Als 2003 ...

... noch keine Rede von Wirtschaftskrise war:

Von Jeff Bates der Song "Already Spent" vom Album "Rainbow Man"

I'm workin' 40 hours
And mroe if I can get it
Still need an extra job
So I can get more credit
Well, I work hard because we charged
Tomorrow yesterday
I'm in debt over my head
The American way

It's already spent
Every dime I'll ever make
From the high cost of living
And what the government takes
I don't have to worry
Or wonder where it went
I sleep like a baby
'Cause it's already spent

I hear 'em talkin' on TV
'Bout where we should invest
Stocks and bonds, mutual funds
401s and the rest
Well my retirement plan's a coffee can
And it's full of IOUs
My money goes to those I owe
And I bet you yours does too

It's already spent
Every dime I'll ever make
From the high cost of living
And what the government takes
I don't have to worry
Or wonder where it went
I sleep like a baby
'Cause it's already spent

Yeah, it's already spent
Every dime we'll ever make
From the high cost of living
And what the government takes
We don't have to worry
Or wonder where it went
We sleep like babies
'Cause it's already spent
We'll sleep just like babies
'Cause it's already spent

Every last dime

Letzte Woche ...

... Samstag auf dem Hahn:



Frankfurt Hahn Airport

Air Cargo Germany

Life's Highway ...

von Steve Wariner der Song "Life's Highway" vom Album "Life's Highway"

Sun is up, time's at hand
There's a stir upon the land
And so begins another day
On life's highway.

On city streets, down country roads
Like a stream the people flow
There's bread to win and tolls to pay
On life's highway

There is hope with every turn
A bridge to build, a bridge to burn
Here’s hopin’ you never go astray
On life's highway.

We are young, then we’re old
Passin' through then passin' on
Like the roses bloom and fade
On life's highway.

Step by step, round and round
Never knowing where we're bound
From the cradle to the grave
On life's highway.

Sun is up, time's at hand
There's a stir upon the land
And so begins another day
On life's highway...

Es geht doch ...

... wenn auch nur ein bisschen:

"Many top AIG execs agree to return bonuses"

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo hopes more AIG employees will return their bonuses, after 15 of the top 20 bonus recipients at the troubled insurer agreed to return their money.

In total, American International Group Inc. employees have agreed to return about $50 million of the $165 million in bonuses awarded earlier this month by the insurer, Cuomo's office said Monday.

At most, Cuomo said his office could hope to recoup $80 million of the bonuses _ roughly the amount paid out to AIG employees in the U.S. The bonuses were paid out to employees of the financial products division, a global unit that issued derivatives called credit default swaps that helped sink AIG as a whole last year.

The agreement to return the money followed a firestorm of criticism and some arm-twisting from New York's attorney general. AIG has come under heavy criticism because the bonuses were given to employees after the company received $170 billion in government bailout money.

"I applaud the employees who are returning the bonuses," Cuomo said during a conference call with reporters. "I think they are being responsive to the American people."

Cuomo said 9 of the 10 people receiving the largest awards have agreed to return their bonus. Cuomo said some others have refused to return the money, while others are still considering it.

"We are deeply gratified that a vast majority of Financial Products' senior leadership have expressed a willingness to forsake their recent retention payments," wrote AIG spokeswoman Christina Pretto in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press. She added that the company is continuing to review the responses of the other employees.

AIG Chief Executive Edward Liddy told Congress last week that some of the employees were willing to give the money back. But Liddy has expressed concern that the company may not be able to attract and retain talented employees if they believe their compensation is subject to adjustment by the Treasury.

Pretto said Monday that a "handful" of senior-level executives have resigned from the financial products division, and that there will likely be more resignations to come.

"We do believe that at this point it's all manageable," she said.

Cuomo said he doesn't plan to release the names of the employees who have agreed to return the bonuses, and said there is no implied threat that if an employee doesn't consent to returning the bonus that their name will be released. Cuomo had sought the names of the employees who received bonuses from Liddy through a subpoena.

He said his office is continuing to assess the security of the employees.

About 400 employees and future employees in AIG's financial products division received bonuses. Documents provided by AIG to the Treasury Department said the awards ranged from $1,000 to nearly $6.5 million. Seven employees were to receive more than $3 million. Last week Cuomo said AIG paid bonuses of $1 million or more to 73 employees, including 11 who no longer work there.

Separately, Connecticut's consumer protection division has subpoenaed AIG, demanding that the contracts and names of employees who received the bonuses be provided by March 27. Gov. M. Jodi Rell has said she wants the division to determine whether the bonuses can be voided under the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act.

AIG's financial products division is headquartered in Wilton, Conn.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal says his office also demanded the bonus recipients' names and the amounts.

Last week, the House passed a plan to slap a punitive, 90 percent tax on bonuses paid to AIG employees whose family income surpasses $250,000. Not all of the AIG employees earned more than the income threshold specified by the House bill.

But President Obama has signaled opposition to the House's tax bill on constitutional grounds.

The Senate is soon expected to take up its own plan on the tax.

Artikel aus der Washington Post

Hmm ...

"Realitätsverlust"
bezeichnet die Unfähigkeit eines Menschen, das eigene Handeln mit der Objektivität der realen Welt und der Denkweise seines Umfeldes in Einklang zu bringen.

Quote von Cnn.com:
Connecticut attorney general says AIG understated bonuses

AIG's Connecticut-based Financial Products unit paid $218 million in bonuses, not the $165 million that the company acknowledged this month, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal told CNN Saturday.

Link

Our Blessings ...

von Tracy Lawrence der Song "As Easy as Our Blessings" vom Album "For the Love"

Lately I've been having more nights that I can't sleep
Storms of life keep blowing in sometimes it gets so heavy
It drives me to my knees and it's coming down again
Then a voice inside reminds me of the roof over my head
And my wife and kids are tucked away warmly in their beds

{Chorus}
Up in heaven sometimes I wonder if God sits there and listens
To all his children thinking it'd be nice if we'd forget our troubles as easy as our blessings

Suddenly I don't feel like counting what I need
So I start counting what I have when times are at their toughest
My wife still stands by me and my children make me laugh
Then I crawl back in bed and start to think as I lay there
Could it be that he's already heard and answered all my prayers

{Chorus}

It'd be nice if we'd forget our troubles as easy as our blessings

As easy as our blessings

H A L L O ...!!

Leute, wie die Zeit vergeht....

Ich habe gerade schon ziemlich gestaunt, daß mein letzter Eintrag am 23.06.2007 war.

Nun wollte ich mich mal wieder bloggenderweise melden und zwar mit eine Nachricht, die mal nichts mit Wirtschaftkrise oder den Trümmern des Kölner Stadtarchives oder mit Andersons Pam-pelmuse oder mit Vanessa Civiellos Skandälchen zu tun hat...

In meinem Eintrag vom 31.12.2006 hatte ich schonmal einen Link zu Corot gesetzt und mit diesem Thema geht es jetzt weiter, da die NASA am Freitag erfolgreich das "Kepler"-Teleskop gestartet hat.

QUOTE von heute.de:
"Den bisher kleinsten Planeten außerhalb unseres Sonnensystems hatten Astronomen mit Hilfe des französischen Satelliten "Corot" nachgewiesen. Der Durchmesser des Planeten Corot-Exo-7b ist weniger als doppelt so groß wie derjenige der Erde. Auf seiner Oberfläche ist es jedoch 1000 bis 1500 Grad Celsius heiß.

Die Sterne, die "Kepler" beobachtet, liegen in unserer Milchstraße und sind einige 100 bis einige 1000 Lichtjahre von der Erde entfernt. Das Teleskop schaut in eine besonders sternenreiche Region in den Sternbildern Leier und Schwan. Es wird dabei weiter um die Sonne kreisen. Ungestört von der Erdatmosphäre hat "Kepler" jedoch einen weit besseren Blick auf die Himmelskörper als erdgebundene Teleskope. Die Beobachtungsregion ist zugleich so weit nördlich der Erde, dass das Licht unserer Sonne nicht stört."