I found this artical at Neal's site and just had to include it here. Neal has a way of breaking things down to common sence thinking, and this is a good example of that. Kudos Neal.

By: Neal Boortz

In coming days or weeks you may see some television ads showing soldiers battling some evil corporate executives. The announcer gravely tells you that In the sands of Iraq our soldiers risk their lives for our country. At the same time, big corporations are abandoning our country and setting up phony tax shelters in the sands of Bermuda.

Arianna Huffington, who recently converted her head to a serpentarium, is behind this effort. She says that these corporations are cheating America, and they're cheating every American taxpayer who plays by the rules.

OK all of that sounds pretty nasty, doesn't it. Evil, greedy capitalist pig corporations running away from their responsibility to pay taxes just like everyone else.

Stand by. You need to know the truth, and you sure aren't going to get it from Arianna Huffington

First of all and I'm only going to devote one sentence to this corporations don't pay taxes. Corporations collect taxes from their customers, employees and shareholders and merely pass them off to the government.

Now, let's deal with the motivations behind corporations moving out of this country to places like Bermuda. I'll give you the facts, and you tell me whether you think they are justified or not, evil or just seeking a competitive balance.

Let's take two manufacturers. Well make our two examples auto makers. One in the United States, one in Spain. We'll call them AmeriCar and EuroCar. AmeriCar sells automobiles in the United States and Europe. EuroCar is based in Spain and sells cars in Europe and the United States. Let's say that Eurocar earns a profit of $5 billion on cars sold in Spain and another $10 billion profit on cars sold in the United States. AmeriCar earns $5 billion on cars sold in the United States, and $10 billion on cars sold in Spain. Each company, then, has total profits of $15 billion from cars sold in the U.S. and Spain.

So, what is the U.S. income tax bill for AmeriCar? And what will EuroCar have to pay? AmeriCar will have to pay the IRS taxes on its total $15 billion profit. Every penny of it. Also, AmeriCar will have to pay Spain corporate income taxes on the $10 billion earned in that country. EuroCar, on the other hand, will only have to pay the IRS income taxes on the $10 billion earned here. EuroCar will then have to pay the Spanish government income taxes on the $5 billion earned in Spain but not on the $10 billion earned in The United States!

Even those of you who attended government schools can see what is going on here. AmeriCar is paying taxes on $15 billion in earnings to the IRS as well as taxes to the Spanish government on the $10 billion earned there. The $10 billion earned in Spain is being taxed twice both in Spain and in the U.S. EuroCar, on the other hand, will pay the IRS the taxes for the $10 billion earned here, and their own government gets the income taxes on the $5 billion earned there. The tax burden on EuroCar is lower. Advantage, EuroCar.

Now let's expand this a bit. Both AmeriCar and EuroCar also sell cars in England. Each car is basically the same and costs exactly the same to produce. AmeriCar has to pay income taxes in both England and in the United States on each car it sells in England. EuroCar only has to pay income tax to England, not to Spain. This means that even though the cars cost exactly the same to manufacture, EuroCar can sell its cars in England for less and still make a good profit. Competitive advantage EuroCar

So EuroCar takes advantage of the favorable tax treatment it gets because it is based in Spain and prices its cars lower than AmeriCar. Soon EuroCar turns its price advantage into a huge market share for this particular type of automobile. AmeriCar starts laying off workers because it just can't compete with EuroCar on price. Soon EuroCar has the entire business.

So how can AmeriCar compete with EuroCar, make a profit and not close its manufacturing facilities in the United States? Easy! Move the corporate headquarters to Bermuda! Move, as they say, off-shore. Now that the corporate headquarters are in Bermuda AmeriCar pays income tax according to Bermuda law. The United States collects income taxes on all cars profits earned in the U.S. England and Spain collect income taxes on profits earned in those countries. AmeriCar is once again in a competitive position. and American jobs are saved.

Now --- you tell me. Why is it so wrong for AmeriCar to move off shore? The United States government still gets its income tax on all profits earned in America. Isn't that the way it should be?

Know this. The United States is the ONLY industrialized nation that compels corporations organized under its laws to pay income taxes on worldwide earnings. This means that every international business based in the United States is at an immediate competitive disadvantage with every similar business located elsewhere. Can someone please explain to me on what level does this make sense? And while you're at it, see if you can tell me whatArianna Huffington has been sniffing

Labels: Political

I've had these pics on my website for sometime now. I'm just adding them here so that they'll be auto-added to my archives here. Click on the WTC, and Pentagon pic to get a bigger view.

Labels: Memorial

Wow!! this is an email I accually recieved from some one. I almost deleted it along with several other pieces of spam I recieved. I'm glad I slowed down a bit to read it. Maybe I'll reply to it. hehe. I really really really hope this is a joke:P Oh and ah, you gotta read this while imagining that the Twilight Zone theme music is playing in the background.

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From: webmaster@epi.com (Frank Young)

Subject: Time travelers PLEASE HELP!!!!!!

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Date: Thu, 10 Jan 2002 21:20:58 +0100

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Status: U
Below is the result of your feedback form.  It was submitted by
Frank Young (webmaster@epi.com) on Thursday, January 10, 2002 at 21:20:58
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

message: If you are a time traveler or alien disguised as human and or have the technology to travel physically through time I need your help!

My life has been severely tampered with and cursed!! I have suffered tremendously and am now dying!

I need to be able to:

Travel back in time.

Rewind my life including my age back to 4.

Be able to remember what I know now so that I can prevent my life from being tampered with again after I go back.

I am in very great danger and need this immediately!

I am aware that there are many types of time travel, and that humans do not do well through certain types.

I need as close to temporal reversion as possible, as safely as possible. To be able to rewind the hands of time in such a way that the universe of now will cease to exist. I know that there are some very powerful people out there with alien or government equipment capable of doing just that.

If you can help me I will pay for your teleport or trip down here, Along with hotel stay, food and all expenses. I will pay top dollar for the equipment. Proof must be provided.

Also if you are one of the very few beings with the ability to edit the universe PLEASE REPLY!!!

Only if you have this technology and can help me please send me a (SEPARATE) email to:

Robby0809@aol.com

Please do not reply if your an evil alien!

Thanks

Labels: Funny

Nah, no one could ever accuse me of being sarcastic. Especially about a rock solid operating system made by charitable and good natured company named Microsoft, would I? You bet your Enron stock I would. And to prove it I included this graphic that exemplifies the typical windows annoyances for all my phildowd.com fans to enjoy.

For those of you that need help understanding the sarcasm press Alt + F4.

Labels: Funny

Lynne Cheney, wife of Vice President Dick Cheney, strongly criticized CNN Friday for its "Broken Government" series of specials in the run-up to the November mid-term elections and for its airing of tapes of snipers shooting American soldiers in Iraq.

In an interview with Situation Room anchor Wolf Blitzer, Cheney said the network's Vote 2006 specials contained "terrible distortions of the president's and vice president's positions on many issues."

She suggested CNN was working from Democratic talking points, and took issue with the negative tone of the title "Broken Government," suggesting it betrayed CNN's bias and countering that the administration had inherited a recession, been through some tough times like 9/11 and Katrina, but that the economy was healthy. "That's not broken, " she said, "this government has acted very well... I shouldn't let media bias surprise me, but I worked for CNN once [with Crossfire, according to Blitzer], and I was troubled.

Blitzer said the series was "probably" meant to be provocative, "to get people to think, to get people to discuss these issues."

Cheney turned the tables on Blitzer, becoming the questioner: "what is CNN doing running tapes of terrorists shooting Americans," she asked more than once, repeating a question CNN had been asked: "Do you want us to win?"

"The answer is, of course, we want the United States to win," said Blitzer. "We are Americans." Blitzer said airing the footage was not terrorist propaganda but "reporting the news. This is what we do... We make no apologies for showing it."

Later in the newscast, Lou Dobbs defended the "Broken Borders" series, saying that with all due respect, the government was broken in many respects and that he had been critical of Republicans and Democrats. He called Cheney's criticisms "power bridling at truth."

Cheney also complained that she wanted to talk about her children's book, Our 50 States, but had spent about 10 of the 15 alloted minutes for the interview responding to questions about her husband's comments about tactics used to question detainees and the citing of some passages of a book she wrote by Democratic Virginia Senate candidate Jim Webb in defending some racy passages in his books. She said Webb was "full of baloney."

Making lemons out of lemonade, CNN heavily teased the interview and Cheney's anger with the network for the first hour and a half of Situation Room.

Labels: News, Political

This image appears to be spining but if you look at the arrows for a point of reference, you will see that indeed the picture is not really animated. Don't look at it too long, I got dizzy and hit my head on the keyboard three times already.

Labels: Pics

Every now and then you wake up in the morning, and you know something great is going to happen today. Some of the tell tale signs will be: the sun is shining, a cool breeze is blowing, your girl friend is wearing that pretty dress, you find a 20 dollar bill in a jacket that you didn't know you had. Things are going your way:) You might think something bad is about to happen because you never have a day like this. But the optimist in you forces you to pop a Mentos and go head long into the rest of the day. That 20 dollar bill leads you into town to see where it wants to be spent. Low and behold, you run into a snake oil dealer hawking some new gadgets fresh off the black market. Then, it hits you square in the face! A 'must have' and you can't believe how much he is letting it go for. You would easily spend 10 times that much. Yes, it is defiantly your day:) You plunk that bill down and make off with your brand new made for Microsoft Keyboard. The only keyboard you will ever need.

Labels: Funny

In a train carriage there was Bill Clinton, George Bush, a spectacular looking blonde and a frightfully awful looking fat lady. After several minutes of the trip, the train passes through a dark tunnel, and the unmistakable sound of a slap is heard. When they leave the tunnel, Clinton had a big red slap mark on his cheek. (1) The blonde thought - "That rascal Clinton wanted to touch me and by mistake, he must have put his hand on the fat lady, who in turn must have slapped his face" (2) The fat lady thought - "That dirty old Bill Clinton laid his hands on the blonde and she smacked him." (3) Bill Clinton thought - "George put his hand on that blonde and by mistake she slapped me." (4) George Bush thought - "I hope there's another tunnel soon so I can smack Clinton again."

Labels: Funny

1. You have to believe the AIDS virus is spread by a lack of federal funding. 2. You have to believe that the same teacher who can't teach 4th graders how to read is somehow qualified to teach those same kids about sex. 3. You have to believe that guns in the hands of law-abiding Americans are more of a threat than US nuclear weapons technology in the hands of Chinese communists. 4. You have to believe that there was no art before Federal funding. 5. You have to believe that global temperatures are less affected by cyclical, documented changes in the earth's climate, and more affected by yuppies driving SUVs. 6. You have to believe that gender roles are artificial but being homosexual is natural. 7. You have to be against capital punishment but support abortion on demand. 8. You have to believe that businesses create oppression and governments create prosperity. 9. You have to believe that hunters don't care about nature, but loony activists who've never been outside of the city do. 10. You have to believe that self-esteem is more important than actually doing something to earn it. 11. You have to believe the military, not corrupt politicians, start wars. 12. You have to believe the NRA is bad because it supports certain parts of the Constitution, while the ACLU is good because it supports certain parts of the Constitution. 13. You have to believe that taxes are too low, but ATM fees are too high. 14. You have to believe that Margaret Sanger and Gloria Stienem are more important to American history than Thomas Jefferson, General Robert E. Lee or Thomas Edison. 15. You have to believe that standardized tests are racist, but racial quotas and set-asides aren't. 16. You have to believe Hillary Clinton is really a lady. 17. You have to believe that the only reason socialism hasn't worked anywhere it's been tried is because the right people haven't been in charge. 18. You have to believe conservatives telling the truth belong in jail, but a liar and sex offender belongs in the White House. 19. You have to believe that homosexual parades displaying drag, transvestites and bestiality should be constitutionally protected and manger scenes at Christmas should be illegal. 20. You have to believe that Democrat Party funding by the Chinese is somehow in the best interest of the United States. 21. You have to believe that this letter is part of a vast right wing conspiracy.

Labels: Funny

We just took a trip to New York to see a Yankees and Red Sox Game. You Just have to check these pictures out that my wife caught of a fan picking his nose. Check out the guy sitting next to me. And yes of course...I'm the ham that is posing for the shots.

No Way!!! This is not happening.

Oh yeah, it's happening...and your sitting right next to him.

Whats he doing now???

Ah well, at least its not being wiped on me.

Its not that good is it?

Ah well, you go to Yankee stadium, you gotta figure that one person is going to leave with a boogar for a sovinier.

Labels: Funny, Pics

Now, this is the project that put phildowd.com on the map. If you were ever worried about the security of your PC and wanted to know what steps you could take in securing your investment and safeguarding your critical data. Take a look at the following... Oh, and ah this wasn't my project so kudos to the sap that lost his site due to overwhelming traffic and this is a joke so leave it to the professionals.

One of the greatest fears computer owners face is the risk of someone breaking into their home and stealing their investment. The effects of data loss, alone, can be devastating! This page will cover a very effective method of protecting your personal computer.

Most criminals will not steal what they are unable to carry. If you make your computer so heavy that it is extremely difficult to lift, the risk of it being stolen is greatly reduced! This is accomplished by following these simple instructions...

What You'll Need

Remove the cover of your PC and create forms, using scrap wood that you may have. If you don't have wood, sheet plastic or heavy cardboard may do the trick. It must be able to support the weight of the concrete when it's poured. If you have nothing to create forms with, use a saw to cut studs out of the walls of your home. They should work well. If you don't own your home, ask your neighbor if you may cut some out of his. You may wish to give the forms a light coat of oil to make removal easier, once the concrete is hard.

After your forms are in place, pour the concrete mix into a large container and add the appropriate amount of water. Concrete should be mixed to a thick consistency, without dry or powdery spots. If the mix is too watered down, it will run out of every little crack in the computer case and will not harden properly. Use a shovel to fill the case with concrete and work the concrete into place using your hands and/or a large screwdriver. Try to level the concrete, but keep it clear of screw holes or any place where the cover will mate with the chassis.

Allow adequate time to cure and remove the forms. I allow about 8 hours to pass before removing the forms and about 24 hours before moving the PC.

Once the forms are removed, the computer should be one big block of concrete on the inside. Replace the cover and wipe the PC down with a damp cloth to remove any concrete that may have run out of the case.

When complete, this PC weighed approximately one-hundred-ten pounds. I left this computer in front of my home for a week and it was not stolen! Just imagine how secure it would be in your home! Sure, the computer may no longer function, but rest-assured that it won't be stolen! ...I would, also, recommend not ever plugging it back in!

IMPORTANT UPDATE:

After having this computer in front of my house for approximately two months, it was finally stolen! It was recovered the next morning in a ditch, one block from my home. The cover plates of the two empty drive bays were missing. I assume the criminal knocked them out to allow a location to grip the case. The computer was still intact and the thief is probably sore and suffering from back problems, but be aware that this method of protection is not fool-proof. I am watching the neighborhood for someone walking with a limp or in a wheelchair. I view this as a challenge and may have to fill a full-size tower with concrete, hoping to break the 200 pound mark. If this does not provide the desired results, I may resort to visiting a foundry and pouring with molten lead. I must first find an over-head crane to make it possible to position it in my front yard. There is the possibility of pouring it with concrete, after it is properly situated on the front lawn. A previous attempt had been made around Halloween, to steal this computer. It was partially moved off of my front step. Even if this method does not prevent your computer from being stolen, it should drastically increase the chances of it being recovered. Be warned that you may need to reinforce the rafters of your home, to support the weight of your computer, if it is not located in the basement.

Labels: Funny

Ubuntu Christian Edition is a free, open source operating system geared towards Christians. It is based on the popular Ubuntu Linux. Ubuntu is a complete Linux-based operating system, freely available with both community and professional support. Along with the standard Ubuntu applications, Ubuntu Christian Edition includes the best available Christian software. The latest release contains GnomeSword, a top of the line Bible study program for Linux based on the Sword Project. There are several modules installed with GnomeSword including Bibles, Commentaries, and Dictionaries. Ubuntu Christian Edition also includes fully integrated web content parental controls powered by Dansguardian. A graphical tool to adjust the parental control settings has also been developed specifically for Ubuntu Christian Edition. These features are truly what sets Ubuntu Christian Edition apart.

Labels: Linux