hey want to know something amazing..re: us income tax In addition to paying more taxes than ever before, Americans spend 5.4 billion hours per year complying with the federal tax code - - roughly the equivalent of 3 million people working full-time. If it were employed in productive activity, the labor now devoted to tax compliance would be worth $232 billion annually. The federal cost of hiring 93,000 IRS employees is $6 billion. If all these people weren't fooling around with the tax code, they could produce the entire annual output of the aircraft, trucking, auto, and food-processing industries combined. Source: W. Williams, Professor Economics, George Mason University,
Chuck - You seem to be one of the very few who knows whats coming to the US economy. It would be great to get a discussion going, but I have found that it is impossible to veer a thread away from it's video content.
Okay, before I post this link let it be known that all characters are fictional and any and all representations of real posters are fictitious (is that a word douche?). I am doing this for a giggle and a laugh for all. so, without further adieu (how bout that word douche?).......get a load of this
http://www.glumbert.com/media/chatrooms
Fictitious is not a word. It is "untrue" that it exists. It is a "fabricated" word that you must have "invented." I don't know why you "made up" the word and "pretended" that it is real. Simply "conjured" up by yourself.
Now Skids, there is some seriously dry humour right there. Put the quotes there as I feel it might have gone over some peoples heads.
Video sucks. Chuck initiated the tax talk. Lots happened after that.
Riza...always a bright voice...I'd go to the moon with you...or my wife...I'd have to get her permission either way. Agree with the Podster, re: that exceptional letter...works great even if substituting "American" for "Canadian", and Ellis Island for Halifax.
BTW...maybe I am missing something between you and UDB, but "fictitious" is indeed a common word in english wherever it is spoken. It has several meanings according to context, but generally means: created, not genuine, false, imaginary - and sometimes - misstated for the sake of concealment.
But I have a question for our Canadian friends: while the US is having to deal with illegal immigration from Cuba, Haiti, Mexico, Panama, El Salvador, Guatamala, the Honduras, Costa Rica, and most northern countries of South
America (especially Colombia)...all of which moves marketing people to promote Spanish in their advertising and customer contact actions (i.e., "dial one for spanish")....how is Canada similarly affected? I mean, if you had immigration from your southern neighbor, there'd be no language issue (except perhaps Montreal). And you have no northern neighbor.
Last visit to France brought revelations regarding their immigration issue...from northern Africa, mainly...and focused in Marseilles. So immigration apparently is a growing global issue.
But I am totally uninformed on Canada's problems with immigration...are the Inuits invading your tundra?
Oh man, since when did I stop writing what I felt. You have no idea how much I have typed and deleted since my 'faux post'. But, I don't think that's the root of it. There are issues surrounding me (ya, I just about deleted again, but something tells me I shouldn't) so, please ignore me unless you're not....ha, ha,....no really. The 'Pickton' case has messed a lot of us Vancouverites up. Also, my good friend deb (who has a lot more upstairs than I do) sent me the following E-mail...............what bothers me is in part I agree..............and what bothers me is in part I don't.............can you be too nice...........are Canadians to weak, apathetic, too nice..........now I'm sounding drunk....wish I was cuz then I'd be painting. Well, I'll post her thoughts with a clear mind and heart......I dunno, what do you think?
A Letter to the Editor (excellent letter)
So many letter writers have explained how this land is made up of immigrants. Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people why today's Canadian is not willing to accept the new kind of immigrant any
longer.
Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to Canada, people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in Halifax and be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made learning English a primary rule in their new Canadian households and some even changed their names to blend in with
their new home. They had waved good-bye to their birthplace to give their children a new life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate into one culture.
Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, and no labor laws to protect them. All they had were the skills, craftsmanship and desire they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity. Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. Canadians fought along side of men whose parents had come straight over from Germany, Italy, France, Japan, Czechoslovakia, Russia, Sweden, and so many other places. None of these first generation Canadians ever gave any thought about
what country their parents had come from. They were Canadians fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan. They were defending the Freedom as one people. When we liberated France, no one in those villages was looking for the Ukrainian-Canadian or the German-Canadian or the Irish-Canadian. The people of France saw only Canadians.
And we carried one flag that represented our country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were. It would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be a Canadian. They
stirred the melting pot into one red and white bowl.
And here we are in 2007 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes a Canadian passport and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not what being a Canadian all is about. Canadians have been very openhearted and open minded regarding immigrants, whether they were fleeing poverty, dictatorship, persecution, or whatever else makes us think of those aforementioned immigrants who truly did ADOPT our country, and our flag and our morals and our
customs.
And left their wars, hatred, and divisions behind. I believe that the immigrants who landed in Canada in the early 1900s deserve better than that for the toil, hard work and sacrifice those legally searching for a better life. I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country flags, fighting foreign battles on our soil, making Canadians change to suit their religions and cultures, and wanting to change our countries fabric by claiming discrimination when we do not give in to their demands.
It¢s about time we get real and stand up for our forefathers rights we are CANADIAN lest we forget it!!! NO MORE POLITICAL CORRECTNESS NO More not saying CHRISTMAS in stores and our schools, Seasonal Holiday be dammed!!! I Want my Canada of birth BACK!!!
P. S. Please pass this on to everyone you know!!! KEEP THIS LETTER MOVING!! I hope this letter gets read by millions of people all across Canada
riza - This is true everywhere now I think. Here in the US it was noticed by everyone when the illegal immigrants were out protesting for their rights as Americans, and doing it with foreign flags. They just don't get it.
I walk into Home Depot and half of everything is in Spanish, and the other half in English. I live in New England, not Texas. WTF!
And one of my favorite gripes is how come English TV broadcasts have to supply a Spanish translation using the SAP feature, but the Spanish TV broadcasts don't supply a English translation as well. WTF!
Am I becoming intolerant in my old age, or is the US national language going to be Spanish now?
Chucky, do you need a bride???? (not that you want to hear the story but I have made a habit of making my christmas gifts every year.........and............each year I challenge myself further. So, even though I joked about painting, I'm actually painting now, cuz I'm good at procrastinating. Unfortunately, not even in Canada, can you paint while under the influence........sooo I remain sober for the next 3 weeks. Yes, for those of you paying attention, that extends beyond Christmas. However, if you new me, you would know that many of my hand painted gifts arrive after Christmas..........ha!.......Can you please grab a paintbrush and help me finish, I have 6 more clay pots to go.......no, really....no twist, no faux pas, no cut and paste......I need help to finish these silly things in time.....I always finish in time (insert joke) but I have a lot of really late nights ahead of me now, and I'll be taking my breaks with you. Be ready for insanity. I always get that way around Christmastime. You know, extended family, new mother-in-law etc. etc.
That letter is right on the money, I noticed that you could replace Canadian with American, it still fits....
There is such a thing, as the boat getting too full of passengers! You may still have room in "The great white north" but here in the US, the boat is getting awfully low in the water!
pod -
The Spanish language deal drives me up a wall too. Yesterday at lunch, I was at a Subway, when an obvious "immigrant" walked in to order, he spoke perfect English, the Subway employee remarked how good his English was getting (I got the felling the guy is a regular there) to that he replied "I'm wanting to be a real American, more jalapeno's please".
rizamoon there is no doubt in my mind that if i ever gave my wife a flowerpot for christmas, painted or not, it would get smashed over my head the moment i turned my back
More of last summers oil deals between GWB and Putin? We have to take the ME by force,and Russia looks the other way. The US will take Iran and Iraq, and you can have these US owned oil fields and islands, and if you claim the arctic as yours, we will look the other way?
Interesting subject, immigration is big everywhere as Pod mentioned, Britain has had this problem for a long long time.
If you're against immigration you're viewed as a racist, but like Rizamoon mentioned we are all pretty much a mixed bag anyway, the national geographic recently documented the first DNA was found in Africa, so we all originate from Africa anyway, before the land shifts.
Whats funny about that article is it is dated October 7, 2000, and gas prices are $2/gal. LOL
I heard someone on the radio discussing this, and wondered if it was true. I have not yet found where the dispensation of these islands stands now. But it is interesting.
On a more current topic: Google introduced it's Street View on Google maps. I tried it out and it is pretty amazing. It makes one wonder just how much data storage Google has for all of those images.
Hey Pod don't know whether your familiar with British football but currently we have Roman Abromavich chairman of chelsea who is a russian oil man worth billions and another russian running hearts in scotland
No not familiar, but it makes sense. The energy/oil people are wealthier than any normal person can imagine. At least he is spending some of his money.
Here in New England we have Bob Craft who has built a stadium (American Football-Patriots) using his own money. This is rare, as usually these stadiums are subsidized by the US taxpayer.
pod did you know that gwbush was an owner of the texas rangers baseball team. he bought in for~600,000 dollars,,,,cheap. after a short time a the city of dallas acquired land by eminent domain and built a new stadium boosting the value of the team enormously. bush sold and walked away a multimillionaire...oh and by the way the owners of said land sued the city and won a large settlement... this was GW's first real screwing of the taxpayer but not his last.....
Yep, I remember a little of that story, it was the beginning of his political career. I still don't get why Texas could go from Ann Richards who I thought was great to GWB?
Richards seemed the very embodiment of Texas, and GWB is from Maine, and everyone sucks down that phony poor Texas accent as though it were real. He is another east coast elitist who went to Yale!
And Richards was the real thing. I guess I just don't know whats going on in the south anymore.
pod gwbush was elected by the political machinations of carl rove, tom delay and the texas rnc..... except for his texas rangers caper he was unsuccessful at everything he ever attempted. the religious fruitcakes are a powerful force in the lonestar state as is big oil. when a slander campaign was instituted against ann richards (claiming she was lesbian) it pretty much sealed the deal....maybe not religious fanatics do what they are told hmmmm,,,religious fruitcakes and big corporate money; yup i'm definitely seeing a pattern
Let me try....I just found out how we could all be richer than Henry Kravis...MUCH richer...I just found out where a lot of gold is...more than has ever been mined in the history of our planet! The asteroid Eros! Anyone with me?
Sign me up, I'm bored with everything lately. Speaking of the price of precious metals, I was at Home Depot yesterday buying 3/4 copper pipe to fix my water heater, and it was over $50 for the elbows, unions, 5 feet of pipe, etc.
If I had the money for one of those diamond making machines, I would start tomorrow. There is a company in Boston making diamonds in a undisclosed location, and they will even turn the carbon from human or pet 'cremains' in to diamonds.
Let me further that by combining "rights" and "politics" with "gold"...and in keeping with my "rant" on the issue of Constitutional rights on the tank video...
Don't think your rights can be taken away without a vote, hearing, Constitutional amendment?
Well.....back in 1933 our president betrayed us (F D R) by issuing Executive order 6102, declaring the ownership of gold ILLEGAL! Never mind the Constitution protects ownership of private property. It took 40 years to overturn the Roosevelt "order".
Well I think gold is going to go ever higher as the dollar plunges. And, the fed is supposed to announce another interest rate cut again today. Hmmm, just what is it they are trying to control?
There were two guys who were trying to steal copper wire from a substation in the news about 2 months ago. One was electrocuted and died, the other was caught, but at the price of conductive copper on the scrap market you can see why.
We get that around here as well. I read about an electrocution just about every week in Detroit. Around here, 30 miles from Detroit, we get thieves stealing copper wire and plumbing out of homes under construction. A friend of mine is a Union electrician, he was picking up 000 ought copper cut off's on the job site before they hit the dumpster, two five gallon buckets full, cashed em in for $400!
On of the property managers I have a service contract with called me in March. She told me that the tenants were complaining that the heat was off and they had no water. Went to check it out. Crack heads had broken into the mechanical room, shut off the water main and cut out every inch of copper piping. 145' worth. Sick world we live in.
"Under the most recent metal prices, it costs 1.5 cents to make a penny and 8.2 cents to make a nickel. The metal content makeup of those coins are 97.5% zinc and 2.5% copper for pennies and 75% copper and 25% nickel for nickels. Copper costs have risen 24 % since the start of this year."
I remember hearing some crap many months ago that pennies are made of zinc.
miter it;s not that the copper is worth that much more, it's that the dollar is worth that much less. as the money supply increases individual incomes and savings are devalued not immediately but eventually. the federal reserve lowered interest rates again today increaseing the money supply and futher weakening the dollar. forget the consumer price index put out by the feds...it's a godamn selfserving lie..look at how much more it costs to live from gas, to health ins...to ...well copper you can't make chicken salad out of chickenshit, the currency is either fundamentally sound or not.....our's is not I think this video will interest you....he's the real deal http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWfIhFhelm8
udb...small time frames are meaningless.....it's euro's that count....look at the dollar vs euro on a graph for the last couple of years. mako: , i am sure commodity guys saw that coming...
Chuck - I am beginning to really like Ron Paul. In many ways, he reminds me of Ross Perot. Like Ross, he is speaking common sense against large entrenched special interests and bureaucracys. I don't think he will be president, because he is a classical Republican who believes in sound fiscal principals, and believes that the government should not be micro managing everyones lives.
The new Republican (IMHO), is swayed by almost insignificant hot button issues based on religion or patriotism as a means to keep the entire special interest machine going. This is sad, because both sides Republican and Democrat use hot button misdirection to avoid the unpleasant truths that need to be discussed and solved.
I think in the end Ron Paul will end up on the same political scrap heap as Ross Perot. Where are the real Republicans that I used to admire when I was young? When shall we have a new birth of freedom from corporate interests, and will we let representation for the people, by the people perish from the earth. (Right Abe?)
And we know today that the often quoted Ross Perot, was absolutely correct in his predictions.
I know Chuck it is over the long run. There were a few peeps making comments when the C.P. became stronger than the dollar, so I was just throwing that out there.
Once the economy starts to strengthen we should see an increase in the value of the dollar in the world market. A evalued dollar is not good for the world economy.
Eros is typical of stony meteorites, it contains about 3% metal. With the known abundance's of metals in meteorites, even a very cautious estimate suggests 20,000 million tons of aluminum along with similar amounts of gold, platinum and other rarer metals.
That is just one asteroid and not a very large one at that. ... How much is Eros worth? Today's trading price for gold is about $250 per ounce or about $9 million per ton. It means the value of the gold in asteroid Eros is about $1,000 billion. That's just the gold. Platinum is even more expensive, $350 per oz. or $11.25 million a ton, I crashed my calculator trying to times that by 20,000 mil.. Since it contains a lot of rare elements and metals that are of use in the semi conductor industry for example, at today's prices Eros is worth more than $20,000 billion!
As the dollar continues it plunge, the debate about eliminating the penny will arise again. Especially since it it worth more as metal than as a coin.
Here is another thing that is a mystery: With gasoline at $3.00/ Gal, why oh why do we need the 9/10ths of 1 cent on every pump? Enough already, oil companies, just go to a whole penny please.
Actually, I think this is a scam. No one in this country has 1/10th penny coins. So I think when the pump reads 23 cents, it's really 22 cents, and they get the rest. But can government stop the oil companies from doing this?
There is absolutely no way the federal government can change this useless (to the consumer) bullshit? And if in 100 years the government cannot legislate this simple annoyance out of our lives, what hope is there for help with the truly big problems.
Maybe we need to go into the station and pre-pay for 1/10 cent of gasoline then. I'll have to dispense into a paper cup to ensure I get the proper amount. What would that get me a drop or two?
If it wasn't a scam then occasionally it should be 2/10th of a cent right? But for them to get their 9/10ths, we all have to give them 1/10th for free!
Should I try to ask for my 1/10th of a cent change back.
Actually, because it is 9/10ths per gallon, sometimes they are stealing more than 1/10th of a penny. Because they are stealing 1/10th of a penny for every gallon pumped.
Well, if they sell in 1/10 increments, you should be able to dispense that way.
I would be curious to know the logic behind it. Am I going to change my mind by which gas station I will go to if one sells it at $3.01 and the other at $3.009? Let's see at 14 gallons thats a grand total of $.014 or .0046527085410435360584911930874045 of a gallon. If I get 20 miles to the gallon I would go .0930 of a mile further or in other words about 491 feet further with the 9/10 increments. Providing of course that the gas stations are honest.
I think this is correct, but I haven't really slept in 2 days.
146 billion gal/year USA 1/10th of a penny is 1/1000 of a dollar 1 billion is 1000 million so 1460 million gal * .001 dollars/gal. $1.46 million dollars.
What is 1.46 million for all of the oil companies?
One last thing, Eros has a banana shape that is 20x8x8 miles, it would not "land" on earth...if it impacted earth it would destroy all civilization outright! Generally an asteroid about 10 km (6.5 miles) in diameter is what is viewed as a total life destroyer (90% ) so Eros is a bit bigger.
Fortunately for us Eros wont be an "earth crosser" for at least two million years....but there are others!
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