As most of you already know, I do not answer my home phone line....Most of my friends and family use the cell phone number......
I cannot stand the number of un-solicited calls I get at home.....Political campaigns, surveys, tele-marketers....and random fax machines is insanse....at least 20 calls a day.
I called the phone company to complain....and they recommended to change my number....Why should I have to change my number? And if I did change my number...how long before I started getting calls on the new number?
The only thing I can do is register at the National "No-call" resgistry and file complaints......
https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Friday, June 15, 2007
Tony gets whacked?
"Sopranos" rub-out theory gains credence?
Fans of "The Sopranos" are seizing on clues suggesting that the controversial blackout which abruptly ended the TV mob drama meant that Tony Soprano was rubbed out, and HBO said on Thursday they may be on to something.
One clue in particular, a flashback in the penultimate episode to a conversation between Tony and his brother-in-law about death, gained credence as an HBO spokesman called it a "legitimate" hint and confirmed that series creator David Chase had a definite ending in mind.
"While he won't say to me 100 percent what it all means, he says some people who've guessed have come closer than others," HBO spokesman Quentin Schaffer told Reuters after speaking to Chase
"There are definitely things there that he intended for people to pick up on," Schaffer said.
Chase suggested as much in an interview on Tuesday with The Star-Ledger newspaper of New Jersey when he said of his end to the HBO series, "Anyone who wants to watch it, it's all there."
In the final moments of Sunday's concluding episode, Tony, the conflicted mob boss who has just survived a round of gangland warfare, sits in a diner with his family munching on onion rings as the 1980s song by rock band Journey, "Don't Stop Believing," blares from a juke box.
Tension builds as a suspicious man wearing a "Members Only" jacket eyes Tony from a nearby counter before slipping into a restroom. Then, as Tony looks toward the restaurant's entrance, the screen abruptly goes blank in mid-scene -- with no picture or sound for 10 seconds -- until the credits roll silently.
Stunned viewers, many initially believing something had gone wrong with their cable TV reception, were left wondering whether Tony ended up "whacked" or whether his sordid life went on as usual.
The jarring, fill-in-the-blank finale, concluding a show widely hailed as America's greatest television drama, sparked a furious debate about whether Chase had conceived of an actual ending and whether he left the audience any clues.
The biggest hint, according to a consensus taking shape on the Web, is a scene from an earlier episode in which Tony and his brother-in-law, Bobby Bacala, muse about what it feels like to die. "You probably don't even hear it when it happens," Bobby says while they sit fishing in a small boat on a lake.
"I think that is one of the most legitimate things to look at," Schaffer said when asked about theories that the flashback was meant to foreshadow Tony's death.
Fans of "The Sopranos" are seizing on clues suggesting that the controversial blackout which abruptly ended the TV mob drama meant that Tony Soprano was rubbed out, and HBO said on Thursday they may be on to something.
One clue in particular, a flashback in the penultimate episode to a conversation between Tony and his brother-in-law about death, gained credence as an HBO spokesman called it a "legitimate" hint and confirmed that series creator David Chase had a definite ending in mind.
"While he won't say to me 100 percent what it all means, he says some people who've guessed have come closer than others," HBO spokesman Quentin Schaffer told Reuters after speaking to Chase
"There are definitely things there that he intended for people to pick up on," Schaffer said.
Chase suggested as much in an interview on Tuesday with The Star-Ledger newspaper of New Jersey when he said of his end to the HBO series, "Anyone who wants to watch it, it's all there."
In the final moments of Sunday's concluding episode, Tony, the conflicted mob boss who has just survived a round of gangland warfare, sits in a diner with his family munching on onion rings as the 1980s song by rock band Journey, "Don't Stop Believing," blares from a juke box.
Tension builds as a suspicious man wearing a "Members Only" jacket eyes Tony from a nearby counter before slipping into a restroom. Then, as Tony looks toward the restaurant's entrance, the screen abruptly goes blank in mid-scene -- with no picture or sound for 10 seconds -- until the credits roll silently.
Stunned viewers, many initially believing something had gone wrong with their cable TV reception, were left wondering whether Tony ended up "whacked" or whether his sordid life went on as usual.
The jarring, fill-in-the-blank finale, concluding a show widely hailed as America's greatest television drama, sparked a furious debate about whether Chase had conceived of an actual ending and whether he left the audience any clues.
The biggest hint, according to a consensus taking shape on the Web, is a scene from an earlier episode in which Tony and his brother-in-law, Bobby Bacala, muse about what it feels like to die. "You probably don't even hear it when it happens," Bobby says while they sit fishing in a small boat on a lake.
"I think that is one of the most legitimate things to look at," Schaffer said when asked about theories that the flashback was meant to foreshadow Tony's death.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Rant on Terror
My Uncle Jim Metzler in Chicago sent me this article last year.......and although the war has been mishandled and our allies have left us.....I agree with most of it.
What do you think?
The lady that wrote this letter is Pam Foster of Pamela Foster and Associates in Atlanta. She's been in business since 1980 doing interior design and home planning. She recently wrote a letter to a family member serving in Iraq Read it!
WHAT'S ALL THE FUSS?"
Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we?
Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001? Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan, across the Potomac from our nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania? Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they?
And I'm supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was"desecrated" when an overworked American soldier kicked it or got it wet? Well, I don't. I don't care at all.
I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11. I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in Saudi Arabia. I'll care when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi tells the world he is sorry for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling, slashed throat. I'll care when the cowardly so-called "insurgents" in Iraq come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques. I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs. I'll care when the American media stops pretending that their First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from international law instead of the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights. In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave marine roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I don't care.When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who have been humiliated in what amounts to a college hazing incident, rest assured that I don't care. When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank that I don't care. When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and fed "special" food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being "mishandled," you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts that I don't care.And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled "Koran" and other times "Quran." Well, Jimmy Crack Corn and -- you guessed it, I could not have said this any better myself!
If you agree with this view point, pass this on to all your e-mail friends. Sooner or later, it'll get to the people responsible for this ridiculous behavior! If you don't agree, then by all means hit the delete button. Should you choose the latter, then please don't complain when more atrocities committed by radical Muslims happen here in our great country.
What do you think?
The lady that wrote this letter is Pam Foster of Pamela Foster and Associates in Atlanta. She's been in business since 1980 doing interior design and home planning. She recently wrote a letter to a family member serving in Iraq Read it!
WHAT'S ALL THE FUSS?"
Are we fighting a war on terror or aren't we?
Was it or was it not started by Islamic people who brought it to our shores on September 11, 2001? Were people from all over the world, mostly Americans, not brutally murdered that day, in downtown Manhattan, across the Potomac from our nation's capitol and in a field in Pennsylvania? Did nearly three thousand men, women and children die a horrible, burning or crushing death that day, or didn't they?
And I'm supposed to care that a copy of the Koran was"desecrated" when an overworked American soldier kicked it or got it wet? Well, I don't. I don't care at all.
I'll start caring when Osama bin Laden turns himself in and repents for incinerating all those innocent people on 9/11. I'll care about the Koran when the fanatics in the Middle East start caring about the Holy Bible, the mere possession of which is a crime in Saudi Arabia. I'll care when Abu Musab al-Zarqawi tells the world he is sorry for hacking off Nick Berg's head while Berg screamed through his gurgling, slashed throat. I'll care when the cowardly so-called "insurgents" in Iraq come out and fight like men instead of disrespecting their own religion by hiding in mosques. I'll care when the mindless zealots who blow themselves up in search of nirvana care about the innocent children within range of their suicide bombs. I'll care when the American media stops pretending that their First Amendment liberties are somehow derived from international law instead of the United States Constitution's Bill of Rights. In the meantime, when I hear a story about a brave marine roughing up an Iraqi terrorist to obtain information, know this: I don't care.When I see a fuzzy photo of a pile of naked Iraqi prisoners who have been humiliated in what amounts to a college hazing incident, rest assured that I don't care. When I see a wounded terrorist get shot in the head when he is told not to move because he might be booby-trapped, you can take it to the bank that I don't care. When I hear that a prisoner, who was issued a Koran and a prayer mat, and fed "special" food that is paid for by my tax dollars, is complaining that his holy book is being "mishandled," you can absolutely believe in your heart of hearts that I don't care.And oh, by the way, I've noticed that sometimes it's spelled "Koran" and other times "Quran." Well, Jimmy Crack Corn and -- you guessed it, I could not have said this any better myself!
If you agree with this view point, pass this on to all your e-mail friends. Sooner or later, it'll get to the people responsible for this ridiculous behavior! If you don't agree, then by all means hit the delete button. Should you choose the latter, then please don't complain when more atrocities committed by radical Muslims happen here in our great country.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Big Problems in the future
Wow....we are really headed for big problems in this country......problems with our economy...problems with crime....problems with welfare......
Today's Miami Herald reports that less than 50% of students are graduating High School in Miami Dade County....UNDER 50% ranking us in the bottom half of all school systems in the nation.
If anyone thinks this isn't going to have major implications to to CRIME...and to our economic growth is crazy.
Education is the number one problem our country faces.....and the only answer seems to pour more money on it......
http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/137759.html
Today's Miami Herald reports that less than 50% of students are graduating High School in Miami Dade County....UNDER 50% ranking us in the bottom half of all school systems in the nation.
If anyone thinks this isn't going to have major implications to to CRIME...and to our economic growth is crazy.
Education is the number one problem our country faces.....and the only answer seems to pour more money on it......
http://www.miamiherald.com/460/story/137759.html
Monday, June 11, 2007
Immigration Poll
I must be crazy
....if they polled prisoners in jail if they think they should be released, I bet most of them would respond with a YES.
....if they polled people in Miami if illegal immigrants should be given amnesty, would it shock anyone that most of them would respond with a YES.
With no regard to fairness or the laws of our country....the people that broke the laws and came to the US without VISAS, documentation, or just sneaked across the border....are about to be rewarded and awarded some type of legal protection ahead of all the people in the world that have submitted legal applications and have been waiting for years....millions of europeans, middle easterners, asians are all being bumped because they did it LEGALLY....and no one cares because it is an emotional....and financial issue.......American businesses making extra profit by hiring low wage un-documented workers....
Here is the poll information from today's Miami Herald.......
IMMIGRATION POLL
60 percent in Florida say legalize immigrants
By a broad majority, participants in a poll of hundreds of likely Florida voters voiced support for legalizing undocumented immigrants.
BY ALFONSO CHARDY
Three in five likely Florida voters say they back legalizing millions of undocumented immigrants largely along the lines of a controversial measure now stalled in the U.S. Senate.
The findings of the Zogby International statewide poll, conducted for The Miami Herald and WFOR-CBS4 in association with The Palm Beach Post and WPEC-CBS 12, mirror other polls' national results. The Senate compromise measure crashed into a wall of opposition raised by liberals and conservatives who dislike parts of the bipartisan bill for different reasons.
The poll's findings come as President Bush scrambles to try to get the support of Republican senators who view the measure as undeserved amnesty for the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants.
On Tuesday, Bush will meet with conservative Republican senators in an attempt to persuade them that the bill is tough on border enforcement and far from amnesty. It would extract heavy fines and long waits for immigrants to legalize their status.
Some of those requirements -- among them fines of $5,000 and a proposed point system that puts the nation's employment needs above family unification for immigrants -- are opposed by Democrats, who say the fines are too hefty and the waits too long.
In Florida, however, there's strong support for the Senate bill from voters of every political persuasion, race and ethnic group.
John Zogby, president of Zogby International, joked that Florida is not a ''Lou Dobbsian state,'' a reference to CNN host Lou Dobbs, who has become a leading opponent of illegal immigration.
BLACK VOTERS
Zogby said one of the surprising results was that a majority of black likely voters contacted statewide expressed support for legalization, even taking into account the margin of error of eight percentage points for that subgroup. As the debate has unfolded, some black leaders have voiced concern that foreign workers might take jobs and depress wages for blacks.
The statewide poll of 801 likely voters, conducted June 4-6, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Zogby also oversampled in South Florida, polling 407 likely voters in Miami-Dade, Broward, Monroe and Palm Beach counties, and those findings have a margin of error of five percentage points.
In South Florida, 61 percent of all likely voters polled agreed that immigration revisions should include a path to citizenship for most illegal immigrants who have no criminal record, pay a $5,000 fine and wait their turn behind legal immigrants to apply for permanent U.S. residency. Statewide, 60 percent agreed.
''I don't think anybody should be excluded,'' said one voter polled, Luis Torres, a 35-year-old Miami resident born in Chicago of a Cuban mother and an Ecuadorean father. ``We all came from somewhere.''
Two in five of those polled in Florida and almost half of voters contacted in South Florida took issue with another feature in the bill that would give preference to skilled foreign immigrants over those with extended U.S. families. They prefer that immigrants with U.S. family ties remain a priority.
The Senate bill would enable undocumented immigrants, including about one million in Florida, to obtain a Z visa, which after several years would allow them to apply for residency and eventually citizenship.
Asked if undocumented workers take jobs that no one else wants, 58 percent statewide and 54 percent in South Florida said they agreed or strongly agreed.
Ilene Schlesinger, a former office manager who lives in Monroe County, said today's undocumented immigrants deserve a chance -- just as her grandparents had more than a half-century ago.
Schlesinger said her grandparents arrived illegally during World War II, fleeing from Nazi persecution in Poland and Hungary. ''They did not have proper papers, but they were able to escape the Holocaust that way,'' said Schlesinger, 53.
James Causa and Caridad Monzón, both Cuban Americans and longtime Miami residents, summed up the feelings of most Florida respondents about undocumented immigrants.
''They should be given a chance, as long as they don't have a criminal record and don't want to destroy the government,'' said Causa, a 74-year-old teacher. ``They gave it to me.''
IDENTIFY WITH THEM
Though Cubans qualify to stay under the Cuban Adjustment Act, Causa said he identified with undocumented immigrants because the visa he used to enter the United States in the 1960s was ``probably fake.''
Monzón, an 89-year-old retired seamstress, echoed Causa's position.
''They should legalize them because they come to this country to seek better opportunities that they don't have in their country,'' she said. Monzón broke ranks with the majority who disagreed with the idea of giving priority to skilled immigrants -- even though she entered the United States in 1946 on an immigrant visa requested by a brother in New York.
''The ones with employment skills should be the priority because they are educated and they can contribute more to society,'' she said. Not all immigrants or children of immigrants backed the legalization plan. ''I applied for a green card and waited years to get into the country,'' said Canadian-born Alfredo Ronca, a 44-year-old manager at an electronics company who lives in Pompano Beach.
''I don't have a problem with immigrants -- my parents were immigrants from Italy,'' he said. ``But if you are here illegally, that means you broke the law. I did everything legally, so why should we give them a free pass?''
Tony Samra, the child of a Central American father and an American mother, agreed.
''My father came to the United States in 1947 from Tegucigalpa, Honduras,'' said Samra, 58, a professor of computer science and information technology who lives in Delray Beach. ''He got in line and applied for an immigrant visa and went through the legal process, served in the Army . . . did everything by the book,'' he said. ``These people should do things properly, like my dad did.''everything by the book,'' he said. ``These people should do things properly, like my dad did.''
....if they polled prisoners in jail if they think they should be released, I bet most of them would respond with a YES.
....if they polled people in Miami if illegal immigrants should be given amnesty, would it shock anyone that most of them would respond with a YES.
With no regard to fairness or the laws of our country....the people that broke the laws and came to the US without VISAS, documentation, or just sneaked across the border....are about to be rewarded and awarded some type of legal protection ahead of all the people in the world that have submitted legal applications and have been waiting for years....millions of europeans, middle easterners, asians are all being bumped because they did it LEGALLY....and no one cares because it is an emotional....and financial issue.......American businesses making extra profit by hiring low wage un-documented workers....
Here is the poll information from today's Miami Herald.......
IMMIGRATION POLL
60 percent in Florida say legalize immigrants
By a broad majority, participants in a poll of hundreds of likely Florida voters voiced support for legalizing undocumented immigrants.
BY ALFONSO CHARDY
Three in five likely Florida voters say they back legalizing millions of undocumented immigrants largely along the lines of a controversial measure now stalled in the U.S. Senate.
The findings of the Zogby International statewide poll, conducted for The Miami Herald and WFOR-CBS4 in association with The Palm Beach Post and WPEC-CBS 12, mirror other polls' national results. The Senate compromise measure crashed into a wall of opposition raised by liberals and conservatives who dislike parts of the bipartisan bill for different reasons.
The poll's findings come as President Bush scrambles to try to get the support of Republican senators who view the measure as undeserved amnesty for the nation's estimated 12 million illegal immigrants.
On Tuesday, Bush will meet with conservative Republican senators in an attempt to persuade them that the bill is tough on border enforcement and far from amnesty. It would extract heavy fines and long waits for immigrants to legalize their status.
Some of those requirements -- among them fines of $5,000 and a proposed point system that puts the nation's employment needs above family unification for immigrants -- are opposed by Democrats, who say the fines are too hefty and the waits too long.
In Florida, however, there's strong support for the Senate bill from voters of every political persuasion, race and ethnic group.
John Zogby, president of Zogby International, joked that Florida is not a ''Lou Dobbsian state,'' a reference to CNN host Lou Dobbs, who has become a leading opponent of illegal immigration.
BLACK VOTERS
Zogby said one of the surprising results was that a majority of black likely voters contacted statewide expressed support for legalization, even taking into account the margin of error of eight percentage points for that subgroup. As the debate has unfolded, some black leaders have voiced concern that foreign workers might take jobs and depress wages for blacks.
The statewide poll of 801 likely voters, conducted June 4-6, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Zogby also oversampled in South Florida, polling 407 likely voters in Miami-Dade, Broward, Monroe and Palm Beach counties, and those findings have a margin of error of five percentage points.
In South Florida, 61 percent of all likely voters polled agreed that immigration revisions should include a path to citizenship for most illegal immigrants who have no criminal record, pay a $5,000 fine and wait their turn behind legal immigrants to apply for permanent U.S. residency. Statewide, 60 percent agreed.
''I don't think anybody should be excluded,'' said one voter polled, Luis Torres, a 35-year-old Miami resident born in Chicago of a Cuban mother and an Ecuadorean father. ``We all came from somewhere.''
Two in five of those polled in Florida and almost half of voters contacted in South Florida took issue with another feature in the bill that would give preference to skilled foreign immigrants over those with extended U.S. families. They prefer that immigrants with U.S. family ties remain a priority.
The Senate bill would enable undocumented immigrants, including about one million in Florida, to obtain a Z visa, which after several years would allow them to apply for residency and eventually citizenship.
Asked if undocumented workers take jobs that no one else wants, 58 percent statewide and 54 percent in South Florida said they agreed or strongly agreed.
Ilene Schlesinger, a former office manager who lives in Monroe County, said today's undocumented immigrants deserve a chance -- just as her grandparents had more than a half-century ago.
Schlesinger said her grandparents arrived illegally during World War II, fleeing from Nazi persecution in Poland and Hungary. ''They did not have proper papers, but they were able to escape the Holocaust that way,'' said Schlesinger, 53.
James Causa and Caridad Monzón, both Cuban Americans and longtime Miami residents, summed up the feelings of most Florida respondents about undocumented immigrants.
''They should be given a chance, as long as they don't have a criminal record and don't want to destroy the government,'' said Causa, a 74-year-old teacher. ``They gave it to me.''
IDENTIFY WITH THEM
Though Cubans qualify to stay under the Cuban Adjustment Act, Causa said he identified with undocumented immigrants because the visa he used to enter the United States in the 1960s was ``probably fake.''
Monzón, an 89-year-old retired seamstress, echoed Causa's position.
''They should legalize them because they come to this country to seek better opportunities that they don't have in their country,'' she said. Monzón broke ranks with the majority who disagreed with the idea of giving priority to skilled immigrants -- even though she entered the United States in 1946 on an immigrant visa requested by a brother in New York.
''The ones with employment skills should be the priority because they are educated and they can contribute more to society,'' she said. Not all immigrants or children of immigrants backed the legalization plan. ''I applied for a green card and waited years to get into the country,'' said Canadian-born Alfredo Ronca, a 44-year-old manager at an electronics company who lives in Pompano Beach.
''I don't have a problem with immigrants -- my parents were immigrants from Italy,'' he said. ``But if you are here illegally, that means you broke the law. I did everything legally, so why should we give them a free pass?''
Tony Samra, the child of a Central American father and an American mother, agreed.
''My father came to the United States in 1947 from Tegucigalpa, Honduras,'' said Samra, 58, a professor of computer science and information technology who lives in Delray Beach. ''He got in line and applied for an immigrant visa and went through the legal process, served in the Army . . . did everything by the book,'' he said. ``These people should do things properly, like my dad did.''everything by the book,'' he said. ``These people should do things properly, like my dad did.''
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Sopranos Finale
The episode was written and directed by the show’s creator David Chase, marking the first time Chase has directed an episode since the series premiere. It is due to air on Sunday June 10, 2007. David Chase is said to have shot three different endings in case spoilers found their way on the internet.
The episode opens at a gas station in upstate New york a couple pull up to a pump in a red Cadillac. It is revealed to be Phil and Patty Leotardo. Phil gets out and begins to fill his tank when Benny Fazio approaches him from behind and shoots him twice in the head. Benny runs and gets into a sedan driven by Patsy Parisi and the two speed off as an african american youth onlooker throws up.
We see see Tony Soprano, Paulie Walnuts, Carlo Gervasi, and Dante Greco playing cards in the safehouse from the prior episode. Tony gets a call from Benny on a payphone. He says “The Shaw’s gone,” and hangs up. Tony get up and motions for Paulie to follow. The two get into his Escalade after putting his AR-10 inot the backseat. The two drive to Satriales and sit outside all the while discussing days past in Johnny Boy Sopranos heyday. Paulie is working on his tan and Tony is smoking a cigar when a black Cadillac sedan approaches. Little Carmine Luperatazzi exits the backseat while the car drives around the corner. They seat themselves across from Tony and Paulie and begin to discuss recent affairs. After many malaprosims from Carmine and some moronic rambling from Paulie Tony laughs and interjects saying he is proud to be present at the first sit down between the new bosses of New Jersey and Brooklyn. Paulie and Carmine both appear shocked and Tony tells them its long over due and Paulie has been passed up too many times. Tony leaves the two and goes inside to speak with Agent Harris. Who is seen sitting in the back corner. Harris acknowledges Carmines presence and asks if hes to take that Carmine’s the new boss of Brooklynn Tony tells him to, “Take whatever the *beep* you want and take one last Veal Parm Hero on the house.”
We now see AJ, Carmella, and Meadow in a motel room. A knock on the door prompts Carmella to remove a .45 automatic from her purse and walk to the door and ask whos there? Meadow reading the paper and AJ watching t.v. are both scared. After a long silence a familiar voice say’s “A loving father and husband.” Carmella opens the door and Tony and Paulie enter they all leave and go back to Casa De Soprano. After arriving home Janice Pulls up, leaves her kids there and her and Tony leave. Leaving Paulie to guard their respective families. The two arrive at a state hospital where they enter one at a time to talk to their Uncle Junior.
The two make small talk until the shooting comes up. Junior apologizes and said he was out of his head and that he always loved Tony even when he didnt show it. Tony and Janice return home around night fall and Tony and Paulie leave again. Carmela is worried and Tony tells her not to worry because this is the last time he will be leaving like this.
Paulie and Tony are sitting in his car at night in an empty parking lot as the snow is falling discussing Paulies promotion. Tony says he will be happy to be Consigliere to Paulie. When headlights shine upon them, the two get out and walk toward a parked SUV. Butch DeConcini and Albie Cianflone exit it and walk toward them. They discuss peace and Tony tells them that if ran under Carmine, Brooklyn could expect no problems from them. They shake hands and Tony suggests a drink to celebrate. Tony walks back to his car and opens the backseat. Tony pulls out a large object covered in a black plastic garbage bag. Paulie runs off to the side and throws himself down and Albie and Butch pull out pistols but are too late when the garbage bag erupts with machine gun fire. Tony helps Paulie out of the snow and the two admire the AR-10 and two dead bodies. Tony looks the gun over and admires a phrase written on the stock. “Made In America.” The two then drive away.
We see the Soprano home at daylight the next day. Carmela is in the bathtub, Meadow is asleep, and AJ is unlocking the hidden gun closet in an indoor column. He removes something and then goes outside. We see the pool once again uncovered, yet empty with AJ sitting in the botton holding a hand grenade. He pulls the pin out and holds the handle. He hesitates and throws it to the other end of the pool and it blows up dirtying him. Carmela comes outside with her .45 and nearly shoots her son. Tony arrives to see him sitting on the couch being questioned. AJ says it was so cool. Tony laughs and writes it off and tells everyone to get in the car. Carmela asks where there going and Tony replies, “Out for ice cream.”
We see a number of things in the final scene: Paulie the surviving Jersey crew with Carmine and his crew having dinner together and toasting the two’s promotions, Silvio’s heartbeat monitor going flat, and Janice in a small home with her three kids appearing miserable, Agent Harris arresting the two muslims from the Bada Bing apparently making bombs, Pat Blundetto breaking Junior out of the state hospital,and Dr. Jennifer Melfi smiling alone in her office while reading about the recent gangland slayings and Anthony Sopranos apparent stepping down as boss. Finally we see Tony and his immediate family together at an ice cream parlor.Tony then tells his family that he is no longer depressed and that being with his family and them being safe was better than all the therapists and Prozac in the world. It just took all this *beep* to make him see it. AJ says he’s happy just to be alive and that he has snapped out of it as well. Tony proposes a toast to his family mirroring the season one finale “I Dream Of Jeannie Cusamano”.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Tax Cuts ???
Tax cuts
Think about it this the next time someone complains that the rich people get the lion's share of a tax cut......
Put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand. Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this: The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing. The fifth would pay $1. The sixth would pay $3. The seventh would pay $7. The eighth would pay $12. The ninth would pay $18. The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59. So, that's what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until on day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20."Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so: The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings). The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings). The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings). The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings). The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings). The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. "I only got a dollar out of the $20,"declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man," but he got $10!" "Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!" "That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!" "Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!" The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill! And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
Think about it this the next time someone complains that the rich people get the lion's share of a tax cut......
Put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand. Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this: The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing. The fifth would pay $1. The sixth would pay $3. The seventh would pay $7. The eighth would pay $12. The ninth would pay $18. The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59. So, that's what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until on day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20."Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so: The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings). The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings). The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings). The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings). The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings). The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings. "I only got a dollar out of the $20,"declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man," but he got $10!" "Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!" "That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!" "Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!" The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill! And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
The Ant and the Grasshopper
The Ant and the Grasshopper: 2 scenarios
*OLD VERSION*: The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.
MORAL OF THE STORY:
Be responsible for yourself!
*MODERN VERSION:* The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that, in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so? Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing, "It's Not Easy Being Green." Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, "We shall overcome." Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake. Nancy Pelosi & John Kerry exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share. Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity and Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government. Hillary gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal judges that Bill Clinton appointed from a list of single-parent welfare recipients. The ant loses the case. The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it. The ant has disappeared in the snow. The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful how you vote.
*OLD VERSION*: The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.
MORAL OF THE STORY:
Be responsible for yourself!
*MODERN VERSION:* The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that, in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so? Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing, "It's Not Easy Being Green." Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, "We shall overcome." Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake. Nancy Pelosi & John Kerry exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share. Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity and Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government. Hillary gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal judges that Bill Clinton appointed from a list of single-parent welfare recipients. The ant loses the case. The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it. The ant has disappeared in the snow. The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful how you vote.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Monday, June 04, 2007
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