Scitum est inter caecos luscum regnare posse.
(It is well known, that among the blind the one-eyed man is king.)
Gerard Didier Erasmus
What Happens To Our Federal Taxes?
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| via Reason |
Revenge Porn Postings?
Let me be clear: I think posting intimate pictures of another person without her knowledge and consent is unconscionable behavior and at best ungentlemanly. (And I think it's not prudent for anyone to give her consent.) It's an invasion of privacy and the other person's trust, and it can have real economic harm to the victim; she may find difficulty finding, say, a teaching job. Not to mention others may make money on the publication of her likeness (the porn industry exists for this reason). But I see this as more of a matter of civil tort, not criminal law; I know, unfortunately, there's often a lot of hostility when a couple breaks up, and I don't want the government getting in the middle. I have some former girlfriends (including one I despise to the present day; no compromising pictures), but I would never publish a photo, letter, whatever, even with their knowing consent. I wasn't raised that way.
A Simulation of Uncivil Behavior
This is an ABC simulation: a Texas bakery shop manager refuses, in anti-Muslim rhetoric, service of a Muslim woman whom wants to purchase a pastry. I found it unlistenable in places--not just the uncivil simulated treatment of a lady, but the predictable politically correct nonsense, the idea if you have a shop, you are forced to sell to anyone, which essentially make the business the slave to the State. I happen to believe in a free market, businessman who treat customers with disrespect or unfairly differently wouldn't be a viable business. I know even if I wasn't into limiting carbs, I would never have gone to that bakery again.
What would I have done? I probably would have had some words with the manager about treating customers with respect, and I would have put her item on my order, paid for it and refused to take her money. We are all God's children; there may be different flowers in a garden, but the garden's beauty is enhanced by its variety and many colors.
Bald is Beautiful
Nice Job, Mom and Dad!
Facebook Corner
(IPI). Illinois comeback? Not if you live in one of the state's largest metro areas. Read more: http://illin.is/1iFiWeZ
Pass the Fair Tax and it will put billions back in the pockets of 94% of Illinois taxpayers. They'll spend it here and help jumpstart the economy and that means more jobs.
The residential troll doesn't seem to understand that increasing taxes essentially heightens the burden of a project to break even. This attenuates investment in the private sector and related labor demand. At best, government stealing from the upper class is a wash in the economy--it steals from the real economy to fritter away on corrupt special interests. The troll doesn't seem to understand that business decisions are often made at the margin. As to stealing the Wicked Witch of the West Coast's line about no government waste left to cut, I'm confident I could trim off at least a third of the Illinois budget, but I'm sure the troll's crony allies would be squealing like the pigs they are.
(IPI). Union members are allowed to deduct their union dues on their taxes, equating to an estimated $15 billion nationwide.
We need to get out of the tax gimmick business altogether and substitute a low universal tax that doesn't tax productivity (my preference: a consumption tax and any applicable user fees).
There are plenty of ways that union members are greasing the state's palms, but this isn't one of them. This is no different than a teacher who buys classroom supplies, or a construction worker who needs four pair of boots per year, or an accountant who buys computers. All these expenses are deductible as business expenses because they are required to do the job. If you want fix the problem, eliminate the deduction entirely.
Since when is paying unions "required to do the job"? Not according to SCOTUS; at most you may be required to pay an agency fee, a prorated portion of union negotating expenditures. Union members have the legal right to leave a union without losing their jobs.
(IPI). Say you’re scheduled to work at 8 a.m. Instead, you mosey in around 8:50 a.m.. Would you expect to be paid for those first 50 minutes?
Moreover, would you expect to still have a job if you regularly showed up late?
For most people, the answer to both questions is “no.” But allow us to introduce you to the world of Illinois state government — where not only is such behavior permissible, it’s incentivized.
Enough of these perverse abuses of collective bargaining deals cut behind the taxpayers' backs by corrupt, bought-and-paid-for politicians!
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| Courtesy of Gary Varvel and Illinois Policy Institute |
"Progressive" trolls are so predictable; they can't even understand cartoons. The pig is a morally corrupted tool whom risked other people's money in getting an unmarketable college education. Now, instead of accepting responsibility for his own decisions, he listens to a "progressive" con man politician whom tells him what he wants to hear: he's a "victim" and the con man will make him whole at the expense of the people whom work hard and make their own opportunities.
I'm getting tired of the same old same old "progressive" propaganda. No business can have a sustainable model if it harms customers, employees, the environment, etc. "Investing in populist politicians"? No competent businessman would ever trust his hard earned money in the hands of a politician, and there are more voters whom have not enjoyed significant material success. Give me a break--crony unionists, environmentalists, and other special interests are responsible for economically illiterate and dysfunctional meddling government; they have basically wrecked our economy and swindled future generations.
(Citizens Against Government Waste). Ever wonder why your taxes are so high? Of the $1.3 trillion that federal agents collect in individual income taxes from Americans every year, an estimated $616 billion of that is wasted on duplicated and useless projects that should be eliminated. The amount wasted equals out to $5,300 for every family in the United States. SHARE to stop the waste and save your tax dollars!
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/14/editorial-why-your-taxes-are-so-high/#ixzz2yxkATOl2
The waste is Corporate welfare!
No, corrupt government employee unions, duplication of functionality, political resistence to cuts,etc.
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Steve Breen via Townhall |
Celine Dion, "I Drove All Night"
