The Government & The Stimulus Money

Just a few comments about the stimulus money that was passed by Congress and signed into law by the President.

First, the package passed by Congress spreads the stimulus money, mainly for infrastructure building/repair, over a two year period. Why? Well we all want some kind of accountability for the money, and you can't just start handing out billions of bucks without some strings attached. The package has been criticized for not being "front loaded;" that is, with most of the infrastructure spending being dished out in a matter of months. Simultaneously, members of both political parties want controls on the money, so that waste is kept low. Remember, Congress, like it or not, represents us, and we are subject to such split personalities, too. I'm not sure they (Congress and the Obama Administration) or WE, in the public, can have things both ways: fast spending to pump up the economy and jobs, but also a close accounting of how the money is being spent.

Second, I tune into CNBC, a cable business channel, at various times to listen to the business issues of the day, so to speak (I DON'T stay glued to the television, however, during their discussions), and just in the last day or two I heard something to the effect how China has done such a better job of "front loading" their stimulus money, as compared to our own program. Hmm, this is a bit puzzling to me, as so many business and wealthy people seem to hate government. The key word is "seem." One thing, in my opinion, that wealthy people do very well is....ADAPT!!! They will do, say, or be whatever they need to do, say or be in order to come out ahead of the game. We've heard much contempt for government since about the 1960s, with the anti-government rhetoric being especially harsh in the past thirty years. Businesses and the wealthy told us how government "should get out of the way and let free enterprise flourish." After getting much of their wish, free enterprise not only came to a screeching halt, but went into a nosedive, costing millions of Americans their jobs, homes, medical care. Many have had their lives ruined for whatever number of years they still have to live. The anti-government talk of some business people ceased, and they preferred to offer an open palm to Uncle Sam, with the hope that their now favorite long lost uncle might lay some cash on them (and he did, in some cases!).

So now, China, a country so hated by many of these same folks (or the likes) over the last 60 years, has a government that works better than ours? Is that the message?* I never heard the question asked, "To avoid wasteful spending, are they watching how the money is being spent?"


* For those unaware, China has moved in a significant way toward a free economy, but the overall country is still under the control of the Chinese Communist Party, and that includes the stimulus money they have put forward.

Word History:
Trough-While the spelling and modern pronunciation don't match (one of the major headaches for people trying to learn English is our non standard spelling, or is it our non standard pronunciation? Whatever the hell it is!!!), in times past, the "gh" sound WAS pronounced, and only later did the "f" sound take over. It seems that most linguists agree that it goes back to Indo European "drukos," which was formed by the root word "dru," which meant "tree, wood." The Germanic branch of Indo European took this as "trugoz," for "a holder, container or vessel made from wood." Old English continued this line with "trog," and close English relatives modern German and Dutch still have "Trog." The hollowed out shape of a "trough" began the notion of a weather trough, or an economic dip.

The Word On Some Other People

Regular readers will recall that I recently did a series of articles about why we use the names we do for various groups of people. I stuck with names of some of the Germanic groups, as these groups are more closely related to English, which is a Germanic language. Now, I'll move on to some other groups.

Greek-For such an influential group of people, the history of this word is a bit obscure. For quite some time, these folks were known as "Hellenes," the name of a particular ancient tribe, but it seems that Aristotle began the use of "Graikhos" in place of "Hellenes." The question is, "Why?" Some linguists claim that an ancient group of people called the Illyrians (essentially the ancestors of modern Albanians) used a form of this word for the people living in and around Epirus (a Greek city), but other linguists aren't so sure, with some claiming that it came from ancient Greek settlers from a coastal town named "Graia," who then crossed over into southern Italy, there encountering the Romans. The Romans then used "Graeci" as their own word for all "Greeks." Whatever the origins of the word, Old Germanic picked up a form of the word from Latin "Graeci;" Old Greek had "Grakoi." In Old English is was "Crecas," a plural form, with the "c" pronounced with the hard sound, like "k." Gothic, another Germanic language now extinct, had "Kreks." Later in English, the "C" became "G," and the spelling was therefore altered to "Grecas," before the modern spelling was adopted. I should note that the Romans took a number of words from Greek, and eventually some of these words found their way into other languages, including English (See "Turk," below). Also, Greek is an Indo European language, related to English further down the family tree.

Hun-The Chinese called these people from central Asia "Han" (short "a," like in "father") and "Hiong-nu." Turkic groups called them "Hunyu," which seems to have been picked up by Latin as "Hunni." It would seem that English got the word from Latin, and in Old English is was "Hunas," a plural form, with the "u" being long. The Huns came roaring into Europe during the 4th and 5th Centuries, A.D., and their one leader has been famous the world over, "Attila," usually known in English with the addition of "the Hun." The Huns eventually settled down and operated out of an area in southeastern Europe, and the area therefore became known as Hungary, in English, from Latin "Hungaria, but Latin seems to have gotten the word from Greek "Oungroi." Another group of people, the Magyars, who were related to the Huns, eventually moved into this area, but the name stuck, and the country is still called Hungary and the people Hungarians, although these people don't use either term, but rather a form of Magyar for both.

Greed Has No Conscience

The greedy bastards are right back at it, folks! Oil and gasoline are soaring, just as if we've learned nothing about the economic mess we plunged into. The self-centered, egomaniacs will do anything and everything to get that money, even though they already have plenty. Then, I'm sure, they'll turn around and whine about their taxes going up 3% and perhaps having to live by some rules and regulations of the "free markets," which is a term they choose to use so they can gouge us at every turn; all the while cutting workers pay and/or benefits. The income gap in America didn't get to be the way it is because things are fair to middle and lower income Americans. If the Obama Administration allows this crap to start all over, then they'll go the way of Bush and his minions. And they deserve it! They need to take a stand now, before this all heads off any chance for an economic recovery.

I'm not saying that 99 cent a gallon gasoline should prevail, but what these people already did to us should serve as a reminder as to what they will do again, if left unchecked. If all the millions and millions of dollars in bonuses made you angry, then you need to focus on what's happening NOW! Don't let the economic downturn, or Pakistan, or health care, or any other issues distract you from the doings of these ever greedy bastards!*** Write a letter or send an email to your congressional representative and your senators, as well as to the White House.

In the past year, we've heard consideration of nationalizing banks, insurance companies and auto companies (taxpayers already own like 75-80% of insurance company, AIG, and varying percentages of some banks, with auto companies to follow, but these are "probably" temporary measures, and should be such). What really needs to be nationalized are ENERGY products!!! We've still got all of these vital products in the hands of the greedy, and the greedy have no conscience. They'll further ruin the country for their own interests.

*** I'm NOT saying that these issues and others aren't important, they most certainly are important.

Word History:
Big-While this is an extremely common word today, it only seems to have come into English usage during the 1300s, and this was in the dialects of northern England where there was much influence from Old Norse, a North Germanic language, leading many linguists to believe it was brought to England by the Danes, and some linguists feel there is a connection to the Norwegian dialect word "bugge," meaning "great or important man;" however, the other Germanic languages do not have any known forms of the word. Gradually the word moved south across England. No other reliable information is available on the origins of "big." Initially, the word meant "powerful, strong." The notion of being "strong" or "powerful" progressed to the meaning of "large" by the latter part of the 1300s. Just a little note, "bigwig" came from the notion of the large wigs worn by important men in England.