I don’t customarily reprint items I receive in e-mail from the internet, but this one jarred me a bit and its truth spoke volumes:
This is too true to be funny.
The next time you hear a politician use the
Word ‘billion’ in a casual manner, think about
Whether you want the ‘politicians’ spending
YOUR tax money.
A billion is a difficult number to comprehend,
But one advertising agency did a good job of
Putting that figure into some perspective in
One of it’s releases.
A.
A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
B..
A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
C.
A billion hours ago our ancestors were
Living in the Stone Age.
D.
A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
E.
A billion dollars ago was only
8 hours and 20 minutes,
At the rate our government
Is spending it.
While this thought is still fresh in our brain…
let’s take a look at New Orleans ….
It’s amazing what you can learn with some simple division.
Louisiana Senator,
Mary Landrieu (D)
Is presently asking Congress for
250 BILLION DOLLARS
To rebuild New Orleans . Interesting number….
What does it mean?
A.
Well .. If you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans
(every man, woman, and child)
You each get $516,528.
B.
Or… If you have one of the 188,251 homes in
New Orleans , your home gets $1,329,787.
C.
Or… If you are a family of four…
Your family gets $2,066,012.
Washington , D. C
HELLO!
Are all your calculators broken??
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax (Fed)
Federal Unemployment Tax (FU TA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
(And to think, we left British Rule to avoid so many taxes)
STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago…..
And our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt…
We had the largest middle class in the world…..
And Mom stayed home to raise the kids.
What happened?
Can you spell:
‘POLITICIANS!’
And I still have to
Press ‘1’
For English..
The waves have subsided, and my wife and I decided to partake of a whalewatching tour from Noyo Harbor. Above, from the boat Trek II, looking west towards the Highway 1 bridge.
As opposed to photos taken safely from the hotel room high above the waves on dry land — now, on this tour, we were at the same level as the crashing waves! 
The now-calm green #3 buoy as we exit the Noyo Harbor inlet towards open ocean. . .
The #3 green buoy only five days earlier, same precise place in the channel!
The furthest red #2 buoy. But wait; what’s that on board?
Of course. California sea lions! The bell still slowly clangs. How can this not drive these pinnipeds crazy?
We spent a good hour waiting. First, some spouts. Then, at a distance, one remote fluke. And that was the only whale tail we ever saw.
A number of gray whales arched over the surface. But we consistently took the wrong path and were quite some distance from the two pods we encountered.
At the end, we steamed back to safe harbor. The waters were primarily calm though the rolling swells were a good ten+ feet. It was interesting to note that where the whales sounded and contacted the surface, they left a flat and remarkably undisturbed area in their wake. You could clearly make out where they were — you could not remotely predict where they would be!
