Friday, July 12, 2013

Chronicles of Androgynea

This is only the beginning


My observations since arriving in this strange land are as follows:

    It is a temperate climate, with lush vegetation surrounding the city.  Temperatures seem to be between sixty-five degrees at night and seventy-eight degrees in the daytime.  A one hour rain falls at the sixth hour each night to hydrate the vegetation and to replenish the city’s water source.  The air is neither humid nor dry and seems to be without any known pollutants or pollens.
    Day and night seem equally distributed as if in a perpetual equinox.  At dusk and dawn the sun and moon appear on opposing sides of the horizon.  To the uneducated, it would appear that the moon is chasing the sun across the night sky. The moon remains full each evening unlike the waxing and waning of earth’s moon.  There is one anomaly, however.  Every 30 days the moon appears blood red and no rain falls throughout the night.
 (see more under Androgynea tab)  

Wednesday, July 3, 2013

TAX CODE

With the nation’s Independence Day celebration coming up, it is time to make a few changes which would streamline our government.  One such change is the tax code.  For years our leaders have been squabbling over taxes.  Where to get tax money, how to spend tax money, who to tax and how much.  The government has been taxing  citizens and corporations based on income and revenue generated, then taxing again on spending. Their (government) spending is based on wants instead of needs.  The system outlined in the following could solve this problem.

The first problem to tackle is spending. Like any grade school student should learn about a pie chart, you only have one pie. The number of pieces you cut that pie into doesn’t matter as long as you don’t try to take more pieces out of the pie than exist. Some pieces may only be slivers but they are still in the same pie.  Once a slice is eaten, you can’t borrow from another slice, you can’t borrow from a future pie that might be made, it is just gone.  Therefore, when you’re slicing the pie, be very careful to realize that another pie wont be made until the following year. 
Next year’s pie may be bigger or smaller and if adjustments need to be made to the size of the slices, they need to be decided on at least two months before the next pie is presented for slicing.  With all of the technology we have today, it should be fairly easy to estimate the size of the pie within that time frame.  Only slight tweaking to the allocations can be made once the pie is presented and the exact size is known.  Again, you only get one pie a year. When each department gets their slice of the pie, it becomes their personal pie to slice and they, too, only get one pie.
 If the system is implemented when a deficit exists, the deficit will be allocated a slice and all slices will be adjusted accordingly over a reasonable period of time until the deficit is paid.  If there is a surplus, this is put into the next year’s pie and allocated accordingly at that time. If any department starts with a deficit or a surplus, they too will follow this procedure.  The object here is balance.  Deficit is bad.  Surplus is great. Spend only what you have, save when you can, owe nothing.  Credit is not an option.

The second problem is fair taxation.  Whether it is corporate verses personal income tax, rich verses poor, or anything in between, everyone should pay their fair share. But how does one decide what is fair.  This should solve the problem of fairness:
Do away with corporate and individual income tax and impose a one cent per roll tax on toilet paper and paper towels as well as one cent per box on facial tissue.  This is something everyone uses, it is a renewable, recyclable resource (with the exception of toilet paper) and is something that is most generally wasted.
There would be no corporate tax cuts or loopholes for the rich.  If you use it you pay for it.  If you have a need for more and feel that the tax is an imposition because of a physical ailment, just consider the fact that you are doing your part and illness falls on the rich and the poor alike. 
More people would have to consider the foods they eat to achieve a healthy balance to cut down on their tax bills. Health conscious and fastidiously conservative people would inevitably pay less in taxes, but would cost the rest of the people less in the long run due to lower health care bills.
Of course, there are alternatives to all of the paper products mentioned.  One could use handkerchiefs instead of tissues, dish towels and kitchen towels instead of paper towels and whatever a person may try to use to substitute for toilet paper.  This may be looked on by some as rebellion, but in the paper society, this would only be extreme conservation of natural resources.  If you are willing to resort to those measures to avoid taxes then you deserve some recognition for your efforts.
As ridiculous as it may seem, stiff penalties would need to be imposed for anyone caught stealing any of these products from other homes or businesses.  A $1000.00 fine and community service should suffice. There may be a need to create a special task force to monitor such activities nationwide as theft rings may begin to operate and black marketeers begin to emerge.  One suggested name for such a task force: Public Oversight Of  Paper  or P.O.O.P. for short.
The paper tax would not only help to reduce the ever increasing obesity problem which creates a multiplicity of healthcare issues due to poor diet, but could also reduce needless waste in our landfills.  We have become a throw-away society. We use it up and throw it away because we know there will always be more. Not only could we reduce the waste in our landfills and improve the health of the nation, but, if balance is applied to diet and to government spending alike, we could wipe out the deficit in no time.

© MC Andrews, 2013.

Monday, July 1, 2013

THE INTERVIEW

James sat upright in the chair across the desk from the interviewer.  He was sure that he was ready for the interview in his pressed black pants, white shirt neatly tucked, and blue printed tie held back by a small gold chain. He had gone over the possible interview questions in his mind and felt that he was as prepared to expound on his attributes with the greatest of ease.
"Do you have a copy of your resume?" asked the interviewer.  James had emailed his resume to answer the advertisement and thought that this was the reason why he was asked to come in for an interview.  Nevertheless, he handed a copy of his resume to the interviewer and waited patiently as this ill prepared paper pusher perused his resume, comparing it to the six page application which James had spent his first twenty minutes filling out in another room while the interviewer finished his coffee. 
The interviewer looked up at James, sat back in his chair and asked, "Why are you applying for this position?" 
"Moron. I was bored and wanted to waste a day feeling nervous and trying to impress someone I don't know," thought James.
"I have extensive education and experience in this field and felt that I could contribute to the company," he replied.
"Tell me about a situation where you were asked to go against your principles." 
"This was unexpected.  What are they going to expect me to do for them?"
"I can't think of a situation at this time where that would have come up in any of my previous jobs," he replied.
"If I spoke to your last supervisor, what would he say positive and negative about you?"
"How do I know what's in his head? Or anyone's head for that matter?"
"He would say that I was dependable and trustworthy, but I was tenacious to a fault when trying to accomplish the goals set for me," James replied confidently.
"If you could be any animal, what kind of animal would you be and why?"
James thought through a long pause.  I know this is a psychological question, but c'mon, lets get serious about this.  Oh, what the heck. Just give him something to talk about. "A sloth," he replied.  "Because he is what he is and no one expects anything more from him."
"What is your ideal job?
"I'd like to come in at eleven, take an hour off for lunch, and get off at noon.  I'd like a salary at that job of a hundred thousand a year with full paid benefits, profit sharing and stock options."
"We will be interviewing other applicants over the next several days and if we feel that you would be a good fit for us we will be contacting you."  The interviewer stretched out his hand for a farewell handshake.
"Why not just be honest," said James.  "If you're not planning to call me, just say so.  I am here because I am wanting to work for this company.  If I wasn't interested I wouldn't have bothered to send you a resume in the first place.   I don't want to sit around waiting for phone calls and check my email several times a day for several days in a row if there's no reason to expect to hear from you.  I can just as easily move on to another company who needs an employee like me."
"We'll let you know," said the interviewer.  James shook his hand and turned to leave the office, relieved and somewhat vindicated.

© MC Andrews, 2013.