fishy kiss

kotten the P.o.W.

häagen-dazs

fångat i korrläsningen

guitar

pizza night (a while back)

andy dufresne is an asshole

TED won't publish this, so i will

"It is astounding how significantly one idea can shape a society and its policies. Consider this one. If taxes on the rich go up, job creation will go down. This idea is an article of faith for republicans and seldom challenged by democrats and has shaped much of today's economic landscape. But sometimes the ideas that we know to be true are dead wrong. For thousands of years people were sure that earth was at the center of the universe. It's not, and an astronomer who still believed that it was, would do some lousy astronomy. In the same way, a policy maker who believed that the rich and businesses are "job creators" and therefore should not be taxed, would make equally bad policy. I have started or helped start, dozens of businesses and initially hired lots of people. But if no one could have afforded to buy what we had to sell, my businesses would all have failed and all those jobs would have evaporated. That's why I can say with confidence that rich people don't create jobs, nor do businesses, large or small. What does lead to more employment is a "circle of life" like feedback loop between customers and businesses. And only consumers can set in motion this virtuous cycle of increasing demand and hiring. In this sense, an ordinary middle-class consumer is far more of a job creator than a capitalist like me. So when businesspeople take credit for creating jobs, it's a little like squirrels taking credit for creating evolution. In fact, it's the other way around. Anyone who's ever run a business knows that hiring more people is a capitalists course of last resort, something we do only when increasing customer demand requires it. In this sense, calling ourselves job creators isn't just inaccurate, it's disingenuous. That's why our current policies are so upside down. When you have a tax system in which most of the exemptions and the lowest rates benefit the richest, all in the name of job creation, all that happens is that the rich get richer. Since 1980 the share of income for the richest Americans has more than tripled while effective tax rates have declined by close to 50%. If it were true that lower tax rates and more wealth for the wealthy would lead to more job creation, then today we would be drowning in jobs. And yet unemployment and under-employment is at record highs. Another reason this idea is so wrong-headed is that there can never be enough superrich Americans to power a great economy. The annual earnings of people like me are hundreds, if not thousands, of times greater than those of the median American, but we don't buy hundreds or thousands of times more stuff. My family owns three cars, not 3,000. I buy a few pairs of pants and a few shirts a year, just like most American men. Like everyone else, we go out to eat with friends and family only occasionally. I can't buy enough of anything to make up for the fact that millions of unemployed and underemployed Americans can't buy any new clothes or cars or enjoy any meals out. Or to make up for the decreasing consumption of the vast majority of American families that are barely squeaking by, buried by spiraling costs and trapped by stagnant or declining wages. Here's an incredible fact. If the typical American family still got today the same share of income they earned in 1980, they would earn about 25% more and have an astounding $13,000 more a year. Where would the economy be if that were the case? Significant privileges have come to capitalists like me for being perceived as "job creators" at the center of the economic universe, and the language and metaphors we use to defend the fairness of the current social and economic arrangements is telling. For instance, it is a small step from "job creator" to "The Creator". We did not accidentally choose this language. It is only honest to admit that calling oneself a "job creator" is both an assertion about how economics works and the a claim on status and privileges. The extraordinary differential between a 15% tax rate on capital gains, dividends, and carried interest for capitalists, and the 35% top marginal rate on work for ordinary Americans is a privilege that is hard to justify without just a touch of deification We've had it backward for the last 30 years. Rich businesspeople like me don't create jobs. Rather they are a consequence of an eco-systemic feedback loop animated by middle-class consumers, and when they thrive, businesses grow and hire, and owners profit. That's why taxing the rich to pay for investments that benefit all is a great deal for both the middle class and the rich. So here's an idea worth spreading. In a capitalist economy, the true job creators are consumers, the middle class. And taxing the rich to make investments that grow the middle class, is the single smartest thing we can do for the middle class, the poor and the rich. Thank You." Nick Hanauer

shopping spree

I did some shopping in New York. Here's what I bought: * One pair of Levi's flip flops * Three pairs of Levi's jeans * One Levi's leather jacket for the winter * One pair of New Balance sneakers * One pair of Onitsuka Tiger sneakers * One Levi's shirt * One Boss Roland Space Echo twin pedal * One Levi's leather belt * One Tommy Hilfinger suit * One Dickies work shirt * Three t-shirts from UNIQLO

malus giganticus

SAS and their magazine tries to calm down passengers during the flight.

We did NOT go to Jersey Shore!

The view from the 31st floor.

The Freedom Tower will be 1776 ft high. Coincidence? I think not!

Looks good at night too!

Ground Zero after dark. I loved our hotel room.

Brooklyn Bridge. We walked it but didn't set foot in Brooklyn.

Manhattan.

Marta in the sun!

My first cup cake used to live in there before it was brought to me and I had it killed and ate it.

Look at all those AC units!

Where is that horse that used to keep Paul Simon company in The Boxer?

Our hotel from the street.

I got to shake hands with Mr Pensa himself! He's usually not there on Saturdays but he had hurt his knee so he couldn't play tennis like he usually does.

Marta being a tourist in Times Square.

Ground Zero by day. They work hard down there all through the weekend!

Hotel, Church St. church and Freedom Tower, all in one pic.

Rockefeller Center. What was old Rock compensating for?

My secret shame is that I've been on Fox News. We walked by while they were filming. I'm disgusted.

This is as close as we got to the Statue of Liberty.

Marta in Battery Park.

Better wait until the door calms down before you enter.

Thirst

I got sick last night. It was rather sudden. Then I spent the night on the sofa/in the bathroom. I'd sleep for half an hour, go to the bathroom, where liquid poured from all ends. Then back to the sofa for half an hour and repeat. I'm still feeling sick but I haven't puked for a couple of hours now.

The thing is the thirst. I could kill for the chance to drink. I'm so dehydrated but if I have more than a sip of water at a time...

This is when I feel my old habits kick back in with full force. I want an icy coke. I want Fanta (!) and I crave my favourite cider. Name the drink and I want it (hot beverages not included, obviously. Nor alcohol). It's not going to happen but damn I have cravings!

I'm actually not sure I'd be able to resist if offered. Thank God nobody wants to go near a puking person!

darth woman

amerikaner som är så dåliga på engelska...

look who's wearing red...

News flash! Hikaru Sulu was present at the last supper.

och om hon gifte sig med glenn hysén...