Destruction and Missiles

Dragon Head Estate’s Destruction

South Hampton Village, Long Island – On 640 Meadow Lane, a landmark Long Island Mansion is being destroyed by Calvin Klein. Dragon Head/Elysium estate is a 55,000-square-foot home, with a complete ocean front view of the Atlantic, which sits on 10 acres land. It was built in 1924 as a Chester town House by Henry Francis Du Pont. When Du Point perished in 1969 his family auctioned the house off to Baby Jane Holzer. The house was not remolded until Barry Trupin purchased it in 1979 for $330,000. In 1992 Trupin was indicted upon tax evasion, forcing him to sell the gloomy castle estate. A real estate developer, Francesco Galesi bought it for $2.3 million renaming Dragon Head to Elysium in 1993. Trupin hoped to sell for $8 million but fell short. Finally Calvin Klein bought Elysium for $28.9 million in 2003. The house was considered the biggest East End house until 1999, when Fair Field’s 100,000-square-foot complex was built in Sagaponack.

Unfortunately, after six years of living in the castle mansion Mr. Klein decided to remodel to a smaller, greener house made of stucco and steel. The destruction and rebuilding is due to take place later this year. Klein plans to build a 17,850-square-foot home that is lower than 50-feet tall to suite the local community. Review boards were passed to inspect the houses historical value inside and out. The wrecking ball has gotten the approval for demolition, but they are still testing the roads to see if it can handle the heavy castle stone. Any expensive artifacts from the house shall be sold on auction.

Dragon Head/Elysium is an amazing site to see, almost as if it were picked out of a fairy tale. The massive estate cannot be missed for those traveling on Meadow Lane to Montauk Point. Fellow South Hampton Villagers are thrilled to see the transformation of Dragon Head into a more accepting home. The 50 foot tall house is conforming to meet local height and zoning laws, that Trupin broke many of during his design. Ever since, local residents have despised the mansion due to its cold, dark look.

Personally I feel that they should keep the house but the owner begs to differ. It has been a historical landmark standing on long island for years. The mansion itself is amazing just to pass by when traveling along Meadow Lane. It feels like you left Long Island and traveled back to Medieval Times.

North Korea Rocket Launch

North Korea – The North Korean Communist country is planning to launch a rocket containing a communications satellite. The launch date is not announced yet but will take place at a base in Hwadae. However, testing of long range missile launchings took place in 1998 and 2006. Taepodong-1 and Taepodong-2 were the missiles used, one of them being a stage three rocket. The Korean Central News announced “that preparations to launch a rocket Unha-2 to put a communications satellite Kwangmyongsong-2 into orbit. When the satellite is successfully launched, Korean space technology will make a huge step in becoming an economically strong country.” The U.S. is worried that Alaska could become a target for the missile, since the last launch failed landing in the ocean. Seoul and Pyongyang have been under recent peace agreements. China and Japan are taking caution against this recent statement. U.S. Secretary of state Hilary Clinton feels a test-launch would be “un-helpful”. South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang-hee, urged North Korea to provide evidence of a satellite rather than just launch. Nevertheless, North Korea tested a nuclear weapon in October 2006. Experts say they do not have the technology yet to mouth a small nuclear head on a missile.Kim Jong-II North Korea's Leader suffered a stroke in 2008, some believe this is why he is acting out.

I personally have a mixed bag of feelings upon North Korea launching rockets. Since they are using it for satellite communications that would strengthen their country. Being that they are a separated country from South Korea and a communist country. This could be setting the stage for a catastrophic disaster. Nuclear testing started in October 2006; it has been almost 3 years. I am sure they have the capability to produce a dirty missile attack to any enemy. The test however carried out days after American and South Korean officials urged them not to. You can advise someone not to do something but ultimately it is up to them, this is what we are witnessing. The “Red Scare” still exists in the heart of many fellow Americans.

Unemployment

Three weeks of Vicarious Tomb has embellished upon our naked eye to realize an actualization of what is occurring upon in this life on earth. This week we are going to tackle unemployment. Unemployment is a distasteful word for many to utter around the world. If you currently are working no matter how bad the job is you should be happy. We are in a recession that has been around since Dec 2007, prior to the last year of the President Bush’s second administration. We are watching the media contently to see what current trends unfold each day for us the people.
As of last quarter in 2008, employment lost 2.6 million workers forcing U.S. unemployment to increase. Have no fear 92.8 percent of people are employed in the United States as they endure the economy’s threshold to Panics, Recession, Crisis and Depressions. Currently, as of the Bureau of Labor Statistics had announced in number that woman held 49.1 percent of the jobs in our current economy. Being that layoffs are common now they produce our economical slow down. America has only 7.6 million people unemployed of a mere 234,739 million in the labor force. The trends are very fitting to induce commentators to say that our current economy is similar to a post war depression era.
Global economies are having similar events take place all over the world. Even foreign competitors are being hurt in the export department. China’s economy recently endured 20 to 130 million workers sent home unemployed. This was due to the lack of exports. The Irish Republic has set a record since 1967 for jobless. Ireland has been in recession since Sept 2008. Firms in England and Wales have had a major decrease in jobs losses. It looks like the entire world is failing in job markets that are needed to strengthen the economy.
Barack Obama has set a new standard for executive pay in the economy: The $500,000 salary cap was issued except for stocks, a disclosed pay for shareholders in a nonbinding vote, and bonuses taken back if there is falsity. This will hopefully level out the economy in reinvesting money for instead of misuse guidance’s and bad spending that CEO’s used in the past. President Obama is using the John F. Kennedy approach to Keynesian economics. In Keynesian economics they used deficit spending to stimulate the economy in time of recession to stimulate growth of the Union. Tax cuts are a must for this type of economy to succeed in a depressed economy. Being that these bills need to be passed in the house, senate and get an executive signature are less favorable from economists of the 1960s experience. The stimulus package from the senate has currently been etched out at $884 to 900 billion. Still the American people are waiting for a change in society as the era of a new presidency unfolds. The new job industry is kicking a greener view upon a cleaner earth, to establish alternative energy sources for jobs in the still young industry. Jobs are still at an all time low in our current recession. However, the main focus is our eco-system due to global warming becoming a rapid issue.
Unemployment is a serious issue in our society and should not be passed over due to its impact on family life. These people strengthen the bond in an economy to empower the nation and inspire students to get a real job in building a better America. Let us dig deeper and view the impact of one man’s life due to unemployment.
Thomas Swartz an ex-auto salesman was recently forced unemployed due to a company’s down size. It has been three months since Mr. Swartz has worked. Being the age of 33 Swartz is fortunate that Mrs. Swartz is currently working in the health care industry to provide for his two sons and daughter. Swartz can file for a 1099-G tax statement for an unemployment check, but that will not last long for his family’s expenses. “I am really worried about the future for the job market” the man quoted; expressing that jobs have moved away from the New York area ever since Wall Street fell. Resumes have been distributed, e-mails for position inquiries, applications applied to, online job hunting sites explored and still no luck for Thomas. “No one wants to purchase goods or invest because they do not trust these companies.” We can only hope in times of an economic depression that we will make it through and will become a stronger United States of America.