The ant and the grasshopper
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.
The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself
MODERN VERSION:
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long , building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.
CBS, NBC , PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast.
How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.'
Acorn stages a demonstration in front of the ant 's house where the news stations film the group singing, 'We shall overcome.' Rev. Jeremiah Wright then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.
Nancy Pelosi & Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share..
Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity & Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer..
The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government Green Czar.
The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ants food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it.
The ant has disappeared in the snow.
The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful how you vote
clever.
The problem is the grasshoppers are the offspring of the ants from the early 1900s and are just pissing away their money, hard work and reputations(Hiltons, Kardashians, etc).
This country changes its political mind every 1.5 minutes depending on how people feel that day.
Everyone hated George Bush in his last 2-3 years, so Obama comes in and makes some changes, and now everyone think Obama is an idiot. What a thankless job(salary isn’t real good either, considering). It’s like being on the school board in a local community, where parents are outraged if sports are cancelled, or kids are housed in trailer, or if there is a referedum… BUT don’t you dare try to raise their property taxes… some people just don’t get it.
My mom who lives in a small suburb(29,000) about an hour outside of a Top 10 city. Sent me a newspaper clipping that she thought I would enjoy… The town had just added a movie theater,home depot, target, meijer and some other stores… and a Chili’s. The paper was asking residents how they felt about the new developments, and a lady wrote in “I love chili’s but i don’t understand why the other stuff had to be built”… AS IF THEY WOULD BUILD THE CHILI’S IF THE OTHER STUFF WASN"T THERE!!!
My favorite line ever " A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky human beings and you know it. Humans for the most part don’t have a clue. Don’t want one either. They’re happy. They think they’ve got a pretty good bead on things."
That sums up why no one is every happy with politics…
Think big picture Chief. You dont have to agree, but think big picture.
I get big picture, but the needs of ants change over time. The ants of yesterday care more about their health than they did 20 years ago.
Also the “people” who think Obama is doing terrible or the same people who thought Bush was doing terrible…The media… Political points is good for business. Not only for senators but also for media.
I can’t think of anything Obama/Bush/Clinton/US President has done that has greatly affected my life or business.
Now if he votes in the employee/bd relationship this magazine keeps talking about, then I will have an issue.
Better to make the ant grasshopper point now, than after he gets passage of the emp;oyee issue.
The old slippery slope
Quoting MIB? That is some deep thinkinh there.
I can’t think of anything Obama/Bush/Clinton/US President has done that has greatly affected my life or business.
Wow. Just wow.So you are telling me they have done things that directly touched you??
You're joking right?So you are telling me they have done things that directly touched you??
No seriously…
I like the story, and it has it’s truths, but I agree with chief. Nothing much has affected my business. He is right about the media bashing Bush and Clinton and Obama. Hell, the guy has only been in office 8 months! I told my Dad the other day (ultraconservative), that now that he’s in office, he finds that it’s a little difficult to do the things he promised on the campaign trail. That you do certain things (lie) to get elected. Every politician does it. Presidents more so, because when they become president, they have a lot more to deal with.
Let's start with the recession. Economic policy may have had something to do with it.No seriously…
Recessions are part of the economic cycle.
Why did the last recession start? The one before that? Different catalysts each time.
[quote=chief123]No seriously…
Let’s start with the recession. Economic policy may have had something to do with it.[/quote]
I think there was a famous economist that I studied about back in college that compared economist to astrologers.
So under your logic, Obama started the recession, then under the same logic Clinton was brilliant because how the economy did under him. I tend to think they didn’t have a whole lot to do with it. Clinton got lucky and was president during the internet boom, while Obama got elected during the housing collapse.
I think the main problem with politics is that they take credit for the good stuff(some of which they didn’t have anything to do with) and blame the bad stuff on the other guy… Because that is how you get re-elected…
[quote=chief123]No seriously…
Let’s start with the recession. Economic policy may have had something to do with it.[/quote]
Secondly the recession hasn’t really affected me that much, my income is similar to last year, my wife’s income is up, so for us everything remains the same.
[quote=Jebediah] [quote=chief123]No seriously…
Let’s start with the recession. Economic policy may have had something to do with it.[/quote]
I think there was a famous economist that I studied about back in college that compared economist to astrologers.
So under your logic, Obama started the recession, then under the same logic Clinton was brilliant because how the economy did under him. I tend to think they didn’t have a whole lot to do with it. Clinton got lucky and was president during the internet boom, while Obama got elected during the housing collapse.
I think the main problem with politics is that they take credit for the good stuff(some of which they didn’t have anything to do with) and blame the bad stuff on the other guy… Because that is how you get re-elected…
[/quote]
Clinton actually came in during recovery. The last recession (before this one) started on Clinton’s watch. The one before that started on Bush 41’s watch. This particular one started on Dubya’s watch. It’s the economic cycle. Not politics.
[quote=chief123] [quote=Jebediah] [quote=chief123]No seriously…[/quote]
Let's start with the recession. Economic policy may have had something to do with it.[/quote]
I think there was a famous economist that I studied about back in college that compared economist to astrologers.
So under your logic, Obama started the recession, then under the same logic Clinton was brilliant because how the economy did under him. I tend to think they didn't have a whole lot to do with it. Clinton got lucky and was president during the internet boom, while Obama got elected during the housing collapse.
I think the main problem with politics is that they take credit for the good stuff(some of which they didn't have anything to do with) and blame the bad stuff on the other guy... Because that is how you get re-elected..
[/quote] Let me quote you: I can't think of anything Obama/Bush/Clinton/US President has done that has greatly affected my life or business.
I was not stating which president is at fault the current economic downturn, I was simply stating that economic policies have an effect. If we had not had the current market downturn, would your revenues be even higher? Most likely, unless you are going to claim that you have not lost a single client due to market action or that you do not have a single client that has lost money. Recessions are part of the economic cycle, caused by excesses that are shaken out. Many of the excesses are enhanced by government policy, i.e. the CRA, repeal of Glass-Stegal, etc. etc. To say my income is the same this year as last doesn't mean that the policies of this or previous administrations has not affected your life.
I’m not a great fan of Obama, nor am i saying by posting the story, that he is a sh*tty leader. I just thought it was a good commentary on the general tone of our current government. Time will tell what is bourne out from this, its way too early.
But to say that Obama had anything to do with causing this recession, is ridiculoous.I have lost 3 clients, but I have gained 22. I unlike the rest of america bought into the media hype. But my hype was that people were looking for new advisors so I better prospect in full force now. And it worked, so yes some original assets are down, some are not, but I have 22 new accounts that cause my assets to rise way above last year before the crash. So I am up.
I think sometimes the policy that makes the frontpage attempts to justify why it is important to us and how it will change us, but for the most part it doesn’t change how I operate. Sure sometimes my taxes change depending on the policy of the current administration or congress, but I think in the end I pay my fair share and won’t complain about living in the US because i could live in Yemen(not too many advisors there I would think).
On Sports comment about a leader… I don’t think we can accurately judge a leader until time has passed… How many thought Lincoln was a leader when the Civil War started or even ended, but we look back at him as one of our great presidents… Ullyses Grant was a drunk, but he won a battle and became president, don’t really hear about the drunkness unless you have to do a college paper on him… Thomas Jefferson and his illegitamate kids from slaves, yeah it’s out there but that is not what we are told in history class in grade school.
I think to make a blanket statement that these three presidents haven’t affected your life is myopic. First, on the small stage, two of the three changed your income tax rate. That affected you one way or another. On the big stage, two of the three presided over the deregulation of the markets. On the plus side that probably helped you buy your house and at least gave you a great deal on a car. On the negative side it played a leading role in the collapse of the markets. If nothing else, your 401k is affected and your house is worth less. And on center stage, one of them changed our foreign policy to diplomacy with a gun, starting a needless war, while letting our true enemy get away.
That may be myopic, but to assume the Iraq war was needless and that it let the true enemy get away is myopic as well.
Our true enemy is anyone, any group or any country that would benefit or enjoy our destruction or pain.
As an aside, we did NOT let bin Laden get away. Why do you think that? What would have allowed us to capture or kill him? Do you know where he is?
I’m genuinely curious.
Houses in my area are selling for slightly more than they were two years ago. I don’t have a 401k, but my IRA has done fairly well.
But I agree that there have been changes. And that they affect certain THINGS. But I am not living my life or running my business any different. But that’s just me - and apparently chief.
[quote=Moraen]That may be myopic, but to assume the Iraq war was needless and that it let the true enemy get away is myopic as well.
How so? What benefit did the Iraq war achieve?Our true enemy is anyone, any group or any country that would benefit or enjoy our destruction or pain.
As an aside, we did NOT let bin Laden get away. Why do you think that? What would have allowed us to capture or kill him? Do you know where he is? Really? Are you sure we didn't let him get away? Why did we declare war on Afganistan? Wasn't it the home of the heart and head of our sworn enemy Al-Qaeda? Wasn't our goal there to destroy Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, all terrorist training camps, and capture or kill their leaders? Has that happened? No it hasn't. Instead the enemy grows stronger. Why? How is it that the best trained, best equipped, most powerful military force the world has ever known is unable to achieve its stated goals? Are we dealing with a cleaver and cunning foe? Are we out gunned? Are we out manned? Are we out smarted? All the above? Everyone knows the answers to those questions. However few want to admit it.
I'm genuinely curious.
Houses in my area are selling for slightly more than they were two years ago. I don't have a 401k, but my IRA has done fairly well.
But I agree that there have been changes. And that they affect certain THINGS. But I am not living my life or running my business any different. But that's just me - and apparently chief.[/quote]
“Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society” Oliver Wendell Holmes…
I figured out a while ago that the more I make the more i pay in taxes, however the more I make the better lifestyle my family gets to have.
Bondyguy you are right my SEP is down and so is the value of my house, but what I mean by that is doesn’t affect me is that, I don’t need either right now, I have many years until I can take from my SEP and I don’t plan on moving for quite some time.
So by not affected I was referring to my everyday life.
[quote=BondGuy] [quote=Moraen]That may be myopic, but to assume the Iraq war was needless and that it let the true enemy get away is myopic as well.
How so? What benefit did the Iraq war achieve?Our true enemy is anyone, any group or any country that would benefit or enjoy our destruction or pain. As an aside, we did NOT let bin Laden get away. Why do you think that? What would have allowed us to capture or kill him? Do you know where he is?
Really? Are you sure we didn’t let him get away? Why did we declare war on Afganistan? Wasn’t it the home of the heart and head of our sworn enemy Al-Qaeda? Wasn’t our goal there to destroy Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, all terrorist training camps, and capture or kill their leaders? Has that happened? No it hasn’t. Instead the enemy grows stronger. Why? How is it that the best trained, best equipped, most powerful military force the world has ever known is unable to achieve its stated goals? Are we dealing with a cleaver and cunning foe? Are we out gunned? Are we out manned? Are we out smarted? All the above?
Everyone knows the answers to those questions. However few want to admit it.
I’m genuinely curious. Houses in my area are selling for slightly more than they were two years ago. I don’t have a 401k, but my IRA has done fairly well. But I agree that there have been changes. And that they affect certain THINGS. But I am not living my life or running my business any different. But that’s just me - and apparently chief.[/quote] [/quote]
BondGuy read my response to Bill Singer’s post under “Legal”. It talks about the gains in Iraq.
I’m sorry you feel that we didn’t achieve much. But from my experience being there, I feel we did quite a bit.
We were never trained for this type of combat. The type of war we’ve been trained to fight has been Vietnam until recently (after 2004 by the way). If you’ve ever read FM 7-8, you can tell that the battle drills contained in there do not match up with the war we are fighting. We were not outgunned. But we were out-experienced, because they have been fighting in that terrain for decades.
We didn’t let him get away, because we didn’t know where he was. Have you ever been to Afghanistan? Climbed mountains? It’s damn difficult terrain to even walk in, let alone look for someone.
The enemy is not nearly as strong as it used to be. We here in the U.S. just didn’t know how strong they were. Sitting cozy in our nice lifestyles, where even the “poor” among us have TV’s and cars.
Remember Operation Anaconda? A brilliant tactical success.
Our goal was not to JUST kill Al Qaeda, but ALL terrorist organizations. You can say what you want, but the Iraq war helped with that. Besides, how many have we killed? Al-Zaquari is dead isn’t he? Did you really think when Bush said, “This is going to be a long war, and not finished during my presidency” that he was perhaps joking? Perhaps he decided that he would trick 'em with that line.
By the way, are you sure he’s in Afghanistan, or even Pakistan? I’m not.
BondGuy - I’ll defer to your wisdom in this business of ours. I think you know a lot and have been through a lot. However, I have looked terrorists directly in the eyes. I have fought them. I know their hatred. Something that we cannot comprehend here.
Despite what the news and pundits on either side say, we ARE winning this war. Will we lose battles? Will we makes tactical blunders? You bet. But we are WINNING.
[quote=Moraen] [quote=BondGuy] [quote=Moraen]That may be myopic, but to assume the Iraq war was needless and that it let the true enemy get away is myopic as well.
How so? What benefit did the Iraq war achieve?Our true enemy is anyone, any group or any country that would benefit or enjoy our destruction or pain. As an aside, we did NOT let bin Laden get away. Why do you think that? What would have allowed us to capture or kill him? Do you know where he is?
Really? Are you sure we didn't let him get away? Why did we declare war on Afganistan? Wasn't it the home of the heart and head of our sworn enemy Al-Qaeda? Wasn't our goal there to destroy Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, all terrorist training camps, and capture or kill their leaders? Has that happened? No it hasn't. Instead the enemy grows stronger. Why? How is it that the best trained, best equipped, most powerful military force the world has ever known is unable to achieve its stated goals? Are we dealing with a cleaver and cunning foe? Are we out gunned? Are we out manned? Are we out smarted? All the above?
Everyone knows the answers to those questions. However few want to admit it.
I'm genuinely curious. Houses in my area are selling for slightly more than they were two years ago. I don't have a 401k, but my IRA has done fairly well. But I agree that there have been changes. And that they affect certain THINGS. But I am not living my life or running my business any different. But that's just me - and apparently chief.[/quote] [/quote]
BondGuy read my response to Bill Singer's post under "Legal". It talks about the gains in Iraq.
I'm sorry you feel that we didn't achieve much. But from my experience being there, I feel we did quite a bit.
We were never trained for this type of combat. The type of war we've been trained to fight has been Vietnam until recently (after 2004 by the way). If you've ever read FM 7-8, you can tell that the battle drills contained in there do not match up with the war we are fighting. We were not outgunned. But we were out-experienced, because they have been fighting in that terrain for decades.
We didn't let him get away, because we didn't know where he was. Have you ever been to Afghanistan? Climbed mountains? It's damn difficult terrain to even walk in, let alone look for someone.
The enemy is not nearly as strong as it used to be. We here in the U.S. just didn't know how strong they were. Sitting cozy in our nice lifestyles, where even the "poor" among us have TV's and cars.
Remember Operation Anaconda? A brilliant tactical success.
Our goal was not to JUST kill Al Qaeda, but ALL terrorist organizations. You can say what you want, but the Iraq war helped with that. Besides, how many have we killed? Al-Zaquari is dead isn't he? Did you really think when Bush said, "This is going to be a long war, and not finished during my presidency" that he was perhaps joking? Perhaps he decided that he would trick 'em with that line.
By the way, are you sure he's in Afghanistan, or even Pakistan? I'm not.
BondGuy - I'll defer to your wisdom in this business of ours. I think you know a lot and have been through a lot. However, I have looked terrorists directly in the eyes. I have fought them. I know their hatred. Something that we cannot comprehend here.
Despite what the news and pundits on either side say, we ARE winning this war. Will we lose battles? Will we makes tactical blunders? You bet. But we are WINNING.[/quote] We should just ask Windy. He has him as a client.
[quote=SometimesNowhere] [quote=Moraen] [quote=BondGuy] [quote=Moraen]That may be myopic, but to assume the Iraq war was needless and that it let the true enemy get away is myopic as well.
How so? What benefit did the Iraq war achieve?Our true enemy is anyone, any group or any country that would benefit or enjoy our destruction or pain. As an aside, we did NOT let bin Laden get away. Why do you think that? What would have allowed us to capture or kill him? Do you know where he is?
Really? Are you sure we didn’t let him get away? Why did we declare war on Afganistan? Wasn’t it the home of the heart and head of our sworn enemy Al-Qaeda? Wasn’t our goal there to destroy Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, all terrorist training camps, and capture or kill their leaders? Has that happened? No it hasn’t. Instead the enemy grows stronger. Why? How is it that the best trained, best equipped, most powerful military force the world has ever known is unable to achieve its stated goals? Are we dealing with a cleaver and cunning foe? Are we out gunned? Are we out manned? Are we out smarted? All the above?
Everyone knows the answers to those questions. However few want to admit it.
I’m genuinely curious. Houses in my area are selling for slightly more than they were two years ago. I don’t have a 401k, but my IRA has done fairly well. But I agree that there have been changes. And that they affect certain THINGS. But I am not living my life or running my business any different. But that’s just me - and apparently chief.[/quote] [/quote] BondGuy read my response to Bill Singer’s post under “Legal”. It talks about the gains in Iraq. I’m sorry you feel that we didn’t achieve much. But from my experience being there, I feel we did quite a bit. We were never trained for this type of combat. The type of war we’ve been trained to fight has been Vietnam until recently (after 2004 by the way). If you’ve ever read FM 7-8, you can tell that the battle drills contained in there do not match up with the war we are fighting. We were not outgunned. But we were out-experienced, because they have been fighting in that terrain for decades. We didn’t let him get away, because we didn’t know where he was. Have you ever been to Afghanistan? Climbed mountains? It’s damn difficult terrain to even walk in, let alone look for someone. The enemy is not nearly as strong as it used to be. We here in the U.S. just didn’t know how strong they were. Sitting cozy in our nice lifestyles, where even the “poor” among us have TV’s and cars. Remember Operation Anaconda? A brilliant tactical success. Our goal was not to JUST kill Al Qaeda, but ALL terrorist organizations. You can say what you want, but the Iraq war helped with that. Besides, how many have we killed? Al-Zaquari is dead isn’t he? Did you really think when Bush said, “This is going to be a long war, and not finished during my presidency” that he was perhaps joking? Perhaps he decided that he would trick 'em with that line. By the way, are you sure he’s in Afghanistan, or even Pakistan? I’m not. BondGuy - I’ll defer to your wisdom in this business of ours. I think you know a lot and have been through a lot. However, I have looked terrorists directly in the eyes. I have fought them. I know their hatred. Something that we cannot comprehend here. Despite what the news and pundits on either side say, we ARE winning this war. Will we lose battles? Will we makes tactical blunders? You bet. But we are WINNING.[/quote]
We should just ask Windy. He has him as a client. [/quote]
Moraen - what service/when?
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