12.31.12 - Happy Cliff Year!

Mack Hall

Mhall46184@aol.com
31 December 2012

Cliff Dwellers

“Adieu! / Lest our old robes sit easier than our new!”

-      Macduff in Macbeth II.iii.37-38

Whether or not any American citizen will tumble off any cliffs, real or metaphorical, remains to be seen. 

When visiting the Grand Canyon, the sight-seer is cautioned regarding the nature of gravity by numerous signs, and yet numerous young men – because men are stupid – fall screaming to their deaths each year while posing for a daring picture beyond the warning signs.  That’s a bad cliff.

People making $250,000 a year might find themselves flung off a metaphorical cliff for being industrious and thrifty.  This menace comes from a government and a populace unclear on economics – very few people draw a paycheck for $250,000 a year, except perhaps for the beautiful people who run non-profits.  A small business – a dentist’s office, a large-ish beauty salon, a farm, a store - run by someone working 12 hours a day may well generate that much revenue in a year, but most of that money goes away again for rent, utilities, layers of taxes, salaries, insurance, and the supplies or commodities necessary for the business. 

Dental fillings, haircuts, food, and clothing do not come from fairies or elves or vague good feelings; they are the result of hard, intelligent work.  Envy of people who work is as old as Cain and Abel.

In Syria a taxi driver and Christian named Andrei Arbash was beheaded and his body thrown to the dogs after his brother complained about the Syrian Free Army acting like the sort of people who would behead Christians.  Our nation supports the Syrian Free Army.  That’s a bad cliff too.

Hobby Lobby, a chain of stores selling debris for decorators to assemble, glue, paint, and cover with feathers, is being pushed off a cliff by our own government, though as yet there is no anticipation that anyone will have his head chopped off.  Hobby Lobby refuses to assist its employees in killing their babies, and so must be punished.

While the federal minimum wage is $7.25, Hobby Lobby pays its entry-level full-time employees $11.  Still, our freely-elected government feels that this extra compensation cannot cover killing babies, so Hobby Lobby will be fined $1.3 million dollars per day until the little corpses begin stacking up outside the incinerators.  That’s a rough cliff for Hobby Lobby and their 13,000 workers, and a rougher one for children.

Saudi Arabia reports that their police arrested some 43 people at the private residence of an unnamed Asian diplomat for “plotting to celebrate Christmas” (SyndiGate.info).  Note that the arrests were not for celebrating Christmas, but for plotting to celebrate Christmas.  Lots of American soldiers were killed defending foreign oil companies and the Family Saud from Saddamn Hussein.  The Family Saud show their appreciation by throwing everyone off the cliff.

The American Red Cross has issued a somewhat indignant statement about inaccurate emails regarding the salary of CEO Gail McGovern.  Ms. McGovern’s base pay is only $500,000 per year, thank you (http://www.redcross.org/news/press-release/Red-Cross-Statement-on-Inaccurate-Viral-Email-on-Charity-CEO-Pay).  The residents of Haiti, Sandi Hook, coastal Mississippi, coastal Louisiana, and all of East Texas (Rita and Ike – you may have heard of them) will be relieved that Ms. McGovern can afford her own hot lunch and a big blue tarp to cushion her fall from any cliffs than come meandering along.

Hey, Happy Cliff Year, everyone.  Let us hope our new robes sit well enough upon us.

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