Weekend Wrap Up

I was already to write a lovely post wrapping up the weekend. Then I made the mistake of reading the NY Times article on the bonuses that AIG is paying its "top talent." As an HR person, I would like to hear their definition of 'talent.' Trust me, as a lay person who owned AIG stock, there is nothing 'top' about them. I personally would rather see them in Chapter 11 than paying these outrageous bonuses. My money is gone. Why should I as a taxpayer continue to pay these thieves? I want a public listing of the people (and their addresses) who are receiving these monies.

Want to kill your mood? Read about the $170 million that will be paid out to AIG.

A funny component to this story is that after almost 900 comments - mostly of outrage and indignation, the NY Times closed down the comments section. I don't know why they would stop - did they not think at some point backlash would kick and people would be SICK AND TIRED of paying for those very people who had a huge hand in this downturn? Or maybe they just ran out of server space. ;) But read the comments. They are totally worth it.

I did take some wonderful pictures this weekend of the Handsome One chasing his foxtrot deltas. I took some beautiful pictures of the moon. And I took some awesome pictures of the two hawks hunting this morning in our backyard. I will post them later. I am not going to taint beauty with the filth of AIG. Look for them later.

Middle of the week wunderings...

What's wrong with this picture?

Per CNBC, on July 1 2008, American International Group (AIG)said it paid a $47 million severance package to former Chief Executive Martin J. Sullivan, whose resignation took effect on Tuesday.

Per RiskMetrics Group, Ex-CEOs Stanley O’Neal of Merrill Lynch and Angelo Mozilo of Countrywide Financial each received over $100 million upon departing from their respective firms, and Citigroup’s former CEO Charles Prince left with more than $40 million in termination-related payments. All three appeared before Congress in March to answer questions on whether their compensation packages were aligned with the interests of shareholders.

Seriously (for my tweets -srsly), let's ponder this for a moment. These yo-yos run these companies into the ground and steal money that would have paid for the actual cost of doing business. Or paid shareholders who lost their shirts. So, I have still lost money on AIG, my investment paid that jackass a $47 million dollar severance, my taxes will pay to bail out AIG and now there are rumblings of bailing out failing homeowners. Srsly, this HAS TO STOP.

And I wonder how many congressional representatives took contributions from AIG, Countrywide, etc. Don't you? Responsibility. Accountability. Ownership. You get it. Maybe others will too. Someday.

Off to work to pay for other people's poor choices. At least the weather is beautiful!

A bad mood

I am in a pretty crappy mood. If you are in a good one, quit reading. Right now. Otherwise, sit back and listen. I have a lot to say. And no apologies.

< RANT >
I am sick and tired of paying for other peoples' poor choices. For the last 15 years, we have paid our mortgage ON TIME and went without when times where lean. We didn't take vacations, buy extravagant gadgets and widgets, drove reasonable cars and ate in when we didn't have the money to go out. I never missed a mortgage payment. I have yet to understand while I AM BAILING OUT OTHER PEOPLE. People who overextended and now walk away. So all the years that I saved and went without instant gratification, I get to clean up after those who thought they were entitled. Thanks.

I am sorry that the people on the coast have lost their homes. And belongings. Again. I don't want to surprise you, in case this is news to you, YOU LIVE ON THE COAST. In case you don't know what that means, YOU LIVE IN AN AREA THAT GETS HURRICANES. AND FLOODS. ALMOST EVERY YEAR. I know that this is crazy, almost revolutionary, but if you don't want to lose your stuff to hurricanes and floods, DON'T LIVE THERE. And if you choose to, do not and I repeat do not, expect ME to cover the costs. When we had a home in New Orleans, we bought FLOOD INSURANCE. And it was expensive. We never had any notion that someone else would be responsible for covering our potential losses. Ever.

And I am positively done apologizing and tip-toeing around politics. I know that we have a crappy war with an unpopular president. But I am absolutely not in favor of the systematic redistribution of wealth, what little wealth of mine is LEFT after bailing out failing home owners, bailing out investment firms and financing the rebuilding of people who INSIST on living in places that flood and don't pay for flood insurance. I am already redistributing my wealth and I am done. I want someone in the Oval Office who WILL LET ME KEEP THE MONEY I MAKE. And I want other people to RESPONSIBLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS. Why is this so hard?

Thank you.

< / RANT >

I am going to go sit in my new kitchen and enjoy what's left of the day. And you get extra points if you get the HTML tags.