half a billion

Hey is that an insult? Bah you can ask Mark he's met me. I aint no Bayou Boy. And I aint no chicken poo that hides behind some secret forum to talk about anyone like he does. think I was told once, only 2 good things came from the Bayou, Cajun food and alligator skin products . Though I tend to like alittle cajun music once in awhile.
 
Justin Wilson brings back memories.
In '86 I worked for an old bachelor farmer. We watched Justin everyday at lunch, he finished every show with a glass of wine.

A great find Holly.
 
What is a "BILLION DOLLARS"?



Seems our politicians throw this term around so easily....



How many zeros in a billion?

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 atNew 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. & Ottawa ON.



< HELLO! >



Are all your calculators broken?

Accounts Receivable Tax



Building Permit Tax



CDL License Tax



Cigarette Tax



Corporate Income Tax



Dog License Tax



Federal Income Tax



Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)



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



Propert y 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 upon 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



Income Tax



Everything Tax



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.



I hope this goes around the US & CANADA at least 1 billion times



What the heck happened?
 
No sh*t....what a reality check.
crazy.gif
 
Women spent 12 hours a day maintaining the house 100 yrs ago vs. 3 hrs today. No wonder they were stayed at home.

From the report titled;100 Years of U.S. Consumer Spending Data for the Nation, New York City, and Boston
produced by the U.S. Dept. of Labor

"The clearest indicators of an improved
standard of living are income
levels and household expenditures.
Between 1901 and 2003, the average
U.S. household’s income increased 67-
fold, from $750 to $50,302. During the
same period, household expenditures
increased 53-fold, from $769 to $40,748.
Equally dramatic is that the $40,748
would have bought more than $2,000
worth of goods in 1901 prices, indicating
a tripling of purchasing power."

From 1901:

As the 20th century began, the U.S.
population was 76 million. Americans
were young, white, and more male than
female. Relatively few women were in the
workforce, and unemployment was low.
The median age in the country was
22.9 years, 23.3 for men and 22.4 for
women. The percentage of Americans
who were white was 87.9, and the ratio
of men to women was 104.4 men for
every 100 women. The average size of
U.S. families was 4.9 people.
Labor force participation was 80.0
percent for men and 20.6 percent for
women, while the workforce consisted
of 82.0 percent men and 18.0 women.
The country’s unemployment rate in
1901 was 4.0 percent.
Yearly household income averaged
$750. Several earners contributed to
this income: 95.9 percent of households
had earnings from husbands, 8.5 percent
had earnings from wives,22.2 percent had earnings from children, 23.3
percent had earnings from boarders or
lodgers, and 14.4 percent of households
had other sources of income.

Annual expenditures for the average
U.S. family averaged $769. Of this
amount, 42.5 percent ($327) was allocated
for food, 14.0 percent ($108) for
clothing, and 23.3 percent ($179) for
housing. That left $155 for all other
items. On average, household spending exceeded income by 2.5 percent.
There were 7.2 million owner-occupied
housing units in the country, but only
19.0 percent of U.S. families owned a
home, while 81.0 percent were renters.

2003:

By the 21st century, the U.S. population
had exceeded 281 million, a gain of
13.2 percent from the previous decade.
Not only had the population grown,
but it also had aged: the median age in
the country had increased to 35.3 years
(36.5 for women and 34.0 for men)—
the highest in 100 years.
The percentage of the population
younger than 15 had held steady at 21.4.
The percentage of Americans who were
white was 75.1, a notable drop from the
previous decade. The
male-to-female ratio had increased to
96.3 men for every 100 women.
The size of the average U.S. household
had remained 2.5 people, with 29.5
percent of households consisting of
only one person, 26.2 percent made up
of two people, and 9.9 percent consisting
of five or more people. Statistically,
the average household contained 0.6
children under 18 and 0.3 people aged
65 or older. The average number of earners
was 1.3.

Average family income in the country
was $50,302, an increase of 29.0 percent
from the mid-1990s. Sources of
family income were varied. For the average
family, 80.6 percent ($40,550) of
income came from wages and salaries;
4.3 percent ($2,186) came from self-employment
income; 10.8 percent ($5,422)
came from Social Security and from private
and government retirement; 2.0
percent ($1,013) came from interest,
dividends, and rental income; 0.5 percent
($252) came from unemployment
and workers’ compensation and from
veterans’ benefits; 0.7 percent ($333)
came from public assistance; 0.7 percent
($377) came from gifts; while 0.3
percent ($169) came from other sources.
The average U.S. family had an after-
tax income of $47,787, having allocated
5.0 percent of income for taxes:
$1,843 for Federal income taxes, $504
for State and local income taxes, and
$168 for other taxes. Of all U.S. families,
3.7 percent earned less than $5,000,
10.9 percent earned between $20,000
and $29,999, and 17.1 percent earned
$70,000 or more.
Average household expenses,
$40,748, had grown by 18.8 percent from
the mid-1990s. This amount would have
purchased $35,827 worth of goods and
services in 1996 dollars. Consumer prices,
after averaging a gain of 3.4 percent in
2000, had increased at a rate of 2.8 percent
in 2001 and 1.6 percent in 2002.

End result, better life now even after taxes. Life expectancy has also increased.

Let's take off the rose-colored glasses and see the past as it really was, not the Norman Rockwell version.
 
Norman Rockwell didn't paint pictures of John Q. Public on Ritalin or Haldol. A modern realist would have to, his subjects are strung-out on them.

As I alluded to in aother post, living to be 95 doesn't mean a full and happy life, in fact if one's a jerk, con artist/investment broker, free-market sheister or International War Crimes fugitive, countless many others would have needlessly suffered for his longevity and ability.

The best hospitals in the world mean little if patients are selected by financial portfolio.

There's a lot to be said about quality of food in place of quantity, and the additives/chemicals it takes to grow them. Nuclear bombs and viral/bacterialogical warfare agents, oil slicks, toxic shock syndrome and 6 billion people competing for dwindling resources instead of 1 billion, I'd take Rockwell's America anyday, the one where a nation was principally united, won just wars against tyranny instead of tyrants conducting unjust wars against people. Parklands sold to private coffers and wars fought with corrupted leaders. Eight grade education, one was ready for the world and eight grade today means illiterate and gangsta. One out of four dies of cancer, ten in thirty find infection of treatment resistant bacteria when they go for appendectomies and face lifts. Jobs mean little for security and longevity, retirements now impossible, a Briggs and Stratton is Chinese, a Buick is Mexican and Stanley tools fired everyone so they could locate in Indonesia.

I think a Cambodian who until five years ago hunted barefoot and fed a family of nine have a better life than now, working twelve hour shifts at a sewing machine and 1/2 his income goes to pay rent on company-owned slums. Kind of like scab workers in the last of the Appalacian hard rock mines.

I think the prosperity alluded to has ended and the cost of it is high, forever we'll be paying it back because it was built on promise and credit, not earned tangibles, let alone deception and greed.

I'd take Norman Rockwell anyday over Tom Cruise and Sylvester Stallone...'cause they aren't real.
 
[ QUOTE ]
One out of four dies of cancer, ten in thirty find infection of treatment resistant bacteria when they go for appendectomies and face lifts.

[/ QUOTE ]


So are you saying I have a chance?



SZ
 
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