Dali

Salvador Dali - Lanvin Chocolate

Mother's Day - Gift Suggestion?

Looking for a gift for Mother’s Day or for that special female in your life? What a great gift for a mom that has cleaned Play-Doh from carpet, laundry, and forced the "wierd" neighbor kid from eating it!

For the first time that fresh-out-of the can, eau-de-PLAY-DOH scent is available for fun, highly-creative people who seek a whimsical scent reminiscent of their childhood. As part of our year-long celebration of the beloved modeling compound's 50th birthday, PLAY-DOH compound's distinctive aroma will be available in a limited-edition 1-ounce spray bottle.

Retailers such as Ultra Cosmetics and Urban Outfitters will carry the PLAY-DOH fragrance for an approximate retail price of $19. Childhood memories last forever, but the PLAY-DOH perfume is only available through the end of the year.

Check out http://www.hasbro.com/playdoh/default.cfm?page=50thbday for this perfume and for blasts from the past.

It's all fun and games....till someone gets hurt

Perfect Weather (again)!

Bob & Jim (and the gang from Badge Express & BlueBridge) thank everyone for attending our FIRST Picnic.

Special thanks to my cousin, George Szemkus, for arranging the logitsics, food, beer, wine, and drinks!!! George..."you da man"!

Happy Cinco de Mayo

Let's take this special day to celebrate diversity and the struggle of poor starving people that have struggled with oppressive governements that attempt to reach our land of opportunity.

Let's take this special day to evaluate how our lives have been enriched by the proud people that have made it to America...have started a new life....and are chasing the same dreams our parents, grandparents, or great grandparents came here for.

Freedom is ringing, and they are answering...
Justice is impartial, and they are amazed...
Opportunity is around every corner, and they appreciate it...

Let's not reject this moment in time, but embrace it, and learn from it.
As US citizens, we have the right to vote and change our political leaders...but over half our citizens choose not to vote!

If you are not happy with the current imigration situation...Get off your ass and do something....quit whinning about it....You have a choice...You can sit back in your big comfortable chair, and turn FOX News on, and let the hysteria drive you crazy....or you can make a decision to take control....and either enjoy the rich diverse melting pot of America.....or Vote!...or drink a few Corona's and have a Happy Cinco de Mayo!

JFK - Oil Crisis - Conspiracy?

Here is a wacky conspiracy theory that presents another motive for the murder of President Kennedy, money and power.

Was JFK killed to stop him from building the Passamaquoddy Dam at the border of Maine and Canada?

Rapid commercialization of tidal power would eliminate the need for oil in power production in ten years. JFK made a brilliant speech in Augusta Maine in 1959. He foretold the energy crisis of today and he promised to build the dam if he was elected President. He kept that promise and began immediately after his election to implement the building of the dam.

On July 16 1963 John Kennedy stood in the Rose Garden of the White House and in a speech of four minutes announced the completion of the study for the dam and requested the acceleration of the negotiations with the Canadians. On October 19 1963 Kennedy flew over the site of the Dam. On October 22, Kennedy's under secretary of the interior, Kenneth Holum in a speech to the AFL CIO in Boston emphasized the President"s '"'double under scored interest in the building of the dam.'"

The dam was quashed after Kennedy"s death. To hear this cloistered speech of JFK"'"s visit www.33139.com

The producer of the internet television show, 33139.com, about South Beach, has the speech in the '"'Permanent Gallery'"' of the site. She is from the area of Maine where the dam was to be built, but discovered JFK"'"s efforts by chance. While we were all kept busy chasing after shadowy Cuban and Mafia figures, we should have been looking north to Maine . . . and across the border to Canada …. to Catholic Quebec"'"s secessionist"'"s successful attempts to nationalize the power industry that ran concurrent with the catholic Kennedy"'"s efforts to build and run the dam through the Department of the Interior.

Charles de Gaulle built A SIMILAR DAM AT THE SAME TIME Kennedy laid plans for Quoddy; both Kennedy and De Gaulle planned more dams. De Gaulle completed his; however, after the attempted assassination on his person, he never built the rest of the dams. Today the La Rance tidal dam in France, and one built simultaneously in Russia, are still in service supplying electricity from a free source to millions of people.

Right Side of the Brain?

Doctors have concluded that if you find the man in the coffee beans in 3 seconds, the right half of your brain is better developed than most people.

If you find the man between 3 seconds and 1 minute, the right half of your brain is developed normally.

If you find the man between 1 minute and 3 minutes, then the right half of your brain is functioning slowly and you need to eat more protein.

If you have not found the man after 3 minutes, the advice is to look for more of this type of exercise to make that part of the brain stronger!!!

And, yes, the man is really there!!!

Globalization

Question: What is the truest definition of Globalization?

Answer: Princess Diana's death.

Question: How come?

Answer: An English princess with an Egyptian boyfriend crashes in a French tunnel, driving a German car with a Dutch engine, driven by a Belgian who was drunk on Scottish whisky, (check the bottle before you change the spelling) followed closely by Italian Paparazzi, on Japanese motorcycles; treated by an American doctor, using Brazilian medicines.

This was written by an Englishman, using Bill Gates's technology, and you're probably reading this on your computer, that uses Taiwanese chips, and a Korean monitor, assembled by Bangladeshi workers in a Singapore plant, transported by Indian lorry-drivers, hijacked by Indonesians, unloaded by Sicilian longshoremen, and trucked to you by Mexican illegals.

A very costly buzz

Ricky Williams will probably never wear a Miami Dolphin uniform again...after being suspended today for the 2006 season for failing a FOURTH drug test....What a shame and waste of a gifted talent.

Freedom of Speech?

I don't think our founding fathers ever discussed protest posters like this one!

Neil Contess flies the NCAA Championship Flag

April 15, 2006

The tax day I will never forget.........

I found this interesting article about taxes....hope you enjoy it!


Tax Freedom Day arrives on Wednesday, April 26th this year. That's when we stop working for the government and start working for ourselves. For the average worker, all of the earnings of the first 116 days go to pay taxes to the federal, state and local governments. Starting April 27th, we are free -- at last -- to take care of our own family's needs.

The 2006 report, published this month by the non-partisan Tax Foundation of Washington, D.C., chronicles America's tax burden. According to the report, the federal tax burden has been reduced by seven days since the end of the Clinton administration when Tax Freedom Day did not arrive until May 3rd. During the Clinton years (1992-2000), the tax burden grew sharply by 12 days despite Clinton's promise that "the era of big government is over." However, Tax Freedom Day falls three days later than it did last year and ten days later than in 2004, even with the absence of tax increases.

Our progressive tax system drives more and more Americans into higher tax brackets each year. Strong economic growth, posted at 6.5 percent from 2004-2005 produced more wealth for Americans, and with that, more taxes for Uncle Sam. Due to our progressive tax system, your taxes increase even if your buying power does not!

Taxes still take nearly 32 percent of a worker's gross income......
21 percent for federal taxes and 11 percent for state and local.

Only since 1992 have Americans paid more for government programs than they spend on food, clothing, and medical care combined. For the amount of money we pay in taxes, government should already be able to provide universal health coverage and feed and clothe us as well. For every eight hour day we work, 2 hours and 32 minutes of our work goes to pay taxes. About 41 of those minutes go to pay for Social Security and Medicare. In contrast, the savings of the average American is reflected by a value of negative two minutes of work.

At the state level, tax freedom day varies from state to state. California has the 9th highest taxes with Tax Freedom delayed until April 30th. Virginia places 20th in the race for the highest tax rate even though Tax Freedom day arrives on April 24th, two days before the national average.

From the birth of the nation in 1776 until the early 1930s, government spending at the federal level never exceeded three percent of national income except during times of war. In 1913, when the Sixteenth Amendment allowed the federal government to tax income directly on individuals, tax freedom day arrived as early as January 20th!

The total effective tax rate did not permanently surpass 10 percent until FDR's New Deal legislation in 1930. Total taxes passed 25 percent during the Great Society Programs during the 1960's. The effective tax rate is currently at 30 percent. Put another way, in 1900, taxes took $1 of every $12 of earnings from American workers; in 1950, taxes took $1 of every $4; today they take $1 of every $3. If you add the costs of complying with regulations, the cost of government to society is over 50 percent. Imagine the economic boom if the other half of worker's labor were set free!

Economist Arthur Laffer recognized the law of diminishing returns applies to tax rates as well. According to Laffer, there comes a point beyond which increased taxation actually yields fewer tax dollars being collected. For example, a 100 percent tax rate would drive commerce into the ground, resulting in zero taxes being collected. Many economists believe we are already well beyond that point for the most Americans. In other words, tax cuts would actually result in increased economic growth and more taxes being collected.

Presidents Kennedy and Reagan understood the Laffer Curve well. The 1964, Kennedy tax cuts reduced the top tax rate from 91 percent to 70 percent and to the surprise of many, tax revenues increased. Seventeen years later, Reagan tax cuts reduced the top marginal rate from 70 percent to 50 percent. Revenues soared again. Between 1980 and 1997 the share of federal income taxes paid by the top one percent rose from 19 percent to 33 percent. The share of tax paid by the top 25 percent of taxpayers increased their share from 73 percent to 82 percent. The Laffer Curve works. Give the wealthy a tax break and they end up shouldering an even greater share of the tax burden.

In addition to federal, state and local taxes, the current deficit spending policy is a hidden force taxing wealth by devaluing the dollar. In our deficit spending government, money is constantly being printed to fulfill the government's debt obligations. However, printing money devalues all existing savings stored in dollars. Dollars become less valuable. Over time, the purchasing power of the dollar decreases in direct proportion to the number of dollars created to fund the federal deficit. This in itself is a form of taxation. Due to our progressive tax system, Uncle Sam actually collects more taxes as inflation rises. If your pay is adjusted each year to keep up with inflation, the dollar figure you make increases, but your net purchasing power remains unchanged. However, inflation may actually drive you into a higher tax bracket despite the fact that your buying power has not increased! The amount of value that the dollar has lost can only be measured using something else, which is assumed to have held its value constant. Since the beginning of 2002, the U.S. Dollar has dropped 25 percent against a broad index of foreign currencies. Currencies are subject to fluctuations of their own, but gold and silver are not. Since 2002, the dollar has dropped 48 percent against gold. That's a 48 percent tax in less than three years, and it has been a tax on total wealth stored in dollars, not simply on income.

The good news is your financial freedom does not depend on any one politician's successes or failures. Since the government has its own financial troubles, it is more important that you begin by getting your personal financial house in order. The decisions under your control have the greatest impact on your financial well-being. Government solutions for individual problems never work well. You can best help government by not contributing to a culture of entitlement. Demanding that Uncle Sam pay for your college education, health care, prescription drug coverage, and retirement income will only cost you more.

The price for big government solutions is ever-distant tax freedom day and half-baked results. France's finance minister under Louis XIV said it best, "The art of taxation consists in so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest possible amount of feathers with the smallest possible amount of hissing." We joke about taxes to relieve our stress, but there are serious issues at stake. We need to watch the erosion of personal freedoms. We need to ask what limits our country can support without cooking the goose that laid the golden egg of our economy.

If you enjoyed this article....you can subscribe to a weekly newsletter by John Marotta that has more money advice....cool stuff!

http://www.emarotta.com/

Read....Learn.....get yourself out of debt!
Great book....Andrew Tobias...The only Investment Guide you will ever Need

Pirates World - Reunion

http://www.piratesworldreunion.com/first.html

The Duke

Happy Valentines Day

A dozen roses and a box of chocolates ???




Did you know that, adjusted for the cost of living, the minimum wage today is 28% lower than it was in 1956?

Love ain't Cheap and it is getting more expensive every day!
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0774473.html

HER DIARY
Tonight I thought he was acting weird.We had made plans for Valentine's Day to meet at a bar to have a drink and dinner. I was shopping with my friends all day long, so I thought he was upset at the fact that I was a bit late, but he made no comment. Conversation wasn't flowing so I suggested that we go somewhere quiet so we could talk. He agreed but he kept quiet and absent. I asked him what was wrong; he said nothing. I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset. He said it had nothing to do with me and not to worry.On the way home I told him that I loved him, he simply smiled and kept driving. I can't explain his behavior. I don't know why he didn't say I love you too. When we got home I felt as if I had lost him, as if he wanted nothing to do with me anymore. He just sat there and watched T.V. He seemed distant and absent. Finally, I decided to go to bed. About 10 minutes later he came to bed, and to my surprise he responded to my caress and we made love, but I still felt that he was distracted and his thoughts were somewhere else. He fell asleep - I cried. I don't know what to do. I'm almost sure that his thoughts are with someone else. My life is a disaster.

HIS DIARY
I shot the worst round of golf in my life today, but at least I got laid.

Carnival in Rio

If you are reading along...playing the home version....Hui and I are back from Rio de Janeiro for Carnival 2006....Trying to check-off as many places as possible until the time limit expires.

This time the adventure started in Buenos Aires, Argentina where we boarded the Oceania Cruise ship, Insignia for a (12) day cruise up the coast of South America...Stopping in Montevideo, Uruguay, Sao Paulo, Brazil and some other cities I have never heard of..... I guess I'll check them off the list too?

I finally answered one of the big questions of life...Does the toilet water really swirl counter clockwise in South America?

First Skipper Chuck now Al "Grandpa" Lewis

'Grandpa Munster' Al Lewis Dies at 95
By LARRY McSHANE, Associated Press

NEW YORK - Al Lewis, the cigar-chomping patriarch of "The Munsters" whose work as a basketball scout, restaurateur and political candidate never eclipsed his role as Grandpa from the television sitcom, died after years of failing health. He was 95.

Lewis, sporting a somewhat cheesy Dracula outfit, became a pop culture icon playing the irascible father-in-law to Fred Gwynne's ever-bumbling Herman Munster on the 1964-66 television show. He was also one of the stars of another classic TV comedy, playing Officer Leo Schnauzer on "Car 54, Where Are You?"
But Lewis' life off the small screen ranged far beyond his acting antics.

Chicago

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
XXX MARKS THE SPOT FOR CHICAGO’S 30TH ALBUM

Warner Bros. and Rhino Team Up forAll-New Studio Recording From Legendary Rock Band Jay DeMarcus of Superstar Country Group Rascal Flatts Produces Disc, Set for Release March 21, 2006

LOS ANGELES -- Chicago, the legendary rock ’n’ roll band with horns and one of the best-selling and longest-running American bands, begins a new chapter in the their history with the release of their 30th album, CHICAGO XXX. The first single, “Feel,” will be released on February 14. The album will be released March 21 at all retail and digital outlets and at http://www.rhino.com/. CHICAGO XXX is being released as a unique partnership between two Warner Music Group labels: Rhino Records and Warner Bros. Records. According to Lyor Cohen, Chairman and CEO of U.S. Recorded Music for the Warner Music Group, “We’re thrilled that Chicago, one of the most consistently creative and successful bands in history, has chosen WMG for the release of its long-awaited album, XXX. We’re looking forward to putting the marketing and promotional muscle of both Rhino and Warner Bros. Records behind this fantastic album.”“Since 2002 we have broken new ground by forging a completely unique and tremendously successful relationship with Chicago and the band’s management,” says Scott Pascucci, President of Rhino Entertainment. “The double-platinum success of The Very Best Of Chicago: Only The Beginning was, indeed, only the beginning. CHICAGO XXX is a tribute to the band’s ongoing creative longevity.”Chicago manager Peter Schivarelli puts it simply: “There is no better home for this record than Rhino and the Warner Music Group. The band and the producer have done an incredible job, and we know the Warner teams will do theirs.”

Chicago XXX was recorded by Lee Loughnane (trumpet, flugelhorn), James Pankow (trombone), Walt Parazaider (woodwinds), Robert Lamm (keyboards, vocals), Bill Champlin (vocals, keyboards, guitar), Jason Scheff (bass, vocals), Tris Imboden (drums) and Keith Howland (guitar, vocals).

The album was produced by Jay DeMarcus of the famed country trio Rascal Flatts. DeMarcus performed on several tracks and also assembled Rascal Flatts bandmates Gary LeVox and Joe Don Rooney to perform on the album.

A perennial force on the road, Chicago will be touring this summer with the legendary Huey Lewis the News. Since forming in 1967, Chicago has become one of the best-loved and most successful rock groups ever, thanks to their incredible sense of pop-savvy and innovative use of horns in a rock context. The band’s worldwide sales exceed 100 million records and include five consecutive #1 albums and 21 Top 10 and 35 Top 40 singles. Chicago is the only American rock band to chart in the Top 40 in five consecutive decades.

The Super Bowl

The Perfect Super Bowl Seat!

Jack received a free ticket to the Super Bowl from his company. Unfortunately, when Jack arrived at the stadium he realized the seat was in the last row in the corner of the stadium. He was closer to the Goodyear Blimp than the field!

About halfway through the first quarter, Jack noticed an empty seat 10 rows off the field right on the 50- yard line. He decided to take a chance and made his way through the stadium and around the security guards to the empty seat. As he sat down, he asked the gentleman sitting next to him, "Excuse me, is anyone sitting here?" The man said "No." Very excited to be in such a great seat for the game, Jack said to the man next to him, "This is incredible! Who in their right mind would have a seat like this at the Super Bowl and not use it?!" The man replied, "Well, actually, the seat belongs to me. I was supposed to come with my wife, but she passed away. This is the first Super Bowl we haven't attended together since we got married in 1967." "That's really sad," said Jack, "But still, couldn't you find someone to take the seat? A relative or a close friend?" "No," the man replied, "They're all at the funeral."

President Bush's Legacy?

- $3/gallon gas - Oil Company Record Profits - Exxon-Mobil
- Axis of Evil, Iraq, Iran, South Korea - Diplomacy or Bombs
- World Image of US - All time low
- Corruption in the White House - Libby & Rove & CIA Leaks
- Education - Dipping to lowest levels
- Supreme Court Appointments - Slanting right
- Corporate Corruption - Tyco/Enron/WorldCom
- Medicaid - Prescription benefits fiasco
- Insiders & Lobbyist - Corruption uncovered
- Record Federal deficits - Bankrupting our nation
- Sanctity of Marriage? - Divorce rate over 50%
- Stem Cell researchers - Proposed jail terms
- Illegal Immigration & No Border Control - Shameful!!!

Is President Bush letting America down? Has he alienated everyone except his extreme right wing conservative religious base with polls showing only a 30% approval rating?

Republicans have always stood for less taxes and smaller government, a concept that most Republicans, libertarians, and Moderates agree on. Since he has increased the national debt, even his Republican base is eroding away. If he doesn't make drastic changes soon...The impeachment drums will be beating after the fall mid-term elections.....
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Copied from the Andrew Tobias web site.....

http://www.andrewtobias.com/cgi-local/display_col.pl?060203

George Bush - State of the Union - 2006

Tonight I ask you to pass legislation to prohibit the most egregious abuses of medical research human cloning in all its forms creating or implanting embryos for experiments creating animal-human hybrids and buying, selling or patenting human embryos. Human life is a gift from our Creator, and that life should never be discarded, devalued, or put up for sale.

Bernie Siegel: Translated, that means the White House supports the Brownback Bill, named after the Kansas senator, which calls for criminalization of SCNT, a form of stem cell research that would create patient-matched stem cell lines. That bill is an assault on public health. If a researcher makes a stem cell line using this technique, he would be subject to 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine. If YOU arrange to send your sick nephew overseas to get an injection of these stem cells for treatment of diabetes or other medical condition, YOU would be subject to the same penalty.

The creating of embryos, to which the President refers, is taking a patients single body cell (we have 100 trillion cells in our bodies) and placing it inside a donated human egg with its nucleus removed. While in the Petri dish, the microscopic embryo is subjected to an electrical current and is transformed from a body cell into an embryonic stem cell that can then differentiate into any type of tissue in the human body, matching the donor's own genetic make-up. No sperm involved, no pregnancy, only treatments and cures.

Could the potential cure for all diseases be banned in the United States? The President has his pen in hand waiting to sign the ban into law.

Prohibiting the creation animal-human hybrids could be interpreted as preventing the placement human cells in mice or other animals needed to make treatments safe for human beings. My Uncle Oscar walks around with a pig valve in his chest. Should we ban this, too?

Telling us we can't discard embryos is tantamount to saying 400,000 frozen embryos, surplus from InVitroFertilization treatments, should remain in cold storage forever. The fact is that they will be eventually discarded or disintegrate. If donated to medical science, those cells in a dish would not go to waste.

Bush's exaltation of the embryo is really a veiled threat to regulate IVF medicine out of existence and drive such infertility treatments off-shore, a situation which has already occurred in Italy.

At least Bush was honest about his motives. Unlike most foes of embryonic stem cell research who resort to false alternative arguments, misrepresenting the potential of adult stem cell research (something every legitimate scientist knows not to be a reason to delay research on embryonic cells), the President invokes the views of the Creator to justify his position. Of course, it is HIS view of the Creator's intent.

But I remember the words of Nina Brown, a stem cell activist from Houston battling Parkinson's, who has another view. She told a meeting of stem cell activists last June, I believe God has given us this window of opportunity before cells begin to differentiate, as His gift to sustain life and relieve human suffering.

A father, whose daughter has diabetes, wrote the President: These fertilized eggs do not have a brain, or a spine, or a heart...they do not have a soul or a conscience...they do not feel pain... they are not human beings, but rather potential human beings. But they will never realize their potential, because they will be discarded. It is heart wrenching to think that rather than discarding these embryos who will never reach their potential, our government will not fund research that would possibly help my child reach her potential. For she does have a brain, and a soul, and a heart...and does feel pain.

Where time is measured in human suffering and death, the politicians holding back funding for embryonic stem cell research and demonizing other potentially life-saving research should be held morally responsible.

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Our country is being punished with mediocre leadership (let's face it, when President Bush is speaking, everyone holds their breath, waiting for him to put his foot in his mouth). On the other hand, the Democrats have failed to express alternate solutions and new ideas. With Democratic leaders like Hillary, Al Gore, Al Sharpton, Harry Reid, John Kerry, and Howard Dean leading the party...I don't have much hope for 2008