Thanatos340

Without Loopholes, How will congress dictate our behavior? Does no Loopholes and shelters include Mortgage Interest Deductions? How about Earned Income Credits? What about the Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit or clean-fuel burning deduction? How about those nasty little deductions given for dependants? Loopholes and shelters will always exist because it is Loopholes and shelters that allow congress encourage and/or discourage the behavior of the American Taxpayer.

Are you really a Professor? Does the fact that he works as a Plumber every day of his Life overshadow the fact the he personally doesnt have a License but does work under his partners license? Sounds alot like a Plumber to me.

Absolutely. Most of us have had to deal with a Bureaucratic Nightmare before and know how difficult getting something like that corrected can be. Good thing this was caught before the election so that it can be corrected. (And I cant wait till we get the Bureaucratic nightmare in our health care system. Just wait till that uncaring, unmotivated, unfireable bureaucrat from down at the DVM gets to be the uncaring, unmotivated, unfireable bureaucrat between you and the healthcare you need)

Race Card? Is that really the best you can do? Seriously.. in 2008.. Any person that is not motivated enough to register to vote on their own really should not be voting in my opinion.

I am NOT a Republican but I am a Conservative. And I have a problem with any group that goes out and coerce, bribe or in any way entices people to register vote that did not have the motivation and/or intelligence to do the simplest of things like Register themselves. Talk about dumbing down an election. Lets go out and register all these unmotivated, uneducated, uninformed people and encourage them to vote. And some people think this is a good thing? Amazing. Wisdom is not additive; its maximum is that of the wisest manPerson in a given group. The more unmotivated and unregistered people these groups entice to vote all we end up with is a lower average intelligence of the American voter. leave it alone. Let those that take the time to register themselves to Vote do so and those that are either too stupid or too lazy to so on their own stay home.

Victoria Sinclair Link may be NSFW.

All Men pay for sex. One way or another. he said I was just suggesting that he take the bartender out as the middleman.

Hmmm.. Lets see. We were holding Bad guys that were trying to kill us (Enemy Combatants) that most likely knew about other bad guys that are still trying to kill us. And we should just wait and see if they change their minds about us and tell us what the Bad guys are planning?? In the mean time more and more of our soldiers and possibly civilians get killed while we wait. War is a dirty job. People get hurt. Sometime the best way to keep a lot of people from getting hurt is to Hurt a few of those that are trying to kill us. Especially if that Hurt might get information that saves some lives. War Sucks but it is an all or nothing game. Either do it or don’t. Doing it half ass is the worst possible scenario for all involved. This don’t hurt the enemy bullshit is just that. If you are holding an enemy that has information that might save american lives, NOT doing everything possible to extract that information should the crime in my opinion.

Mack.. A Little friendly advise.. A) If you are eating every meal alone, Find some friends. It can just as fulfilling, Costs less and a lot less posturing and worrying about did I just say the wrong thing. b) Quit buying drinks. Take the same cash and find a rental if you feel you absolutely HAVE to get laid. It costs less and its a sure thing. If you have a moral hang up about paying for it, Just look at it like this.. You are not paying for sex, You are paying them to leave when you are done. No Hassle, No Stress and No Games. c) Define Normal. Get over the negative attitude towards women and maybe you will find one and not need the advice in A or B. (Although A really is good advise)

All the analogies are Ridiculous and far fetched. How about: Everyone born and raised in this Country has an Opportunity to Succeed. For some that opportunity will be easy and for others that same opportunity will be more challenging but the opportunity is there. The Government will not and should not try to make the Opportunity equally challenging for everyone by making it harder for some, they should focus on making sure the opportunity exists and try to make it easier for everyone. And those that achieve that success should not be punished for doing so. Everyone should contribute to society. Everyone should pay some portion or contribute in some fashion so that other may have the opportunity to succeed in the future. Having a very small percentage paying the vast majority of the costs while others pay nothing is not fair by any standard.

Spider Robinson wrote a great fictional short story on Copyrights many years ago called Melancholy Elephants. The story can be found here http://www.spiderrobinson.com/melancholyelephants.html It is a quick read and a great story. Interestingly enough, It is available under a Creative Commons license.

Because I cannot see why on earth I would ever sign a Contract that basically says if she ever gets mad at me she gets half (or more, depending on the judges mood) of my stuff. Seriously, I cannot think of a single compelling reason to get "married". I have a Child that is almost grown. I have no desire at all to have more children. I got pretty lucky the first time. So many people get obsessed with "Getting Married" or "Finding that life partner" that they miss out on a lot of life. All because we are conditioned to do so. I have never been married and hope to live my entire life without getting married. I may live the rest of my life with the same person but I will do so because it is what I choose to do, Not because I am contractually obligated to do so.

AIG is far from a Small Business by anyone’s definition. I am part owner of a small business. We take all employees on an outing if we have a good year. One year it was to Phoenix for a golf trip another it was to Orlando and if we ever have another good year a Trip to Vegas has been promised. These trips pay for themselves in many ways. The cost for these trips comes straight out of Company Profits. There is not special Tax break for them. I hate a company choosing what they think is the best insurance coverage for me. I would much rather they give me the money and let me choose my own policy. Even better if I can shop across state lines and not get stuck with what is simply available in my state. Insurance companies having to get competitive to earn your business?? What a great idea.

What country are you talking about?? Not the U.S.. We have the highest standard of living and the largest Middle Class. I think what is BEST for this country is that everyone has the OPPORTUNITY to become rich if they choose to work hard, get an education and apply what they have learned. Putting limits or ceilings on what individuals can achieve doesn’t help anyone. Wealthy does not always equal Evil as many liberals would want everyone to believe.

Agreed. This is something the current administration has been a miserable failure at. We need to cut government spending across the board. Reduce the size of government whereever feasible. We wil have to give up some security, We will have to give up some entitlements, we will have to give up many things but we can not continue to spend what we dont have.

The "Loopholes" are how congress dictates behavior. They will never give that power up. Is the Home mortgage interest deduction a Loophole? How about the Tax Break for buying a Hybrid? I too would prefer a more streamlined tax code that taxes everyone fairly (We will never agree on what Fair is. I think Fair is that EVERYONE contributes. Those with more pay a slightly higher percentage but absolutely EVERYONE contributes and NOONE has to pay more than 1/3 of what they earn.) Success is not something that should be discouraged. (And taxing Success at a higher rate is discouragement just like lowering Taxes for something is encouragement)

IF they actually saved something for retirement. Then yes, They should enjoy the fruits of THEIR labor. Otherwise they can get their social security checks and try to survive on that. I personally don’t want any Government agency telling me how I can or can not invest my money. Like everyone else my 401K took about a 30% hit over the last month. Over the past couple days I have got about half that back. I expect it all will come back and grow a bit before I am retirement age. If it does not, then I can accept the fact that I made poor choices. Of course I could have CHOSEN different vehicles for my Retirement and not lost a dime during this mess. I did not do that. I still think I made right decision over the long haul in leaving the retirement accounts alone. I am glad I have the Opportunity to invest pretax money in a Retirement account that I have some choices as to where the money is invested.

Absolutely. And no matter what happens we never will be. Each Individual (I know liberals hate that word) is unique. Each is born into this world with different attributes (Physical, Mental and Environmental), How that individual deals with those attributes will greatly determine what opportunities they have later in life. Some are more physically attractive than others. Some of us are downright ugly. Some are born with above average intellect. Others are downright Dumb. Some are born into families of wealth and affluence, Others are born into poverty. And in spite of all that, ANYONE can be successful if they can apply themselves to the opportunities available to them. And ANYONE can be a failure if they do not. The opportunities are there. They are not equal and they never will be as long as we are individuals.

Something I agree with you on. We are all born Unequal. Each with different Intellect, Intelligence, Drive, Motivation and Opportunity. The ones that take what they have and what is available to them and make the most of it are generally called Conservatives. Those that whine about how unfair that is are generally called Liberals.

Defining a Small Business as a company that less than 250K in revenue is a Joke and Bad one at that. When I think small Business, I think Mom & Pop Restaurant or The Family Owned Hardware Store, the local Smoothie stand, The guy that starts his own Landscaping business, The Handyman that starts his Home renovation business or Roofing Company or such. These small companies provide Jobs for million of people in this country. These are the people that are Living the American Dream and proving Jobs for the people that didnt get an education or are unskilled. These are companies that are the backbone of this country. Almost ALL of them have more than $250K in revenue, If not they cannot survive. These are the people that Obama wants to raise taxes on. What will happen when their Taxes go up?? Who will be hurt the most?? The people that they employ. The Dishwashers, The waitstaff, The Roofers, the apprentices, the landscapers that they employ or should I say used to employ as they will either be forced out of business or have to cut jobs to survive. And what Obama want to do with healthcare will force them to cut jobs as well. If Obama gets elected, Say goodbye to Small Business as we know it in America.

leave my delusions of grandure alone. Edit: And I still will NOT spoon with you!! Inside or Outside.

The "Event" the created the last quote in your sigline was also a great memory but since it wasnt a skydiving event it didnt make the list. That weekend also one of the best ever. from Running into Metalllica and trying to convince them that they did NOT know me to Operation Capture GFD to Shannons gift to us all it was one hell of a weekend.

Spence’s Dublin 05 Thread got me to thinking about all the great Boogies I went to. Which boogies everyone has been to that really stick out and why? For me (In no particular Order) 1) Dublin '04 The first time I ventured away from my Home DZ. My First Boogie. I had 20 Jumps and a borrowed rig. I did not know anyone at all when I showed up there. Won a cert for 50% off a Complete Rig in the raffle. Met Chuck Blue and ton of others for the first time there. Absolutely a Boogie I will never forget and always look back on fondly. 2) Skyfest '05 (or Mudfest) Great group of people there. So many SCR`s even though I didnt get mine that year (Failed attempt). I cant really pull one or two things out of the memory bank as to why it was such a great boogie, Just that it was. 3) Clays Welcome Home Event at The Farm in '05. "Nothing Happened" was born at that event. The Party Bus, the Lingerie jumps. That party has yet to be topped at the farm in my opinion. It was the right group of people at the right time. Some of them are no longer with us for one reason or another. I miss them all. 4) Rantoul '05 The memories are pretty fuzzy but I am certain that most of them still make me smile. What were your most memorable Boogies and why?

Not sure why Porns have a Plot but I can tell you why the DVD Remote has a Fast Forward button.... Because some porns have a plot.

My favorite quote from the painting session, "If you brush that nipple one more time, Someone is going to have to kiss me". Other lessons learned that year - Nipple rings make the removal of liquid latex slightly more challenging. The Other great memory from that Boogie: That is where I met Shannon for the first time.