BIGUN

That's actually up 25% from ten years before. I lived in Cleveland, well, Strongsville. I didn't last a year. I think a lot of it has to do with Seasonal Affective Disorder. From November to February, the sun was out for a day and a half. Second in snow to Albany. I asked my assistant, "How do you make it through the winters here?" She said, "Lotsa football and bars." Interesting thing though - when Cleveland was locked down for COVID - the HS graduation rate went up 5%.

She was addressing natural immunity.

"Charles Barkley is rich; the man who signs his checks is wealthy."

"The whole world's gone to shit since John Wayne died," :)

Funny stuff: More Satire from the Borowitz Report Hannity sent texts warning Trump that the Capitol Riot was helping CNN’s ratings. Trump’s taxes reveal he claimed Ted Cruz as dependent. Texas Republicans back a statewide dress code for women. Trump orders Kevin McCarthy to go to prison in his place. Steve Bannon gets caught fleeing the U.S. disguised as a man who recently took a shower. Republicans say it is unconstitutional to hold officials accountable unless they are Hillary.

I agree. No argument.

I feel you, Bill. Imagine being on the "Right" and having discussions with my own about Gun Control, AGW and vaccines. It's like I've got leprosy, not common sense. Facebook - not for me. Even my conservative friends have told me not to get on there, "Your head would explode."

Apologies. Not you specifically, just in general. 25-40 years ago, Jeff & Bill chunked it all to work on their dreams which developed into a multi-billion dollar business. Both are liberals, but all of the sudden they're the antichrists' - to the liberals!?!?!?! People start beating on Musk and I want to say, "Why do you hate immigrants?" Musk's giga-billion worth didn't occur until the last three years and it was mostly liberals buying his stock which put him there. I just don't get why people hate them, when the system they worked is the system that people placed in power.

Never heard of it, so I had to look them up. Michelle Malkin is to the right, what Bonanno is to the left. Extreme.

Doesn't include Bezo's Earth Fund and other charities. https://apnews.com/article/amazoncom-inc-race-and-ethnicity-jeff-bezos-philanthropy-coronavirus-pandemic-56154051ca19fdd80c2fc003004702b0 Hate him if you want.

Grabs fine. But, Spinoza did it first.

The Smile program started in 2013, so it's since inception. https://www.aboutamazon.com/impact/community/amazonsmile

I get that it's easy to hate Jeff, Bill & Elon, but they do a lot of good for the world too. I have reached out to Jeff on more than one occasion to help a disabled veteran and he's responded and helped in less than eight hours. My charity is St. Jude Research Hospital. Not only do I send them money, but use AmazonSmile with SJRH as my preferred charity - for each purchase I make; SJRH gets a small portion. The number of people that do this with me has resulted in SJRH receiving $13,378,531.85 this year as of November. All US charities have received $285,795,312.80 as of August 2021 All worldwide charities have received $321,230,298.08 as of August 2021 Yes, they push the metrics out to you. Do I begrudge any of them for making billions - no, not at all. I was a damn good Operations Guy, but after awhile and some growth it becomes difficult to navigate the tax laws, the legal system, the government, the etc. So, I hired a CFO to navigate the taxes, an Attorney to navigate the legal system, a VP of HR to handle the jobs AND employment laws, and a lobbyist to navigate the government. This way I could focus on growth and doing our job well for our customers - which were the citizens of the US Don't hate them for being billionaires and using the system that congress creates - you voted for them. Hate them.

Your beef isn't with Jeff or Bill. Congress makes the laws. Write to them. Interesting to see how the left turns on one of their own just cause he did well. I don't begrudge anyone for becoming a millionaire or multi. They were willing to chunk it all - just to try.

Well, that's more of a WalMart model. Amazon is actually a great conduit for small business growth. ETA: https://press.aboutamazon.com/news-releases/news-release-details/amazons-2021-small-business-empowerment-report-reveals-third

Ahh, OK. True. The tax assessment on the property value. Well, they both affect each class the same. Don't think Jeff or Bill ain't paying property taxes on their houses. https://observer.com/2019/06/jeff-bezos-bill-gates-seattle-medina-home-property-tax/

On that note; this article came out yesterday - https://news.yahoo.com/antarcticas-doomsday-glacier-is-facing-threat-of-imminent-collapse-scientists-warn-220236266.html

The article sounds inaccurate. There is no unrealized gain tax. Just as there's no unrealized tax loss. You can't claim the loss on your house on your taxes either.

But he does and has paid a lot in taxes. The media just wants you to believe he doesn't. He claimed an income of ~6 billion over several years and paid income taxes of about a billion on that. What the media is pointing at is his net worth of ~170 Billion - on paper. The problem is - that most of that worth is in stocks which are not recognized tender and can't be taxed until he exercises those stocks creating a taxable event. Concurrently, his organization generates about 90 Billion in tax revenue for the federal government per year from employees, suppliers, fuel, etc., etc.

That is not the point, Ken. Heathens can start a church and get the same tax advantages as churches of God. It's been tested in court and the heathens win. Good morning.

Morning, Phil. I didn't say that wasn't true. I was saying that atheist's can enjoy the same tax advantages as Churches of God,

Yup. Austin has the university, so the density of heathens has been greater. https://www.texastribune.org/2016/11/11/analysis-blue-dots-texas-red-political-sea/

Not true.

I really wish they would get his meds right.

Can I be in charge of the gerrymandering for this? I mean; I am an "R" and all so we're pretty good at tilting shit our way.