Miscellaneous Musings

Vietnam Vets Can Celebrate
Side benefit of John Kerry’s nomination: at least until the election Hollywood won’t green-light more movies where the villain is a crazed, drug-addled Vietnam veteran. If John Kerry wins, these scripts will be deep-sixed for at least four years.

Celebrity Politics
One of the cable news channels ran a viewer survey that asked whether the political views of celebrities influence the vote of the general public. Well, duh. Not true of everyone, of course, but some people will be swayed. Celebrities sell drinks, cars, diet plans, cell phones, cosmetics, clothes, and everything under the sun because advertisers believe there are enough of us who believe that we will be like our heroes if we buy the product they are touting. Celebrities ask for our help in fighting a disease, and many of us respond with cold cash. It asks little of an admirer to pull the voting lever that Sam Superstar recommends.

Remain True to Your Principles Without Making Your Friends Angry
I’ve been reading how some wealthy individuals feel that they should be taxed more because they feel a mixture of guilt and gratitude to the society in which they have achieved their success. Someone should tell them that, instead of supporting laws that will increase taxes on themselves and others—many of whom will disagree with that point of view, they can achieve their personal objective simply by writing a check to the government for the additional amount they think they ought to be paying. Such donations are deductible contributions under Section 170(c) of the Internal Revenue Code:

For purposes of this section, the term ''charitable contribution'' means a contribution or gift to or for the use of (1) A State, a possession of the United States, or any political subdivision of any of the foregoing, or the United States or the District of Columbia, but only if the contribution or gift is made for exclusively public purposes.

Any individual who makes a donation to the government deserves to be doubly admired because 1) he is making a gift for “public purposes”, and 2) he is not attempting through tax legislation to force others to emulate his otherwise noble act. The journey to enlightenment should be taken alone. © 2004 Stephen Yuen

Barry Bonds Home Run #685
Last Friday I saw Barry Bonds hit home run number 685 at SBC Park. I finally have seen something that will impress the grandchildren (when they come along).

Barry Bonds rounds second base after hitting the ball into the Bay.