Updated: The Jury is NOT out - Found Innocent

Could you convict this face?

I know I couldn't.

This would have to be one of those times Aunt Rita would break.  Luckily she's blessed with a mom who knows how to deal with this face.

I wouldn't be strong enough.  I'd just cave.  Parenting is hard, maybe that's why God never allowed me to be one.

UPDATE:

The very next day, her teacher wrote a note:  It's shown below:

Told you she was innocent.  At least she must have been by the very next day.  She was Sooooo proud to tell us she got a note from her teacher.  And we STILL are in the dark as to why she was in trouble the day before.

Game On

Manning Rivalry at it's best. Go Colts!



Just saw this one again before the game and what I missed was Peyton's last line. "Oh my God, there's a spider in here."

Next up is just too cute.

The Mis-Estate

In 1955, one little store opened in my town.  As all single stores start, it began as a family owned business.  It expanded to 2, 5, 10, kept grown slowly and remained a private company.

Slowly over the years, they got a bit bigger, not skyrocketing like the big box stores, that wasn't their style. It remained a private company.

When some other companies expanded quickly across the nation, ladening themselves with debt during the great economic times, the "local" company grew more slowly, they resisted the urge to make a quick buck.

It stayed a family owned business up until 3 years ago when they went public. That one single store has grown to over 250, starting to take over more and more across the nation in their industry. Several of the national chains went out of business during these hard economic times. The little store took advantage of buying up their real estatex at a time when real estate was now cheap and they continued to open stores only with profits rather than big debts.  The little store has maintained a 20% growth rate in the worst of economic times and the big national chain competition that has remained in business is becoming more agitated when the little store began to occupy space close to them. 

So, here's the moral of the story.

Prior to becoming a public company, this tiny store which had grown slowly over the last 50 years stayed as family owned company. They employed 3,000 people over several midwest states.

Being privately owned, profit from the company was taxed as income to the family owners each year. Those 3,000 people they employed payed taxes on the income they received from the "little" company.   Add those taxes being paid each year by all involved and you will come up with some fairly large amount of revenue coming into the state and federal governments.

The family that opened the little store in 1955 had no plans to become multi-millionaires, they just wanted a little bit of the American Dream. 

Again, remember that in 2001, this was a family owned company, mainly owned by the father. The Estate Tax Reduction (some of the "Bush" tax cuts" we are hearing so many bad things about) was enacted in 2001 with an expiration in 2011. Prior to the limited time for estate tax break, the inheritated tax rates were staggering.  Check below for the rates that are about to become law again.

For amounts not greater than $10,000, the tax liability is 18% of the amount.
For amounts over $10,000 but not over $20,000, the tentative tax is $1,800 plus 20% of the excess over $10,000.
For amounts over $20,000 but not over $40,000, the tentative tax is $3,800 plus 22% of the excess over $20,000.
For amounts over $40,000 but not over $60,000, the tentative tax is $8,200 plus 24% of the excess over $40,000.
For amounts over $60,000 but not over $80,000, the tentative tax is $13,000 plus 26% of the excess over $60,000.
For amounts over $80,000 but not over $100,000, the tentative tax is $18,200 plus 28% of the excess over $80,000.
For amounts over $100,000 but not over $150,000, the tentative tax is $23,800 plus 30% of the excess over $100,000.
For amounts over $150,000 but not over $250,000, the tentative tax is $38,800 plus 32% of the excess over $150,000.
For amounts over $250,000 but not over $500,000, the tentative tax is $70,800 plus 34% of the excess over $250,000.
For amounts over $500,000 but not over $750,000, the tentative tax is $155,800 plus 37% of the excess over $500,000.
For amounts over $750,000 but not over $1,000,000, the tentative tax is $248,300 plus 39% of the excess over $750,000.
For amounts over $1,000,000 but not over $1,250,000, the tentative tax is $345,800 plus 41% of the excess over $1,000,000.
For amounts over $1,250,000 but not over $1,500,000, the tentative tax is $448,300 plus 43% of the excess over $1,250,000.
For amounts over $1,500,000 but not over $2,000,000, the tentative tax is $555,800 plus 45% of the excess over $1,500,000.
For amounts over $2,000,000 but not over $2,500,000, the tentative tax is $780,800 plus 49% of the excess over $2,000,000.
For amounts over $2,500,000 but not over $3,000,000, the tentative tax is $1,025,800 plus 53% of the excess over $2,500,000.
For amounts over $3,000,000, the tentative tax is $1,290,800 plus 55% of the excess over $3,000,000.
Additionally, estates of decedents that die after December 31, 2010, will be subject to a 5% surcharge on the excess of their estate over $10,000,000.

If the store's "ol dad" had passed away prior to 2001, the no-longer-little store would have become part of his estate. 

The little store heirs would have had to pay over $25 MILLION dollars in estate taxes alone.

It isn't that hard to imagine what would have happened, is it?

To pay the inheritance tax would have closed down the no-longer little store because now this family was  considered "wealthy".  As has been said many times, how many people are hired by the poor?

If that scenario had happened, the growing enterprise would have had to shut the doors to pay an estate tax on a company that had already been paying the income tax by the owners and the employees.

Along with that, 3,000 people would have been unemployed and they would not have been paying tax on their income.

Due to the estate tax reduction and the store now being a public company, a death in the family will not close the store that is growing fast and safely and hiring 100's of employees each month in the new areas they are now "invading" from the big retailers.

When I was researching this post, I was shocked and I do mean shocked at the estate taxes reductions that could very well likely expire this year.

Last week we finally went to talk with an estate planner. 

Let's get this straight.  We are NOT wealthy.  But we have worked hard, have plenty of life insurance that is considered part of the value of the estate for determining rates (but not taxed) and I looked on what taxes could be due if we both die after December 31, 2010. 

It's shocking, shocking.   So we are a bit like the little one store shop that just worked hard over all of our lives and didn't do stupid spending that wasn't necessary.  (Well with the exception of us NOT being multi-millionaires.)

Now is there any wonder why there are alot of people like us that do not agree with raising the tax on the "wealthy"?

The majority of the wealthy are business owners that employ millions of people.  Taxing the wealthy puts more and more people out of work and the wealthy remain wealthy.   And history has proven that when tax rates go up LESS revenue comes into the federal government because growth is stiffled and there is less income to tax, much less income.

I hated Economics in college, and this makes me realize why.  There are so many people that just don't get it.

So in case you missed it, you and your spouse need to die this year or the govenment will likely take away 50% of your net worth from your heirs. 

Or we can contact our "representatives" in the government and complain like hell to extend (it should permanently extend) the estate tax cuts "for the wealthy".  You'd be surprise to learn the government thinks even you and I are wealthy, especially when alot of our "wealth" is nothing more than a decent life insurance policy. 

How can you not love this guy?

The video is long, but trust me, every minute is worth listening to.

He knows his $h*# and he takes no bull from anyone. Although this is a political video, I simply cannot understand how no matter what your politial persuasion is that you won't find this guy such a breath of fresh air.




I would suggest if you have a legitimate complaint for this man, you darned well better be more informed than he is.

The World Stopped Turning - REPOST

Reposting only because I think we should all tell the story of that event in our everyday lives.  None are less important, only different.



That Tuesday morning I was sitting in my "big girl's cube" listening to the local talk radio.

Mom had come up the night before and my brother had taken her and her friend to the airport that morning, heading to Las Vegas.

Honestly, I barely noticed the first news report. I was thinking "Isolated Incident" nowhere near where I live.

Then I heard the second report. Two planes, not one. Not some small aircraft that got confused and somehow impossibly flew into the World Trade Center. TWO planes. I remember telling my next-door cube mate what I thought I had just heard on the radio. He said, "What?" I told him it sounded like a terrorist attack, but I still didn't really believe it. And I certainly could never imagine the magnitude.

Not yet anyway

I walked out of my cube into a conference room and found that one of the IT guys had already brought up the news station and it was airing against the wall through the projector. That was when I was stunned into silence. The images of the second plane were airing and I felt my hand immediately cover my mouth. Watch the videos of anyone watching and we all cover our mouths. What is that? I can only assume it's an unconscious movement to keep you from screaming.

And it only got worse.

As the chaos grew, I emailed my nephew to find the flight tracker website so we could monitor mom's plane. I never feared for her safety, maybe because I did not yet realize how pervasive the attacks were.

When all the planes were ordered to land, I remember watching the flight tracker and for a good 30 minutes her plane apparently continued on it's course. She was over New Mexico. Then I couldn't get any data.

My phone rings.

This is during the middle of a national crisis, right? By now, no one in America was not aware of what was going on in our country, hell no one in the WORLD is not aware. We were being attacked and I get a call from "ASAP Brenda". She was known in the company for always thinking everything she did required you to drop what you are doing and fix it.

She was asking for another stupid request that amounted to nothing on a normal day much less in the middle of a NATIONAL CRISIS. I finally said, "You know Brenda, I really just don't care, right now my mother is in the air and I'm trying to figure out where she is and if she's safe!!!" What a freaking idiot

Suddenly the flight tracker showed mom's plane destination was now Albuquerque. I called for a hotel reservation, then I called several people in my family in case mom ended up calling one of them.

People in the air?

Mom's friend told her she thought they had turned around. Mom thought she was crazy at first. Her friend tells her the sun is now on the other side of the plane, but they didn't think they were near Las Vegas yet.

The pilot came on and said that there had been "a national emergency in New York" and they were ordered to land the plane. Now, think about that. You have to realize how confusing this had to have been for people in the air.  On a plane bound to Las Vegas from Indy, why would a national emergency in NY cause them to land immediately?   What was going on was inconcievable for those watching it, it would take even longer for those not glued to the news during this time.

When they landed in Albuquerque, mom thought they would just find another plane.  Someone told them they MUST leave the airport.  It made no sense to those people just getting dropped in another city.  Amazingly the Red Cross was already at the airport assisting people.  This organization must be unbelievably organized.

When she got off the plane, mom called the only person in my family I had NOT told I had a hotel waiting.  She called my brother-in-law. 

Southwest Airlines.  You've heard some of the horror stories of how people were treated by the airlines.  Not Southwest. THEY found the passengers a hotel, THEY PAID for their rooms and THEY refunded their tickets.  Nice to know some companies took responsibility for the passengers when this nation faced the worst crisis ever.

The owner of the company I worked for was from New York and he came from a long line of fire fighters in New York City.  Sometime mid-day he called the company together and gave what he called one of his "Desktop Talks".  He stood on a desk and told us his family background and that at that point he was still not sure of all of his loved ones statuses.   He told the salepeople they were not to make any sales calls and then he said, "But we WILL work.  It's obvious those who are attacking us do NOT want us to work and I don't want them to win."

Now obviously I can't say that ALOT of work got done, there was too much going on throughout the day.  But everyone admired his courage knowing that he was worried about friends and family back home. 

Mom wasn't able to fly home until Friday.  My brothers and I all went together to get her at the airport.  It was eerily quiet and empty at the airport and being patroled by the National Guard.  It was both reassuring and amazingly scary all  at the same time.  

Neither Bob nor I slept well for months.  As I related in a previous post, Bob said that if the Army would take someone his age, he would have enlisted and fought against whatever war was obviously being waged upon us. 

9/11 changed my life.  No, not in some drastic way that I imagined on that morning, but in a more subtle way.

When I see an older movie, I think, "Was this before 9/11 or after?"  When I think about things that happened within the last few years, I wonder the same thing.  I find that unconsciously I have divided my life in half.   What happened before 9/11 and what happened after.  I can no more forget what happened than those that lived through Pearl Harbor.   

I no longer believe I am safe.  Even here in the middle of this wonderful country.  I no longer believe we are safe.  I cannot ever support cutting back on our military spending, it would just give a green light to those that simply want us dead.

When we were in Italy, our private driver was telling us that his then-girlfriend called him that day and told him that she had friends in NY and they were in the World Trade Center and she was hysterical. 

I told him that there are many in our country that believe we should forget about 9/11.  He said, "I don't know how you could ever do that."

Neither do I. 

Neither do I.

And I'm MAD all over again.  Sadly, the video attached to the original link has been scrubbed.

I WILL NOT

FORGET

The King of New York Hacks Remembers

And I remember holding my breath, I was so afraid when I watched my President showing us how to get back to being Americans.

Nine years ago we all slept just like this

Do you remember this feeling?

And exactly one night later I slept like this for months and months on end.....

Goodbye Ol Buddy

We'll see you on the other side.