Taxes!

[Ebenezr]

LMAO, why can't pot be legal. Alcohol is a thousand times worse than pot. How many billions do we spend in the "drug war" and incarceration when we have real man made drugs that actually can kill you or cause you to kill others floating around? Its ok for pharmacorp to push opiates and benzos on everyone form their man made labs, but a natural substance that requires no processing? Come on, at some point, you have to admit enough is enough. Granted, I say this knowing that I have smoked pot one time, when I was a junior in highschool. So perhaps I am basing it on my observations of my little brother who smoked up from 8th grade through highschool, now he has a masters and is a social worker...go figure.

And I bet you didn't inhale.....Ha ha ha ha.

[Marlin]

And I bet you didn't inhale.....Ha ha ha ha.

I did, but didn't do much for me. I only drank a handful of times in highschool as well. I didn't have time, APcalc, AP physics II and so on. I also worked full time to pay insurance and payment on my sweet *** 1988 Ford Probe, which I totaled and replaced with a brand new 1997 Honda Civic. I paid my own cell, payment and insurance. That means I worked every shift I could get at the theater. No time for drugs and alcohol for this guy. My parents taught me work ethic and the idea that if you want something, yo uhav eto work for it. I had paper routes, mowed lawns, shovelled snow, bailed hay, you name it.

[vt_maverick]

So perhaps I am basing it on my observations of my little brother who smoked up from 8th grade through highschool, now he has a masters and is a social worker...go figure.

That's funny, my wife has a friend who followed that exact same progression!

[Ebenezr]

[Ebenezr]

Taxes

By Edgar A. Guest

When they become due I don't like them at all.
Taxes look large be they ever so small
Taxes are debts which I venture to say,
No man or no woman is happy to pay.
I grumble about them, as most of us do.
For it seems that with taxes I never am through.

But when I reflect on the city I love,
With its sewers below and its pavements above,
And its schools and its parks where children may play,
I can see what I get for the money I pay,
And I say to myself: "Little joy would we know
If we kept all our money and spent it alone".

I couldn't build streets and I couldn't fight fire.
Policemen to guard us I never could hire.
A water department I couldn't maintain.
Instead of a city we'd still have a plain.
Then I look at the bill for the taxes they charge,
And I say to myself: "Well, that isn't so large".

I walk through a hospital thronged with the ill
And I find that it shrivels the size of my bill.
As in beauty and splendor my home city grows,
It is easy to see where my tax money goes.
And I say to myself: "If we lived hit and miss
And gave up our taxes, we couldn't do this".

[Ebenezr]

INSTALLING COMMON SENSE IN WASHINGTON.....
????????????????????????????? 44% DONE.
Install delayed....please wait.
Installation failed. Please try again.
404 error: COMMON SENSE IN WASHINGTON not found

[Marlin]

INSTALLING COMMON SENSE IN WASHINGTON.....
????????????????????????????? 44% DONE.
Install delayed....please wait.
Installation failed. Please try again.
404 error: COMMON SENSE IN WASHINGTON not found

Thats because it wasn't an apple processor.

[Ebenezr]

Thats because it wasn't an apple processor.

I guess my processor must be a democrat then.

[Osteomata]

I've been thinking this one over some more Ldub, and I guess what surprises is me is the vehemence and apparent anger over the issue of providing a minimum subsistence for those in poverty. Do those not in it think it fun or something? I am being intentionally rhetorical, but still, seriously? Living ****ty lives and counting dimes and being in an unsafe neighborhood and barely able to provide for your kids and you depend on some aid from the state and now some petty authoritarian bureaucrat says you have to pee in a cup every month, for which you now have to get a babysitter and take the bus down town etc etc etc. Are we as a nation really that angry and disdainful of them? But hell why stop there. Why not urine tests for SS, medicare, school lunch programs, work assistance programs and all of them? Heck we can set up a hole new government agency to monitor and enforce it. And as has been pointed out, those dang poor people have the gall to smoke too, so might as well test for nicotine while were at it. Don't give me any of that nonsense about "well cigarettes aren't illegal" because some of you can surely name restrictions on otherwise legal activity that your well paying job puts on you. Soon as I can figure out how to test for alcohol use beyond about a day we need to add that too. I guess I am just trying to say that reasonable people can disagree about the best way to set up and too what extant or scope we should have any number of programs, but there is really no need to be pissed off at the majority of the recipients and their families, it just doesn't become us as a nation.
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2005/09/03/being-poor/

[Ldub]

I've been thinking this one over some more Ldub, and I guess what surprises is me is the vehemence and apparent anger over the issue of providing a minimum subsistence for those in poverty. Do those not in it think it fun or something? I am being intentionally rhetorical, but still, seriously? Living ****ty lives and counting dimes and being in an unsafe neighborhood and barely able to provide for your kids and you depend on some aid from the state and now some petty authoritarian bureaucrat says you have to pee in a cup every month, for which you now have to get a babysitter and take the bus down town etc etc etc. Are we as a nation really that angry and disdainful of them? But hell why stop there. Why not urine tests for SS, medicare, school lunch programs, work assistance programs and all of them? Heck we can set up a hole new government agency to monitor and enforce it. And as has been pointed out, those dang poor people have the gall to smoke too, so might as well test for nicotine while were at it. Don't give me any of that nonsense about "well cigarettes aren't illegal" because some of you can surely name restrictions on otherwise legal activity that your well paying job puts on you. Soon as I can figure out how to test for alcohol use beyond about a day we need to add that too. I guess I am just trying to say that reasonable people can disagree about the best way to set up and too what extant or scope we should have any number of programs, but there is really no need to be pissed off at the majority of the recipients and their families, it just doesn't become us as a nation.
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2005/09/03/being-poor/

I'm OK with my opinion being "not becoming"

See my last 2 replies for further clarification...

Good luck with that al-key-haul test, hope you make a million...

[Osteomata]

I'll respond tomorrow Marlin, please look for it. I want to cool down from your homos remarks before posting.

[Marlin]

I'll respond tomorrow Marlin, please look for it. I want to cool down from your homos remarks before posting.

Homos remark? Because I shortened homosexual into homo? Well, I better not say VX anymore, its vehicross from now on. Just ribbing you now.
"A rose by any other name doth smell as sweet" or something like that. Call it whatever term you want, it all means the same thing. PC BS to the rescue!!!!!

[Osteomata]

right, because gross generalizations about the entire gay community based upon you seeing a gay parade is not at all f-ing homophobic. but please, pretend it was just an abbreviation. Perhaps you can include an animal metaphor about "those people."

[VXR]

right, because gross generalizations about the entire gay community based upon you seeing a gay parade is not at all f-ing homophobic. but please, pretend it was just an abbreviation. Perhaps you can include an animal metaphor about "those people."

I thought you said you would respond tomorrow

[Ldub]

That's quite a lot of pissed offedness for what you have to admit is a pretty understandable word assumption based upon some sort of expectation that I can psychically determine that when you say "well paying" you mean nearly minimum wage. But you sound exactly like the type of person who would dramatically benefit from a modernized and fairer medical insurance system, one that provided coverage for these health tragedies while controlling overall costs to the public, such that our medical costs in the US were not nearly twice that of other OECD countries while providing inferior basic care. ..
....
No thanks, I know the swiftness & quality of socialized medical care in other countries, through the actual experiences of relatives/friends who either live there, or have recently visited...both N & S.
I have a cuz in CANADA, & a step bro in MEXICO, & neither of them has ever lied to me in the past 4-50 yrs of our acquaintance.

I'd like the "free 4 life" coverage that those who were elected by their "subserviant underlings" enjoy please...
..
It is why I insist on calling certain programs a safety net rather than welfare

tay-tow-tot-tow...call it what you will...

Immigration seems to be your hobby horse, and it was not my intention to get into that. But how noble it is that you will acknowledge "a few" of them are decent. Do I take it that that means the vast majority are not? And yet statistics suggest that the overwhelming majority are in fact decent people, working to make a life, paying taxes and social security even when they will not be permitted to collect on several big categories of the benefits. Many of our lowest crime rate cities are the ones with the highest Latino immigration rates.

Well, to put a point on this fact first...I purposely didn't mention any race of Latino persuasion, knowing that would be later carted out as the "example" of what I said...NOPE...BS denied!

Next point, in no particular order..."a few" is who I know, the "overwhelming majority" is who I see on the news & in the "crime report" of the daily paper...yeah, I know...the police blotter is being spun by Glenn Beck...



As too birth control issues, I agree! But that is absolutely not a problem exclusive to immigrants, who in fact dramatically reduce birth rates within a generation of arrival. Continued ability to distribute birth control, funding of planned parenthood, and provide something other than the demonstrably worthless abstinence only sex ed are but a few ways to help deal with the staggering costs associated with excessive teen and unwed pregnancies.

Well of COURSE
... going from 12 spawn, needed to keep the family stump bog afloat in the old (non industrialized) ( see, I'm work'n witcha here, I didn't say 3rd world $k1# hole...) country, to 6 spawn is a 50 % reduction....O happy Day!!!

As for Ldub, I don't get it either. Seems to me that sober employees are more dependable and less likely to get hurt than high employees.

Couldn't agree more...
HOWEVER
...since when did dear ol' dads insurance co$t preclude my constituional right to " life, liberty & the persuit of happiness?...or my "supposed" presumption of innocence until proven guilty?
Piss'n me on the presumption of possible guilt is....
VERY heavy handed for someone that calls him or herself an american. JMO.
What I do with my time away from work is MY business, as long as it has no effect on my attendance, or ability to perform the tasks that have been assigned to me, there should be no right to search my piss for "possible" guilt. What right are YOU willing to give up for the betterment of dads business?

If I'm caught doing something illegal by the LAW, then I deserve to be punished & scrutinized, but to be searched under the presumption of guilt?...seriously?

"The economy was to be subordinate to the goals of the political leadership of the state"...one of the beliefs of nazism...

Figure out which direction you wanna see this country go...

BTW...tell pop to start his shifts "artificially" 25 min earlier...then everyone will be on time for work...


Kind of like bright orange or pink prison jumpsuits. In this aspect, the ends justify the means.

HUGE fan of Sheriff Joe, & HERE'S WHY...

SHERIFF JOE IS AT IT AGAIN!
You all remember Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona, who painted the jail cells pink and made the inmates wear pink prison garb. Well.........
SHERIFF JOE IS AT IT AGAIN!




Oh, there's MUCH more to know about Sheriff Joe!

Maricopa County was spending approx. $18 million dollars a year on stray animals, like cats and dogs. Sheriff Joe offered to take the department over, and the County Supervisors said okay.

The animal shelters are now all staffed and operated by prisoners. They feed and care for the strays. Every animal in his care is taken out and walked twice daily. He now has prisoners who are experts in animal nutrition and behavior. They give great classes for anyone who'd like to adopt an animal. He has literally taken stray dogs off the street, given them to the care of prisoners, and had them place in dog shows.

The best part? His budget for the entire department is now under $3 million. Teresa and I adopted a Weimaraner from a Maricopa County shelter two years ago. He was neutered, and current on all shots, in great health, and even had a microchip inserted the day we got him. Cost us $78.

The prisoners get the benefit of about $0.28 an hour for working, but most would work for free, just to be out of their cells for the day. Most of his budget is for utilities, building maintenance, etc. He pays the prisoners out of the fees collected for adopted animals.

I have long wondered when the rest of the country would take a look at the way he runs the jail system, and copy some of his ideas. He has a huge farm, donated to the county years ago, where inmates can work, and they grow most of their own fresh vegetables and food, doing all the work and harvesting by hand.

He has a pretty good sized hog farm, which provides meat, and fertilizer. It fertilizes the Christmas tree nursery, where prisoners work, and you can buy a living Christmas tree for $6 - $8 for the Holidays, and plant it later.. We have six trees in our yard from the Prison.

Yup, he was re-elected last year with 83% of the vote. Now he's in trouble with the ACLU again. He painted all his buses and vehicles with a mural, that has a special hotline phone number painted on it, where you can call and report suspected illegal aliens. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement wasn't doing enough in his eyes, so he had 40 deputies trained specifically for enforcing immigration laws, started up his hotline, and bought 4 new buses just for hauling folks back to the border. He's kind of a 'Git-R Dun' kind of Sheriff.

TO THOSE OF YOU NOT FAMILIAR WITH JOE ARPAIO

HE IS THE MARICOPA ARIZONA COUNTY SHERIFF

AND HE KEEPS GETTING ELECTED OVER AND OVER
THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY:

Sheriff Joe Arpaio (in Arizona ) created the 'Tent City Jail':

He has jail meals down to 40 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them.

He stopped smoking and porno magazines in the jails. Took away their weights. Cut off all but 'G' rated movies.

He started chain gangs so the inmates could do free work on county and city projects.

Then he started chain gangs for women so he wouldn't get sued for discrimination.

He took away cable TV until he found out there was a Federal Court Order that required cable TV for jails so he hooked up the cable TV again; only let in the Disney Channel and the Weather Channel.

When asked why the Weather Channel he replied, 'So they will know how hot it's gonna be while they are working on my Chain Gangs.'

He cut off coffee since it has zero nutritional value.

When the inmates complained, he told them 'This isn't the Ritz/Carlton......if you don't like it, don't come back!'


More On The Arizona Sheriff:

With temperatures being even hotter than usual in Phoenix (116 degrees just set a new record), the Associated Press reports:
About 2,000 inmates living in a barbed-wire-surrounded tent encampment at the Maricopa County Jail have been given permission to strip down to their government-issued pink boxer shorts.

On Wednesday, hundreds of men wearing boxers were either curled up on their bunk beds or chatted in the tents, which reached 138 degrees inside the week before.

Many were also swathed in wet, pink towels as sweat collected on their chests and dripped down to their PINK SOCKS.

'It feels like we are in a furnace', said James Zanzot, an inmate who has lived in the TENTS for 1 year. 'It's Inhumane.'

Joe Arpaio, the tough-guy sheriff who created the tent city and long ago started making his prisoners wear pink and eat bologna sandwiches, is not one bit sympathetic. He said Wednesday that he told all of the inmates: 'It's 120 degrees in Iraq and our soldiers are living in tents too, and they have to wear full battle gear, but they didn't commit any crimes, so shut your mouths!'

Way to go, Sheriff!

Maybe if all prisons were like this one there would be a lot less crime and/or repeat offenders. Criminals should be punished for their crimes - not live in luxury until it's time for their parole, only to go out and commit another crime so they can get back in to live on taxpayers money and enjoy things taxpayers can't afford to have for themselves.

IMO...Sheriff Joe 4 PREZ in 2012!...

Just kidding X2

LOL...

right, because gross generalizations about the entire gay community based upon you seeing a gay parade is not at all f-ing homophobic. but please, pretend it was just an abbreviation. Perhaps you can include an animal metaphor about "those people."

HEY!!!...I believe "those people", or at least "them", was MY metaphor...