37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Matthew 22: 37-39
In attempting to keep the second greatest commandment, my family has a young lady from the local project housing development come stay with us once or twice a month. Every time I pick her up or take her home I see how sad things are. I hear people talk about "...just give them a chance" but the project housing is a chance and few seem to be trying to take advantage of that chance. The children lack so many social and basic skills that it is shocking. Some of them must be shown how to use the restroom without making a huge mess at nine and ten years old. It makes me wonder what goes on in their homes. Sometimes I will pick up our young lady and see that the kitchen is filthy with dishes and trash everywhere and when I drop her off later that day or the next, it looks the same and dad hasn't changed clothes. The mothers of these youngsters appear to be trying hard to get on their feet, and often have at least two jobs. The men on the other hand often just mill about during the day and seem to not be actively engaged in much of anything.
Nevertheless, we enjoyed taking her Christmas shopping for her family and hope that she can break out of her family's cycle. She is a sweet young lady and our girls really enjoy having her visit. I am hoping to get more local churches and families involved with this ministry.
And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
2 Corinthians 12:9
I have often heard this verse and not really known how it might feel until the last two months. I needed to write this down not only as a witness to others, but a reminder to myself for the next time I take my life for granted.
Last winter I loved my job more than any other time in my life. I was traveling about 25 or 30 percent, making great money, learning new things and just loving life. In February I began to question some of the financial dealings at work and could not seem to get decent answers to the questions I asked. Work became much less rewarding during the company's financial downturn and I could not seem to gain any satisfaction in that facet of my life. As with all things, dissatisfaction in one area will ALWAYS affect other parts of your life. It may come in varying degrees and some can control it better than others but it's there. I decided to seek a different job with the hope of regaining that rewarding feeling I had during 2007. I could not find a suitable opportunity in Knoxville and we felt led to look in the Northern Kentucky or Cincinnati Ohio area. I found a job with a Fortune 5 company that seemed like the perfect job on paper. Our family had spent the past two summers vacationing in this area and we were really excited about the change of scenery.
I moved to Kentucky while the family stayed behind to sell our house. The first week was spent learning every facet of the company's history, and began to give me a weird vibe all around. After three days of orientation where they tried to convince me my job was like a manufacturing process I finally got some projects assigned to me. One was writing secure hardening guides for servers which I have done on more than one occasion so I just had to tailor them to this company's environment. During this exercise I got my first paycheck. I noticed that I was paying TWO county income taxes, KY is an "occupational state" meaning you pay county taxes where you work, a city income tax and a state income tax. My 8% salary increase from leaving my previous company was more than gone with the 20%+ cost of living. I was stunned and also accepted that this was a lack of research on my part. During this time I had been paid a total of fourteen thousand dollars in house-hunting and temporary living expenses. I also soon realized that this company had some serious issues with their IT infrastructure at a foundational level. Some discussions with different folks made it apparent these issues were not going to be corrected anytime soon either. This lack of concern and efficiency coupled with the cost of living got me to start trying to move home. During the search, we went through several different emotions and most of them weren't good. The relocation agreement states I have to stay for a year or pay the money back. I simply couldn't stomach the thought of living apart for that long, and I certainly didn't have enough money to live apart that long anyway. Mrs. Dude was stuck in TN with all three babies and everything that goes along with that. Our stress level was horrible, even the smallest challenge could become monumental over seemingly nothing. We also had a deadline looming over paying back the 14k since we would incur the taxes on that money if we did not pay them back before the end of December. After finding a new position near Knoxville, I attempted to research the best way to terminate my employment since they shutdown on the 24th and don't reopen until January 5th. I didn't want to "steal" their vacation then walk out the first day back. I approached an HR person about this requesting confidentiality and received almost none. She was able to arrange for me to leave and still receive my benefits through the 26th as my new position doesn't start until the 29th. This allowed me to move home ASAP, AND still have some vacation with my family in Florida next week.
With the frustrations at work and personally while being in Kentucky I could not have even imagined a better scenario as this last week panned out. I felt so helpless and sad listening to some of the conflicts at home or having to deal with being apart from my family for so long. After all the struggles and conflicting emotions this was the most amazing answer to prayer I have ever experienced. It was a good experience for me to learn contentment with my current surroundings, i.e. Knoxville. I am not sorry I left my previous Knoxville employer as I met some neat people in Kentucky. One lady I met has a husband that desperately needs a heart transplant and I have enjoyed speaking with her and getting updates on his condition as time allowed. I have also learned that just because a company is big and successful doesn't mean it's a good career move. The last thing I want to mention is the verse I started with. We used that verse to name our newest family member "Gracie" that I brought home with me from Kentucky. She is a small Dachshund/Hound mix that seems to have captured the hearts of the whole family after our very interesting ordeal.
This article says that same-sex marriage supporters want you to "call in gay" on Wednesday to show how much the world needs the gay folk. First of all, isn't the percentage of gay folks so small that this would hardly matter? Secondly, are we now confirming that being gay is a sickness?
Tim Tebow is th emost impressive young man I have seen in years. A home-schooled kid that took the blame for his team's only loss this season. A kid that walk up to the media when he wins and says "I want to start by thanking my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.." AND is smart enough to know that God isn't orchestrating football wins. A young man brave enough to wear scripture on his eye black, though I am sure this will spread rapidly, with the verse: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Philippians 4:13
We need more young people like this today. Too bad he's a gator ;-).
I guess the answer to this is harder than most people think. If these three giants sink completely the ripple effect will be astounding. Massive unemployment from the companies themselves, but then also the backlash for all of their suppliers and parts makers. With that said, if someone chooses to give any of these companies some of that 700 billion not one dime better go to anyone at the executive level. They should ALL be canned with no severance and a government financial analyst should go in and fix the books as part of the package.
Is this guy serious? Don't most President's at least wait until they are in office to break all their promises. This guy is doing exactly what every other President has done and recycling Bill Clinton's government. The worst worst worst decision I have ever seen is making Hillary the Secretary of State. Are we seriously going to allow a junior senator that hasn't ever had a job to fill this position? When I first heard the news someone said "Clinton" and I though Bill might actually be a good choice but Obama couldn't even pick the right Clinton. This is not looking good so far. I was also talking to some co-workers a few days ago that voted for Obama and had never heard of the Born Alive Protection Act. Here is a link so you can know how truly evil this guy is in that respect. To sum it up, it allows a doctor to take the life of a child that survives the abortion process. This is beyond disgusting, and that's our President.
WARNING:Please don’t read if you think non-political experts have no business sharing their opinion about presidential candidates (or you’ll hold it against me for expressing my opinion)
WARNING 2: Not sure I’m adding anything new – my apologies ahead of time
OK, here’s my summary – first, I wish we had a two-party system.In many ways, we have a single party called the Democratic-Republicans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic-Republican_Party) which has done its fair share of slowly eroding, over the last 20 years, the foundation of our economy and made us less competitive globally.For instance, this current financial crisis started with Bill Clinton’s push to increase homeownership which resulted in blackmailing banks to give bad loans, which they only did when the government mandated that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy these bad loans from the banks.It wasn’t under-regulation that led to this mess, it was the wrong regulation/political pressure along with a congressionally mandated “mark to market” accounting rule that exacerbated the problem.In turn, the Republicans locally and nationally have subsidized large businesses at the expense of growth firms and have contributed, along with the Democrats, to the astronomical increases in education and healthcare costs that are breaking our backs ala Bush’s prescription drug plan.However, we only have two viable candidates to choose from, thanks to rules that exclude the other candidates on the ballot from participating in the presidential debates (a national disgrace), so here it goes:
Obama
The country has always been governed best from the middle – like Clinton and Reagan.
Obama’s policies will further drive up the costs and decrease the quality of education and healthcare (his tax credits and opposition to parental/patient choice); and his policies will further erode the environment that nurtures the growth engines of our economy and make us less competitive globally.As a leader himself, he’s like those 30 minute interviews where the candidate sounds impressive, but if judged by their past list of accomplishments there’s nothing there.There isn’t a single significant piece of legislation he’s ever introduced and/or caused to get passed.And if you prefer to judge someone by their actions (votes) vs. words (and by the people they hang out with) then Obama’s promises to lower taxes for 95% of Americans will be as hollow as his promise to take public campaign financing to avoid special interests.Overall, Obama reminds me of the kind of leader Pat Lencioni (author of Five Dysfunctions of a Team) warns us about who cares more about “getting the position” than “getting results”.He’s been running for President ever since he started working as a community organizer – and those are the worst kinds of leaders, but it often takes years to realize (and many of us have hired execs just like Obama, who interviewed well but broke our backs financially).And last, if I go back to Obama’s voting record, he’s been too extreme given the importance of being a “centrist” as Clinton and Reagan both demonstrated through their votes and actions (vs. mere words).In the end, we’re a country best governed from the middle.
McCain
McCain’s policies at least head us in the right direction.
From a quarter to a third of the time McCain voted against party-lines while Obama has voted almost 100% with party-lines (http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/is_it_true_john_mccain_voted_with.html ) – therefore, who is really willing to cross party-lines and compromise and be a leader for change.McCain is someone that cares more about results than position, as witnessed by his highly unpopular vote for the troop surge (at the risk of his primary candidacy) – and you don’t have to be for or against the surge to respect the decision he made based on his belief of what would get us the best results vs. what was political correct (we’re in the war, good or bad, so we have to make the best decisions moving forward).McCain was highly vocal, early on, about the potential problems with Fannie Mae, when it wasn’t popular, while Obama was silent as a major recipient of campaign contributions from Fannie Mae.McCain has always been a very centrist candidate which is why he’s had as much trouble with the far right as the far left – again, I think actions are more important than words.Most importantly, the next president is going to make two or three of the most important decisions in our immediate country’s future – who will likely sit on the Supreme Court.Obama has stated he’ll nominate people who believe the court should mold social policy which has gotten us into our fiscal mess in the first place.McCain has stated he’ll nominate people that more closely adhere to the intent of the constitution.Since I believe the future of our country rests on the Supreme Court vs. the Legislative or Executive Branches, it’s critical we elect McCain.
Palin/Biden – if Palin made just one of the major gaffes Biden did (his Hezbollah comments during the debate were one of many) or even Obama (“I would invade Pakistan”) the media would be in even more of a frenzy to destroy her than they are – however, the media has always been biased, though it seems more so this time than any past election I can remember.In essence, she’s the only one of the four that has any Executive Branch experience.Rather than “run with the pack” as most legislators do (again, Obama’s almost 100% voting record with the Democrats), an executive has to stick their neck out and lead, which she has in Alaska.BTW, my uncle was Governor of Alaska twice and helped get Palin elected, so I’m a little biased.
So, what’s the rationale/support for my conclusions – and what do I think are the real issues facing our country?
DETAILS:
Having a Strong Economy is the MOST Important Defense of Freedom and First Line of Defense in Providing Safety/Security – it IS all about the economy
The Supreme Court Has Failed our Country – our founding fathers worried that this would be the case and their predictions are coming true -- more on this later.
The Health of an Economy Is Measured by the Number of “Gazelles” – though they typically represent only 3% - 4% of all “small” businesses, they exclusively generate all the net new jobs in an economy and most of the innovation – this last point being key.They have been particularly important to the U.S.’s global success up to this point in history.FYI, the Top 10 fastest growing firms among the DS100 in the OIC (Organization of Islamic Conference) member countries in 2007 were ALL non-energy related!Gazelles matter everywhere.
The U.S., up to now, has been a haven for Growth Firms – but it’s been a “death by a thousand cuts.”Slowly and steadily the environment for gazelles is eroding in the U.S. by both the Democrats and the Republicans – the quality and quantity of our workforce, the costs of healthcare, disincentives for competing globally, and the tax structure in the U.S. being among the top challenges.And because we’re not organized, like the teachers union, or have paid lobbyists like big business, the gazelles continue to carry an unequal burden of society’s costs while our operating costs are driven up and our large or foreign competitors are given subsidies, direct and indirect.
Two-thirds of small business profits are earned in households making more than $250,000 per year – it might sound popular to help the other 95%, but the fact is the bulk of profits, job growth, and innovation (our main competitive weapon), come from about a half million mid-size firms – the exact firms that will be hit most directly by Obama’s tax proposals – but hey, it’s just 500,000 of us and it’s just another 40% increase in our taxes (between Obama’s proposed increases in the top two tax brackets along with his proposed increases in Medicare/Social Security taxes paid by businesses).Do I think it’s going to have dire consequences on our country the next four years, no, but we continue to head in the wrong direction as we continue to make our growth firms less competitive.
When More People are Receiving Hand-outs than Not, We’re in Trouble – again, our founding fathers warned that if the citizens are given a chance to vote themselves a pay raise, they will – and I’m afraid we’ve reached the tipping point where more people are benefiting from government largesse than not – this could be the sole reason why Obama wins.
Why Don’t I See American Business People as I Travel Asia and the Middle East – the U.S. is the ONLY country that taxes our expat’s worldwide income!!If you’re a British expat working in Dubai, you pay no tax on your income outside Great Britain (Britain doesn’t tax you and Dubai has no income tax) – what an incentive to take overseas assignments.And this expat tax puts all US execs at a disadvantage wage wise.Again, our tax policies are discouraging the very things we to do the most -- encourage our entrepreneurs and management talent to get abroad and build relationships and businesses.
Dilendra Wimalasekere, founder of Eureka Technology Partners (www.eurekasl.com), is a case in point.I had dinner with him in Dubai Wednesday night.Here’s a former student of mine who runs a company based in Sri Lanka, who lives in Dubai (no income tax) who chose to incorporate in Hong Kong because like Singapore, they only tax you on the business you do in their country; whose largest customer is a company in the U.S. which he services from Sri Lanka and bills from Hong Kong so the U.S. government doesn’t get a piece – whew!This is what I love about entrepreneurs.As a U.S. citizen, I would have NO WAY of matching his approach since I’m automatically at a disadvantage BECAUSE I’m a U.S. citizen, taxed almost 40% on everything I do no matter where or how I do it.And I asked him if he’s concerned about Hong Kong being owned by China and thus being nationalized someday and he said “hey, you’re nationalizing in the U.S”. – ouch.OK, I can hear my liberal friends complaining, but the reality is, companies don’t pay taxes, only customers do!!My issue – the U.S. should be competitive with Hong Kong and be a preferred place to house growth companies.
Education and Healthcare – these two social costs are breaking our backs and are one of the main reasons we’re losing our competitive edge (and why Dilendra can’t afford to set-up in the U.S. according to him).This is often difficult to explain, but the reason both education and healthcare costs continue to skyrocket, far outstripping inflation while quality is decreasing, is because they are subsidized monopolies!Whatever is universally subsidized (“universally” is the key – I’ll explain in moment) and given monopoly status both drives the price up and dramatically decreases quality and innovation – it’s as predictable as gravity.Case in point, Bushes’ prescription drug plan -- which saw drug prices increase 30% within a year of his plan offering a universal 30% discount!!All this did was cost taxpayers billions of dollars and driving-up the price of medications while lining the pockets of the big pharma firms and furthering their grip on the drug marketplace (you have to make the government’s reimbursement lists!).And since the FDA derives a large percentage of their funding from the drugs they approve (vitamins don’t contribute to their budget), its one happy insular family making boat loads of money off of selling marginally effective drugs that mask vs. cure chronic conditions.
My mother was a victim of this insular system.Her traditional doctor had slowly prescribed one drug after another, for which he receives kickbacks, (it started with a blood pressure med which caused side effects which required another drug which caused side effects, etc) until she ended up in a psychiatric ward.After battling HIPAA, our family literally extracted her from the hospital, brought her off all her meds, and at 74 years old she’s back enjoying life.Believe it or not, a second doctor started her down the same path and we had to intervene again.All along the way, taxpayers were subsidizing all her traditional medical care and meds while the family, in turn, was paying to heal her from the sick care she was receiving.
My mother was the quintessential elderly person the media likes to highlight who was spending a high percentage of her monthly income just on medications.And they would have used her story to justify a further subsidization of meds which just feeds the vicious spiral. Instead, the meds were a big cause of her problems and the alternative methods we used to “cure” her aren’t covered by the government nor researched/supported by the FDA because there are no large profits to be made.
Don’t get me wrong, we have the finest medical system for dealing with acute conditions (burn and accident victims for instance) in the world; but we have the lousiest medical system for dealing with chronic issues (blood pressure, osteoporosis etc).And it’s the chronic conditions that are breaking the bank.
BTW, I was excited to see Bill Gates, this past week, offer to fund “a thousand experiments” in the healthcare field by providing small grants for offbeat medical approaches -- another example that it’s entrepreneurs, not governments, which have solved all of the problems that have faced humankind.
The same with education.All that loan programs, grants and tax credits have done is artificially drive-up the costs of education while driving out innovation. Consider costs -- we went online to a school supply store to purchase a model of a human skull (long story) and found the major supplier of scientific equipment to elementary and secondary schools had one for $59.95 (http://www.carolina.com/product/human+skull%2C+plastic.do?keyword=human+skull&sortby=bestMatches).Upon further investigation we found the exact same one retailing for $20 on Amazon!Why did we take the time to shop – because it was our money to spend.In turn, paying higher costs allows school administrators to request higher budgets which equates to more power and prestige – the system is rigged to support higher costs.The same with textbooks.The famous marketing professor Philip Kotler’s textbook costs almost $140.In turn, his popular version for business people can be purchased for $20.I could get more detailed about how the administrative costs in our school district have outpaced student population growth by more than double and how they’ve ignored parental recommendations (my eldest is in public school) because our Superintendent is only responsive to the five board members that pass his budget (all of whom are teachers, former teachers, or have spouses as teachers) vs. how responsive the owners of the private school is where two of our other children attend because they are receiving payment directly from me.These are just two representative examples of how education costs have artificially exploded and why.
Parental Choice – in turn, McCain is exactly right about vouchers, especially if we want innovation.Sweden, which has had vouchers for over 15 years, is recognized for having the greatest number of innovative schools within the entire EU while having some of the lowest costs.All we have in our school district is a bunch of cookie-cutter schools (and we have one of the wealthiest school districts in the country) – and if your child isn’t a cookie-cutter child then you’ll have to settle for a less than average experience.And The Netherlands, which is almost always ranked in the top five countries for reading and math skills has had vouchers for over 85 years!!In the U.S., even in the most badly structured studies intended to discredit vouchers, at a minimum the students are no worse off on test scores than before while costs have decreased by almost one-third (Milwaukee).Hey, if we’re going to universally provide average schools why not at least save a third of the cost!In reality, we have some of the highest education costs in the world and we’re getting less than average results.It’s why most of those in the top 5% end up paying for everyone else’s education while sending our children to private schools (like Obama and McCain).BTW, vouchers have worked so well in education; Sweden is now experimenting with medical vouchers to see if they can also lower costs and increase innovation and quality.Making the education and healthcare industries responsive to parents and patients is a critical first step to bringing innovation back and driving down costs -- and vouchers make this a reality.
Welfare is for those who need it; not for those who don’t need it – Am I against helping the most needy?Not at all.Besides the income taxes I pay, I donate 10% of my income to charity.I believe, at any one time, 5% - 10% of our population is truly in need of help and that nine of us should help the tenth.It’s when we extend the benefit to everyone that it distorts the economics of the system.Case in point – food stamps.If you ask a roomful of elderly people how many are eligible for Medicare, all their hands raise (even Warren Buffett’s); how many are receiving Social Security, all their hands would raise (even Warren Buffett’s); however, if you asked them how many are on food stamps, I would guess no one would raise their hands (even if one or two were!).Food stamps are for people who need them and NOT for people who don’t need them.As such, just 10% of our population requires food stamps; the program has not exploded into a deficit busting government entitlement; and food stamps have not appreciably driven up food prices i.e. one key measure of the wealth of a country is the proportion of income spent on food –and the U.S. has the lowest ratio in the world.In turn, because we universally subsidize education and healthcare, we have some of the highest costs in the world.The correlation isn’t coincidental.
We need to get back to only providing limited help to those who need it and not to those who don’t – that includes businesses.Across the board tax credits simply feed this spiral of skyrocketing costs.They sound great on paper, but are devastating to the economics, innovation, and quality of the systems they purport to help.And tax credits vs. vouchers reinforce government monopolies.That’s the distinct difference.
Supreme Court – This brings me back to the root cause of our slow decline – the failure of our Supreme Court to uphold its branch of government and thus provide the crucial balancing act our founding fathers envisioned would maintain life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness (the original version referenced “private property”).
First a little history.Our founding fathers were most concerned that the Legislative Branch would overpower the other two branches of government given their tendency to promise anything (and give away everything) in order to gain political favor – and they saw this eventually ruin Rome (as beggars tents surrounded Rome just before the fall).In order to weaken the Legislative Branch they purposefully divided it into two chambers and structured it so that Senators were chosen by their respective state leaders while the Representatives were elected via popular vote.
Next, our founding fathers were concerned that the Supreme Court would bend to political and social pressure and not uphold Constitution.The Supreme Court did fairly well until Franklin Roosevelt blackmailed them into supporting his New Deal entitlements since they were obviously unconstitutional.From that day forward, with a strengthened Legislative branch and a weakened Judiciary branch, our country began to lose its way.
This is why we need to re-strengthen the Supreme Court with individuals willing to hold our legislators closer to the intent of the Constitution.For instance, earmarks are breaking our budget backs.Let’s take Obama’s $3 million projector for the Adler Planetarium in Chicago.Though I can see the worthiness of the request, where in our constitution does it say that the American taxpayers should support the purchase of this projector?Isn’t this best left for the citizens of Chicago and the wealthy business leaders in the region to fund?In defense of Obama, because other Senators are allowed to garner similar goodies for their constituents, unless ALL Senators are forbidden to even vote for such earmarks, it will continue to get worse, as it has.
If the Supreme Court did its job and ruled that 90% of the earmarks hidden in various budgets are unconstitutional this practice would end and a new level playing field created for all legislators and their challengers.BTW, our legislators would likely fight this change because earmarks benefit incumbents.It’s why 90% of incumbents continue to get elected.
This is why the most important two or three decisions our next president will make are their likely appointments to the Supreme Court.This is why it’s even more important that a centrist like McCain be in the driver’s seat vs. Obama.The country runs best when led from the middle. And McCain, through his actions and votes has shown balance in his support of various Supreme Court nominees vs. Obama’s one-sided support for only the most liberal justices intent on bending the constitution to further their own social agendas.
This is too true to be funny. The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money.
A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of it's releases.
A..
A billion seconds ago it was 1959. B.
A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive. C.
A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age. D.
A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet. E.
A billion dollars ago was only
8 hours and20 minutes,
at the rate our government
is spending it.
While this thought is still fresh in our brain...
let's take a look at New Orleans ....
It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.
Louisiana Senator,
Mary Landrieu (D)
is presently askingCongressfor
250 BILLION DOLLARS
to rebuild New Orleans .. Interesting number...
what does it mean? A.
Well... if you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans
(every man, woman, and child)
youeach get $516,528. B.
Or... if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans , your home gets $1,329,787. C..
Or... if you are a family of four...
your familygets $2,066,012.
Washington, D..C
< HELLO!>
Are all your calculators broken??
Accounts Receivable Tax Building Permit Tax CDL License Tax Cigarette Tax Corporate Income Tax Dog License Tax Federal Income Tax , Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA) Fishing License Tax Food License Tax Fuel Permit Tax Gasoline Tax Hunting License Tax Inheritance Tax Inventory Tax IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax) IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax) Liquor Tax Luxury Tax Marriage License Tax Medicare Tax Property y Tax Real Estate Tax Service charge taxes Social Security Tax Road Usage Tax (Truckers) Sales Taxes Recreational Vehicle Tax School Tax State Income Tax State Unemployment Tax (SUTA) Telephone Federal Excise Tax Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax Telephone State and Local Tax Telephone Usage ChargeTax Utility Tax Vehicle License Registration Tax Vehicle Sales Tax Watercraft Registration Tax Well Permit Tax Workers Compensation Tax STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago... and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt...
We had the largest middle class in the world...
and Mom stayed home to raise the kids. What happened?
Can you spell 'politicians!' And I still have to
press '1'
for English. I hope this goes around the
USA
at least 1 billion times What the heck happened?????
After four days of rigorous Japanese terminology and philosophy I have been given two projects to manage. Additionally I work with about 8 people coordinating a team effort as we attack our goals from different directions. This will definitely be a long process but so far it seems cool. The only weird thing is the cubicle situation. I sit in the middle of a 300 foot long room with no walls at all. Everyone can see everybody else and I feel weird talking on my phone since about five people stare right at me when it rings. I guess it's cool, since I do the same things to them.
Yesterday at around 1500 one of the owners of my company walked in and told me it would be better for everyone if I didn't come in Thursday and Friday of this week. I was completely stunned and was then told that I have given the appearance of being arrogant for the past several months which would have been about the time I started questioning some of the business practices. This was equally stunning since I felt the numbers were displayed in order to provoke discussion. During this brief conversation I realized my desk phone had been disabled and when I went to backup my BlackBerry it was being remotely deleted. As soon as he left my office my access badge was taken and I was escorted from the building.
I have never been treated like that before and would have thought I could be trusted just a little more than that. I laid awake most of the night unable to sleep after this treatment.
I'm glad I haven't had to learn how to deal with this kind of pain. The full article can be read here.
I've covered more than a dozen Super Bowls, written about college bowl games and chronicled the final Celtics game in the old Boston Garden. I've seen history, but forgotten most of it because I wasn't able to feel it.
I felt it Sunday as I watched Bryant on the field at Raymond James Stadium and, more importantly, listened to him in the media room after the Bucs defeated the Green Bay Packers. It was far from the best game I've ever seen, but it's easily the most memorable.
A day after burying his infant son, Matthew Tryson, Bryant went out and kicked three field goals, including the game-winner. Bryant then walked into the media room, looking dazed, and talked about how he played because he wanted to honor Tryson and admitted he had a running dialogue (in his head) with his son throughout the game.
You couldn't possibly sit in that room and not feel your heart coming apart. I went back upstairs and wrote my column. Ordinarily, that would have been the end of it. But you don't just move on from something like this.
I watched Knight Rider, the new one, last night to see if my initial impressions were wrong about the pilot when it aired a few months ago. This show sucks. It's completely overly sexual to the point of the main guy getting his butt kicked when some girl flashes her boobies at him. Have some subtlety and maybe it would work but geez, the whole show was women in their underwear and the "hero" not being able to control himself and his urges. Speaking of the new Michael Knight, you should never dress up a male model in an Army uniform and start calling him a tough guy. I mean really, the guy was an Abercrombie & Fitch model which is almost never mistaken for a special forces operative. This show will be canned in less than three months. This is a shame since it could've been great even with a Ford instead of the TA.
Once again I wrote to a company expecting far too much. Please see the transaction below:
Subject
--------------------------------------------------------------- WIlson Lizard carry bag
Discussion Thread --------------------------------------------------------------- Response (Deborah Salerno) - 09/24/2008 07:08 AM Thank you for your interest. We do not have replacement parts available for the Lizard carry bag.
We regret we are unable to be of assist to you.
Thank you
Customer - 09/12/2008 06:21 AM
Dear Sir or Madam,
My Wilson lizard carry bag is quite nice, but a couple of pieces need replacing. I need a new rain hood and detachable pocket; I cannot
seem to find a place where I can buy them. Any assistance would
greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time.
Captain Dude
My name is bold as I changed it for the blog, I had my actual name in there."We regret we are unable to be of assist to you." What the heck does that even mean? I am pretty sure it means "We already have your money, so good luck with that POS bag." They also sent an email right after the submission saying they would get back to me in one business day. Please feel free to write to them if you would like to bug someone on the Internet about their crappy lack of customer service. They can be contacted at: askwilson@wilson.com
I have posted before about an apologist friend of mine Dr. Jackson. His ministry is amazing, but has become financially difficult. I would ask that those of you who read this blog pray for Dr. J and his ministry. If you would like to do more than pray, check out his website at http://www.pointsoforigins.com/ , it's pretty cool and you can make donations to him there. More than your donations, help me spread the word and try get church leaders onboard with supporting this missionary. His work is fantastic and he's a great guy. Here's the latest from his last debate:
Sept.11,08
Dr.Jackson debating Danny ( Senior at The College of NJ)
Thursday night was really interesting to me because I have never been to a debate or any college club. The club we attended was called The Secular Students Association. The night started with the group meeting Dr. J and seeing how cool he is. Dr. J started out with his presentation and made it clear that he was here to debate scientifically and it was up to them to look at both sides of the scientific debate and see for them how evolution can be disproved. I think this is when the audience saw that Dr. J wasn’t there to pull any tricks or try to fool them into believing something. He was there to show that there are indisputable facts to show that we did not evolve. The debate then started. Although a heated controversy may have been expected,it was students asking Dr. J questions and his opponent trying to disprove them.Dr. J answered the questions very precisely, which showed that it was so easy to prove evolution was wrong.His opponent would take very long to prove his point because it takes a lot to try to make evolution make sense. Danny though, was a very good debater. The debate finished out great. When everyone was done asking their questions ,including his opponent, Dr. J got to ask his question. Dr. J asked Dan to name one of the missing links between humans and monkeys and Danny said there were at least a dozen. Dr. J said name just one. Dan named one that has alreadybeen disproved. He admitted it was and could not name another. The debate then ended and many of the students were interested in what Dr. J had to say and stayed after to ask questions. God used Dr. Jackson to get these students to start questioning what they were just used to hearing.
I am a Denver Broncos fan. I make no apologies or excuses for why they are my team, but today I got to see one of the reasons I love this team. Ed Hochuli totally bothed a call on third down by blowing his whistle after a fumble. San Diego recovered the fumble but, because the whistle blew, Denver was given the ball back. Noting the gift he was given, coach Shanahan ran three low probability of success plays in order to allow San Dieog a shot to win. The first play was a draw play on 3rd and goal from the 10. This would normally be double corner routes, especially in a game where the corners had gotten burned all day. The second play was 4th and 3 and he ran a crossing pattern throwing to the rookie Eddie Royal. This situation normally calls for a roll out with a pitch back or cross field throw. Denver scored on that play bringing them within one point of the Chargers. In the NFL you kick the PAT and play in overtime. Shanahan instead went for two, further allowing San Diego a shot at victory. Denver converted and won the game by a single point.
Coach Shanahan showed respect for his opponents and for the botched call. He also dismisses players from his team whenever they break the law which I also greatly respect.
Yesterday I resigned effective October 3rd. I will be moving to Erlanger Kentucky and working for Toyota. More specifically, I will be working for Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America inc. as an Information Systems Security Specialist. There are four "ranks" at Toyota, which are specialist, assistant manager, general manager, vice president, and president. I asked to start as president and they though about it for awhile then decided I should work my way up. After a few days to ponder their decision I am glad to start at the bottom and do what I can for their team.
This will be a difficult move since all my children were born in Knoxville, but my oldest daughter was too sweet about this a week ago. When I first told the girls, they were sad and cried about leaving the only place they have ever lived. I took some individual time with each girl so they could express why they were sad about moving. After I let them vent their feelings things were pretty smooth for a few days. My oldest walked up one night with big tears on her cheeks and said: "Daddy, I want to move to Kentucky." I asked her why and she said, " I just want you to be happy at work." That's a sweet girl.
Truly, I have a great job now and will miss my co-workers and the small company. Various circumstances have made this a place where I don't seem to belong now. Sometimes it's hard to look at a situation and realize that you are the part that needs to change or be removed in order for something to be sucessful. Fortunately, I have been in that position before which made the decision a little easier for me. I wish my current company great success and sincerely hope to work with several of them again someday.
Please just take this for what it's worth. I got a kick out of it.
Sarah Palin
Barack Obama
Office being sought
Vice President
President of the United States and Leader of the Free World
Full name
Sarah Louise Heath Palin
Barack Hussein Obama II
Nickname
Sarah Barracuda
Barry Obama; “The One”
Public opinion
Smoking hot in a “naughty librarian” sort of way
May be The Messiah
Age
44
48
Children
5: two sons, three daughters
2: two daughters
Religion/Church attendance
Evangelical Christian;attends Juneau Christian Center when in Juneau and grew up attending Wasilla Assembly of God
Attended Trinity United Church of Christ for 20 years, a “black liberation theology” church formerly led by Rev. Jeremiah Wright and governed according to theBlack Value System
Current Job
Governor of Alaska
Junior Senator from Illinois
Previous Public Jobs
Mayor of Wasilla, AK (1996-2002); President of Alaska Conference of Mayors;City Council member (1992-1996)
State Senator (1997-2004);Community Organizer
Executive Experience
Governor for 2 years;Mayor for 10 years
None
Foreign Relations experience
Governor of state that borders two foreign countries (Canada and Russia)
Chaired Senate subcommittee on Europe but never called it into session;once gave a speech to 200,000 screaming Germans
Military Affairs experience
Commander in Chief of Alaska National Guard;Son is enlisted Infantryman in U.S. Army
None
Private Sector Experience
Sports reporter;Salmon fisherman
Associate at civil rights law firm
Speaking ability
Beautifully executed initial stump speech in Dayton, OH hockey arena without a teleprompter
An enter…wait–did you saywithout a teleprompter??
Spouse’s name
Todd Mitchell Palin
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama
Spouse’s occupation
Salmon fisherman;Former North Slope production supervisor for BP Oil
Vice President for Community and External Affairs at University of Chicago Hospitals;former Associate Dean of Student Services at the University of Chicago;former Executive Director for the Chicago office of Public Allies;former Assistant to the Mayor of Chicago;former associate at Sidley Austin law firm
Reaction to spouse’s political success
Quit 17-year BP oil job when BP became involved in natural gas pipeline negotiations with wife’s administration
Promoted and given 160% pay raise by UofC hospitals within months of husband’s election to U.S. Senate;Employer received $1,000,000.00 federal earmark, requested by husband, after her promotion
Coolest thing about Spouse
Tesoro Iron Dog Snowmobile race champion (longest snowmobile race in the world);In 2008, while defending his championship, was injured when he was thrown 70 feet from his machine. He was sent to the hospital but still finished in fourth place
Sister of Oregon State University head basketball coach Craig Robinson
Most Courageous Moment in Public Service
Resigned in protest from position of Ethics Commissioner of Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in order to expose legal violations and conflicts of interest of Alaska Republican leaders, including the former state Attorney General and the State GOP Chairman (who was also an Oil & Gas Commissioner), who was doing work for the party on public time and supplying a lobbyist with a sensitive e-mail.
Gave an anti-Iraq war speech to a crowd of anti-Iraq war demonstrators in Hyde Park in 2002
In Current Office Because…
Upset sitting Governor in GOP primary due to public support for her efforts to clean up corrupt government establishment
Republican opponent, who was leading in the polls, was forced to leave race after unsealing of divorce records exposed a sex scandal
Theme:
Change and Clean Government
Hope and Change;”Bringing Change from Outside Washington”
What they’ve done to live that theme:
Replaced entire Board of Agriculture and Conservation because of conflict of interest;Resigned from position of Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in order to expose corruption among members of own party
Selected 36-year incumbent Senator as running mate
Family Affairs
May have removed State Public Safety Commissioner as part of effort to protect sister in messy divorce and child custody battle
Often says, “I am my brother’s keeper”;Brother lives in a hut in Nairobi on $12 per year
Union affiliation
Union member, married to Union member
Endorsed by a union
Iraq and Troop Support
Formerly (pre-surge) critical of apparent lack of long-term strategy for Iraq;Visited wounded U.S. soldiers in Germany;visited AK National Guard soldiers deployed to Kuwait;Son deploying to Iraq on 9/11/08 as Army infantryman
Gave an anti-Iraq war speech to a crowd of anti-Iraq war demonstrators;almost visited wounded troops in Germany, but decided to go shopping in Berlin instead
Bipartisan/”maverick” credentials
Married to a non-Republican;Exposed corruption within own party;Campaigned for Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell against corrupt GOP congressman Don Young;Called out Sen Ted Stevens (R-AK) to “come clean” about financial dealings that are under fed investigation
Talks about bipartisanship
Legislative Record
Passed a landmark ethics reform bill;Used veto to cut budgetary spending;Prevented “bridge to nowhere” that would have cost taxpayers $400 million dollars.
Voted “present” over 100 times as IL state senator
How they dealt with corrupt individuals in home city/state
Exposed legal violations and conflicts of interest of Alaska Republican leaders;Campaigned against corrupt GOP Representative;Ran against and defeated corrupt incumbent governor in GOP primary
Launched political career in home of unrepentant domestic terrorist Bill Ayers (and still refers to him as a part of “mainstream Democratic Chicago”;Purchased home with help of convicted felon Tony Rezko
Guns
Lifetime member of NRA and avid hunter;video can be found on YouTube of Palin firing an M4 at a military firing range
Worked to pass legislation in Illinois that would prevent all law-abiding citizens from owning firearms
Earmarks
Opposed “Bridge to Nowhere” project;Said Alaska should avoid relying on federal money for projects;Campaigned against porker Don Young (R-AK) in 2008 primary
Secured federal earmarks for wife’s employer and forcampaign bundlers
Abortion
Pro life;gave birth to 5th child knowing that he would have Down’s syndrome
Pro-choice;only IL state sen. to speak against the Born Alive Infant’s Protection Act, which required medical care to be given to live infants who survived abortions
Energy
Believes energy independence is a matter of national security;For drilling in ANWR, which is in her state
Says Americans should “get tune-ups” and “check tire pressure”;Says “we can’t expect the world to be okay with” our use of heating and air conditioning
Environment
Chair of Alaska Conservation Commission (2003-4);Announced plans to create sub-cabinet group of advisors to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in AK
