I know I'm probably a little behind here...

...but I'm just getting around to wondering about Darth Cheney's taxes. according to whitehouse.gov:

Vice President and Mrs. Cheney filed their federal income tax return for 2007 today.

The income tax return shows that the Cheneys owe federal taxes for 2007 of $602,651 on taxable income of $2,528,068. During the course of 2007 the Cheneys paid $466,165 in taxes through withholding and estimated tax payments, and will pay the remaining $136,486 upon filing their tax return.

The wage and salary income reported on the tax return includes the Vice President's $212,208 government salary. In addition, the tax return reports a pension benefit of $32,500, which the Vice President received as a former director of Union Pacific Corporation. The Vice President became eligible for this benefit in 2006 when he turned 65. The tax return also reports Mrs. Cheney's book royalty income, a salary from her continuing work at the American Enterprise Institute, and a pension benefit of $32,000, which she received as a former director of Reader's Digest. The amounts of the pension benefits received by the Vice President and by Mrs. Cheney are fixed and will not increase or decrease regardless of changes in the earnings or revenues of either company.

The Cheneys donated $166,547 to charity in 2007. This brings the Cheneys' total charitable contributions during his Vice Presidency to $ 7,966,566.

Okay. First of all, I don't care about what kinds of charitable contributions they're making. It's all a writeoff, and it doesn't make up for all his other shady dealings. (Is he no longer in cahoots with Halliburton? Where's all that on his paperwork?)

Second, I can't find anything to back this up, but I heard on the radio this morning part of the income that was claimed stems from Darth Cheney drawing Social Security. If the Social Security thing is true, doesn't it seem a little backwards? I mean, really... do these people sound like they NEED Social Security? No wonder my generation won't have it. ;) If anyone knows where this could either be confirmed or debunked, I'd love to read it.

Third... hey Dick... I still haven't forgotten about you shooting a guy in the face.

Entitlement

I am currently in the process of planning a wedding (thank goodness it will be over soon!) As such, I participate on several forums having to do with wedding planning. It occurs to me as a result of my involvement and reading some of the posts that have been made there, that a great number of people carry around a sense of entitlement... that they are OWED certain things merely because they grace us with the pleasure of their existence. One post was made by someone who stated that she and her fiance can't afford groceries and barely can afford rent. Neither of them is currently employed. One of her parents, who is apparently experiencing financial struggles of their own, is footing the bill for a "very minimal, scaled-down" $7000 wedding. Now she wants advice on how to ask him to foot the bill for a honeymoon too, since she "desperately needs" one.

This makes my head spin. What happened to working hard to have nice things? Maybe it's because FH and I both worked in the family business when we were young, worked through college, and while we have both had help from our families at times, we don't expect it. We're adults. That means we have responsibilities. We both have families that WANT to contribute to our wedding financially. However, we see it as our responsibility to ensure that we are doing things as reasonably as possible. We have a florist who is charging us only for materials, nothing for labor, and is loaning us a lot of things. We found the least expensive caterer we could. My mom, sister, maid of honor, and I are making the favors ourselves. I am not entitled to having any of these things. I have family who wants to contribute, FH and I both work so that we can contribute. Wedding is being held at someone's home (the yard is gorgeous). We don't DESERVE even that much. Quite frankly, if we were not lucky enough to both be employed (especially given that Michigan's economy is complete GARBAGE right now), sure, we could still get married. But you know what? We could save several thousand dollars by simply going to the courthouse and having a JOP ceremony. We're not entitled to an event. Then, someone else stated that she didn't understand how ANYONE could have a wedding for less than $20,000. You know what? FH and I are doing it, and we don't feel the least bit deprived. In fact, we feel BLESSED (not in a religious sense) to have what we do.

I see a lot of this in the bridal shop I work at. "I want my dress steamed, and I need it back in 5 days because I'm jamming it in my suitcase/carryon/the overhead compartment for my destination wedding." Umm... you're better off having it pressed when you arrive. "But I'm entitled to a free steaming because I purchased it here." Okay, I'll press your dress, but that doesn't make you any less of a moron.

What is it that makes people feel like they are OWED certain things? Or that when things are available, are out there, people NEED to get them? I know this whole silly rant revolved around the wedding industry, and I'd love to expand further (I have lots more thoughts), but I have a meeting in about 10 minutes. Otherwise I'd probably discuss the NEED to have this season's clothing in one's closet before the start of the school year, rather than needing to have clothing that fits and is appropriate to the climate.

Weighing in on YFZ

While I like to stay informed about what's happening in the world, I tend to avoid watching the news. FH and I have CNN Headline News on in the morning while we're getting ready for work, and I catch bits and pieces of things, other than that, I generally stick to the internet for my news. There just seems to be so much negativity, it can get overwhelming at times. But when all the YFZ news started to break, I couldn't tear myself away from it.

I work every day with child and adolescent victims of sexual abuse. Having that insider perspective doesn't allow me to say, "oh, how horrible," and move on. I don't have the luxury of detachment that I suspect allows a lot of America to cope with something like this. Knowing what kinds of twisted things abusers do to children, and having worked in a previous position with more than one child who had been abused by a cult, it makes my stomach turn to think what kinds of horiffic things must have gone on at YFZ. Especially with the talk about finding beds on site at the temple... it makes me shudder. And the part that sickens me the most is that it took so long for anything to be done about it.

Warren Jeffs was arrested in August 2006, if I've done my research accurately. It is now April of 2008, and we're JUST stepping in to remove women and children from an environment where abuse was an accepted, even mandated, part of daily life?

If Jeffs was building a "Business Retreat," did anyone bat an eyelash when a quarry and an incinerator were built? Did anyone find that even remotely ODD?

Look, I like the First Amendment as much as anyone, but that simply is NOT the issue here. It's about human rights. It's about the ritualized abuse of women and children. It's about the abuse/neglect of teenage boys who were sent away. Have we learned nothing from the other cults that have made headlines over the years?

And what do our national leaders have to say about all this. I'd love to hear them weigh in on it. I haven't been able to find anything at this point - if anyone knows of something I've missed, please point me in the right direction. What we have allowed under the cloak of religion is DISGUSTING, and we need to take steps to ensure this does not continue to happen. We need to get the remaining women and children to safety. Those behind these crimes need to be swiftly prosecuted. We can no longer allow religion to mask human rights violations in this country, or in any other.

Okay, I'll join in...

I have other blogs, but I've only updated them sporadically, and it's mainly been a way to keep in touch with people. But recent events have made me want to start blogging a little more seriously, and at times anonymously, and I figured a fresh start was in order.

One of the things that has been on my mind lately is religion/spirituality/whatever you want to call it. Maybe this is due in part to my upcoming wedding. FH and I are from differing backgrounds, and neither of us is remotely involved in any type of religious... well... anything really. FH's family is of Scottish ancestry, and this is a big influence in the wedding. The ceremony (being performed by a friend!) has Celtic and Druidic influence.

My grandfather was a Baptist minister. He and my grandmother have both passed away, and if they were alive, I don't know that we could do this ceremony. As much as I like to think that I'm free of any influence, I know that he had a big impact. And as conservative as they were, I know that there is NO WAY that they would attend the ceremony, much less have anything to do with me afterward.

I guess this is where I get conflicted. Or maybe not so much conflicted, because I think I know where I stand, but it can be so hard to shake off the things that have been ingrained in you since childhood. But I find myself wondering from time to time, if he could see me now, what would he think of me? The decisions I've made? The life I'm leading? The beliefs I now hold? Then I remember that, umm, he can't. Moot point. It doesn't matter, because he's passed on, and I certainly doubt that when you die, you sit around somewhere up in the clouds doing nothing but watching your loved ones and judging their every move. At times I've considered reincarnation a possibility, other times I figure when you're dead, you're just... dead. That's it. The only way we live on is in people's hearts and minds.

I guess I have a lot of guilt about feeling this way, because of what an influence my grandfather was in the short time I knew him. But feeling this way is not a recent development.

When I was in 8th grade, my parents forced me into going through confirmation class. (We're not remotely Catholic, but for some reason, our church used to do confirmation. They haven't done a class since mine, so none of my siblings have had to go through it, but that's another story for another time.) Maybe because of the minister we had at the time who was leading the class, maybe for no reason at all, or maybe the reasoning is somewhere in between... but that was when I began to question things. I remember asking my mom some rather abstract questions about faith, and I remember her getting upset with me and responding with something of an 'I don't see what's so difficult about this' statement, something to the effect of we believe because that's just what we do. Even then, I found that answer very unsatisfying. So I conformed. I went through all the motions and got through confirmation. And for a time, I wanted to believe. I hung out with the Christian student group in High School. Some of them were friends to me, but I quickly learned that a lot of them were vicious beyond belief. Conform or be shunned. But honestly? I've just never been able to believe the things my family does.

I have no idea where this was headed when I started typing, but it's after midnight now, and I have to work in the morning. I guess it's something to look at later... some food for further thought.