Democrat or Republican?

Whether you are a DEMOCRAT, or a REPUBLICAN, try to be an independent thinker first, and research all candidates, not just the ones you despise. If you do not REALLY know what Barack is about, then go to his senate web site or the actual senate website to find out how he has voted, what he has done, and what his platform is. Please do the same thing for Hillary Clinton and Sen. McCain. Do not blindly accept Fox News, CNN, or MSNBC drivel because the media is biased in these matters, and count on you to do no further gathering of information. Then apply your own rhetoric based on new-found knowledge.

Bush is not a target because he will be out soon, so no matter what his phuck-ups are, he will be ending his office tenure. McCain has already stated that we will not be leaving Iraq any time soon, and he is trying to scare everyone into supporting his staying, by dragging Iran and Al Qaeda into the equation. It now has nothing to do with WMD or anything on the peripheral.

He has yet to address the economy, education, or out of control gas prices. His first real campaign stop after securing the Republican nomination? Not Cleveland, Los Angeles, Chicago, Jackson, Miss., or even Philly. It was a “surprise” trip to Iraq where he made a speech riddled with misinformation that he had to be told about during the presentation. But that has not had really any coverage - just this sermon made by Rev. Wright, saying things he has every right to say, whether to agree with him or not.

If we are not careful, McCain will get in under the radar - another very old white man who may or may not influence the direction of our country under the veil of some elderly disease, just like Reagan, or even cancer, just like the melanoma that keeps popping up on his face. And when he is too ill to complete his term, the good ol’ boys probably already have someone in place to keep their agenda going. I respect his former military service, as I am a military vet myself (20 years in the Navy), but I know that this country needs something fresh, new, and we need to be moving in another direction. Disagree? I hope you do, and then go about researching EACH and EVERYTHING I have said in this post.

The dollar is devaluated against every major country’s currency, we no longer have the respect of the international community that we once had, and internally we are rife with so many problems that it is time for a leader who will concentrate on the issues that matter to the majority of us. We have an oil reserve in Alaska that can supply us with crude and gas for the next few CENTURIES, and yet, we would rather pay almost $110 a barrel just so we can keep the caribou safe. Our government would rather bail out other nations that owe us for past government loans, but home foreclosures and personal bankruptcy is at an all-time high. We are getting taxed beyond belief, but the only answer this administration has come up with is a pissy rebate check that won’t go beyond paying off a few bills. Let’s not forget, that rather than provide incentive for companies to keep their businesses and manufacturing jobs here, they are more than ready to outsource to Mexico and India, causing more strain on our country through lay-offs and outright unemployment. This is all fact - look it up, rather than scream “SOCIALIST!” or “COMMIE!”

Just because you support no timetable for Iraq pull-out does not mean you are strong on national defense. It just means you are towing the party line, as I have yet to hear him make an independent statement as to why he supports staying there (notice I said INDEPENDENT). Everything he has said is an echo of Bush - look it up.

As for taking your taxes, they are already gone, thrown into foreign interests and programs designed to keep our fickle “ally” base happy. We have totally undersupported anti-famine efforts in Africa and other countries, and our own highway and support infrastructrue is CRUMBLING! Take a close look around you. This isn’t Socialist rhetoric - it is REAL talk. Let’s not even talk about that sad “Border Fence” project meant to keep illegal immigrants out. HA! This current administration has done nothing to ensure the right people benefit form social programs that are meant for hard-working legitimate Americans, but every day illegals have access to that support unfettered.

We feed the world, but not ourselves, and it is time for a leader that recognizes this and takes care of home. No party is perfect, but critique your own as hard as you critique others, and you too will not be so willing to vote simply because they call themselves a “Democrat” or “Republican”.

Be informed, be heard, and be counted - vote!

The 9 Strangest Tax Write-Offs

MSN MoneyCentral has a list of some strange tax write-offs that people have claimed over the years. For example, there’s the disc jockey who claimed his dog as a dependent. Dogs (and cats) may require as much attention as kids sometimes, but they’re not a legal deduction.

Then there’s this one:

[A client] approached Manhattan CPA Marc Albaum about a very personal tax matter. “He had made some money being a sperm donor and wanted to know if he could take a depletion allowance,” Albaum recalls. “I told him he really needed to be an oil well or something like that.”

Other strange write-offs include:

• The man who paid to have his furniture store burned down in order to collect half a million in insurance money, but then claimed a $10,000 write-off for paying the arsonist.
• The man who tried to deduct the cost of his television and his cable bill on the grounds that he was using it to learn Spanish so that he could be a better teacher.
• The man who wanted to depreciate an ostrich.
• The man who wanted to deduct the cost of dog food because his dog acted as security for his home, therefore the dog food was a security expense.
• The man who accidentally dropped his dentures in the toilet and wanted to claim them as an “act of God” casualty loss.

I have to admit that as a small business owner, I’m often amazed at some of the things that you can deduct. I never try to push the limits, though, simply staying with the tried and tested stuff. I’d certainly never try to depreciate an ostrich!

AAhhhh Gandhi.

Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.

M.K. Gandhi

What is going on?

By Thomas W. Krause of The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 20, 2008

TAMPA - A 21-year-old Clearwater man was arrested at Tampa International Airport this weekend after security personnel found a box cutter in a hollowed-out book, authorities said.

Benjamin Baines Jr.

If convicted, Baines faces up to 10 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine for a federal charge of attempting to board an airplane with a concealed dangerous weapon. He is currently serving a 30 day
sentence after pleading guilty Monday to a state misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed weapon.

About 7:30 a.m. Sunday, airport security ran Benjamin Baines Jr.'s backpack through an X-ray machine and saw the image of a box cutter, according to a report from the Transportation Security Administration.

When searching the backpack, a security officer found a book titled "Fear Itself." The book was hollowed out, and the box cutter was inside.

After Baines was read his rights, he said his cousin had cut away the pages to make the hollow section in the book. Later, reports state, he said he had hollowed it out himself to hide money and marijuana from his roommates.

Baines told officers he was moving to Las Vegas and forgot the cutter was in the book.
Officers found books in the backpack titled "Muhammad in the Bible," "The Prophet's Prayer" and "The Noble Qur'an." He also had a copy of the Quran and the Bible.

Several sheets of paper in the backpack included rap lyrics that referred to police, narcotics, weapons and killing. Baines told officers he is a rapper who writes his own lyrics and that rap music writers need to "play the part," the report states.

Officers performed a background check and found no record of crimes or active warrants.
He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and booked into Orient Road Jail. At his first appearance in court Monday, Baines pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 days in jail, according to an employee with the Hillsborough County clerk of court. He remained in Orient Road Jail today.

The U.S. Attorney's Office also filed a federal charge of attempting to board an aircraft with a concealed dangerous weapon. The federal charge against Baines was filed Sunday but was not announced until today, said Steve Cole, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa.

Cole said Baines will be arrested by U.S. marshals upon his release from jail on the state charge.

Reporter Thomas W. Krause can be reached at (813) 259-7698 or tkrause@tampatrib.com.

Why Barack Obama?

Why not Obama?

He wants to raise taxes, and rescind tax cuts. Bigger govt, more govt power, more govt rights to our money to spend it as they see fit is not good. I want the freedom to spend my money the way I see fit.

He wants to manage upper-end wages, CEO wages. The people who provide the most jobs for the middle class will be taxed higher, end result is less jobs for the middle class....think like a businessman, their focus is on numbers, not employees. They work with what they have.

Wants socialized medicine, please see Cuba, France, Canada...if you thought the hospital wait was crazy now, wait till people dont have to earn and work for these services, can you imagine the quality of doctors/nurses who will be treating us when this labor market has a shortage? Imagine people with on-line Doctor/ Nursing degrees treating your 3 year old daughter....hmmmmm. Why would Castro summon American doctors to treat him and operate on him if socialized medicin was so great? Socialized medicine = Socialism.

Wants to expand unions, please see the American auto industry.

Wants to empower teachers unions, Govt controlled education?

All of this stuff is Marxism/ Socialism when you look at it and compare.
Great article here.

These are all old ideas, regressive ideas that have failed. Not change.
"Change is only good as long as you're not changing back."

Obama is a young, inexperienced man, he needs more political experience.

"Change can't be made with words alone, it also takes action."

Who has the best caption for this photo?

Leadership through martyrdom can leave the wrong legacy, people who have a vision for change will have a better chance of accomplishing their goals through leadership, integrity, morals than through suicide.

Welcome!

Welcome to my leadership blog. Ideas have consequences and the goal of this blog is to discuss ideas of consequence. Some ideas you may agree with and some you may disagree. No worries. The only rule is that you think and discuss in a civil manner. People who attack others only prove they have reached the limit of their logic. The Bible states, "Iron sharpens iron" and we will sharpen one another by what we read, write and think. The goal of this blog is to help us identify and follow truth in all areas of our lives. I encourage you to join our leadership discussion and transform yourself and others through the renewing of our minds. O.W.

He said it best!