Once ice cream was invented the problem was licked.

THE FLAT SALES TAX

Chuck Muth's News and Views

November 1, 2005

Last week South Carolina's two GOP Senators, Jim DeMint and Lindsey Graham, introduced a tax reform plan that would completely eliminate the personal income tax and replace it with a national consumption tax. But unlike a national sales tax plan, which imposes the tax at the retail level of sales, the DeMint-Graham plan cuts the tax equally in two. Half would be paid by businesses on the value-added they produce, and half paid by consumers at the cash register." (emphasis mine-ed.) The plan in effect replaces the personal income tax with a national sales tax and the corporate income tax with a value added tax. The sales tax rate is 8.5%, which is comfortably below the 10% pain threshold for most Americans when it comes to sales taxes. The business VAT would also be 8.5%. Sen. DeMint had once proposed a single 23% national sales tax, but during his 2004 Senate campaign he paid a price in the polls for suggesting such a high rate."- Stephen Moore, Political Diary, 10/31/05

The problem? Business does not pay taxes. Taxes are collected by businesses and passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices. I like the 8.5% or even doubling it to a 17% national sales tax. But don't be fooled by a business tax. You, the consumer will be paying any business tax, so you will be paying 17%, not 8.5% as proposed by Senator DeMint and Graham.

South Carolina citizens, you need to let your senators know that you are on to them, or teach them some basic economics.

Rosa Parks

Now that Miss Parks has been laid to rest, I'd like to say a few words. I thought long and hard about just what it was that this lady did so many years ago. She refused to give up her seat on a bus for a white man. And played a large part in starting a movement that lead to the exposure of a dirty little (open) secret that prevailed in this country, and others, for far too long. That blacks, or anyone, should defer to white men simply because they are white.

I find it hard to believe that any man, white or otherwise, would ask any woman for her seat. Not that I doubt it happened. Unfortunately, there are men out there who think that all they have to do is express the wish that they want something and a woman will gladly give it to them. Talk about being self-absorbed and shallow. And I know there was a lot more involved than a simple refusal to give up a seat. There were all kinds of social ramifications that happened because of it. But the biggest thing is that it made people think.

And yes, I know that was how it was in that day and age. Especially in the South. The hierarchy was white men, white women, white kids, then blacks, or Negroes as they were called then. It wasn't right, but it was "how things were." We can't, and shouldn't even try to, change history, but we can report it, talk about it, and teach it as history. We know what is right and what is wrong. We can do what is right and change what is wrong. I doubt Ms. Parks said to herself, "This is my chance to get back. I can have my place in history. One day I'll lie in state in the Capitol rotunda." I think she was just a very tired lady who had enough.

Let me ask this question: does anyone remember the name of that man? I know I don't, if I ever knew it to begin with. If he is still living, his name should be shouted from the rooftops and reviled as the man who asked a woman to give up her seat on a bus. I hope his wife let him have it when he got home, although he probably had her trained to not question his actions. After all, he was "the man of the house". Some man.

Miss Rosa, if I may be so personal, you set a new standard for all women. Women began to think about what they "knew" and what they were told by their husbands. I know you refused to give up your seat and move to the bad of the bus because you had worked all day and you were tired. I can only assume that he also had worked all day and was tired. But, a "gentleman" does not ask a woman to give up her seat. A gentleman has manners and shows courtesy to all. Only an ignorant, rude, uncouth, self-absorbed buffoon would do that. His mama must have been very proud of her son that day.

And he, whose name remains unknown, was the catalyst to a change in history that he could not have forseen in a thousand years. It was unthinkable that events would have unfolded as they did. Miss Rosa may have been the one arrested, but he is the one who cause this change in history and whose name is unknown to most people today.

Abraham Lincoln said to Harriet Beecher Stowe, "So you're the little lady who caused this great war." We can say to Rosa Parks, "So you're the little lady who began this great Civil Rights movement."

Rosa Parks showed courage that day. Courage and a moral center that knew what was wrong and defied both man and law. May we all have that courage when the time comes.

8 Little Angels

These eight angels were sent to me in email. Of course, I'm to pass them on to eight people so that something good will happen to me in eight minutes.

I think they are sweet. I chose to post them here so that everyone can enjoy them. Don't worry, I'm not going to make a series out of them. At least not until closer to Christmas ;D

Senility Prayer

...God grant me...

The senility to forget the people I never liked

The good fortune to run into the ones that I do

And the eyesight to tell the difference."

More Older Than Dirt

(More from email)

My Dad is cleaning out my grandmother's house (she died in December) and he brought me an old Royal Crown Cola bottle. In the bottle top was a stopper with a bunch of holes in it. I knew immediately what it was, but my daughter had no idea. She thought they had tried to make it a salt shaker or something. I knew it as the bottle that sat on the end of the ironing board to "sprinkle" clothes with because we didn't have steam irons. Man, I am old.

How many do you remember?

• Head lights dimmer switches on the floor.
• Ignition switches on the dashboard.
• Heaters mounted on the inside of the fire wall.
• Real ice boxes.
• Pant leg clips for bicycles without chain guards.
• Soldering irons you heat on a gas burner.
• Using hand signals for cars without turn signals

Me again: I would have recognized the sprinkler. I ironed many shirts when I was little and used that stopper in a glass Coke bottle to dampen the shirts. Mom didn't think an iron (before she got a steam iron) could do the same job as her trusty Coke bottle and iron could.

Escape

How Many Dogs Does it Take?

Over the next couple of weeks, I'm going to presenting pictures and captions of dogs answering the above question. You've probably seen this, but this is the first time I've seen it with pictures. Here's the first:

Golden Retriever

The sun is shining, the day is young, we've got our whole lives ahead of us, and you're inside worrying about a stupid burned out bulb?

If you like this series, you may thank my cousin Buddie for sending it to me.

If you don't like it, you may blame my cousin Buddie :D

Thanks, Buddie!

Counting the "F's" Answer

There are six.

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE
SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTI
FIC STUDY COMBINED WITH
THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS

For some reason, the brain doesn't process the "F" in "of".

A person of average intelligence finds three of them.

If you spotted four, you're above average.

If you got five, you can turn your nose at most anybody.

If you caught six, you are a genius.

Sissy, from Sisu (a great read, by the way) provided this link.

Saturday Ramblings

The French Leaders of Tomorrow

THE FRENCH WAY: EAT, SLEEP, PLAY...RIOT

"We have found our thrills: playing with riot police in the evening. As long as the police come and provoke us in the evening, we'll bring out the Molotov cocktails, stones, petanque balls, planks. In the day, we sleep, go see our girlfriends, play video games. And in the evening, we have a good time: At 9 p.m., we go and fight the police."- 22-year-old French rioter to Agence France-Presse, 11/2/05

Need I say more?

Postal Rates on the Rise Again

GRAB YOUR WALLETS"On Nov. 1, the Postal Rate Commission approved an across-the-board rate increase -- essentially at 5.4% with some small variations. Postal analysts are now predicting that USPS will request another, larger increase next year. This may signal the beginning of a pattern of increasingly frequent rate hikes."- Sam Ryan of the Lexington Institute

Likely to go into effect January 16th.

CONGRESS OK'S REGULATION OF POLITICAL SPEECH...AGAIN

Online political expression should not be exempt from campaign finance law, the House decided Wednesday as lawmakers warned that the Internet has opened up a new loophole for uncontrolled spending on elections. The House voted 225-182 for a bill that would have excluded blogs, e-mails and other Internet communications from regulation by the Federal Election Commission. That was 47 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed under a procedure that limited debate time and allowed no amendments. The vote in effect clears the way for the FEC to move ahead with court-mandated rule-making to govern political speech and campaign spending on the Internet."- Associated Press, 11/2/05

Uh-oh...Big Brother is out to stifle Free Speech? Isn't that guaranteed under the First Amendment? Sorry, I intend to say whatever I please when I please as long as it isn't slander, libelist, dishonest, or unethical and are true to my core beliefs. I have never deliberately written something I knew to be false and I won't start now, but I will use this venue to say what and when I want. Why should anyone be stopped from saying what they want to say? I say, let everyone say what they want in politics as long as it's not slanderous, libelous, dishonest, or untruthful.

Hmm...come to think on it, requiring politicians to speak truthfully, honestly and not slander or libel their opponent might make it difficult for them to speak at all. This might not be a bad idea, after all.

Be Careful What You Wish For

Two priests recently passed away and were on their way to heaven. When they got to the Pearly Gates, St. Peter said, "I'm sorry but our computer is down and you can't come in for a week. So I am going to give you both one "free" week back on earth to do anything you want to do and nothing will be held against you."

"You mean we can do what ever we want, and still get into heaven?"

"Yes," said St.Peter.

"Okay," said the first priest, "I want to soar over the mountains like an eagle."

"That's easy enough," said St. Peter. "Off you go!"

The second priest asked, "Are you sure that whatever I do will not hinder my chances of getting into heaven?"

"That's right," said St. Peter. "Okay," said the second priest, "I want to go back as a stud."

"A stud?" asked St. Peter.

"Yes," said the second priest.

"Okay, I'll see you in a week."

Finally, the week ended and the computer was repaired. God asked to St. Peter, "Did you get the two priests back so they can join us here?"

"Well," said St. Peter, "I got the first priest back; he was soaring over the Rocky Mountains like an eagle. I'm having a bit of a problem locating the second priest; he's somewhere in North Dakota on a snow tire."

Ouch!

A man was walking along a beach when he spied a small creature. He had no idea what it was and decided to take it home and show his family. On getting it home, he found it had grown a little already.

The family looked at it and was fascinated by it. The kids wanted to take it to school for "show & tell " so he put it in a matchbox overnight. In the morning he found it had grown some more so he transferred this thing to a shoebox for the kids to take to school.

When the kids got home from school, this thing had now grown so large it wouldn't fit in the shoebox, but filled their school bag. The growth rate was a bit daunting. Overnight, while wondering what to do with it, it grew so large that it couldn't even fit in the car. He decided it was time to dispose of it and loaded the thing into his small tip truck and drove to a nearby cliff top.

As he was backing up to the cliff he thought he heard a noise above the roar of the truck and stopped to listen. He could hear a voice calling"help, help" and realized it was coming from the back of the truck.

"Is that you?" said the man.

"Yes" replied the thing.

"What are you?" asked the man.

"I'm a rarey", said the voice. "I'm a very rare animal, and I grow at a very fast rate. What are you going to do with me?."

The man said "Well, I didn't know what to do as you were growing so fast. We can't contain you, so I'm going to tip you over this cliff and get rid of you".

The rarey seemed horrified as he peered over the cliff, and said in a plaintive voice ...

"It's a LONG WAY TO TIP-A-RAREY"

Older Than Dirt Quiz

Count all the ones that you remember, not the ones you were told about.

Ratings at the bottom.

1. Blackjack chewing gum
2. Wax Coke-shaped bottles with colored sugar water
3. Candy cigarettes
4. Soda pop machines that dispensed glass bottles
5. Coffee shops or diners with tableside juke boxes
6. Home milk delivery in glass bottles with cardboard stoppers
7. Party lines
8. Newsreels before the movie
9. P.F. Flyers
10. Butch wax
11. Telephone numbers with a word prefix (OLive-6933)
12. Peashooters
13. Howdy Doody
14. 45 RPM records
15. S&H Green Stamps
16 Hi-fi's
17. Metal ice trays with lever
18. Mimeograph paper
19 Blue flashbulb
20. Packards
21. Roller skate keys
22. Cork popguns
23. Drive-ins
24. Studebakers
25. Wash tub wringers

If you remembered 0-5 = You're still young
If you remembered 6-10 = You are getting older
If you remembered 11-15 = Don't tell your age
If you remembered 16-25 = You're older than dirt!

Oh, my. I remember 17. But then, I was on the design team for dirt

OLDER THAN DIRT

"Hey Dad," one of my kids asked the other day, "What was your favorite fast food when you were growing up?"

"We didn't have fast food when I was growing up," I informed him. "All the food was slow."

"C'mon, seriously. Where did you eat?"

"It was a place called 'at home,'" I explained. "Grandma cooked every day and when Grandpa got home from work, we sat down together at the dining room table, and if I didn't like what she put on my plate I was allowed to sit there until I did like it."

By this time, the kid was laughing so hard I was afraid he was going to suffer serious internal damage, so I didn't tell him the part about how I had to have permission to leave the table.

But here are some other things I would have told him about my childhood if I figured his system could have handled it:

Some parents NEVER owned their own house, wore Levis, set foot on a golf course, traveled out of the country or had a credit card. In their later years they had something called a revolving charge card. The card was good only at Sears Roebuck. Or maybe it was Sears AND Roebuck. Either way, there is no Roebuck anymore. Maybe he died.

My parents never drove me to soccer practice. This was mostly because we never had heard of soccer.

I had a bicycle that weighed probably 50 pounds, and only had one speed, (slow).

We didn't have a television in our house until I was 11, but my grandparents had one before that. It was, of course, black and white, but they bought a piece of colored plastic to cover the screen. The top third was blue, like the sky, and the bottom third was green, like grass. The middle third was red. It was perfect for programs that had scenes of fire trucks riding across someone's lawn on a sunny day. Some people had a lens taped to the front of the TV to make the picture look larger.

I was 13 before I tasted my first pizza, it was called "pizza pie." When I bit into it, I burned the roof of my mouth and the cheese slid off, swung down, plastered itself against my chin and burned that, too. It's still the best pizza I ever had.

We didn't have a car until I was 15. Before that, the only car in our family was my grandfather's Ford. He called it a "machine."

I never had a telephone in my room. The only phone in the house was in the living room and it was on a party line. Before you could dial, you had to listen and make sure some people you didn't know weren't already using the line.

Pizzas were not delivered to our home. But milk was.

All newspapers were delivered by boys and all boys delivered newspapers. I delivered a newspaper, six days a week. It cost 7 cents a paper, of which I got to keep 2 cents. I had to get up at 4 AM every morning. On Saturday, I had to collect the 42 cents from my customers. My favorite customers were the ones who gave me 50 cents and told me to keep the change. My least favorite customers were the ones who seemed to never be home on collection day.

Movie stars kissed with their mouths shut. At least, they did in the movies. Touching someone else's tongue with yours was called French kissing and they didn't do that in movies. I don't know what they did in French movies. French movies were dirty and we weren't allowed to see them.

Growing up isn't what it used to be, is it?

Me again: Not all of these apply to my life, but do (or did) to people I know. I did have a phone in my room. We were on a party line for a time (I hated it and got into trouble because of it). We bought our milk from a local farmer when I was very small, then after we moved to Florida, we had store bought. My brother remembers when my parents bought their first TV (before my time); I remember when they bought our first color model.

Neither my brother nor I played soccer, but he played most other sports. I watched him play. I was never much for sports, but no one was better at cheering on the team than I was.

From email, of course. More to follow.

How Many "F's" Do You Count?

I know you've seen this before. And if you have, you'll know either how many or know why you can't count them all.

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE
SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTI
FIC STUDY COMBINED WITH
THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS

Answers on Saturday

Cheers!

St. Teresa of the Little Ways

Since St Teresa is known as the Saint of the Little Ways, I thought this might be appropriate for the Little Corner. I'm told she believed in doing the little things in life well and with great love.

She is also the patron Saint of flower growers and florists. She is represented by roses. May everyone be blessed who receives this message.

Theresa's Prayer cannot be deleted. REMEMBER to make a wish before you read the poem. That's all you have to do. There is nothing attached. Just send this to 9 people and let me know what happens on the fourth day. Sorry you have to forward the message, but try not to break this please. Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive. There is no cost but a lot of reward.

*Suggestion:* copy and paste rather than forward to protect email addresses and access to e-virus. (Did you make a wish?) If you don't make a wish, it won't come true.

Last chance to make a wish.

St. Theresa's Prayer

May today there be peace within.
May you trust your highest power that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let his presence settle into our bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of you.

Now, send this to 9 people within the next 5 minutes and your wish will come true. And remember to send this back...I count as 1...you'll see why...

Have a great day

From email. Copy and paste to your email program if you wish. Link if you want, or ignore.

Anal Glaucoma

A woman calls her boss one morning and tells him that She is taking a personal day off.

"What's the matter?" he asks.

"I have a case of anal glaucoma," she says in a weak voice.

"What the hell is anal glaucoma?"

"I can't see my ass coming into work today."

yet another email

November Holidays

A list of holidays and observances for November.

Trick-or-Treaters

Well, it's going on 9:00 pm here and we've had exactly 1 Trick-or-Treaters. The upshot of that is that it's 1 more than we've had since we moved here 10 years ago.
Happy Halloween, Brandi! Hope you enjoy the candy!

My Other Half is grateful that I suggested he buy halloween candy today.

Now, these are trick-or-treaters I could get into ::smile:: Charming, Just Charming is apparently a new blog, but when it starts out like this, I've just gotta give it a chance.

Judge Alito

The nomination was made this morning. I personally would have preferred a woman, but ultimately, I want the best person for the job sitting on the bench of the highest court in our country. Compared to Ms. Miers, I'd say Judge Alito is well qualified. I rather feel that Ms. Miers was better versed in the Constitution than many would like us to believe. After all, she counseled the President and everything he does is, or is supposed to be, set with the Constitution as a basis. We all know that doesn't necessarily happen though.

So, since Judge Alito has argued cases before the court, as well as before lower courts, as both a prosecutor and defense attorney, I think Judge Alito is qualified to be heard by Congress in confirmation hearings.

see more at Blogs for Bush

Judge Samuel Alito

Here's some biographical info on Judge Alito:

1. Samuel A. Alito, Jr., was born in April, 1950, in Trenton, New Jersey.
2. Alito received his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and attended Yale Law School, where he served as an editor on the Yale Law Journal.
3. Alito clerked for Judge Leonard Garth of the Third Circuit, who is now his colleague on that court.
4. From 1977-1980, Alito served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the appellate division, where he argued cases before the circuit court to which he was later appointed.
5. From 1981-1985, Alito served as Assistant to the Solicitor General. He has argued 12 cases on behalf of the federal government in the U.S. Supreme Court and he has argued numerous others before the federal courts of appeals.
6. From 1985-1987, Alito served in the Office of Legal Counsel as Deputy Assistant Attorney General where he provided constitutional advice for the Executive Branch.
7. From 1987-1989, Alito served as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey where he is best know for prosecuting white collar and environmental crimes, drug trafficking, organized crime, and violations of civil rights.
8. Alito was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.
9. In 1990, President George H. Bush nominated Judge Alito to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
10. Alito was unanimously confirmed by voice vote by the U.S. Senate for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
11. Judge Alito has participated in thousands of appeals and authored hundreds of opinions.
12. Judge Alito has argued 12 Supreme Court cases and argued at least two dozen court of appeals cases and handled at least 50 others.
13. Alito has participated in various professional associations including the New Jersey Federal Bar Association (member of advisory board); the New Jersey State Bar Association; the American Bar Association; and the Federalist Society.
14. In 1985, Alito married Martha-Ann Bomgardner, with whom he has two children.

Another Email

More of the same, pass along to get a "miracle", but I think the pictures are pretty. So do as you like :D

READ THE FIRST LINE CAREFULLY. . .

If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.

Happy moments, praise God.

Difficult moments, seek God.

Quiet moments, worship God.

Painful moments, trust God.

Every moment, thank God.

This is a Thomas Kinkade painting. It's rumored to carry a miracle!

I could always use a miracle, but I think this miracle is in the talent of Thomas Kinkade himself.

The water is supposed to flow, I hope it continues to do so.

Breast Cancer Hospitalization Bill

Important legislation for all women.Please send this to everyone in your address book. If there was ever a time when our voices and choices should be heard, this is one of those times.

There's a bill called the Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act which will require insurance companies to cover a minimum 48-hour hospital stay for patients undergoing a mastectomy. It's about eliminating the "drive-through mastectomy" where women are forced to go home hours after surgery against the wishes of their doctor, still groggy from anesthesia and sometimes with drainage tubes still attached.

Lifetime Television has put this bill on their web page with a petition drive to show your support. Last year over half the House signed on.

PLEASE!! Sign the petition by clicking on the web site below. You need not give more than your name and zip code number.

http://www.lifetimetv.com/reallife/bc/pledges/bc_mast_pledge.html

This takes about 2 seconds. PLEASE PASS THIS ON to your friends and family.

Pop Ups

Has anyone had a pop up appear when you viewed this blog? My Other Half and I both had pop-ups. Please let me know if you did get one.

The one My Other Half got was for an intimate dating service, and while if you are interested in such services, that's your business. I'm not and don't want it on my site. I was at work when I saw the pop up. I don't remember what it was for, I probably deleted it before I noted the content. But since I was at work, I certainly don't want such content popping up. Especially when I probably shouldn't be viewing my blog at work. I don't do it often, but once when my supervisor is around is once too often.

I assure my readers, that if you did get a pop up, it was none of my doing and I apologize for it. I will be contacting Blogger about this. It's only happened twice that I know of, and that's two times too many.

Can you tell I hate pop ups? If I haven't made it clear,

I Hate Pop Ups!