Re Estate tax, and small portions of wealth.
For a period of time I satisfied various curiosities about the law by taking classes in paralegal certification. Heck, push come to shove I could even look for work in the field.
If one has the wealth of a Gates, the trick is to figure out how much one wants to see the little buggers get.
At which point you write the trust in such a way that the requisite amount is given to allow the after tax (which was been 50 percent of a taxable estate, at least until the repealed it altogether, the requirements to be a taxable estate were played with, from years of nothing, to as little as 2 million dollars) remainder to be the amount desired.
Where it got tricky is the estate was total assets. In the present market it is possible for people with little cash to hand over, to have million dollar homes (the place Maia's grandparent's own has a theoretical value, at present, of about $600,000. It's a two-bedroom, two-bath, with a fireplace, a small kitchen, a largish living room, a strange back room and 2/3rds of an acre of property rated for horses.
Were it 100 feet to the North we could add another one, to two, hundred grand (it's at a T-intersection, and the feng-shui is said to be bad, and that reduced the buying price by $75 grand, fifteen years ago).
So I can see where modifying the tax might have been useful. But doing away with it altogether... not a good idea.
Hrmn... LJ versus other blogs.
Looking around, I see the other blogs have much the same problem (noise to signal).
What I also see is the ease of finding LJs, both the good and the ill.
When it comes to finding Blogger blogs, I don't see any easy way to hop from one to the other. I can't easily find 500 people who share an interest in macro-photography (heck, right now I can't find one, at least not with a hyphen), and I can't easily aggregate them.
Which makes them more clubby. It also means I have filters, which keep the chattering classes from showing up. I don't expect to find Dave Niewert linking to a bunch of people interested in nothing but what went on at Monroe High School today.
This also skews the perception of MT, and Blogger type blogs.
I know that some of them drive me buggy for design too, and in ways which are harder to deal with (the link buttons on Rude Pundit and our own dear Rivka's Respectful of Otter are both huge (extending half the width of the page) and invisible meaning I have inadvertantly clicked through to someplace else, just because I was trying to make my mouse-wheel active again.
LJ, at least, lets me look at all the pages in blissfully boring white, with a few people I really want to know have posted possessed of a colored sidebar.
If only I was able to easily disemvowell people (I can only truly do it to people who have posted anonymously).
I do know that I've not gotten any comment spam. Which right there makes up for a lot of things.
TK
Xopher: I think of my LJ as a blog. There are some things about it I don't like, but I'll bet there are some quirks of other systems I wouldn't like either.
So make it what you will.
TK
Ulrika: You ought to give me a call, drop me a line, and I'll put you in touch with Sola's SO, as he is going into/is into, union organising (he did a semester in Mexico organising unions, and that's how he makes his money, sort of) so he might want to talk about it with you.
TK
The dog story probably has more to do with the dogs being trained to go for nearby tanks, and the Russians smelling different than it does the tanks.
On the off chance the Russians (assuming the story to be true) chose to use American tanks, because they would look different, the Lend/Lease tanks we sent were gasoline powered.
But the only country to use gasoline tanks was the US, to the best of my knowledge.
TK
Looking at Gen. Franks' record (and admitting that I served under (and way under) his command twice) I'd have to say the skills being sold are not what I'd be pitching.
His work in Desert Storm (the Left Hook only those with some semblance of tactics expected. To hear Blizter tell it, it was the most striking thing since Schlieffen swept through the Low Countries, to the rest of us [and I wasn't in yet] it was painfully obvious, but then again that may have been me. I called the invasion before the deadline passed, some three weeks before it took place, by looking at the phase of the moon), was pretty good.
His work at Tradoc, shaping the Training and Doctrine of the Army was pretty good.
His work as CentCom commander was very good. That's the part of his career which needs the most focus, the years he spent with more power than a Roman Conul and Tribune Combined. Working a strange blend of diplomacy, without portfolio, but with huge budget and vast discretion in how to use it to attain not only the ends of the nation, but the ability to create his own ends (the various Com Commanders are amazingly powerful people) ought to be looked at.
The outcome of the present Messinpotamia isn't something I am willing to lay at his feet, entirely. He was hamstrung by both the stupid prognostications of his bosses, and the speed with which they pulled him out of being in charge. Yeah, he might have done some of it better (and he ought to have demanded some things which either weren't requested, or for which he wasn't willing to go to the mat; for those he deserves full blame).
Perusing his awards, the plentitude of Purple Hearts, and the Air Medals he gor for being an airborne FO, those are worthy of note. To give real credit for the rest, I'd have to read the citations. In, and of themselves, most medals don't mean much. One has to be able to put them in context (someone below the rank of E-7/Sergeant First Class, with a Legion of Merit, that speaks volumes, someone above the rank of Colonel having one can mean about the same as an E-4/Speecialist with an Army Commendation Medal).
TK
I'll just say, that as a conflicted Catholic, I am conflicted at this man's death.
I am scared that the results of his long tenure may, effectively, break the church, at least for the rest of my lifetime.
But I was 10 years old when he took his seat. I remember the summer of three popes, and I wish it had ended after the first conclave. I would, in all probability be mourning deeply in that event.
Deus vult is awfully hard to say.
TK
Anna: When I was last at Arlington I was wandering about (I ought to scan some of those photos, from up inside, where all is ajumble with odd monuments, and re-burials) and saw the Challenger slab, from the back, where it looks all right. I forget what the inscription is, but it caught my eye.
It isn't, as I recall, from "High Flight" but some other poem.
TK
Anna: We don't hold State Funerals every day, but, as you pointed out (ref Gardens of Stone, a film I like a lot) we do have those fancy funerals all the time.
When I was at Walter Reed I went to Arlington, and got the chance to talk with the Caisson Crew (the ones who move the casket, with the body, to the grave). I've also been part of the Honor Gaurd at the funeral of former soldiers, who died of old age.
But, for all the ceremony, we seem, by and large; outside the Army, to be held cheap.
I lost my point in there somewhere.
TK
Yeah. I had a knee-jerk reaction, had some doubts and then decided I was over-reacting, but by then all I could do was add a comment that perhaps this wasn't the best guy to be looking at where such things were concerned.
Then again, I also planned to ignore the law too.
TK
The thing about the Guckert/Gannon thing which gets me it that it went on for almost two years. This guy got a seat at the RNC. Bush called on him to ask questions, more than once (and we know how carefully this administration pays attention to whom they ask what), he attended at least one Rose Garden event.
And his news-site/employeer wasn't paying him. Which means (unless he has heretofore unrevealed private wealth of his own to tap) someone else was.
His, nominal boss, is a mucky-muck in the Texas republican world. "Gigi" is allowed to use an alias in the press-room. But it's all a shock and a surprise?
If I were planning this sort of shenannigan (having been in a few city-rooms in my day, back when I was trying to make a living as an aspiring journalist... bad timing and insufficient fire in the belly to move to Kansas, but I degress) I'd make sure my shill had something juicy to be revealed when someone thought to peek behind the curtain, so the public would froth at the sexy scandal, instead of the meaty one.
TK
Kathryn, you are confusing cause (desire to be led by the nose, as a reason to enlist) with effect (many are still children, and need some leading by the nose).
TK
I've never run into a single person who said "screw this independence shtick, I want somebody to make up my mind for me!"
The single most effective way to make a decision like that is to enlist int he military, and people do that all the time.
Kathryn Cramer
Respectfully, I must disagree.
Is there a lot of not getting to make decisions in the military? Yep. But there was a lot of that in the machining job I had, and more when I worked at Domino's.
The military is structured, and there is a lot of paternalism in it, but there are a lot of people in it (though it sounds as though I am being apologist) who haven't had the chance to grow up yet, and are in a position to do themselves great harm. I am talking about at home, not in in a combat zone.
I have seen people making deals to buy cars with hideous payments, at outrageous rates, because they had the money. What's $500 bucks a month when you don't have rent, and can eat at the mess?
What did it matter they were only making $720?
They can't be stopped, but there are other aspects of their lives where the consequences are worse (marrying a local, when one is stationed overseas. The Commander has to sign off on it).
But more to the point, people don't join to give up self. Most of them think they will find the confidence, skills and experience to make them more independent. It's rare, outside the military, to see a 19-20 year old kid in charge of the things we put them in charge of.
TK
How is righteous anger earned? Is it truly non-addictive?
Let me hazard a guess: Righteous anger is earned through oppression, either experienced directly, or through seeing others undeservedly suffering. I think it is every bit as addictive as unrighteous anger. It is a terrible burden that makes all burdens seem light.
I had a flash of righteous indignation the other night. It was not pleasant. No, it went past indignation, to semi-coherent rage, bordering on wrath.
It bothered me, sickened me actually, ruined the next few hours and bothers me still, some 40 hours later.
It is not addcitive, at least not for me.
TK
Clark, if you haven't already, I commend Dave Niewert's analysis of the elements of what he calls, "Pseudo-fascism" in the modern conservative movement.
Orcinus It's six parts, of seven, that he's written so far, and he has some other stuff as well, on the general subject.
Interesting, even if you think he's a bit past correct (which I wish I did).
TK
If you're worried about it, then fine, but it has less vibration than riding a horse (unless you shoot very strangely, and want to rest the buttstock against your belly... in which case I'll protest).
The offer stands... anytime you want to drop in.
TK
Xopher: I'm in the middle. I don't favor registering guns; I'm not against a basic skills test (by type) for ownership.
Part of the reason for the registration of vehicles is the high cost of maintaining the infrastructure which they require. It it wasn't meant to destroy (as the proposed $.05 per cartridge was) I might even say some form of tax for hospitals was acceptable, mind you I'd wan't to see something similar from vehicle registration.
As for for Graydon and Michael's comments that lack of violent uprising (or simple assasination) shows a lack of consistency/moral courage on the part of 2nd Amendment types, this is what I said the last time that came up.
Making Light Archive
Rivka,
Come to Calif. and I'll take you to an outdoor range.
We can shoot just about anything you like... I have friends.
TK
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| 2004 | 17 |
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