Todays Thought

The real index of civilization is when people are kinder than they need to be. 

-Louis de Bernieres, novelist (b. 8 Dec 1954)

The top 1% of American earners now own more wealth than the entire middle class

The top 1% of American earners now own more wealth than the entire middle class

The top 1% of American earners now control more wealth than the nation’s entire middle class, federal data show.

More than one-quarter of all household wealth, 26.5%, belongs to Americans who earn enough money to rank in the top percentile by income, according to Federal Reserve statistics through mid-2023.

The top 1% holds $38.7 trillion in wealth. That’s more than the combined wealth of America’s middle class, a group many economists define as the middle 60% of households by income. Those households hold about 26% of all wealth.

Low-income Americans, representing the bottom 20% by income, own about 3% of the wealth.

Todays Thought

If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all. 

-Noam Chomsky, linguistics professor and political activist (b. 7 Dec 1928)

Layed off?

 I'm the former Microsoft VP of HR. Here's what I would do in the first 48 hours of being laid off from a job.

1. Read carefully

2. Consider pushing back

3. Consider legal options

4. Tune up your résumé and LinkedIn

5. Go modest when taking it public

6. Work your network

Apartments near Metrocenter in Phoenix

 Scottsdale-based company makes way for apartments near Metrocenter in Phoenix

Scottsdale-based MK Company is developing Metro Lofts, located near 29^th and Dunlap avenues, just south of the mall. The four-story apartment complex will have one- and two-bedroom units, and residents will have the ability to rent a garage, which will come pre-wired for electric vehicles.

Todays Word

 

diablerie

PRONUNCIATION:

(dee-AH-bluh-ree or dee-AB-luh-ree) 

MEANING:

noun:
1. Sorcery; witchcraft; black magic.
2. A representation of devils or demons in art or literature.
3. Mischievous manner or conduct.

ETYMOLOGY:

From French diable (devil), from Latin diabolus (devil), from Greek diabolos (slanderer), from diaballein (to slander), from dia- (across) + ballein (to hurl). Earliest documented use: 1653.

USAGE:

“[The hat] unquestionably lent a diablerie to my appearance, and mine is an appearance that needs all the diablerie it can get.”
P.G. Wodehouse; Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves; Simon & Schuster; 1963.

Todays Thought

I don't believe in playing down to children, either in life or in motion pictures. I didn't treat my own youngsters like fragile flowers, and I think no parent should. Children are people, and they should have to reach to learn about things, to understand things, just as adults have to reach if they want to grow in mental stature. Life is composed of lights and shadows, and we would be untruthful, insincere, and saccharine if we tried to pretend there were no shadows. Most things are good, and they are the strongest things; but there are evil things too, and you are not doing a child a favor by trying to shield him from reality. 

-Walt Disney, entrepreneur and animator (5 Dec 1901-1966)