I just finished watching Dog the Bounty Hunter's special on his book signing tour.
Dog was a member of a motorcycle gang and went to prison on a murder charge and when he was released from prison he was determined to make something of his life.
He became very wealthy as a bounty hunter and then gained more wealth and fame from his TV show and now has a book on th Time's best seller list.
Dog realizes he has a special gift from God that enables him to touch people's hearts to make a difference for good in this world and I am glad we have people like him in this world that proves that anyone can become a success. I'm not talking about material things in particular but about achieving worthwhile goals and making ones life meaningful.
When his program first aired I thought it was just a pogram about a colorful character who chased people down for money but Dog is so much more than that. Dog and his wife Beth are special people.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Game show
A new game show is in the news for screwing a contestant. The show works by giving the contestant a million dollars to begin with and then the contestant bets certain amounts of it on being able to answer a question correctly.
It seems the contstants wagered $800,000.00 on the question "Which came first."
They bet their money on Post-it-notes the the show said the Walkman was the correct answer but it wasn't (maybe).
Some people are claimming the couple was cheated out of their money but the truth is, it's a game and they begZn the show with nothing. They did not lose anything.
If you start with zip and leave with zip, you have lost zip.
You can't cheat a person out of something that wasn't theirs to begin with, especially since that something was yours!
My question is, if the couple were given the million dollars to start the show with, then aren't they libel for the taxes on the money even though they eventual lost the money? In that case, they should be given back the $800,000.00 they lost on that question.
The whole thing seems trite to begin with but it really isn't. If the money, the million dollars, they were given to begin the show with was really theirs to keep or lose, then it becomes income at that point and they owe taxes on it, and it doesn't matter if they lose it in the next 15 or twenty minutes to the people who gave itto them. It is still taxable income.
If the show had gave them the money under the stipulation that they had to play the game, then after they were asked a question the contestants said they refused to bet, could they have taken the million dollars and left? If so, the money is taxable because it is income.
If the answer is no, then they have not lost anything. They had fun.
Shut up and go away.
)
It seems the contstants wagered $800,000.00 on the question "Which came first."
They bet their money on Post-it-notes the the show said the Walkman was the correct answer but it wasn't (maybe).
Some people are claimming the couple was cheated out of their money but the truth is, it's a game and they begZn the show with nothing. They did not lose anything.
If you start with zip and leave with zip, you have lost zip.
You can't cheat a person out of something that wasn't theirs to begin with, especially since that something was yours!
My question is, if the couple were given the million dollars to start the show with, then aren't they libel for the taxes on the money even though they eventual lost the money? In that case, they should be given back the $800,000.00 they lost on that question.
The whole thing seems trite to begin with but it really isn't. If the money, the million dollars, they were given to begin the show with was really theirs to keep or lose, then it becomes income at that point and they owe taxes on it, and it doesn't matter if they lose it in the next 15 or twenty minutes to the people who gave itto them. It is still taxable income.
If the show had gave them the money under the stipulation that they had to play the game, then after they were asked a question the contestants said they refused to bet, could they have taken the million dollars and left? If so, the money is taxable because it is income.
If the answer is no, then they have not lost anything. They had fun.
Shut up and go away.
)
Fair Tax
Every so often I hear talk of tax reform, making taxes more fair, taxing the rich, lowering taxes, tax increases, redoing or amending the tax code, etc. but nothing new or revolutionary in income tax reform has come along until recently. The new proposal is called the Fair Tax.
The Fair tax really isn't an income tax at all nor is it a sales tax. Under the fair tax all income taxes will be eliminated.
i don't hear commentators mentioning the fair tax when discussing tax reform or analysis debating it. Few people are aware of it and I believe politicians are afraid of it because it takes away so much of their ammunition against the other parties and eliminates much of their power.
For a better understanding of what the fair tax is and how it works, visit Rep. bob Woodalls site at http://www.fairtax.org
The Fair tax really isn't an income tax at all nor is it a sales tax. Under the fair tax all income taxes will be eliminated.
i don't hear commentators mentioning the fair tax when discussing tax reform or analysis debating it. Few people are aware of it and I believe politicians are afraid of it because it takes away so much of their ammunition against the other parties and eliminates much of their power.
For a better understanding of what the fair tax is and how it works, visit Rep. bob Woodalls site at http://www.fairtax.org
Monday, December 27, 2010
Conspiracy theory
Americans love controversy and conspiracy theories and there is a new one going around about John Wilkes Booth that is being taken seriously enough that plans are being made to exhume his body.
According to descendants, it was Edward Booth who dies in the barn and not John and the killer of Lincoln lived another forty years.
Well maybe it was Edward who killed Lincoln and not John so they got the right man afterall.
Maybe there were two shooters in the book depository in Dallas the day Kennedy was shot. Maybe the second shooter was Jack Ruby.
I hear about the grassy knoll theory but I have never seen a common technique used and that is to trace the shot backwards to determine exactly where the shooter would have had to been to have shot Kennedy from the grassy knoll. maybe if we did we might find the killer or determine that it was impossible for someone to have fired a gun from there or at least fire one unnoticed.
It might have been vitally important to discovery the truth about Lincoln's death and Kennedy's death in the immediate future of their death's but this many years removed -not do important.
According to descendants, it was Edward Booth who dies in the barn and not John and the killer of Lincoln lived another forty years.
Well maybe it was Edward who killed Lincoln and not John so they got the right man afterall.
Maybe there were two shooters in the book depository in Dallas the day Kennedy was shot. Maybe the second shooter was Jack Ruby.
I hear about the grassy knoll theory but I have never seen a common technique used and that is to trace the shot backwards to determine exactly where the shooter would have had to been to have shot Kennedy from the grassy knoll. maybe if we did we might find the killer or determine that it was impossible for someone to have fired a gun from there or at least fire one unnoticed.
It might have been vitally important to discovery the truth about Lincoln's death and Kennedy's death in the immediate future of their death's but this many years removed -not do important.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Gay Troops
Now that the old policy anbout gays in the military has been changed, i have reflected on an experience I had while aboard an aircraft carrier in the Gulf off the coast of Vietnam.
It was one day after working sixteen consecutive hours and I just wanted to shower and hit the bunks for some much need rest. After an incident a few days earlier I checked the showers for other people. I wanted to find the showers either full or empty. If there had been just one or two other people I would have waited for another time.
A couple days earlier I was resting in my bunk when another sailor, dressed only in a towel wrapped around his waist, kneeled beside my bunk and inquired if I was heading to the showers. When I looked over at him his privates were exposed to me and he was aroused.
I informed him I wanted to rest first and would shower at a more convenient time.
This afternoon, I just wanted to get my shower and get out before the guy could get me alone.
The showers were empty so I picked a stall and began to shower. In just a minute or so another person entered the shower area and picked the stall next to mine. If the walls of the showe stall had made a complete enclosure things would have been fine but the wall separating the showers had a two or three inchgap. i noticed something protruding into my stall from the stall with the other person in it.
It was his penis.
I quickly finished my shower, grabbed my towel and clothes, dressed wet and toweled off my head once I was back among people.
Once a few weeks later I was working in a docking line where two hundred men were
positioned like a tug of war competition pulling an aircraft carrier up to the dock. While struggling with the weight I felt a hand caressing one of mine. "Surely this isn't what it seems" I thought.
Just a few short weeks later I was discharged from the service and a couple of years later I had just dropped my wife off at work and was coming home when I saw someone sitting on my front porch. It was the same sailor who had tried to entice me aboard the ship.
I let him stay for a couple of days then sent him back to New York, never to hear from him again.
Do I have a problem serving with gays in a military setting? No, I didn't then and I certainly don't have a problem working with gays in civilian life either.
The only time I've had second thoughts about a persons sexual orientation was once I was called out of town on an emergency and the only employees available to go with me were a female and an openely gay man. since we would have been required to spend the night and it certainly would not have been appropriate for the female and I to share a room for the night, I didn't believe it would have been any more appropriate for me to have shared a room with the gay man so I excused both from the trip and handled the situation by myself.
Rightfully so or not so right, that was the decision I made and I believe it to have been the appropriate one. Some allowances have to be made but one has to let the situation dictate whats appropriate.
The military will function just as effciently after the new policy goes into effect as it does now: maybe even better as a percentage of troops can stop living in fear.
Americans should not have to give up their rights, even as a soldier or sailor. No American should have to live in fear of government policy.
I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice and let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."
-- Senator Barry Goldwater: 1964 Republican National Convention,
July 16, 1964 in San Francisco, CA
It was one day after working sixteen consecutive hours and I just wanted to shower and hit the bunks for some much need rest. After an incident a few days earlier I checked the showers for other people. I wanted to find the showers either full or empty. If there had been just one or two other people I would have waited for another time.
A couple days earlier I was resting in my bunk when another sailor, dressed only in a towel wrapped around his waist, kneeled beside my bunk and inquired if I was heading to the showers. When I looked over at him his privates were exposed to me and he was aroused.
I informed him I wanted to rest first and would shower at a more convenient time.
This afternoon, I just wanted to get my shower and get out before the guy could get me alone.
The showers were empty so I picked a stall and began to shower. In just a minute or so another person entered the shower area and picked the stall next to mine. If the walls of the showe stall had made a complete enclosure things would have been fine but the wall separating the showers had a two or three inchgap. i noticed something protruding into my stall from the stall with the other person in it.
It was his penis.
I quickly finished my shower, grabbed my towel and clothes, dressed wet and toweled off my head once I was back among people.
Once a few weeks later I was working in a docking line where two hundred men were
positioned like a tug of war competition pulling an aircraft carrier up to the dock. While struggling with the weight I felt a hand caressing one of mine. "Surely this isn't what it seems" I thought.
Just a few short weeks later I was discharged from the service and a couple of years later I had just dropped my wife off at work and was coming home when I saw someone sitting on my front porch. It was the same sailor who had tried to entice me aboard the ship.
I let him stay for a couple of days then sent him back to New York, never to hear from him again.
Do I have a problem serving with gays in a military setting? No, I didn't then and I certainly don't have a problem working with gays in civilian life either.
The only time I've had second thoughts about a persons sexual orientation was once I was called out of town on an emergency and the only employees available to go with me were a female and an openely gay man. since we would have been required to spend the night and it certainly would not have been appropriate for the female and I to share a room for the night, I didn't believe it would have been any more appropriate for me to have shared a room with the gay man so I excused both from the trip and handled the situation by myself.
Rightfully so or not so right, that was the decision I made and I believe it to have been the appropriate one. Some allowances have to be made but one has to let the situation dictate whats appropriate.
The military will function just as effciently after the new policy goes into effect as it does now: maybe even better as a percentage of troops can stop living in fear.
Americans should not have to give up their rights, even as a soldier or sailor. No American should have to live in fear of government policy.
I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice and let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."
-- Senator Barry Goldwater: 1964 Republican National Convention,
July 16, 1964 in San Francisco, CA
Saturday, December 25, 2010
TJ in Jail
For those of you who were long ago readers of this blog you may recall the lady who was the main character in my book "Queen of Southgate" the herione who saved a little boy from a fire. She is back in jail in Guilford County.
After being released from prison she vowed to go straight and found a boyfriend but he's a loser like all her other boyfriends and she was soon arrested again. She was given a court date and released but before she could go to court she was re arrested on old charges from Cumberland County.
Her new boyfriend surprised me and bailed her out, even after I advised him against doing so, but it was his heart and money on the line.
She never made it back to court and she never made that turn around she promised herself. She has been arrested again on burglary charges and now faces failure to appear, drug paraphenalia charges, as well as probation violation and the new burlary charges. She will also have to go back to Cumberland county to face those charges as well as soon as Guilford county is finished with her.
Another woman from the same book has cleaned up her act, gotten married, and is working as a care giver and is working to obtain her nursing certificate so she can improve her work situation.
Good luck to them both.
After being released from prison she vowed to go straight and found a boyfriend but he's a loser like all her other boyfriends and she was soon arrested again. She was given a court date and released but before she could go to court she was re arrested on old charges from Cumberland County.
Her new boyfriend surprised me and bailed her out, even after I advised him against doing so, but it was his heart and money on the line.
She never made it back to court and she never made that turn around she promised herself. She has been arrested again on burglary charges and now faces failure to appear, drug paraphenalia charges, as well as probation violation and the new burlary charges. She will also have to go back to Cumberland county to face those charges as well as soon as Guilford county is finished with her.
Another woman from the same book has cleaned up her act, gotten married, and is working as a care giver and is working to obtain her nursing certificate so she can improve her work situation.
Good luck to them both.
Reposted from Southgate News
A little light in a dark place
Christianity has fallen out of favor in America today and those who do practice the religion adhere to a more subdued following than our forefathers did. Seldom do Christians mention their faith outside of church and except for the lunatic fringe, no one goes from house to house inviting people to church. In fact most churches today don't seem to care if you come or not, or so it seems.
There is a little light in a dark place, a small group of people, a church, who are creating quite a stir in their community. It's not that they are radical, because they aren't, and they are not doing anything that Christians did not once do. It's just that they are doing it in a day when ones faith is something that one seems to keep private. There is no embarrassment over ones faith here.
One Way is a little light in a dark place. That is all it takes to find ones way in the dark. Without just a little light to guide the way there is no way one will ever find their way home.
Christianity has fallen out of favor in America today and those who do practice the religion adhere to a more subdued following than our forefathers did. Seldom do Christians mention their faith outside of church and except for the lunatic fringe, no one goes from house to house inviting people to church. In fact most churches today don't seem to care if you come or not, or so it seems.
There is a little light in a dark place, a small group of people, a church, who are creating quite a stir in their community. It's not that they are radical, because they aren't, and they are not doing anything that Christians did not once do. It's just that they are doing it in a day when ones faith is something that one seems to keep private. There is no embarrassment over ones faith here.
One Way is a little light in a dark place. That is all it takes to find ones way in the dark. Without just a little light to guide the way there is no way one will ever find their way home.
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