Posted on 01/23/2005 1:55:47 PM PST by Wolfstar
The first family attended church this morning. Afterwards, the President headed to Camp David where he was to meet with his advisors to work on his State of the Union Address.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: At this second gathering, our duties are defined not by the words I use, but by the history we have seen together. For a half century, America defended our own freedom by standing watch on distant borders. After the shipwreck of communism came years of relative quiet, years of repose, years of sabbatical - and then there came a day of fire.
Some, I know, have questioned the global appeal of liberty - though this time in history, four decades defined by the swiftest advance of freedom ever seen, is an odd time for doubt. Americans, of all people, should never be surprised by the power of our ideals. Eventually, the call of freedom comes to every mind and every soul. We do not accept the existence of permanent tyranny because we do not accept the possibility of permanent slavery. Liberty will come to those who love it.
President George W. Bush, 2nd Inaugural Address, January 20, 2005
Yes, that's one of the reasons why I was happy to get back to the USA. Some Canadians were telling me that they thought it was great that they got bigger tax deductions for their kids than we do.
Maybe so, but they still paid a higher rate in taxes than we do.
I wish our health care system was more our choice than it is, but it still is better than Canada's.
Growing up in the Deep South, our invariable Sunday dinner was fried chicken, biscuits, green peas, mashed potatoes and gravy and a tossed (very fresh) green salad, and iced tea. We had odd neighbors who had a roast beef each week. I think they were only 2nd generation Southerners, from Vermont. LOL
Thank you for the dose tonight!
Not only do we pay higher income taxes (about 33%), we pay much higher taxes at the pump, for wine, beer or liquor, for cigarettes, and our property taxes are outrageous. Not only that, if you live in Ontario you pay 8% sales tax plus another 7% federal tax on anything you purchase that is not a necessity...it may be the other way around. I just know you pay 15% taxes when you make a purchase. That adds up to one big chunk of change. The 8% is also charged for a service.
If you hire someone to clean your house, they are supposed to charge you, say, $100 for the day, PLUS $8 Goods and Services Tax, which they are supposed to remit to the government. It is unreal.
I would rather have my taxes lowered and they can keep their deductions for my kids.
Wow, I thought Wisconsin was a tax hell. We have only a 5.5 % sales tax. Property taxes are pretty high at least where I am, and state taxes are outrageous, but it doesn't sound as bad as what you have.
I would love to have a household just like yours! I had a Grey, but he died a few months ago.
Now, I just have two little parakeets.
I'd love to have a houseful of birds.
I'm so sorry about your Grey. You can really get attached to those little guys. Their intelligence is really astounding. I have five Greys and they sometimes answer each other and whistle together. I wonder sometimes what goes on in their little "bird brains"
I really miss him. He was only 4 years old, so he should have outlived me. Sadly, he died while I was out of town a few months ago.
The "caretaker" I had to leave him with didn't take care of him at all. It makes me sick to my stomach to even think about it.
It wasn't the person I usually had caring for him, because I had to go out of town for an emergency.
I miss hearing "HI MOM!" every morning.
Having eleven birds like you have sounds like heaven!
Hi, homemom. Just getting back to the thread after getting dinner and feeding my dogs and cat. Boxer won't get voted out until and unless the CAGOP gets its act together. Schwarzenneger is not helping the party, only himself.
You're welcome, Pol. If she was photographed more often, I'd be happy to include her frequently. But the First Lady says Willie is shy. Probably a typical cat. She likes people who are familiar to her and shuns the rest.
Good evening, Kath. Sorry I didn't answer you earlier, but I dropped out of the thread to get dinner and feed my critters. Yes, that's the way the pedigrees look on the site where I found them. In fact, rather than try to set up the tables myself, I just copied the source code and pasted it in the FR posting window.
I also had the pedigree of Beezie's sire, but couldn't remember his name when I was posting the thread this afternoon. So I couldn't look it up again. The Scottie people have a really excellent little pedigree site, with many thousands of dogs in the database.
Did you happen to catch the info on the puppy's progress that I posted the other day? The First Lady was interviewed by Bill Plante of CBS News, and they played it in two parts just before the inauguration.
She says the puppy has settled in very well, is sleeping in the kitchen of the upstairs residence until she's housebroken. The First Lady says the puppy loves Barney. Beezie is not afraid of anything. She's very bright, alert and playful. She's teething and was chewing on one of Laura's fingers during the interview. The cat does not like the puppy.
All in all, it sounds like things are going great with the pup. Sounds like she has a good temperament, just like Barney does.
I know how tough it is to lose them. I lost Merlin my macaw when she was 20 yrs due to egg binding. My brother and sister-in-law usually take care of mine when I am gone. My nieces love to play with them, and of course teach them outrageous stuff. I was gone to Ecuador for a week last spring. When I came back they had Charlie snorting like a pig and saying "oink oink" I don't know if I would trust them with anyone else. If you are ever interested in giving a home to a another Grey let me know. I work with various rescue groups and often a situation comes up where a bird needs a home. I try to help by hooking people up that may be able to provide a home. I work for an airline, so I sometimes will hand carry birds to homes or rescue centers if they need transportation. These guys do outlive their owners and many need second homes.
Its a very noisy heaven, but I enjoy it!
You have my sincere sympathies. At least Diane Feinstein makes an attempt to be reasonable once in awhile. She's not quite as far to the Left as some of her Dim colleagues in the senate. But Boxer is pathetic.
I thought the committee hearings on Condi were over and they are going to debate her nomination on the senate floor this week. The committee voted 16-2 to pass her nomination on to the full senate. I figure if the Dims want to embarrass themselves by obstructing the first black woman to be nominated for secretary of state, PLUS the first Hispanic attorney general nominee, it's a twofer for our side.
You are most welcome, WaterDragon. We needed a lighthearted Dose to center us before the upcoming bumpy week in Washington.
I sure hope so.
OMG! I just love Barney! Thanks so much for the pics!
Grin...I love him too. I'm delighted you enjoyed the photos. All of the ones I put up today are of him at under a year old. He was a very cute puppy.
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