HAD To Be Swiped!

From No Runny Eggs!

Evening Snack

Researchers Explore Scrapping Internet

The idea may seem unthinkable, even absurd, but many believe a “clean slate” approach is the only way to truly address security, mobility and other challenges that have cropped up since UCLA professor Leonard Kleinrock helped supervise the first exchange of meaningless test data between two machines on Sept. 2, 1969.

Wait a minute! You mean algore DIDN’T invent the internet?

Property tax cut approved by Legislature

The measure will save taxpayers – and cost state coffers – $142 million. “You are giving tax relief to the citizens of Georgia. It’s something you can all be proud of,” House Appropriations Chairman Ben Harbin (R-Evans), told his colleagues this morning.

Wouldn’t ya just go into shock to read something like that being said in Madison?

‘American Taliban’ sent to Supermax

John Walker Lindh, serving a 20-year sentence after fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan, has been transferred to Supermax, the federal government’s most secure prison, authorities said.

Only 20 years? Will he be in solitary the whole time?

Bushes Pay $186,378 In Federal Taxes For 2006

The president and Mrs. Bush contributed $78,100 to churches and charitable organizations, including the volunteer fire department in Crawford, Texas, where they own a ranch, according to their tax return, released Friday by the White House.

The Bushes’ adjusted gross income of $765,801 was about $30,600 higher than the year before. They paid $27,474 in state property taxes on the ranch — up about $1,000 from the previous year.

I guess even President’s have to pay more in property taxes this year.

Experts see firing of Imus as broadcast tipping point

Eight days after Imus called members of the Rutgers University women’s basketball team “nappy-headed hos” — comments that at first were largely ignored by major media outlets — the 66-year-old member of the Broadcasting Hall of Fame found himself unemployed.

Does anyone else find it odd the media, of all varieties, keeps repeating the phrase, over and over and over and over?

Galveston teacher removed over computer use

Galveston school officials removed a male substitute teacher from class this week because he had been viewing inappropriate Web sites in classrooms.

Sounds mighty familiar, but I don’t think the results were the same.

Jurors see videos of Tennessee senator Ford taking FBI money

A jury saw video footage today of former state Sen. John Ford pocketing cash counted out by an undercover FBI agent investigating public corruption in Tennessee.

You know if this guy had been a Republican, they would NOT have failed to point that out.

Handful of soda fountains still thriving

When regulars stroll into the Highland Park Pharmacy, the waitress at the old-fashioned soda fountain starts pumping syrup before they slide onto a stool.

I really miss soda fountains! Great sodas, great banana splits, excellent burgers made with real meat with real fat. sigh…. Fast food killed ’em, along with “friendly service”.

Police back-up units forced to hitch rides with mobile libraries

Rather than cruising their beats in police cars, they may have to be ferried around villages in a makeshift armada of buses, mail vans and mobile libraries.

Was this what the mayor of Milwaukee had in mind when he decided book-mobiles would fight crime?

Taxing Illegals

Here illegally? Tax due anyway

Among those lining up inside Latin & American Services for help filing their taxes ahead of Tuesday’s deadline: illegal workers.

Wouldn’t this be a good way to find out who broke the law and is living in this country illegally?

Like others, undocumented workers want their refunds, said Eneida Orama, owner of the business nestled among Latino shops and eateries in east Charlotte. But mostly her clients, Orama said, file taxes to stay right with the law.

I have a great deal of sympathy for these folks, but if they wanted to “stay right with the law”, they shouldn’t have snuck into the country, illegally.

Many illegal immigrants hope filing taxes regularly will help them to become legal citizens if there is a future amnesty.

Amnesty was a bad idea back in the 80’s when Ronald Reagan granted it, and it’s a bad idea now.

“The majority look at it as, `If I do my taxes … this will help me get legal standing in the U.S.,’ ” said Orama, 41, who grew up in New Jersey but whose family is from Puerto Rico.

Now, I get to show my complete and utter ignorance: I thought Puerto Rico was a U.S. territory, so how come someone from there be illegal?

Among the tax filers one recent afternoon at Latin & American Services, opened in 2001 as illegal workers flooded into the Carolinas, was Jose Garcia, his wife and two small children. He and his wife came to the U.S. illegally from Honduras four years ago, he says, but he’s filed his taxes every year.

“It’s like an obligation,” Garcia, 25, said of filing taxes. “And it shows we’ve been here for so long and that I have complied with the law.”

I honestly admire those who want to do the right thing by complying with the tax laws. That being said, I also am beyond annoyed that by filing their taxes, they think it’s ok that they came into the country illegally. It is not!

In 1996, the IRS began issuing individual taxpayer identification numbers, called ITINs. Undocumented workers are to use these nine-digit numbers, which start with “9,” in place of Social Security numbers when filing their taxes. So far, the IRS has issued nearly 11 million ITINs. While foreign nationals with work privileges and tax-filing requirements in the U.S. can also get ITINs, most of the numbers are believed to have gone to undocumented workers and their dependents.

Helloooooo? KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! The federal government is aiding and abetting illegal aliens? What is wrong with THIS picture!?

The IRS issued 1.5 million ITINs in 2006, a 30 percent increase from the previous year.

30 percent increase? I’d say that was a good indication that we have seriously porous borders, wouldn’t you?

Between 1996 and 2003, the most recent data available from the IRS, the total tax liability from ITIN filings came to almost $50 billion.

Yes, large chunk of change. It still does not explain why the government is not enforcing it’s own laws. Sucking tax money out of workers is absolutely NO excuse.

The IRS says it doesn’t share data on who files taxes with the Department of Homeland Security. Still, undocumented workers filing taxes at Latin & American Services were wary of talking about it. In the small office where staffers sit behind glass and the air smells of overly sweet air freshener, there’s almost a visible push-pull of wanting to do the right thing but of being scared of getting busted for it, too.

Isn’t it time for the IRS to be answerable to someone? Like the American people?  Our nation’s safety is the issue. No, I don’t think a family from Guadalajara is a threat. I think it’s the ones who believe that by destroying our way of life are the threat. The ones who knock down buildings and think Sha’ria should rule the land? Ring any bells?

Debate Not Over

Robbing SUV owners to pay hybrid buyers

I KNEW that the debate about whether global warming is happening was over when the March 12 issue of Sports Illustrated arrived, with its sports and global-warming theme and huge headline “As the Planet Changes, So Do the Games We Play: Time to Pay Attention.” Everyone, even the jocks at Sports Illustrated, wants to get in on the game of appearing to be the most caring about our Mother Earth.

I would hope this statement is sarcasm, but since we’re talking about San Francisco, she’s probably quite serious. The debate is far from over!

But the rush to appear to be the most green has led to some silly public-policy ideas. Take, for example, the “Clean Car Discount Act of 2007,” a legislative proposal by Assemblyman Ira Ruskin, D-Redwood City. Ruskin’s proposal would create a new car rebate and surcharge program based on state carbon dioxide emission ratings. The penalties and rebates would range from $100 to $2,500, depending on a state-rating system.

Don’t you just love legislatures who want to take YOUR money away from you if you don’t bow to their whims?

That’s not even touching on the “robbing Peter to pay Paul” method of achieving state environmental goals. Why should a family of five, who decides that a Ford Explorer best meets their families’ needs, pay roughly $1,600 so a smaller family or a single adult could receive, roughly, a $2,200 rebate on their purchase of a Honda Civic — which they were likely to purchase anyway?

If a family has five kids, their bills are a LOT higher than a family that only has one child, or a single person. With five rugrats, your “disposable income” is shrunk quite noticeably. Kids are expensive!

The proposal doesn’t attempt to deal with driving behaviors. Soccer moms driving a vehicle with a higher emission rating but with other people’s kids in the car — saving a car trip or two — may be doing more for the environment than if multiple families were driving multiple low-emission vehicles to soccer practice. The fact is that government attempts at market engineering usually backfire.

This bill isn’t terribly forward thinking.

Ruskin contends, “Without programs like this, there is no way to be certain that the market will produce cleaner and cleaner vehicles.” In fact, the market is working.

High gas prices have consumers choosing smaller cars and driving less. As the car companies bring to market hybrids, they and other alternative-energy-type cars will grow in popularity.

The car industry is like any other business, it’s consumer driven. For a “well meaning” legislator to try to control any business is detrimental to business, period. It always ends up costing the consumer more money because the costs are passed on.

The mass hysteria of “man made global warming” is driven by the almighty dollar.

Morning Coffee 4/13/07

‘Made in China’ overtakes U.S. in global exports

China surpassed the United States as the world’s second-largest exporter last year and now makes more cars than Detroit, among the latest signs that the Asian giant is rapidly ascending to what many analysts expect will be the world’s largest and most influential economy as soon as a decade from now.

Thank you ever so much unions!

Gay bishop says church can heal, to discuss issue at VU

Bishop Gene Robinson, a graduate of the University of the South, is the first openly gay bishop in the U.S. Episcopal Church. More than 20 churches have split from the Episcopal Church in protest over his consecration in New Hampshire, and worldwide leaders of the Anglican church have issued a stern call to the U.S. church to fall back to a more conservative stand on homosexuality and gay marriage.

“If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.” No, I’m not advocating anyone be stoned, but this could be a darn good reason that the Anglican church is a tad miffed?

Hail, tornadoes may hit D-FW

Heavy storms are expected to move through the Dallas-Fort Worth area, bringing the potential for tornadoes.
Also Online

The first storms were predicted to move through Friday morning, bringing pea-size hail, 50-mph winds and up to a quarter inch of rain.

I guess we can be happy we’re not in the Dallas area. It’s still warmer though.

Iraqi Lawmakers Meet After Blast

Iraqi lawmakers held a special session today to denounce a suicide bomb attack on the Parliament building Thursday, as the death toll from the attack deep inside the heavily fortified International Zone was revised to one person killed and 22 wounded, from eight killed and 23 wounded.

Nice to know, that unlike the Dems, the Iraqis aren’t giving up.

LSU students propose foam foundations to let houses float

Under a proposal by Louisiana State University engineering students, traditional shotgun houses would be attached to “buoyant foundations” — essentially big blocks of plastic foam — and “telescoped” pilings that grow longer as the water gets deeper.

Wouldn’t foam absorb water? I guess they’d be covered with something, but that something may crack, and then where would they be? Although, it is an interesting idea.

‘Israeli melons have AIDS’

“The HIV virus cannot survive in any temperature other than that of the human body, which can not be reached in fruits,” he explained.

The rumor, despite being denied several times, has gained so much steam in the Arab world that it made it to the front page of one of the most important Arabi language newspapers.

A psychological war can be just as devastating as a physical war.

Controversy escalates over missing e-mails

After a meeting between RNC lawyers and congressional investigators, Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles) said he learned that Rove might have deliberately deleted them himself.

Oh yeah, I’ve no doubt that Rove sat down at the computers of everyone involved and deleted emails. He has nothing better to do, right? It takes me at least an hour to go through my emails, trimming stuff out of date or worse, spam. YEESH! Barney did it! With Mrs. Beasley’s help, of course.

Fight over gay civil unions continues in Salem

Rabbi Benjamin Barnett said “each day our state’s laws permit discrimination against lesbians and gays is an affront to God.”

I’m wondering where he found that in the Torah. No one should be discriminated against, however, his argument doesn’t hold up.