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December 2006 |
James Stabile Monthly Blog |
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Owner,
Webmaster: James Stabile |
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In this blog you will find monthly discussions concerning the issues of importance and interest to the site's creator, owner and webmaster, James Stabile. These issues include - Discussion of the Month; Entertainment; Health, Fitness & Lifestyle; Politics and the World; Religion & Spiritualism; Technology & Business; and Too Strange, Weird or Just Funny. Peruse the articles in this blog. Remember to read the Disclaimer above for the legal "stuff". Also, please email the webmaster concerning any programming errors that you may discover on this site. Thank you for reading my blog and for the opportunity to share my thoughts with you. |
Dates Important to the Webmaster 8.
Happy Birthday Jamie (This is not an all inclusive list of noteworthy dates for the month. The dates listed above are very important to this webmaster.) |
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Topics of Discussion Discussion of The Month December 2006 and the year just goes on. I lust for January 1, 2007. Actually I lust for 2007 in general because it's that much closer to retirement for me. I think I need to emphasize that I do not see retirement as an end, but rather a beginning of my real, supposed to be life. I don't view retirement as the time that I stop living, but rather the time that I start real living. Just like the commercial, I'm not going out on a rocking chair or playing shuffle board. My generation, the baby boom generation, the generation of the 60's, the generation that may go down in the history books as the last successful generation in terms of education, wealth and morals, the last generation to out do their parents in terms of wealth and standard of living, my generation is going to rock in retirement. Retirement will be the icing on the cake, so to speak, for my generation. I feel extremely fortunate to have been born at the time in history to be a member of the last great generation of all human kind. My generation may be the last generation who will be retiring with retirement benefits able to sustain us for the rest of our lives. My generation my be the last generation with social security benefits, health insurance and a substantial "next egg". Looking at the 20 something generation, I just don't see them making it to and through retirement. There are so many young people in their 20's and 30's who have no viable source of income. Even fewer of them have jobs with incomes much more than the minimum wage level. Many of them survive day to day. Savings, many of them really don't have that proverbial pot to piss in. Retirement, they won't ever be able to retire. How can a person on minimum wage ever expect to save enough money to be able to retire? To be fair, their situation is not totally their fault. Society has changed. Yes, jobs have changed, outsourcing has contributed to the decline of higher paying jobs and the economic situation in the United States has taken a turn for the worse. In fact, parents and those people who are the senior members of the governing force in America have dropped the ball. Parents have "spoiled" their children by providing the means to meet every single need, big and small, of their 20 and 30 something children. They have not prepared their children to take care of themselves. Contemporary parents are so concerned with their own existence that they tend to cater to every need of their children by providing them support in the form of money, dollars and cents, stuff, not the basic ingredients necessary for growth and self-sufficiency necessary for children to mature and become productive self-sustaining adults. Lawmakers have failed to properly plan, prepare and educate the next generation to cope with the devastatingly deplorable economic and social conditions of our times. Yes, all of this is true, but the 20 and 30 something's must share in the cause of their predicament. Those who have educated themselves, secured viable jobs and planned for their futures will prevail. Those who remain dependent adult children will remain dependent on others for the most basic life needs. They will always have an excuse for not prospering on their own. The bottom line, you young people must revolt, so to speak, against the sins of your parents, society and government, and restore the American dream. It is up to you. You are the key to your success and the middle class' success now and in the future. As far as I am concerned, I really don't care. I will be retired and living off of my laurels. So bite me. Enjoy the holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Don't forget the reason for the season. Don't forget the reason for you, your family and life in general. Make a conscious effort this holiday season to get to know your family and those who are important to you. Give your loved ones the greatest gift possible - you attention, your time, yourself. December creations, from
years ago: http://www.jamesstabile.com/christmas/dark.html Entertainment Babel The format of the movie reminded me of Crash, the Oscar movie of the year. Babel shows the impact of a single incident on four different geographic locations in the world - Las Angeles, Mexico, Japan and Morocco. The language of the locale was the language spoken in the movie, with English subtitles. I thought it was a very sad movie. It showed the plight of several people in the world. Yes, there was poverty depicted, but the human condition with all of it's hardships captured my heart as well as many people who viewed the movie. If you want a "feel good" movie don't see this movie. Brad Pitt did give an excellent performance, Oscar worthy, if you will. Bobby This was a really great movie. It may be Oscar worthy. There were so many celebrities in the movie - too many to mention. They all did outstanding jobs. The movie was a good history lesson about the political, social and economic conditions of the United States in the 1960's. I will continue my discussion of this movie in the Politics and the World section of this blog. But one fleeting thought: "How would the United States and World be different today if Bobby Kennedy would have become president in 1968?" Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan Well, certainly not a Bobby, in no sense of the world. A purely entertaining, funny and somewhat offensive movie about the human conditions concerning minorities, women, gays and the disabled. Jews were hit particularly hard, but I think the most offensive attitudes were those involving women. The movie is suppose to be a spoof, so to speak, on prejudice, but some people consider the movie to be very offensive to a variety of groups of people in the United States and the World. I was one of those people who saw the artistic intent of the movie. Of course, I did see the movie after the publicity concerning the movie fully blossomed. In any case, I did find the movie entertaining and funny. I did laugh out loud in many instances in the movie. Perhaps there should be a disclaimer posted at the beginning of the movie to describe the intent of the movie. Like most social situations in our world, some people tend to make a big ta do out of a little thing. Stranger Than Fiction Another good movie. It was funny and did have a message. The message was a comment on the relationships among people. I don't want to give too much of the plot away. The movie was every bit as sad as it was funny. Will Ferrell did a legitimate job, but he was not as boisterously funny as he usually is in most of his movie. Throughout the movie, I kept waiting for him to start yelling and screaming about something. What a pleasant surprise to the movie. One that only enhanced the quality of the movie. Health, Fitness and Lifestyle Happiness, we all strive for it, but it alludes many of us. Why? Let's face it, it's darn hard to be really happy in this the 21st century. I think happiness comes from within, of course it does, but there's more. It comes from an outlook or perspective on life. It is simple, but it is complex. Easy to obtain, but difficult to maintain. To be happy one must first complete an introspective process. One must develop a self accepting attitude. In other words, one must accept oneself, but also like oneself. Does money help? No. Money is probably one of the biggest obstacles to real happiness. Money tends to taint a persons perception of himself, others and the world. Having money doesn't do this on it's own, rather the person who has the money tends to lose his or her perspective on the really important things in life. The money is not the culprit, the perception of the person with the money is truly the stumbling block to real happiness. Friends, make us happy? Sometimes. Friends and family, for that matter, can help us find real happiness, if we keep our prospective. Family and/or friends are important to the extent that the add to our perception of happiness. Here quality is much more important than quantity. Quality of the family member or friend, quality of the time spent with these people and the quality of honesty and realism that exists in our relationship with them determine our real happiness. Again, happiness is simple, keep it that way and you will maintain the happiness. Real happiness is a function of our degree of self realization. We must know our self. We must know and live in the real world. We must seek out real people and people of character when choosing friends and those family members who we choose to be close. We must be conscious and accepting of individual differences among people. We must respect life and all that goes along with life. Happiness is simple. Keep it that way and you will be happy forever. Here's something to think
about concerning our families and close friends. I received this all
too true precious realization in an email from my niece. A nice, hokey story? Maybe, but think about it. The most important part of our life should be the people who are most dear to us. The people who we call family are the very ones that we sometimes no little about. Don't we owe it to ourselves to spend our precious time with our family members? Shouldn't we get to know, know, I mean really get to know those people who we call family? The basic unit of society is the family. If families really knew each other, functioned for the good of the family and respected the opinions of all family members, wouldn't that relationship filter up to the other units of society? Listen people, don't lose your family. Don't view your family as an interruption in your great plan of success. Don't use your selfishness as an excuse to alienate yourself from your family. View your family and close friends as the most important part of your life. Your life has meaning to a great extent because of your family. Now, show that you respect, love and support your family and close friends by really getting to know them and spending precious quality time with them. Now go ahead, you know that you really want to do it. Politics and the World What if Senator Robert Kennedy would have not been assassinated in June of 1968? What if he had won the presidency and became the president of the United States? How would the world be different today? All good questions that we will never be able to answer. An assassins bullet stop Bobby from showing us the value of a real, caring and human right's defender on the role of the American president. I believe the United States it's people and the world would have been drastically and positively affected by a Bobby Kennedy presidency. By the time that Bobby Kennedy had decided to run for president in 1968, the person of Bobby Kennedy had undergone a sincere and dramatic change in purpose. The death of President John F. Kennedy provided the impetus for this dramatic and life altering change in Bobby. Bobby Kennedy became a man of the people, a defender of all people and disciple for just and righteous government. Yes, the Kennedy's did have the persona and still do to a lesser degree, of doing no wrong. The Kennedy's thought that they were people of means and above the limitations of the common man. The Kennedy men thought that it was their right as Kennedy's to do as they pleased. Currently, this feeling has been tempered by the events of the last 40+ years. However, in 1968, Bobby Kennedy had dismissed that attitude that he once lived. He tried to accomplish greatness for all people by trying to capture the White House in order to spread equity for all people. It's a shame that the assassination occurred. All the people of America as well as the citizens of the world lost a great liberator and defender. We all lost greatness, peace and equity that would have been shared across the United States and the world if Robert Francis Kennedy would have been given the chance to govern with that respect of equity and equality for all. We lost it and we are now trying to survive the errors of past administrations and false world leaders. Maybe another person of the stature of Bobby Kennedy is preparing to run for the presidency. Is there another person of equal stature to resume the role of Bobby? I don't know, but one thing is for sure, we are well overdue. Religion and Spiritualism The United States Roman Catholic Bishops have adopted new guidelines for gay outreach. I'm sorry, but the new guidelines are pretty much the same as the old. A gay or lesbian will be fully accepted by the Roman Catholic Church if they denounce any, and the bishops mean any, gay behavior. Gays and lesbians are not even allowed to talk about their "gaiety" except to a very few closed mouthed friends or family members. They must divorce themselves from any "gay acting" individuals. They may never take part in any gay activities, including sex. They are permitted to receive the sacraments only if they denounce these prohibited behaviors. Well, call me silly, but this stinks. This isn't acceptance, it's ridiculous. Whatever happened to unconditional acceptance of people who are different. The Roman Catholic Bishops are functioning in a protectionism, self-righteous and ignorant manner on this subject as well as a host of other current subjects. Pope Benedict XVI goes to Turkey to mend religious and ethnic fences. It's a little too late for excuses. The pope did make derogatory reference to Muslims. How can he undo what he said? He can't. Just like Kramer, of the Seinfeld fame, can never undo his bigoted rants and raving against African-Americans and Jews during one of his recent performances. These outbursts are not accidents, they are a glimpse of the real attitude of these men. In the case of the pope, a feeling of religious superiority, misplaced self-righteousness and a failure to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ were evident in the pope's comments. A true follower of Jesus Christ would preach love not condemnation. This same attitude can be applied to all clergy regardless of the religious sect. It is hard to be a successful follower of Jesus Christ, it takes a lot of hard work. The basic character of a follower of Jesus Christ is innate in the person, it can not be faked. Complete and sincere repentance and a declaration not to sin again must take place in order for forgiveness to take place. I'm not sure that Pope Benedict XVI has achieved that level of repentance. However, this situation is between the pope and his God. I have merely expresses my opinion in the matter. My opinion is of no importance to the pope. My opinion is only of importance to my relationship with my God and my fellow man and woman. Technology and Business December 31, yes, New Year's Eve, but more financially important it's the final day to do something about your 2006 tax burden. If you have been income tax deduction proactive, you have been preparing for the awesome task of completing your 2006 tax report. You have accumulated, sorted and compiled your 2006 tax year deductions. December is the time to take that last look at your standings in regard to tax deductions. The goal here should be to accumulate as many tax deductions as legally possible for the 2006 tax year. There are some last minute December things you can do in this regard. First look over your financial record for 2006. Get a general idea of your income level and the tax deductions that you have planned for in 2006. Get a general view of your 2006 tax report, even before the 2006 tax year has passed. December is the time to make those last charitable contributions, the time to make final tax sheltered contributions and the time to consolidate and close any of those potential tax burdens affecting the 2006 tax year. There are plenty of books, articles and assistance available for you, take advantage of all your resources. Hint for the 2007 tax year report - be proactive and start January 1, 2007 to plan for those tax deductions for 2007. Want a happy New Year? Cut Christmas spending. Some say that Christmas comes but once a year, so celebrate to the max. Yes, that's true, but right after Christmas comes the New Year with the Christmas bills. It's similar to healthy eating - if you totally abandon your fitness plan at the holidays, then it will much harder to go back to your plan and even harder to lose that excess weight and build up you fitness level to pre-holiday status. Just like physical fitness, financial fitness is a constant struggle - there are no days off. By all means enjoy the upcoming holidays, but do so in moderation and responsibly. Over my nearly 3 scores of living I have found that any excess, any overindulgence spells trouble. Anytime one overindulges, for whatever the reason, feelings of remorse, discontent and retribution usually follow. So, don't make the same mistakes this year, financially. Enjoy the pleasure of giving, but choose wisely. Do not overextend yourself financially or any other way. Spend within your financial budget. Most of the time people spend excessive amounts of money for Christmas because of guilt, shame or status. Don't succumb to this irrational behavior. Decide ahead if time your holiday responsibilities. Do this early, sincerely, realistically and practically. Keep to your budget. Don't charge today if you can not pay in January. Keep it simple, but meaningful. The Christmas celebration can be beautiful if you maintain some financial sense in celebrating. Remember the real reason for the season has nothing to do with money, it has to do with a feeling and the actions used to express this feeling. Simplicity, realism and honesty is the basis for the real celebration of the season. |
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