How many zeros in a billion?

(I received this in an email and wanted to share.)

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 into one of its 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.

A Louisiana Senator has asked 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 T ax
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.

What the heck happened?????

Realizing I haven't blogged in a while,

and then wondering if anyone actually reads this stuff? Or is it just to entertain my own brain?

Kyle's team went to the Silver Stick regional tourney in Dallas this past weekend. Ended up losing in the semis to the Phoenix Coyotes Bantam 95 team. Nothing like traveling 2 hours by air to lose to a team we can play any old day here in Phoenix. They went on to win the whole thing. Second year in a row for them.

Kyle did score two goals in one game. He looked good. Had a good tourney. Didn't play much in the 3rd of the last game (did he play at all in the 3rd?) which he was rather peeved about. Can't blame him. He worked hard and played well. No reward there.

The dogs spent the weekend with Karen, our wonderful petsitter, as Ron was on a trip. Don't know if they ate at all. Wouldn't hurt Noo to lose a couple of pounds. They were very happy when we returned late Monday. Ron was home on Sunday.

I got one whole inch of Ron's Bearfoot socks knit over the weekend. And that was all accomplished on the flight there! I've almost finished the seamen's scarf. Need to get both hat & scarf finished over the next 2 weeks. Have to order more yarn for Ron's socks. Didn't figure the yardage right.

Am thrilled that the whole election period is coming to a close. I am a blue island in a sea of red around here. Not at home, where finally, after 20 years, Ron & I are actually agreeing during an election, but in my town & state. It was far easier to live in Los Angeles where the islands are red, not blue.

Geez, I'm slacking here.

No new knitting projects to share. Nothing really exciting to share.

Kyle has skated all week. Two practices, one game. He seems to be doing okay, though he thinks he took a puck in the skate in the game yesterday and it caused him some pain. He's not back in the boot today though. Yet.

The team lost yesterday. 1-0. The team we played will be playing in the B tourney in Dallas, we're playing in A. What does that say?

Nana moved into her new house yesterday. It looks great with her furniture in there. I hope she'll be very happy there.

Kyle & I leave for Dallas on Friday morning. Preliminary games - 2 on Saturday, 2 on Sunday. We won't play Monday unless we make the finals - top 4 teams out of 12 make it. Last year we didn't anticipate being in the final 2, but we were. Never know what will happen until you get there.

The puppies are fine. Joe got his staple out, finally. Snoopy is acting like a terrible teenage boy, bullying his brother. Fortunately this hasn't resulted in any more trips to the vet.

I'm just enduring the pre-election hoopla. It's tough to be an island.

Til next time.