“Not-so-personal finance”

I don’t write much about personal finance, mostly because I still don’t really feel that I have any idea what I’m talking about. It is a topic I’m very interested in, however, as you can tell by the sheer number of PF blogs on my blogroll.

Money, possibly because I’ve never had much, fascinates me. How much people have, how they spend it, why they save it, how people live — I really enjoy talking about it. Among my friends, the only real taboo that comes up in conversations like these is the sometimes vast difference between what people make. As a journalist, for instance, I’m never going to make as much as a computer programmer. I sometimes have a real problem with envy, but for the most part I enjoy talking with my friends about this kind of stuff.

How does this match up with the old prohibition against talking about money, politics and religion? Well, according to the New York Times, not much for my generation.

Still, young workers seem somewhat less likely to adhere to this convention than older ones. The study found that 90 percent of those over 35 who were surveyed agreed with the statement “you should never let your co-workers know how much you make,” while 84 percent of subjects under 35 agreed.

But between friends almost anything is fair game. Beth Kobliner, the author of the best-selling “Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties,” said she had noticed that many young people now “have no idea what their boomer parents earn, but know every intimate detail about their close friends’ salaries, 401(k)s and debt loads.”

I do know what my best friend  and my boyfriend make, and I think I have a general idea of the range into which most of my friends fall. The Times looked at the popularity of social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace and saw a pattern that, for once, I don’t disagree with.

“This is a generation that is much more attuned to teamwork, collaboration and sharing information,” he said. “Everything they do is a kind of group event. How do you know, when you get your first job offer, if $45,000 is a good offer, a bad offer or an O.K. offer? You go to your friends.”

I went to my boyfriend and the journalist community on Livejournal when I got the offer from my current job. They helped me look at the whole package, not just the first number.

I’m optimistic that conversations like this are a breakthrough, that people sharing this kind of information will help people make better decisions. I don’t think I’ll ever reach the level of Obsessive Consumption, in which the author posts drawings of everything she’s bought for the month, but I’ve thought about doing something similar. What’s holding me back? The fear that showing my friends what I actually spend my money on will make them like me less, which I realize is completely irrational.

Come together

I think the thing that most concerns me about the election thus far is the 28 percent of Clinton backers who say they’d vote for McCain if Obama gets the nomination. (Not to be outdone, 19 percent of Obama backers say they would vote for McCain if Clinton won the nomination.) After eight years of complaining about Bush, we have two candidates who essentially hold the same positions on most of the big issues (abortion, climate change, the economy, health care, immigration and Iraq) versus one who could generally called Bush light, and we’re completely ignoring the big picture in favor of petty favoritism. Yeah. I like one candidate significantly more than the other, but I’m more concerned that the right-wing religious crazies leave the Capitol than whether or not my guy gets in.

This is the Dems race to lose, people, and yet it looks like the Democratic party might once again shoot itself in the foot. I don’t mean to be hyperbolic, but can this country survive another four years of Bush’s policies?

Politics 101 – Joint Resolution

Sometimes (alas, far too rarely) a term actually means exactly what it sounds like.

Joint Resolution: An action in Congress – often used to convey Congress’s opinion on an issue – that both branches must approve by a two-thirds vote before the president can sign it into law. A joint resolution, and not a bill, is used to propose a constitutional amendment. Those type of amendments are not sent to the president, but three quarters of the states must ratify them to become law.

Real-life example in the Indian Country Today:

Maine endorses UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

by: Gale Courey Toensing

The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives voted unanimously April 15 on a joint resolution in support of the declaration, which was adopted by the U.N. General Assembly Sept. 13, 2007, in a historic vote of 143 states in favor to 4 against, with 11 abstentions. The U.S. joined Canada, Australia and New Zealand as the only nations opposing the declaration. Significantly, all four countries have substantial indigenous populations that can claim large areas of land.

Do we even have private lives anymore?

The CEO of my company is apparently a huge fan of professional networking sites like LinkedIn and Naymz. I joined LinkedIn on his suggestion right after I was hired, and recently I’ve been getting a number of invitations for Naymz. I got another invite today, and I decided to talk to the HR woman about whether they actually use it in hiring. She said she personally doesn’t; she believes in a separation of work and personal lives, but that she knows of one hiring manager who already had reasons to fire someone finding a final reason on that person’s MySpace. Kind of the last straw, so to speak. She also said that, had the hiring manager found this guy’s MySpace before hiring the employee, he might have thought twice about hiring him in the first place. At lunch today the subject came up when one of the women in another department mentioned that she had recently used Facebook to gauge whether or not to hire someone. I expected a conversation about privacy vs. the right to use what people put out about themselves, but no one even blinked. Apparently it’s much more accepted than I thought.

I’m completely intrigued by how people use these sites (MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn, Naymz, etc) professionally. I know that I’ve censored myself in the little “Jessica is…” part of Facebook since I added a couple coworkers to my friends. Sometimes I want to say “Jessica is completely frustrated and annoyed by her jackass boss.” but I don’t because who knows if it would get back to him? I can’t say, personally, whether I would use those types of sites if I was ever in a hiring position, but I think it would be hard not to personally judge a person for comments or pictures on their profile. Sites like LinkedIn and Naymz fascinate me less, because it’s much more professionally-based from the beginning, so it’s unlikely you’d have someone asking you about that guy you banged last week or the quart of whiskey you drank yesterday, but it’s still interesting to see how people respond to them. Naymz has a “recommend” feature where you can give your opinion about someone on your list. I haven’t explored the site much because I don’t think I want to join it, but I’m curious if the person can see what is written about them, or whether it’s expressed in a percentage. For instance, the HR woman at work said that one of the questions on the recommendation list is “Do you find this person honest and trustworthy?” If I were to join and she was to say that she doesn’t think I’m honest and trustworthy, could I see that? If I could, how would that impact my working relationship with her?

There’s also the question of how these sites change your relationships with your bosses. I’m on the CEO’s contact list on LinkedIn. I personally still have a bit too much of the “boss awe” going on to try to use that contact in ways that might be outside the norm, but what about employees who are younger than me and who might not have been raised the way I was? Are we entering a period when it might be ok for the new hire to send a message to the CEO on LinkedIn and initiate a personal relationship (personal within the professional, I doubt the CEO would go out for a beer with the new hire, but you know what I mean) with him? You always read about how Generation X had no respect for authority and was trying to “break down the walls” between so-called inferiors and their betters, but is it possible that this new generation, whatever you want to call it, is actually doing it?

Isn’t this stuff fascinating?

Politics 101-Blanket Primary

With all the madness inherent in the ongoing primary season, some states have more straightfoward primaries than others.

Blanket primary: A primary in which all candidates from both parties are included on the same ballot. This is different from single party primaries when Democratic and Republican nominees use separate ballots.

Real life example in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

State’s ‘Top Two’ primary upheld by U.S. justices

By ANGELA GALLOWAY
P-I REPORTER

Washington voters might again enjoy free-for-all primary election ballots, thanks to a Supreme Court decision that struck a blow to political parties’ long-running battle to control the rules of such elections.

The high court voted 7-2 Tuesday to uphold the state’s “Top Two” primary, which allows voters to select freely among political parties for various contests without pledging even temporary allegiance to a party.

While the political parties said their legal battle is far from over, Secretary of State Sam Reed said Washington will use the “Top Two” system for the first time in August.

“This is a great day for the voters of Washington state,” Reed said. “We’ve had a history in our state of people believing that they have the right to control the election process that selects their public officials.”

Still, the political parties might renew their legal challenge before voters cast a single such ballot, party officials said.

“The story is not over yet,” said Republican Party Chairman Luke Esser. “This is just the end of Chapter 1.”

David McDonald, attorney for state Democrats, said the ruling was “narrow” and the underlying lawsuit is still in play. “They haven’t necessarily validated the (open primary) statute in all circumstances,” McDonald said.

Under a “Top Two” system, whichever two candidates get the most votes advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation or the preference of the state party organizations. Handily approved by voters in 2004, the system has never been tried here because of the parties’ lawsuit.

Writing for the majority, Justice Clarence Thomas said overturning voters’ decision now would have been an “extraordinary and precipitous nullification of the will of the people.”

It was the second time the state’s major political parties sued to block Washington’s popular, populist primary election tradition.

The “Top Two” plan was meant to replace Washington’s previous “blanket primary,” one of the nation’s oldest systems to allow voters to split their tickets. That system was tossed out by federal courts after the major parties sued, asserting a First Amendment right to select their own nominees without outside interference.

Seeking to similarly block the “Top Two” system, the parties said it was their prerogative to choose who represents their organizations in general elections, which is achieved in many states by allowing only registered party members to cast primary ballots.

By contrast, the “Top Two” rules allow candidates to self-identify party affiliations on ballots. In other words, they may describe themselves as Democrats or Republicans, even if they were not the chosen nominee of the party organizations.

It’s Photo Friday!

 I could be all “hip” and call it “Foto Friday” but I really loathe that.

I was walking to the Metro Thursday morning when I came upon a man walking his cat.

Yes, his cat. So, of course, I had to stop and ask him about how on earth he got his cat to walk on a leash. He said the cat liked to go outside, and having her on a leash prevented her from escaping. Then the guy started talking (apropos of absolutely nothing) about how the U.S. government is illegally asking for information via passport applications, so I made my excuses and hurried to work.

So anyway, here are my kitties!

Teach your children well?

I’m really frustrated by creationists. Not only are they lying to their children, they’re taking so much of the joy of the natural world away from kids right when they should be reveling in it. Watch this video and try not to get absolutely irate.

Fossils are boring? Fossils are boring?! I remember when I was a little kid, going to the natural history museum with my class and having the opportunity to hold a trilobite fossil. I thought it was absolutely the coolest thing in the whole world, not only this rock with the pretty designs in it, but the fact that I was holding a rock that had, 50 million years ago, been alive. When I was in Ireland, I went to Belfast and visited the natural science museum. They had a lot of incredibly cool things, including a skeleton of a Giant Irish Deer, which lived about 400,000 years ago.This picture doesn’t do this gigantic beast justice–it was HUGE. And TERRIFYING. You hear ‘deer’ you think timid little forest creature, right? Bambi’s mom, nuzzling her baby with her velvet-soft muzzle. Not this deer.

In appearance, the Giant Deer was a magnificent animal. He stood at almost 2 metres high at the shoulders and is estimated to have weighed from 800 to 1000 lbs (364-454 kg) although it may well have been in excess of this. The most striking feature of this animal was his huge antlers which measured up to 4 metres along the curvature which are the largest antlers of any known deer, living or extinct.

This incredible animal was extinct in Ireland 4,500 years before young earth creationists believe that the earth came into being.

I have a lot of problems with religion, but I think this is my biggest pet peeve. Believe what you want. Let me believe (or not) as I want. But don’t lie. Don’t lie to your kids. Isn’t that one of your commandments?

Politics 101

I only actually took two political science classes in college, but I consider myself relatively well-informed. I read a lot, and I read a variety of things, but I still occasionally come across a term I don’t understand. The Washington Post has helpfully created a Politics Glossary in order to define those clumsy terms you might read in the paper. (Full disclosure: my BF helped develop this feature.)

In order to help people who read this blog but don’t really follow politics, I’m going to take one of these words a day and define it and provide a real example of the term. Hopefully you guys will find it interesting!

Ad Hoc Committee: A Latin phrase, meaning “for this purpose.” Committees are often deemed “ad hoc” when they form to propose temporary solutions for issues that require immediate attention. Once the issue is solved, the committee disbands.

Real life example: New Jersey newspaper The Daily Journal, in an article about a mayoral race:

The decision by Mayor Perry Barse’s administration to exclude the public from meetings by an ad hoc committee created to suggest changes to the city’s master plan shows a lack of transparency and accountability on the mayor’s part, his opponents in the May 13 municipal election say.

Boys go shopping

BF is reading a book called Call of the Mall, by Paco Underhill, which examines the “geography of shopping.” I haven’t read it yet, but BF was reading parts out loud to me this afternoon. In one part, the author was describing how useful it would be for stores to install benches or comfy chairs outside dressing rooms in order to give bored significant others something better to do than perch.

Somehow this got me thinking about something that’s been in the back of my mind for a while now-why don’t stores make little cards available to women who shop there that will have a list of the various types of clothes (shirts, pants, skirts, dresses, shoes, etc.) and a space for the women to write in their sizes? A separate card for each of the stores the woman frequents would alleviate the problem of being one size at one store and a totally different number at the store next door. When I mentioned this, BF looked at me as if I was a genius, and commented that if he had something like that he would definitely shop for clothes for me, which he would never dream of doing right now.

He’s right, the idea of a guy shopping for clothes for his significant other is so fraught with peril that most guys choose other routes, like our friend who only buys jewelry for his girlfriends. Jewelry, unlike clothes, is easy and doesn’t run the risk of offending or pissing off said girlfriend. Clothes, on the other hand, are rife with potential pitfalls. If he buys a size too small, is he saying she’s fat? If he buys a size too large, is he saying she’s fat? I’ve had friends who expect their boyfriends to automatically know what size pants, shirts, skirts and dresses they wear, despite those numbers being different at almost every single store where the girl shops.

I told this to BF, elaborating that maybe the girls expect the guys to furtively go through their closets, write down the relevant numbers, go to the store, pick something out and buy it, confident in their selection until they get home and find that vanity sizing has made size 6 the new size 0 and their girlfriend is pissed off and offended. BF said that, despite our having lived together for nearly four years, he would never dream of going through my clothes, even for something I would appreciate, like a new sweater or shirt.

BF, being entrepreneurial-minded, immediately started trying to think of ways to market and sell my little cards. We had an interesting back and forth-how would you get the women to change the cards should their sizes change? How about making them seasonal? A little card for summer and winter, since tank tops are sized differently than sweaters? How would you convince women to use them? Most women love presents from their significant others. A present from a store where the woman actually shops, in her size, is a tempting enough prospect to convince women to tell their true size. What would stop the guys from comparing measurements with their buds, as if the women were baseball players and the cards their batting, pitching and fielding stats? Well, if you really think your significant other is that much of a jerk, why are you with him?

Okay, that’s a bit simplistic, I realize. But seriously, is this something you would use? Guys, if you were given such a card, would you use it? Would you find a card like this helpful? My BF already said if he had cards like this there might be more clothing presents in my future, but my BF likes these kinds of analytical cheat sheets.

This is a potential business idea I’m mulling around, but I’m very curious about what you guys think. Go, or no go?

Decisions, decisions

I’m still not entirely sure what to make of this blog-should it be all politics, all the time? Should it be a merging of all the things I’m interested in, not only politics, but feminism, personal finance, books, travel, cats, cookings, etc, etc, etc? Sometimes I think I need to fill a niche in order to be successful, other times I wonder how I define success. Either way, I have this blog and this domain name and it’s going to waste. So, for the time being, I think I’ll just feel around and post the things that interest me. As I build up an audience, I may find that certain things are better received than others, and I’ll tailor my content toward those things.

I welcome suggestions for posts, or about the blog in general.