For Matt...


Great Wallpaper...


For Grandma Anna...


Growth...

The simplest way to create more jobs is to allow small business and entrepreneurs to spend less time and money on lawyers and accountants and redirect that intellectual and financial capital to the core competencies of their business.

Any new government policy that requires the hiring of lawyers and accountants will not lead to new jobs, it will lead to time and money being wasted and fewer jobs being created.

Like the administration before it, the current administration seems to have no concept of what it takes to start, run and grow a small business. None.

Here is a hint. If you want to see more jobs created by Small Businesses and entrepreneurs REDUCE the amount of paperwork required. Dramatically simplify the tax code. In other words, if you REDUCE THE OVERHEAD of small business, you effectively create capital for them through reduced costs. Not only do you improve their financial position, but you reduce that great big time suck known as dealing with your accountants and lawyers. The more time wasted with “professional services”, the less time spent doing your job. This seems to be a concept lost on government.

One last thing. It appears to be a goal of the administration to free up loans to small businesses. For the sake of this comment, let me re-define Small Business as those companies with fewer than 20 employees. There are exceptions, but more often than not, the stupidest thing a business of this size can do is borrow money. Its stressful enough for a small business in these times to be profitable. Add to that stress the need to repay a loan and success becomes far more difficult.

If we want to accelerate the formation and growth of these small businesses we need to first reduce the costs imposed on them by the government (at all levels) and then simplify and reduce the costs of raising capital. Forget government loan guarantees. Make capital gains on investments up to $1mm in small companies tax free. Make this process paperwork free for the small business and a 1 page form for the investor.

Thats how we will see economic and job growth in this country

Some of my favorite phone pix...

Sheelah with one trapped

Niece Misty chillin !!!

Niece Natalie getting ready for the sandman.


Nephew Noah the THUNDERCHUNK!!!



Aliera Selene and her bright blue eyes.




Brother Dave. I think he loves me.





Aliera and Aria getting ready for a book before bedtime.






Me, Yayyy!!! Damn. Line up your women.







Ali and Ari squaring off.








Her favorite thing in the whole universe.









Hanging in the pool.










Pfftfffttff











Tea party with Ali












Aliera got loose with the markers and went to town ! ! !


Coolest helmet EVER!!!


I wonder if this will work on my boss...


Texas Hunting Truck Contest


Since the design and fabrication of the Local Motors Rally Fighter is nearing completion, it's time for the next community-designed vehicle. Now Local Motors wants an off-road truck perfect for hunting and fishing the Texas back country.

Like the Rally Fighter, everything about the hunting truck will be crowd-sourced, including the name, which doesn't exist yet. Whatever it ends up being, the truck/buggy/ATV thing will be designed by artists and engineers all over the world using the power of the internet and its chief asset, the ability to hoover up people's free time.

This first round is more-or-less the concept stage, with basic specs laid out and prize money offered to whoever the community votes created the best concept.
The competition starts today and submissions must be in by Tuesday, February 9, 2010 before midnight. If you want to browse through the concept and design requirements, and maybe work up a sketch of your own, head over to Local Motors and check it out. Local Motors

Jack Daniels Fishing Story

I finally got around to going fishing this mornin' - but after a while, I ran out of worms.

Then I saw a cottonmouth with a frog in his mouth, and frogs are good bass bait.

Knowing the snake couldn't bite me with the frog in his mouth, I grabbed him right
behind the head, took the frog and put it in my bait bucket.

Now the dilemma was how to release the snake without getting bitten -
I grabbed my bottle of Jack Daniels and poured a little whiskey in its mouth.

His eyes rolled back, he went limp, I released him into the lake without incident,
and carried on my fishing, using the frog.

A little later, I felt a nudge on my foot.

There was that same snake with two frogs in his mouth.

Thanks Longrooffan

Melissa and Michelle in one shot ! ! !

SO GONNA SEE THIS OPENING NIGHT ! ! ! !

For Grandma Anna ! ! !!






Gum paste slug, royal icing eyes, flower stamen antennae, and cherry buttercream brains on vanilla cake

For Sara...

A public school teacher was arrested today at John F. Kennedy International Airport as she attempted to board a flight while in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a compass, a slide-rule and a calculator.

At a morning press conference, Attorney General Eric Holder said he believes the woman is a member of the notorious Al-Gebra movement.

He did not identify the woman, who has been charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction.

“Al-Gebra is a problem for us”, the Attorney General said.

“They derive solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on tangents in search of absolute values. They use secret code names like ‘X’ and ‘Y’ and refer to themselves as ‘unknowns’, but we have determined that they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval with coordinates in every country.”

As the Greek philanderer Isosceles used to say, “There are 3 sides to every triangle.”

When asked to comment on the arrest, President Obama said, ‘If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math instruction, he would have given us more fingers and toes.”

Well, well, well...

Long time Anti-Gun Advocate State Senator R.C. Soles, 74, shot one of two intruders at his home just outside Tabor City, N.C. about 5 p.m. Sunday, the prosecutor for the politician's home county said.

The victim, Kyle Blackburn, was taken to a South Carolina hospital, but the injuries were not reported to be life-threatening, according to Rex Gore, district attorney for Columbus, Bladen andBrunswick counties..

The State Bureau of Investigation and Columbus County Sheriff's Department are investigating the shooting, Gore said. Soles, who was not arrested,declined to discuss the incident Sunday evening.

"I am not in a position to talk to you," Soles said by telephone. "I'm right in the middle of an investigation."


The Senator, who has made a career of being against gun ownership for the general public, didn't hesitate to defend himself with his own gun when he believed he was in immediate danger and he was the victim.

In typical hypocritical liberal fashion, the "Do As I Say And Not As I Do" Anti-Gun Activist Lawmaker picked up his gun and took action in what apparently was a self-defense shooting. Why hypocritical you may ask? It is because his long legislative record shows that the actions that he took to protect his family, his own response to a dangerous life threatening situation, are actions that he feels ordinary citizens should not have if they were faced with an identical situation.

It has prompted some to ask if the Senator believes his life and personal safety is more valuable than yours or mine.
But, this is to be expected from those who believe they can run our lives, raise our kids, and protect our families better than we can.

Link

Thanks Ken! ! !