Water shortage empties pocketbooks

Govenor Sonny Purdue put mandatory water restrictions on all homes throughout the state of Georgia this last year. The citizens of Georgia followed the regulations - stopped watering their yards and washing cars, shared shower and bath times, changed out normal toilets for low flow toilets, and turned the water off when brushing their teeth.

What was the result?

We conserved too much water according the city of Atlanta Water Board! What does that mean? It means that the city didn't make enough money off of the water usage and as a result they are raising the water and sewage rates!

Thanks Major Shirley Franklin...

Political Cycle

Growing up in the late 70s/early 80s my favorite toy was my Big Wheel.

I would spin out, slam on the brake, crash into anything moving or not moving, and generally raise havoc. The only problem with the Big Wheel was that after a week or two of racing my friends and crashing into the curb to stop, a portion of the front wheel would flatten out. From that point forward, the sound of wind blowing through my jacked up 1970's hair cut was replaced with the 'thwump, thwump, thwump' of the Big Wheel.

For the last 13 months the US has been bombarded with 'news' stories and commercials (radio, television, Internet, email, and phone), telling us how great or pitiful those running for the nomination to be President of the United States. Generally, I am a person with strong political views - I'm not going to bash you over the head for your beliefs, but will contribute to a 'discussion' if I am in the mood to rumble; especially if you are 'drinking the cool-aid' of a politician or political system and have done no research to understand 'your' belief. (Unfortunately, America is full of 'sheep-ole'.)

Rambling. Sorry.

All that being said. I am so sick and tired of this political cycle 'thwumping' through my head. The Democrat Party can't decide on who is going to best not be George Bush, and the Repuke-licans can't find someone to nominate that offers voters a voice for tomorrow. I still can't believe that we are going to have 7 months of this political unrest before the lesser of two evils is selected to lead our country.

BLAH...

Tax Rebate

I found this in my INBOX this morning:

President George Bush said each one of us would get a $600.00 tax rebate. It was previously slated to be $800.00, but they dropped it to a $600.00 tax rebate because of various budget problems. Now, if we spend that money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China. If we spend it on computers, most of the money will go to Korea or India . If we spend it on gasoline, it will all go to the Arabs . . . and none of these scenarios will help the American economy.

We need to keep that money here in America . . . so the only way to keep that money here at home is to drink beer, gamble, or spend it on prostitution. Currently it seems that these are the only businesses still left in the U.S.

I'm Elliot Spitzer, and I approve this message.

795 Super-delegates

For those that are politically minded, a quote for the day -

Unelected delegates thus have more than twice the votes of the richest state prize, California.

This quote is taken from an article in the Wall Street Journal by John Yoo titled, "The Democrat's Super Disaster". The article is talking about the unelected super-delegates power in Presidential elections (specifically the cluster #@#$@#$#%@ that is the 2008 Democrat Presidential Delegate).

The article in and of itself is not 100% accurate, but has some good parts to it overall.

Keep your pants zipped!

The Governor of New York (and former District Attorney) was allegedly involved in a prostitution ring. It is sad that yet another man has fallen into a darkness that being unfaithful to his wife, himself, and his constituents seems to be a good decision.

It is with regrets...

Here is a picture of the Libertarian Party delivering a funeral wreath to the RNC on Feb. 6th following the victories of John McCain on Super Tuesday. Attached to this wreath a note that read in part -

We simply felt the need to express our heartfelt sympathy for the Republican Party as they undergo this tough time within their party.

Check out the rest of the note here.

Deeds, not Creeds

Random Thoughts after Super-Duper Tuesday:

The government is not the answer to the problems within our society (e.g., lack of fresh water/food, homelessness, education disparities, economic woes, civil rights). The answer to these problems are the People that make up society. Its the "People of the United States" that makes us great, not the government (and for those that haven't figured it out yet - we live in a representative republic, NOT a democracy).

Society and culture is never going to be changed as a result of laws passed - you can't legislate morality. In order for a change to take place within a culture / society, there has to be a heart transformation of the people. The basis of the heart transformation must come from the local church. Not the church that focuses on the hot-button issues of politics (church and national), but the church whose focus is beyond their walls, creating and strengthening authentic relationships among its community (both inside and outside its walls).

Rick Warren thinks it is time for a Second Reformation within the Church.

He wants to promote personal responsibility and restore civility in American culture.

"I just think we're becoming too rude," he said. "You have no right to demonize someone just because you disagree with them."

Changing the culture, he said, is not done only through politics but also through things like art, music and sports.

"Outside the Beltway politics is just not that important. No kid in America has a poster of a politician on their wall," he said.

Go Vote!

Stop reading your emails and surfing the Internet at work. If you are going to avoid doing work, at least go do your civic doo-tee and vote for someone or something!


If you don't vote you can't complain!

gulp...

Umm.....

Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday she might be willing to garnish the wages of workers who refuse to buy health insurance to achieve coverage for all Americans.

Do you really need another reason NOT to put Frau Rodham-Clinton in the White House?

Sick of Health Insurance?

There is a plan in Rhode Island for doctors to offer affordable private health-care. The idea is for a person to pay a membership fee ($25-30 per month) and then pay $5-10 per doctor visit.

What does this membership fee include? How about 24-hour telephone access, sick visits, well child care, check-ups, school and sports physicals, family planning and yearly physicals.

So for less than a tank of gas, fast-food for a family of 4, or your daily St. Arbucks intake you can get affordable health insurance!

Here is the link for people in Rhode Island looking for an alternative to universal health-care coverage (which would cost billions of dollars to all tax payers), or for those that are interested in escaping "fee for service" doctor visits (e.g., HMO, PPO, POS) and like keeping money in your wallet!

Bloggers getting LOST in Uganda

The following bloggers are off to Uganda with Compassion International to use their eyes, hearts, and high blog hits to bring attention to the need of humanitarian aid to the people of Uganda.

Keep these guys and gals in your thoughts and prayers (not to mention on your RSS feed or favorites).

Evangelical Outpost
Family Research Counsil
BeliefNet - J-Walking
Ethos
Chris Elrod
Ragamuffin Soul
Whittaker Woman
Rocks In My Dryer
BooMama
Flowerdust
Heartlight Magazine
HM - The Hard Music Magazine
Shlog
Spence Smith
Brian Seay
Keely Scott

Quote of the Day

Here is my favorite quote of the day. The quote was taken from the Breitbart article (Bush prays in Bethlehem amid a sea of barricades) and is attributed to the Greek patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III.

"We wanted to send a message to all the world that the place is safe and all people can come and pray here," he added.

The quote comes as President Bush is escorted in his motorcade away from the sixth century Byzantine church, where he prayed in the church and then descended into the Grotto of the Nativity (the birthplace of Jesus - according to the article).

Why is this my favorite quote?

Because the preceding paragraphs and those that followed reported that streets were blocked off with baracades, snipers roamed the rooftops, crowds of on-lookers were hushed each time they tried to cheer (held behind metal barriers by elite Palestinian gurads), and helicopters clogged the sky.

I just thought it was ironic that the current patriarch of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem said that with President Bush coming there to pray, the message being sent was it was a safe place to be. Of course it was safe! The entire quadrant was blocked off from everyone and everything that moved!

duh!

FairTax: Answering the Critics

There have been many falsehoods attributed to the FairTax. Be careful when reading newspaper accounts telling what their version of the FairTax actually would do to a purchased item.

Here are two books and a web-site to clear misconceptions (lies) being told about the FairTax:


Americans for Fair Taxation is the group dedicated to replacing the current tax code with a national consumption tax (FairTax - tax what you buy, not what you earn).

Here is a FairTax calculator to help you compare the difference between the FairTax and what you currently are paying in taxes for yourself, family, etc.

Because Chuck Norris Says So!

Just another reason why I support Mike Huckabee for President!

HT: FlowerDust

Shift Happens

If you have the time today, tomorrow, or this weekend watch this entire presentation "Did you know 2.0?". The presentation was developed to get conversations started at local schools about the curriculum they are using to prepare students for the future. The presentation is just about 8 minutes long, but is an important piece to watch and to think about (if you are a parent, a student, or ever planning to have children).

Are the schools you are currently sending your children to preparing them to solve the problems of tomorrow?

"Let's face it: Leftie girls are easy,"

Here are a couple excerpts from an article in the NY Daily news from today:

Singles will check out eligible candidates at Obama rally

Like-minded city singles are looking to tonight's Barack Obama fund-raiser as more than just a politically charged soiree: It'll be a raging pickup scene.

One ardent Obama supporter (who declined to give his name because he works in politics) says he'll attend both the rally and the after-party, and he doesn't expect to be going home alone.

He's confident for a reason.

"Let's face it: Leftie girls are easy," he says.

Would you like to keep your entire paycheck?

This is taken straight from Nealz Nuze:

A FAIRTAX TALE ....

"I have a little scenario I would like to paint for those of you out there who just insist on finding something wrong with the FairTax. Admittedly, the FairTax isn't perfect. No tax plan is. How, after all, can you come up with a perfect way for a government to take its operating funds from its subjects? If you know an easier and more equitable way to do it, by all means, let me know!

I'm going to ask you to crank up your imagination for a moment here ... and by "you," I mean those of you who think that this FairTax thing is a bad idea and you're not prepared to come on board.

I want you to imagine a scenario. Don't worry about whether or not this scenario is possible .. Just accept it as I present it, and then consider the alternative picture I'm going to also present. Simple as that.

Let's imagine that the FairTax is the law. We've been operating under the FairTax since the day you drew your first paycheck. It's all you know. Here is your imaginarily "reality."

• On every payday you get your complete paycheck. There are no deductions. If you earn $2,000 per week, you get a check for $4,000 every two weeks.
• You never have to save receipts or create any records pertaining to federal taxes.
• You can invest money without paying any taxes on it.
• You don't have to pay taxes on the money you earn through your investment portfolio.
• You pay no taxes on any money you put in your savings account.
• When you die you get to leave your entire estate, everything you own, to whomever you wish. The federal government will take no taxes from your estate. Your death is not a taxable event.
• When you go to the store to buy an item, and the price tag says $19.99, you will had a $20 bill to the cashier and get one penny back. The price tag is the price.
• There are four people in your household. You, your spouse and two rug rats. At the beginning of every month you get a check or a credit to your checking or charge card account in the amount of $506.00 to compensate you for the federal sales taxes that are included in the price of everything you buy; right up to the poverty level.

All in all .. not such a bad deal. You keep all of the money you earn and you get five hundred bucks a month from the feds. Plus .. you only pay taxes when you spend money.

Now .. .here comes some politician who has a grand scheme for a new tax system. He wants to explain it to you. Here's his great idea ..... give him a listen and tell us what you think.

The plan is simple. First the federal sales tax is going to be removed from the price of everything you buy. This will mean that everything will cost 23% less than it does now. But ... he's going to levy an income tax on every single individual and business who plays any role at all in bringing those products to the marketplace. These people and companies are all going to pass the cost of these taxes down the economic line to the final consumer of the products they manufacture. These taxes will end up embedded into the prices of products in our retail marketplace, bringing those prices right up to the current level. So .. no loss, no gain.

Next your political benefactor is going to take away your $500 per month prebate from the government. In its place he's going to tax every penny you earn. It doesn't matter where the money comes from. Your salary, your investment income, winnings at the track ... whatever you earn and however you earn it, it's going to be taxed.

Wait! He's not through. He's also going to tax your wages for Social Security and Medicare. He's going to try to soften the blow by telling you that your employer is going to match the taxes he takes out of your paycheck, but you're employer has made it clear that this money is all going to come out of the money he has budgeted to hire you. You'll probably lose out on your next raise while the boss his accounting in order.

There are some more nifty ideas in your congressman's tax reform plan. When you die your family is going to have to file a complicated estate tax return. A huge amount of the wealth you have managed to build during your life is going to be sent to the government. Your survivors may well have to sell the family business in order to come up with the money to pay for these death taxes.

One more thing .. you're going to have to keep records of all of your financial transactions. Every year you're going to have to spend no less than about 30 hours or spend hundreds of dollars to hire someone to fill out tax forms for you. If mistakes are made you will be hit with a huge penalty and interest. Oh .. and the government is going to have access to all of your financial records to make sure that you are paying everything you "owe."

The question, of course, is why does this politician want to change the tax system in this way? Power, that's why. They want to be able to enact little changes to the tax code that will benefit certain constituents ... which constituents will then benefit the politicians -- with money or with votes. Under the FairTax system these politicians have no power to favor one group of voters over another for the benefit of votes. The new system would give them that power.

Your choice, my friends. If we had the FairTax now ... would you be willing to make the switch?"

You made it into TheHill.com??? Awesome!

My wife is a woman of numerous skills. Recently she wrote up a quick news release about the need for an increase in funding to meet the increases in public health demand. It was released this morning and is beginning to be picked up around the world.

Here is one of the links found on TheHill.com web-site! The article is found here:

Epidemiologists Say an Urgent Investment in Epidemiology Capacity Is Needed to Meet Increases in Public Health Demands

You go Jen!

Are you ready?

HT: IBD Editorials

Do you have your paper work ready to be sent off? Who cares about the so called refund, do you know how much you actually paid in taxes? How much did the government steal from you? Do you know where your money is going?

Are you ready for a change yet?

Have you heard of the Fair Tax? You need to read the following books and keep up with the grass roots movement to help you keep your pay check!

The Fair Tax Book
Wikipedia: Fair Tax
U.S. Representative Linder's Fair Tax web page
House Bill: H.R. 25 (Federal House Resolution/Bill for the Fair Tax Act of 2007)

Not so fast Mr. Gore

This is a very long video (over an hour), but is well worth the viewing. The Global Warming phenomenon has some loose "science" behind it. Be sure to see, read, watch, understand the motivations and reasonings behind the "inconvenient truth".