In the News Today

There are some great ones today that I just can't resist commenting on. I have to tip my hat to this guy. He actually posted Belgium for sale on eBay. Too bad the ad was taken down. Brilliant political statement. I love the creativity and satire. And I would love to own Belgium. Mmm Belgian chocolate and beer could be Jennifer's chocolate and beer. What a happy, happy day.

And speaking of selling off a country to the highest bidder, one of our presidential candidates was in the news today. We haven't really heard anything from him in a while. I was beginning to worry that he had given up. In an effort to buy the American voter, Obama uses the old promise to lower taxes. Of course everyone wants to pay fewer taxes. That's an easy one. And it sounds wonderful on the surface. Everyone want to be Robin Hood. Tax the rich and give breaks to the poor. I'm not rich by any stretch of the imagination. I certainly wouldn't mind though. But I feel that as a US citizen, I have an obligation to pay a fair share of taxes. (No the current system isn't fair either, but I"m not going there today. Not enough time during my lunch break). Hand outs will not fix the economy. If you tip the full tax burden onto the upper class, then where is the incentive to get ahead? Personally, I think that if I work hard to earn more money, I should get to keep it. I thought working for a good life for yourself and your family was once the American Dream.

Onto the subject of making money. The New York Times has decided to end it's paid subscription service for it's online news in an effort to make more money. Sounds backwards, but it's brilliant really. More and more, people are getting their news online. I personally haven't bought or even read an actual newspaper in years. I can get online and get news about absolutely everything everywhere in just a few keystrokes. And it doesn't add to the clutter in my house. Fantastic. And the best part is that it's free! I don't pay for news online, and I am not alone. So they are giving up $10 million a year in subscriptions, but they've opened themselves up for twice that many readers easily. People don't spend their money on information, they spend it on stuff. Stuff that they learn about from the ads around the news articles. Which ad space would be more attractive to you, one seen by a limited group of subscribers, or one available to the world?

Tell me your thoughts, comments are always open. And remember, tomorrow is International Talk Like a Pirate Day!