Saturday, February 13, 2016
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Reflections on a mote of dust.
 |
| Earth (blue speck in the brown band on right) as seen from Voyager 1 from 6 billion km away. 1990 |
"From this distant vantage point, the Earth might not seem of any particular interest. But for us, it's different. Look again at that dot. That's here, that's home, that's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."
Friday, January 14, 2011
A good year indeed.
2010 was a good year. After a misfire in FL I decided to move to NC and it turned out to be a wise decision. I obtained a new job where I had a chance to shine as a leader by example and they promoted me after just 7 months! A new city that I like a lot. (I can't understand the fascination with hush puppies though.) I have new friends who make a concerted effort to stick together and support one another. And boy do they party. Never a dull moment with this group.
This year I finally made it to Chicago. I took my dad and had a great time. We've decided to start making this an annual father/son thing. Boston in 2011. I also began volunteering with a local community outreach program mainly at the food bank. After being away for over 2 years, I finally made it back to Cincinnati to see my friends in September. I try to always look forward but I can't help but have a hole in my heart for Cincy. I became a man there and for 13 years called it home. I don't regret leaving but I miss it badly at times. Especially my best friend.
On a darker note, last year I developed a really bad Facebook addiction that will undoubtedly require an intervention. You know its bad when you come into work and the first thing you log into is Facebook.
Overall, I obtained the one thing I coveted for so long and took for granted when I had it many years ago...normalcy. No more different city every week; no more searching for the life I should have. I'm in a position to make the life I want and I couldn't be happier. I've always been ambivalent about the years past but not this time. 2010 was a good year indeed.
This year I finally made it to Chicago. I took my dad and had a great time. We've decided to start making this an annual father/son thing. Boston in 2011. I also began volunteering with a local community outreach program mainly at the food bank. After being away for over 2 years, I finally made it back to Cincinnati to see my friends in September. I try to always look forward but I can't help but have a hole in my heart for Cincy. I became a man there and for 13 years called it home. I don't regret leaving but I miss it badly at times. Especially my best friend.
On a darker note, last year I developed a really bad Facebook addiction that will undoubtedly require an intervention. You know its bad when you come into work and the first thing you log into is Facebook.
Overall, I obtained the one thing I coveted for so long and took for granted when I had it many years ago...normalcy. No more different city every week; no more searching for the life I should have. I'm in a position to make the life I want and I couldn't be happier. I've always been ambivalent about the years past but not this time. 2010 was a good year indeed.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Cincinnati
It was a beautiful day today in Charlotte but all I could think about was the other QC...Cincinnati. I miss my friends, hanging on The Hill, NsT, hoopin' with the fellas, or just laying in the grass in Mt. Storm trying to feel the world turn. I never said goodbye and that weighed heavy on me. I need to get back and tell my people how much I've missed them.
62 miles to the next rest stop
I knew it would be a while before I was able to post something again but I've had some time to take a breath and reflect on the last 18 months.
After a tumultuous year (2009) in Florida, I finally decided to let it go. I thought I would be there for a good, long time but it wasn't meant to be due in-part to bad timing (a crappy economy) and my inability to assimilate into the culture. Had it been one or the other I probably would have tried to persevere but I'm too restless to be complacent; I let too many good years go by in Ohio to make that same mistake again.
Earlier this year I made the move to North Carolina and it felt right. It still does. My experience has been positive and I'm having fun again. All of a sudden each day is a blank canvas to fill which I haven't had in a while and I'm far more craftier than I used to be.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Should five percent appear too small, be thankful I don't take it all...
Well, we've gone and done it. Healthcare reform has begun and we won't look back. For better or worse, that train is rolling. Now that legislation has finally passed on that issue, what will our cavalier government do next to better serve the people? My vote: fix the ridiculously circuitous tax code.
Recently, Jonathan Kern wrote an article for All Things Considered on NPR that brought into focus a little bumblebee that's been buzzing around in the back of my mind. The premise of the article states that our acceptance of software used to file taxes averts our focus away from the fact that the US personal tax code is ridiculously complicated. The article can be read and listened to here.
As you might suspect, this hit a little close to home. For most of my professional life I was someone's employee working under a W-2. I never knew how good I had it. In 2009 I was offered a chance to work as an independent contractor under a 1099-MISC. The benefit for me was the ability to control my work schedule, earn more money and pay less taxes (or so I thought). My clients benefitted by not having to pay FICA, various insurances, and business taxes on my behalf if I were their employee. It seemed like an ideal situation...until 'Uncle Sam' got involved. Even researching the self-employment tax thoroughly didn't uncover the hidden hitch in the tax code. I didn't realize what I had gotten myself into until it came time to file.
I've been gainfully employed for over 17 years and only once have my taxes been completed by a tax professional. In the early days, I literally would do my taxes by hand. Longform. It wasn't until the late 1990's that I started using tax software. (I've never been audited.) Even the early tax software was cumbersome but I managed. During the US governments' Age of Decadence the tax code became more and more labyrinthian as they needed to squeeze more and more dollars from John Q. Public. Like a lot of other Americans, I relied on tax software more and more.
Present day, the software is telling me I owe 4,000 more dollars than I have calculated. My math has never been that bad. The self-employment tax is designed so that you do not have to pay the employers half of the FICA (Federal tax and social security) BUT, what they don't tell you is that you will be taxed twice on the amount earned under the 1099. You will have to pay the personal income tax on that amount and then pay the self-employment tax on the same amount. I was devastated. The only way around this is to become an S-Corp which essentially is a tax shelter. You would had to have set this up before you starting earning under a 1099.
At first I felt bamboozled, led astray, but at the end of the day I had no one to blame but myself. Maybe if I had gone one step further and consulted a tax professional in the beginning I would have avoided this trap. I consulted the worst possible source for the self-employment tax...the IRS publications website. Also, they were vague about having to pay those taxes quarterly or suffer a penalty. Although that penalty is minor, about 2%, it could be avoided.
In the end, I consulted a tax professional to at least get the tax owed down through additional deductions but the best I could do was still miles from where I expected to be. The minute she heard my issue she sighed and shook her head. In short, she said I had been setup. She's sees a dozen people a week during tax season who were lead into this trap. Like students who are roped into internships that don't pay or teach them anything in the hopes that they may land an actual job there someday. All they did was give the company free labor. The devastating truth is, universities and corporations are in cahoots.
I had always believed that we needed a simpler tax code but only through education on the subject did I realize just how deceptive it is. All along I had been drinking the Kool-Aid because the tax software made it taste so good.
Recently, Jonathan Kern wrote an article for All Things Considered on NPR that brought into focus a little bumblebee that's been buzzing around in the back of my mind. The premise of the article states that our acceptance of software used to file taxes averts our focus away from the fact that the US personal tax code is ridiculously complicated. The article can be read and listened to here.
As you might suspect, this hit a little close to home. For most of my professional life I was someone's employee working under a W-2. I never knew how good I had it. In 2009 I was offered a chance to work as an independent contractor under a 1099-MISC. The benefit for me was the ability to control my work schedule, earn more money and pay less taxes (or so I thought). My clients benefitted by not having to pay FICA, various insurances, and business taxes on my behalf if I were their employee. It seemed like an ideal situation...until 'Uncle Sam' got involved. Even researching the self-employment tax thoroughly didn't uncover the hidden hitch in the tax code. I didn't realize what I had gotten myself into until it came time to file.
I've been gainfully employed for over 17 years and only once have my taxes been completed by a tax professional. In the early days, I literally would do my taxes by hand. Longform. It wasn't until the late 1990's that I started using tax software. (I've never been audited.) Even the early tax software was cumbersome but I managed. During the US governments' Age of Decadence the tax code became more and more labyrinthian as they needed to squeeze more and more dollars from John Q. Public. Like a lot of other Americans, I relied on tax software more and more.
Present day, the software is telling me I owe 4,000 more dollars than I have calculated. My math has never been that bad. The self-employment tax is designed so that you do not have to pay the employers half of the FICA (Federal tax and social security) BUT, what they don't tell you is that you will be taxed twice on the amount earned under the 1099. You will have to pay the personal income tax on that amount and then pay the self-employment tax on the same amount. I was devastated. The only way around this is to become an S-Corp which essentially is a tax shelter. You would had to have set this up before you starting earning under a 1099.
At first I felt bamboozled, led astray, but at the end of the day I had no one to blame but myself. Maybe if I had gone one step further and consulted a tax professional in the beginning I would have avoided this trap. I consulted the worst possible source for the self-employment tax...the IRS publications website. Also, they were vague about having to pay those taxes quarterly or suffer a penalty. Although that penalty is minor, about 2%, it could be avoided.
In the end, I consulted a tax professional to at least get the tax owed down through additional deductions but the best I could do was still miles from where I expected to be. The minute she heard my issue she sighed and shook her head. In short, she said I had been setup. She's sees a dozen people a week during tax season who were lead into this trap. Like students who are roped into internships that don't pay or teach them anything in the hopes that they may land an actual job there someday. All they did was give the company free labor. The devastating truth is, universities and corporations are in cahoots.
I had always believed that we needed a simpler tax code but only through education on the subject did I realize just how deceptive it is. All along I had been drinking the Kool-Aid because the tax software made it taste so good.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
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