finally I lowered the phone into its cradle and turned to face him. "Andrew's whole family has made bad financial decisions. They haven't planned for retirement, and they need a house. They recently defaulted on a subprime mortgage. I told them they could have your home. They need it more than you do." My hands were shaking. I felt faint. I stumbled back to the table and knelt on the floor. The President cheerfully cut his meat, ate his steak and drank his wine. I lowered my eyes and stared at the small grey circles on the tablecloth that were water drops. "By the way," He added, "I have just signed an Executive Order nationalizing your factories. I'm firing you as head of your business. I'll be operating the firm now for the benefit of all mankind. There's a whole bunch of Erics and Andrews out there and they can't come to you for jobs groveling like beggars." I looked up. The President dropped his spoon into the empty ramekin which had been his creme brulee. He drained the last drops of his wine. As the table was cleared, he lit a cigarette and leaned back in his chair. He stared at me. I clung to the edge of the table as if were a ledge and I were a man hanging over an abyss. I thought of the years behind me, of the life I had lived. The life I had earned with a lifetime of work, risk and struggle. Why was I punished? How had I allowed it to be taken? What game had I played and lost? I looked across the table and noticed with some surprise that there was no game board between us. What had I done wrong? As if answering the unspoken thought, the President suddenly cocked his head, locked his empty eyes to mine, and bared a million teeth, chuckling wryly as he folded his hands. "You should have stopped me at the dinner roll," he said. 7月8日 Who is Reading Books (and who is not)From Para Publishing some sobering statistics about the publishing business. In particular, the section entitled "Who is Reading Books (and who is not)" is illuminating. The reality is that more people voted for the American Idiot on Fox than in the last Presidential election. These statistics help support this tragic trend:
Excerpts from:
" ...
Who is Reading Books (and who is not)
One-third of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives. Many do not even graduate from high school. 58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school. 42% of college graduates never read another book. 80% of US families did not buy or read a book last year. 70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years. 57% of new books are not read to completion. Most readers do not get past page 18 in a book they have purchased. 63% of adults report purchasing at least one book during the previous three-month period. (Most were probably exaggerating). 53% read fiction, 43% nonfiction. The favorite fiction category is mystery & Suspense, 19%. Of the top fifty books, fiction outsells nonfiction about 60% to 40%. Fiction peaks in July at 70% but nonfiction reaches almost 50% in December. 55% of fiction is bought by women; 45% by men. Thirty percent of Americans surveyed by the Harris Poll say they would rather read a book than do anything else; twenty-one percent said watching TV is their favorite activity. That's the good news. The bad news is that only 13 percent selected "spending time with family. Each day, people in the US spend 4 hours watching TV, 3 hours listening to the radio and 14 minutes reading magazines. 70% of Americans haven't visited a bookstore in five (5) years. Customers 55 and older account for more than one-third of all books bought. People reduced their time reading between 1996 and 2001 to 2.1 hours/month. Only 32% of the U.S. population has ever been in a bookstore. The time Americans spend reading books. 1996 to 2001 2001: Households purchasing at least one book 56.5% The mean age of book buyers 1997: Age over 55: 33.7% of the books bought. Literacy 1992: 20% of adults in the U.S. read at or below the fifth grade level. "Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half have never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half." ... "
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