Texsox

QUOTE(3E8 @ Mar 4, 2005 -> 09:10 PM) There are different degrees of bragging rights with different positions? I think there is.

FIVE (5) lessons to make you think about the way we treat people. 1 - First Important Lesson - Cleaning Lady. During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions until I read the last one: "What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school? " Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50s, but how would I know her name? I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade. "Absolutely," said the prof essor. " In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say " hello". I've never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy. 2. - Second Important Lesson - Pickup in the Rain One night, at 11:30 p.m., an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride. Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car. A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in the conflict-filled 1960s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab. She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man's door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A special note was attached. It read : "Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband's bedside just before he passed away... God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others." Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole. 3 - Third Important Lesson - Always remember those who serve. In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10- year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. "How much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked. "Fifty cents," replied the waitress. The little boy pulled is hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it. "Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he inquired. By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient. "Thirty-five cents," she brusquely replied The little boy again counted his coins. "I'll have the plain ice cream," he said. The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies. You see, he couldn't have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip. 4 - Fourth Important Lesson - The obstacle in Our Path. In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king's wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand! Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition. 5 - Fifth Important Lesson - Giving When it Counts... Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare & serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had develope d the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes I'll do it if it will save her." As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheek. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away." Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her. Now you have 2 choices. 1. Delete this email, or 2. Forward it to people you care about. I hope that you will choose No. 2 and remember. Most importantly ................."Work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt, and dance like you do when nobody's watching." NOW more than ever - Peace...Pass It On.....Pay It Forward "There are many paths to joy, and all are part of the same journey." --Author Unknown

It was a whole lot easier before the University expanded and wiped out Halsted Street Market.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Mar 3, 2005 -> 06:08 PM) Personally I'm not too sure what, if any, effect that would have but those in the know, including Greenspan, seem to think that it would have a very positive effect on the economy. I think it's an idea worth exploring though cause our current tax code is a disaster. The first step I would like to see is a greater connection between our budget and our tax bill. Let's break out more than Social Security. Let's break out defense, foreign aid, research, eduction, and other items of interest and show everyone, when they file their taxes what it was spent on. I still think it's wrong that we are predicting the demise of Social Security while we have an unlimited budget to rebuild Iraq. Us dumb Texans have a small rule of thumb about a man's net worth. When you see oil wells reaching all the way to the horizon, he's pumping a whole lotta dollars out of the ground. Let them rebuild their own damn country. We did the dangerous work, all they have to do is write some checks.

That's Indiana for you. That would never happen in Chicago

I'm not convinced a consumption tax would decrease spending that much. For example, do people in the city of Chicago buy less because of a higher tax rate than someone in rural Kankakee County? I believe you may see much more pressure on manufacturers to lower prices. Perhaps it would drive more manufacturing overseas where they can produce good for less.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Mar 3, 2005 -> 02:44 PM) No, I would watch and make my own decisions. What percentage of the population can do that?

How many things have never been done before in the history of the world? I cannot believe there are too many left and to be the first in the history of flight to solo, non stop, around the world, impresses me. Oh by the way, he's an Eagle Scout.

Actually I was thinking the Dancing Queen Prawn

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Mar 3, 2005 -> 02:32 PM) The biggest, and most obvious, difference though is that the media industry has a great deal of power in swaying people's opinions of the issues by the nature of it's work and that's why when the news is reported it's very important that it is done in a non-partisan manner. So if a liberal watched the news and said, it's fair and balanced, you would assume the news had a liberal slant?

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Mar 3, 2005 -> 02:10 PM) Doesn't it automatically become a federal case for the murder of a judge? That would also make it an executable offense. A judge wasn't murdered, it was her mom and husband. I think the laws should extend to relatives as well. Which creates an easier climate for extortion of a judge? I'm going to kill *you* or I'm going to kill your daughter?

Let's take a simple system. We passed a budget, it will cost $500 to run the country. Here's everyone's bill for their share. Money goes in, we're done. Let's keep the focus on paying our bills. As soon as the politicians mesmerized us with speeches telling us we could get all these benefits and keep our money, we were screwed. If the government spends $100 this year. We have to pay the $100 eventually. The longer we wait to pay the $100 the more it will cost us in interest. So if we borrow the money to pay the $100, for all of us to pay less, we need more taxpayers, who will divide up that $100 more ways, and they have to contribute all the interest plus their share. As far as sparking the economy, every dollar the government gets, it spends. Unfortunately, too much of our national debt is now owned by the foreign governments and their banks who we love to hate. So those dollars are going overseas. But to say a dollar spent at Boeing by Uncle Sam spends differently than a dollar spend at Boeing by United doesn't make sense.

There are laws that allow for stiffer penalties when the victim is a Judge. I think those laws should extend the their families as well. Same with cops.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Mar 3, 2005 -> 02:04 PM) Under the current system, the poorest quintile of tax payers have a negative tax rate. The poor actually net recieve money from paying taxes because of child credits and EIC and the like. Not only that, many qualify for assitance on some level. What would be interesting, but almost impossible to compute, is what "benefits" we are receiving. What's my cost for guys like Nuke patrolling and keeping America safe? What's my cost for these roads, the communications infrastructure, the research that has improved my way of life, the schools my children attend, etc. etc. Even if we do not sign the back of a government aid check, we all benefit.

QUOTE(ChiSoxyGirl @ Mar 3, 2005 -> 01:48 PM) I can't argue with the truth. Screw you both, I now have Dancin' Queen stuck in my head Arggghhhhhhhh! Hmmm, who here would be the dancin' queen??

Putting on the rose colored glasses for a moment . . . Could it be that our tax code is so complex because we are trying so hard to be fair? We always seem to get into this vortex Wealthy pay more than poor Oops, that is unfair and hurts the poor, because the wealthy need capital to expand businesses, give raises, etc etc We better tax the poor more and the rich less Meanwhile the burden on the "middle class" which we can never agree on who is and isn't "middle class" stays the same or increases.

I feel like a Mets Fan who the hell are these guys?? I kid, because I care™ Happy Birthday!!

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Mar 3, 2005 -> 01:51 PM) Not at all actually. It is extremely regressive against the poor, as they have to spend all of their money to survive. They end up actually paying a higher marginal tax rate. It would be disaster for poor families who now have actually a negative tax rate. I think you would immediatly create exemptions for food, clothing, shelter, type items to shield those first dollars out the pocket every month. Same as in my system of basically giving everyone their first $20,000 tax free for those same items.

QUOTE(NUKE_CLEVELAND @ Mar 3, 2005 -> 01:44 PM) I think I prefer a consumption tax as opposed to a flat tax as its more fair ( more you spend more you pay ) and would also encourage people to save more money. Also a better idea than what we have. The problem with that is I believe if we all are getting together to do stuff like protect the country, fund some eduction, help the needy, launch rockets, etc. we all should kick in. The focus should be on the governement's consumption, not our own. Plus, the system has to get easier for the people who are actually collecting the taxes. It's a pain in the ass to be tracking tax collections for many small businesses. I am in the process of reviewing all the locations we do service and finding out there are 4 or 5 different tax codes based on city, county, and state, taxes. Spending time on that doesn't help me to grow my business.

QUOTE(southsider2k5 @ Mar 3, 2005 -> 01:43 PM) What is the hold music to hell like? While you are waiting, here's 50 cents and some Vanilla Ice-T

I'd like to see a single percentage system, computed on earnings over a minimum amount, all based on the individual system. No difference between married or single. Using $20,000 as the start and 20% Single Woman 25, earning $32,000 pays $2,400 CEO earning $200,000 pays $$36,000 Someone making $19,500 pays zero. Thinking as I type this, I'm certain there would be some flaws, and I'm equally certain y'all will find them. Bottom line, come up with a min number, poverty level, or whatnot. I know that would give a person in Manhatten, IL an advantage over someone living in Manhatten, NY.

QUOTE(ChiSoxyGirl @ Mar 3, 2005 -> 01:18 PM) And I want twenty dollars. Neither seems very likely to happen. So many thoughts, so many thoughts :headshake

Since most of our elected leaders have law backgrounds, it could happen in hell

Duh, all these replies and no one bothered to use the custom smiley, perfect for this

Scary when 66 On Trial in Child Sex is right above Free Ice Cream