Each night when I get off from work, I stop by to visit my mother. She is in a Buckhead (Atlanta) nursing home now and is still as vibrant, alive and busy as she was when was directing the youth choirs at our church.
I hurry through the routines of cleaning the room and exchanging the freshly washed and ironed outfits for the worn. We exchange pleasantries and church gossip and I'm on my way.
Last week I found myself in a mood most foul and raced through a yellow light at breakneck speed. I was pulled over by one of our highly esteemed Atlanta Police. He shone the spotlight from his car into mine. I had never had this happen in more than 30 years of driving. 'OMG,' I thought. He's going to make me get out and then pat me down. Everybody is going to think I'm a drug dealer!'
Over the loudspeaker he asked me to pull over and I did. I already had my license and proof of insurance ready. I addressed him as sir, old-fashioned I know, but it is the way I was taught.
"Do you know why I pulled you over?" he asked.
"Yes sir. I thought I could make it through that light."
He continued "You know, you can't turn on red back there. And you came through that light like somebody was chasing you? Where are you coming from?"
"Nursecare of Buckhead," I said. "I take care of my mom when I get off from work."
I don't know if he liked my 1970's afro. I don't know if it was the warmth I exuded, the result of fear. I don't know if it was the Federal i. d. badge from work. I don't know if he could somehow relate to the nightly ritual I perform. I didn't know anything except the words to this church song that came to me:
'My mother prayed for me, had me on her mind, took the time to pray for me. I'm so glad she prayed, I'm so glad she prayed, I I'm so glad she prayed for me'.
"Well.....don't let it happen again." And I thanked him mightily.
First Lady Michelle Obama said that 'The security of your parents' love really gives you the foundation to think that you can fly. And then you do.' That theory rings doubly true in the case of my parents, whose constant love along with the religious and academic education they provided, gave wings to my brother and myself. Our seeds have been blessed through our parents and by the God-fearing generation s that preceded them Wherever I traverse, I am already walking in victory.
I am so thankful for my father, who has gone on to glory, and for my mother on Mothers Day and every day.
Peace!
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
I Want My Earned Income Credit
The Internal Revenue Service is bombarded daily by callers seeking what they refer to as THEIR earned income credit. Many of these societal dregs and rejects believe themselves entitled to this free government giveaway, the reward for having worked at a fast food place for three months.
The earned income credit is a refundable credit for low income taxpayers that has become increasingly more popular since its inception in 1975. Unfortunately any positive use of gaining such a credit has been lost in the wave of fraudulent tax returns and an angry, growing sense of entitlement from the poor, uneducated public.
'Where my money?, Where my money at?, Y'all keeping my earned income credit?' and 'Why they reviewin' my return when I can't pay my rent?' comprise a large percentage of the calls received by IRS customer 'servants', may God BLESS 'em! Many of these clueless customers actually believe that the earned income credit, affectionately called eic, is really and truly theirs; that they deserve it for having worked at Wendy's or McDonald's as vice president in charge of fries. Still others believe that, because they have children and lots of them, that the government should reward them. Oh I'm sorry, I thought having children WAS the reward.
I don't know what happened to the concepts of PLANNING one's life through religious and academic education, and PLANNING children within the confines of, dare I say it?: marriage. (Or a least a long-term relationship). When I attended Sunday School as a child, if a school-aged child couldn't read, one teacher in particular would call that child, boy or girl, a Dumb Dora. You see, it was the 1960's. My people were in the throes of the Civil Rights struggle. There was no acceptable excuse for not knowing how to read. Period.
So to all the Dumb Doras out there --- and I have no fear that they will ever read this or anything else that is written --- govern yourselves accordingly. In other words, read something besides magazines and comic books, and plan the life you have been blessed with.
Who should get this government entitlement, you ask? If we could vote on this as an issue, I would vote to give it to senior citizens, handicapped people and their caretakers and college students, in that order. Old folk have already paid their dues, and many still have nothing to show for it. I consider the Economic Stimulus Payments issued last year as a special boon for seniors, but just the tip of the iceberg as to what they should or could get. Many people who care for handicapped individuals (children and adults) have to quit their jobs or work part-time. They deserve an exta boost, too.
My daughter is a college student who, under the legal age for collecting eic without children of her own, is struggling along with me to meet those huge college expenses. When a potential eic recipient, obviously a foreigner, tells me that she deserves the eic, because her daughter is a college student, I cringe. People who earn less than $10,000 can get eic just because they 'support' a child in college!
What do I get? I get the honor and priviledge of being crunched to death as a member of the middle class. We bear the weight of supporting the proud, self-proclaimed, self-indulgent poor while simultaneously enlarging the wealth of those we strive to become. Or as Leo Tolstoy said in the 19th century:
'....Capital oppresses the laborer. Our laborers, the peasants, bear all the burden of labor, and are so placed tha, however much they work, they can't escape from their position of beasts of burden. All the profits of labor, on which the might improve their position and gain leisure for themselves, and after that education, all the surplus values are taken from them by the capitalists. And society's so constituted that the harder they work, the greater the profit of the merchants and landowners, while they stay beasts of burden to the end.' (Anna Karenina)
Today's American middle class certainly has more ambition collectively than can be obtained from supporting groups other than themselves.
We say the same thing that people say about AIG. Either administer the earned income credit or get rid of it altogether. The effects of holding onto it have only served to cripple society's Dumb Doras even more, and have tied up the already overextended resources of the Internal Revenue Service, an agency whose time might be better spent processing legitimate returns, collecting the correct tax or issuing legitimate refunds.
The earned income credit is a refundable credit for low income taxpayers that has become increasingly more popular since its inception in 1975. Unfortunately any positive use of gaining such a credit has been lost in the wave of fraudulent tax returns and an angry, growing sense of entitlement from the poor, uneducated public.
'Where my money?, Where my money at?, Y'all keeping my earned income credit?' and 'Why they reviewin' my return when I can't pay my rent?' comprise a large percentage of the calls received by IRS customer 'servants', may God BLESS 'em! Many of these clueless customers actually believe that the earned income credit, affectionately called eic, is really and truly theirs; that they deserve it for having worked at Wendy's or McDonald's as vice president in charge of fries. Still others believe that, because they have children and lots of them, that the government should reward them. Oh I'm sorry, I thought having children WAS the reward.
I don't know what happened to the concepts of PLANNING one's life through religious and academic education, and PLANNING children within the confines of, dare I say it?: marriage. (Or a least a long-term relationship). When I attended Sunday School as a child, if a school-aged child couldn't read, one teacher in particular would call that child, boy or girl, a Dumb Dora. You see, it was the 1960's. My people were in the throes of the Civil Rights struggle. There was no acceptable excuse for not knowing how to read. Period.
So to all the Dumb Doras out there --- and I have no fear that they will ever read this or anything else that is written --- govern yourselves accordingly. In other words, read something besides magazines and comic books, and plan the life you have been blessed with.
Who should get this government entitlement, you ask? If we could vote on this as an issue, I would vote to give it to senior citizens, handicapped people and their caretakers and college students, in that order. Old folk have already paid their dues, and many still have nothing to show for it. I consider the Economic Stimulus Payments issued last year as a special boon for seniors, but just the tip of the iceberg as to what they should or could get. Many people who care for handicapped individuals (children and adults) have to quit their jobs or work part-time. They deserve an exta boost, too.
My daughter is a college student who, under the legal age for collecting eic without children of her own, is struggling along with me to meet those huge college expenses. When a potential eic recipient, obviously a foreigner, tells me that she deserves the eic, because her daughter is a college student, I cringe. People who earn less than $10,000 can get eic just because they 'support' a child in college!
What do I get? I get the honor and priviledge of being crunched to death as a member of the middle class. We bear the weight of supporting the proud, self-proclaimed, self-indulgent poor while simultaneously enlarging the wealth of those we strive to become. Or as Leo Tolstoy said in the 19th century:
'....Capital oppresses the laborer. Our laborers, the peasants, bear all the burden of labor, and are so placed tha, however much they work, they can't escape from their position of beasts of burden. All the profits of labor, on which the might improve their position and gain leisure for themselves, and after that education, all the surplus values are taken from them by the capitalists. And society's so constituted that the harder they work, the greater the profit of the merchants and landowners, while they stay beasts of burden to the end.' (Anna Karenina)
Today's American middle class certainly has more ambition collectively than can be obtained from supporting groups other than themselves.
We say the same thing that people say about AIG. Either administer the earned income credit or get rid of it altogether. The effects of holding onto it have only served to cripple society's Dumb Doras even more, and have tied up the already overextended resources of the Internal Revenue Service, an agency whose time might be better spent processing legitimate returns, collecting the correct tax or issuing legitimate refunds.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Internet Scams
I'll admit it. Even a veteran internet marketer like myself can be scammed. Still I maintained my peace and I'll tell you how later. Stay away from these:1 - http://youwillgetpaid.com/. This is a mother/son duo that promises to create multiple pages for Google to crawl. After YOU pay for your domain hosting, they publish THEIR clickbank id's under what should have been your site.
2 - The above company is one of several sites housed at http://homeincomeportal.com/pamali606.htm. I paid Home Income Portal $60 per month from May to December 2008. They promised to overrun my 102 sites with more traffic than I could shake a stick at. Guess how much money I made? Right: none. And if I take leave of my senses and reenter the program it'll be $120 per month. For that kind of money, I'd better be making twice that a month.
3 - EZ Saver: Now here's one that consistently took $19 plus dollars every month from my checking account, and I don't even know how they got my information or what they represent! I went through the usual steps of e mailing them, calling and getting a release code and notifying the bank. They just kept on taking and taking. ..........
While the jury is still out on the first one (legal action), I dropped the second one like a hot potatoe. I don't advertise it thru TrafficSwarm, Google Adwords or any of my so-called e mail blasts. It would be against my character to try to rip off others just for the sake of revenge. I continued to maintain my peace of mind by dropping out of every program that required a monthly fee. They ain't worth it.
Just e mail me if you need help in ridding yourself of these scam artists.
Peace!
2 - The above company is one of several sites housed at http://homeincomeportal.com/pamali606.htm. I paid Home Income Portal $60 per month from May to December 2008. They promised to overrun my 102 sites with more traffic than I could shake a stick at. Guess how much money I made? Right: none. And if I take leave of my senses and reenter the program it'll be $120 per month. For that kind of money, I'd better be making twice that a month.
3 - EZ Saver: Now here's one that consistently took $19 plus dollars every month from my checking account, and I don't even know how they got my information or what they represent! I went through the usual steps of e mailing them, calling and getting a release code and notifying the bank. They just kept on taking and taking. ..........
While the jury is still out on the first one (legal action), I dropped the second one like a hot potatoe. I don't advertise it thru TrafficSwarm, Google Adwords or any of my so-called e mail blasts. It would be against my character to try to rip off others just for the sake of revenge. I continued to maintain my peace of mind by dropping out of every program that required a monthly fee. They ain't worth it.
Just e mail me if you need help in ridding yourself of these scam artists.
Peace!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
O L P
This one is for women only and I mean you: the hard-working, multi-tasking, putting everyone in front of you type women. DO SOMETHING FOR YOURSELVES.
Every week, at least once a week, I plan an OLP. That's Old Lady Party. No, I'm not old I just like the flow of OLP better than.........LP. An OLP represents my not-to-be-interrupted for anything ME time. I deserve it.
Why do I deserve it? Like you, I am working in and out of the home. You know what THAT means. I work 40 hours at a job (not a career). When I leave there at 11pm, I go holler at my mom who is in a rehab facility. Then I come home and do household crap: cleaning, cooking, cleaning and sex, if he's lucky! Wow! All that leaves me as one tired sister. And on weekends (what weekends?) it's back to the rehab facility to pick up clothes and to deliver freshly laundered AND ironed ones.
So once a week I throw myself an OLP with food, drink, music, travel,....just WHATEVER I WANT, because I deserve it. Ladies we all deserve that me time to preserve that peace of mind. I highly recommend it.
Peace!
Every week, at least once a week, I plan an OLP. That's Old Lady Party. No, I'm not old I just like the flow of OLP better than.........LP. An OLP represents my not-to-be-interrupted for anything ME time. I deserve it.
Why do I deserve it? Like you, I am working in and out of the home. You know what THAT means. I work 40 hours at a job (not a career). When I leave there at 11pm, I go holler at my mom who is in a rehab facility. Then I come home and do household crap: cleaning, cooking, cleaning and sex, if he's lucky! Wow! All that leaves me as one tired sister. And on weekends (what weekends?) it's back to the rehab facility to pick up clothes and to deliver freshly laundered AND ironed ones.
So once a week I throw myself an OLP with food, drink, music, travel,....just WHATEVER I WANT, because I deserve it. Ladies we all deserve that me time to preserve that peace of mind. I highly recommend it.
Peace!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
