Just when I thought that the political banter of this election season could get no worse, I was proven wrong. Here's a really weird quote from the political realm:
" - Joe Biden speaking at a fundraising event Sunday in Seattle.
After reading this, it really caused my head to hurt. With this train of thought it should make any reasonable person run to the polls on election day to vote for John McCain if for no other reason than to avert the '
' that is immenante should Obama/Biden ticket prevail in November.
And for an update on the Gun Show from this weekend...we'll I thought that was a safe place to head off to, but who knew that there would be a jewlery shop there!!! Of course, they had just the necklace that I had been on the look out for. The whole way home, Walter gave me a ribbing about being able to find something to buy at the gun show that wasn't a firearm related in any way. Although Walter didn't pick up anything but ammunition at the gun show, he did pick up a new toy later in the afternoon from Bob's. A real antique, 107 years old, and it still works!
We even did a run by the Harley Davidson shop off Hull Street to do some "window shopping." Walter showed me the model that he has his eye on, I even tried one on for size. Hmmm... maybe after the first of the year or so.
Sean gave me a call this afternoon to let me know that his birthday present will be flying in to Richmond on Wednesday afternoon. They'll be picking up his new Puggle. A really cute little guy. I'm going to hop over to meet the new addition after work on Wednesday.
Email & Newsletter Gleanings:Thought For the Day: “In selecting men for office, let principle be your guide. Regard not the particular sect or denomination of the candidate—look to his character.” — Noah Webster
Our Tax System Explained: Bar Stool EconomicsSuppose 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 one 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 got"
"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, ladies and gentlemen, 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.
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
University of Georgia
For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.
Curious FactsThe first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV were Fred and Wilma Flintstone.
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Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the U.S . Treasury.
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Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.
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Coca-Cola was originally
green.
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It is impossible to lick your elbow.
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The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska
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The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% (now get this...)
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The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%
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The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $ 16,400
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The average number of people airborne over the U.S. In any given hour: 61,000
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Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
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The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.
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The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.
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Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:
Spades - King David
Hearts - Charlemagne
Clubs -Alexander, the Great
Diamonds - Julius Caesar
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111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
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If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
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Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later.
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Q. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what?
A. Their birthplace
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Q. Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name requested?
A. Obsession
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Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you
would find the letter 'A'?
A. One thousand
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Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common?
A. All were invented by women.
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Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil?
A. Honey
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Q. Which day are there more collect calls than any other day of the year?
A. Father's Day
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In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase......... 'goodnight, sleep tight.'
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It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon.
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In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them 'Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down.'
It's where we get the phrase 'mind your P's and Q's'
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Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. 'Wet your whistle' is the phrase inspired by this practice.
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At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow!
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Don't delete this just because it looks weird. Believe it or not, you can read it.
I cdnuolt blveiee that I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd what I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid. Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig, huh?
YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2008 when...1. You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave.
2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.
3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.
4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.
5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.
6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.
7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen
8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't even have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.
10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.
11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )
12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.
13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message.
14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.
15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list.
Our conference started off bright and early this morning at the Omni. I made it into Richmond right around 7 a.m. If I had a room upstairs it would have been a good time to get some photos of the city.
Of course since it was Halloween, we went on a Haunts of Richmond tour. We had a little bit of an transportation issue that we had to resolve, but four cabs and about ten minutes we all arrived at the Edgar Allen Poe Museum. Our tour started out in the garden behind the museum. This is the garden behind the Edgar Allen Poe Museum. The building in the back is a shrine to Edgar Allen Poe. The carriage house on the right, is thought to be haunted by a little boy. Moving on to a walking tour through Shockhoe bottom (lots of Civil War ghost in the old tobacco warehouses). Further along in the tour we moved into Shockhoe Slip to finish off the tour with he ghost of the brothel above the microbrewery on the corner just down from the hotel on Cary Street.
Now we didn't see any 'ghosts' but we did see some odd sights. Various goulish characters, a few sweet ones, the trashy group, and even an Elvis sighting! We stayed at the microbrewery for a late snack, one of the waiters had googly eyes all over his head. 'All eyes were on him.' One guy was dress in a late 70's get-up, platform shoes, bell bottoms, and full afro. What a flashback!
Then there were the was really funny Gingerbread man roaming the Slip with a Transformer. We caught sight of him after we heard a number of people hollering down the street from us.
The Gingerbread man was yelling something back. Which we thought should have been, "Eat me, Eat me." After peals of laughter, Anita (from NJ) had her picture taken with him. She even looks like she might get a bite in her photo.
The rain has been pouring down all morning, which has made it the perfect day to peruse the political pages doing catch up on the politcal commentary. The graphic on the left arrived in my email, very thought for provoking. The article that goes with it is just as interesting. Be sure to check out 
really cute characterization of one of the fellows in our group. It seems that he has one particular shirt that he wears to work that his office staff says makes him look like Nemo. Well, I couldn't resist....I have sent it to him with the wish to really enjoy it. 