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The WORD of the Week

Matthew 3:7-10

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?

Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.

And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.

The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
Stupid Fact of the Week
There was only one civilian casualty during the three-day Battle of Gettysburg
27 April, 2005
Who is this girl?


Her name is Graciela (Gracia) Yataco, and she is an eighteen-year-old Peruvian model.

Her mother was apparently struggling to pay medical bills, and Graciela wished to help. However, the sixty dollars a month she made modeling wouldn't go a long way to helping.

So what did she do?

"Gracia decided to sell her virginity to pay for her mother's medical treatment and to improve her family's quality of life." (Source and entire story)

Any bidders, you ask?

"A Canadian man offered her $1.5m (£780,000)" (Ibid)

Oh, Canada.

She said no. It appears her mother has talked her out of going through with the... business plan. Allegedly both Gracia and the Canadian man were relieved and "really happy" when she said "No." (Yeah, right)

Bringing you all the news that's fit to make me laugh...
-Rockel
posted by Rockel @ 7:12 PM   2 comments
26 April, 2005
Ah... A Good Laugh
Gotta love it.


Awww... Posted by Hello
posted by Rockel @ 11:19 AM   1 comments
25 April, 2005
Good News, Bad News
Bad news first:
My blog has now ascended the hill... reached the peak... it now begins the horrible decline and midlife crisis...

This is post number 40.


And now the good news:

"International icon Britney Spears and husband Kevin Federline's new UPN series will premiere with a special one-hour episode on Tuesday, May 17 at 9PM ET/PT." (Source)

Not only is this good news... it's great! Seriously.

UPN has always somewhat wavered in the balance, attempting to maintain enough revenue to continue broadcasting while CBS, ABC, NBC, et al. sail on by. And now!!! NOW!!! NOW they've managed to get Britney Spears on their station... THEY HAVE PAID OUT THE ASS FOR THIS!!! They must have.

So... the time has come to redefine the "Power of the People." If enough people boycott this lame piece of tripe, not only will UPN probably fold... but Ms. Spears will also have a failed show, cancelled before the end of the first season, under her belt.

How cool would that be?

-Rockel
posted by Rockel @ 10:16 AM   2 comments
21 April, 2005
Why Fair isn't Right, Right Now...
Current National Debt:
$7,781,395,486,207.30 (as of 4/20/05) (source)

Cost of the War in Iraq:
$164,497,490,803.00 (as of 2:03pm, 4/21/05) (source) and increasing at the rate of approximately $2,000.00 every second.

It's time to be responsible. It's time to pay for some of the things we do. It is not time to restructure the tax code so that the government is making less. We do not need to go further into debt so people can feel less victimized by a tax code. Whether they take it off your paycheck or your receipt at the grocery store, they're going to take it. Live with it. Pay your dues. Some people say that this new tax would be good because it would force the government to downsize. This is the kind of shit that makes me fear for my future. You want to downsize government? All right, let's talk about it... let's debate a little... throw some ideas out there. I happen to like the concept of a small government. Love it. But how about this: We put legislation through to downsize government... and then we put through the legislation that makes it so we only bring in enough money to support a small government?
Is this concept new to people? Prepare for something financially, and then do it? I realize with some of the workings of government this is impossible... you can't really just hold out until you've saved up a down payment for war before striking. But we're talking about our government and how it makes its money.
And again, just gonna brush over it lightly... the government may be smaller, but the IRS is gonna be HUUUUGE... paperwork every month.

I still don't like HR25. I have yet to read any type of article or hear any kind of speech by politician or analyst that has convinced me that this is right for America, right now.

-Rockel
posted by Rockel @ 10:51 AM   0 comments
19 April, 2005
XXXVIII
So, it wasn't as easy as I thought, but I did manage to get 50 out of 50...
State Capitals Trivia.

My mother would be proud.

Give it a go.
posted by Rockel @ 7:10 PM   3 comments
18 April, 2005
New Pope, New Controversy
"Ratzinger's past includes brief membership of the Hitler Youth movement and wartime service with a German army anti-aircraft unit." (1)

This quote comes from an article which I accessed through CovenantNews.com ("Today's News for Today's Church"). The article is entitled, "A Nazi Pope?" It was written before Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) was elected. There is another article accessible through CovenantNews.com written just after the election, entitled, "Nazi Pope Elected." However, the word "Nazi" in the title is the only reference to the Hitler-run fascist movement.

It's just lovely to see articles like these that attempt to stir up controversy for no particular reason, and with no apparent justification. It's also double as lovely to see "Today's Church" promoting it.

I guess because a man holds a "brief membership" in the HJ - 70 years ago or so- it makes him a Nazi. I also guess that would mean that if a man parties a lot in college and experiments with recreational drugs 30-40 some odd years ago, that makes him an alcoholic and a drug abuser. No, that makes him the American President, and anyone who calls him the "Town Drunk" of "Village Idiot" is committing horrendous personal attacks.

-Rockel

(1) - http://www.covenantnews.com/newswire/archives/011493.html
posted by Rockel @ 9:32 AM   1 comments
16 April, 2005
H.R. 25
So, I've finally worked my way through this bill, put forth by Congressman John Linder, which is being "dubbed the FAIR Tax Bill." (1) I guess they gave up trying to call it the "Flat" tax when the flat line of taxation took a huge downward curve with the poverty exemptions.

But how is this bill "Fair?" Granted, the tax rate remains constant for all citizens, however, is it really fair to place this kind of burden on the tax-payers?

Let's examine how this will generate revenue for our government:

We'll examine 5 average citizens:

Frist, Willie Welfare. This guy's below the poverty line and living off the government. Under the current system he contributes nothing... under the "Fair" system, still nothing.
Change: none.

Number two, Joe Schmoe. Joe's got a college degree, a small family, and an income of about 40k a year. Under the current system he pays roughly 23% of 100% of everything he makes to the government... at his income level, that works out to be roughly $9,200.00. Under the "Fair" system he pays roughly 23% of 100% of everything he spends, which, for Mr. Schmoe, is approximately 85% of his income, as he is trying to set aside at least $6K a year... this works out to be roughly $7,800.00... even if he spent up to 100% of his income each year, he would end up paying the same or less money to the government.
Change: less money with the "Fair" system.

Third: Six-figure Stewart. This guy brings in a solid $150,000.00 each year, is still working on paying off graduate/medical/law school loans, and dabbles a bit in real estate and investments. Under the current system: Stewy pays 28% of 150K to the government... $42,000.00!
Under the fair system: He pays 23% on what he purchases (approx. 70% of his income)... $24,000.00!
Change: a lot less money with the "Fair" system.

Fourthly, Mr. Millionaire. This man owns way too much, spends too much, basically does everything in the quantity "too much." A problem I would love to help him alleviate. So let's say he rakes in $2M.
Current system: Millie pays 35% of his 2M to the government... $700,000.00!!!!!
Fair system: Although he buys really expensive things and spends an assload more than most small cities, now that he's got his full $2M, not the $1.3M under the old system, he can spend 40% of what he makes and still have half of his income with which to build the next successful boy band... $184,000.00.00!!!!!
Change: MUCH less money with the "Fair" system.

And lastly, Senior Citizen. This guy's been a smart investor and as a result has a pretty nice sized retirement account. For Mr. Citizen, we're going to look at the results of a man in his position under both the current and the "Fair" system for the duration of their lives. Under the current system, Mr. Citizen is receiving some government benefits, but also contributes some back to the government through the taxation of the "income" he has by way of some of his investments being made, over the years, into an account that allowed it to be considered tax-free at the time of investment. Under the "Fair" system, all those investments he made in his youth, gaining him 3% interest annually, can now be pulled out and spent at the sales tax rate of 23%. However, Mr. Citizen qualifies for the monthly refund for not exceeding the poverty spending limit. So...
Change: Not noticeable.

So who is left to pick up the slack? Where does the money come from?

And do we even need to get into the fact that this "Fair" system will allow all of us, equally, with no discrimination, to go through the paperwork of taxpaying every month.

To me this plan seems doomed to fail. But apparently I'm not the only one seeing it that way:

"Not less than once annually, the Secretary shall host a conference with the sales tax administrators from the various administering States to evaluate the state of the
national sales tax system, to address issues of mutual concern and to develop and consider legislative, regulatory, and administrative proposals to improve the tax system." (2)

A little council to find ways to improve the tax system. Why don't they do that now, before they restructure the whole tax code, before they switch to a system that is shaky at best?

- Rockel

ENDNOTES:
(1) - http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/fsalvato/2005/fs_04151.shtml
(2) - http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=109_cong_bills&docid=f:h25ih.txt.pdf
posted by Rockel @ 11:23 AM   1 comments
15 April, 2005
Redirect
Just a quick post to let you know that Ryan has finally found the time to bless us with a new post.

Check it out. It is worthy.
posted by Rockel @ 1:16 PM   1 comments
01 April, 2005
Happy Day, Fools!
So, it's that day again... and instead of using my blog to dupe you all, which I could have easily with my incredible typing skillz (yes, that's with a "Z"), I shall dedicate this entry to my wonderful Sis, who turns (interesting how that term is used in this context) 25 years old today.

No, this is not a prank. How lame of a prank would that be. She really was born on April 1, 1980. Which brings to mind (or my mind, at least) some very funny thoughts about the process of giving birth, this day, and doctors cutting loose...

"It's a girl!"
"Oh, yes. We've always wanted a girl!"
"APRIL FOOLS!!! HAHA, it's really a boy."

"It's a boy... congrat- wait a minute... what's this? Uh-oh... it looks like another one! Twins! Start pushing again... APRIL FOOLS!!!! Just kidding."

So forth... So on...

Anyway... Like I said... Sister... BDay... 25...

So do me a favor, if you would... Email her and wish her a happy birthday... Her name is Andrea... Tell her that her little bro sent you... I shall be in your debts...

Her email is arockel@gmail.com

That's right... Gmail... She is from whence I came to learn of that which is known as Gmail... obviously she is kooler than I (yes, with a "K").

Thanx and happy Fooling

-Rockel
posted by Rockel @ 9:57 AM   0 comments
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Lyrics of the Week

ON THE NICKEL
by Tom Waits

("I'd like to do a new song here. This is eh, it's about downtown Los Angeles on 5th Street. And eh all the winos affectionately refer to it as The Nickel. So this is kind of a hobo's lullaby.")

sticks and stones will break my bones,
but i always will be true, and when
your mama is dead and gone,
i'll sing this lullabye just for you,
and what becomes of all the little boys,
who never comb their hair,
well they're lined up all around the block,
on the nickel over there.

so you better bring a bucket,
there is a hole in the pail,
and if you don't get my letter,
then you'll know that i'm in jail,
and what becomes of all the little boys,
who never say their prayers,
well they're sleepin' like a baby,
on the nickel over there.

and if you chew tobacco, and wish upon a star,
well you'll find out where the scarecrows sit,
just like punchlines between the cars,
and i know a place where a royal flush,
can never beat a pair, and even thomas jefferson,
is on the nickel over there.

so ring around the rosie, you're sleepin' in the rain,
and you're always late for supper,
and man you let me down again,
i thought i heard a mockingbird, roosevelt knows where,
you can skip the light, with grady tuck,
on the nickel over there.

so what becomes of all the little boys,
who run away from home,
well the world just keeps gettin' bigger,
once you get out on your own,
so here's to all the little boys,
the sandman takes you where,
you'll be sleepin' with a pillowman,
on the nickel over there.

so let's climb up through that button hole,
and we'll fall right up the stairs,
and i'll show you where the short dogs grow,
on the nickel over there.
45113638_202b79dc11
"We draw people to Christ not by loudly discrediting what they believe,
by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are,
but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it."
 -- Madeleine L'Engle, "Walking on Water"