September 2010

Cabela at Play

cabela-stair.jpgCabela, our new miniature pinscher, quickly adapted to her new family. She has been with us for a month now and find that she has two speeds: sleep and play. The first few days after we adopted her, we were in a hotel room, but when we got to the California house she suddenly had a lot of room to romp and believe me, she does!

Image – Cabela playing chase – click on the image to enlarge

This is her peering under the handrail on the stair landing. She just finished a fast lap around the family room and ran up to the landing, crouched on her forelegs and challenged me to chase her up the rest of the way. She was still just long enough for me to snap this photo and then she bounded up the rest of the staircase. When she gets cranked up, she runs like a gazelle, bouncing on her front and hind legs together, sometimes jumping two or three times her own height.

She’s a handful, but we’re not complaining.

Your Tax Liability Calculator

Massive government spending means more taxes to you and me. Now, thanks to a new on-line calculator, you can see what your lifetime tax obligation is going to be. You will also see how much that money could have earned had you invested your enormous tax bite. This is my sad story:

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The calculator is easy to use; there are three pieces of information you need to provide: highest level of education, age and income. The results are what is shown above plus what your monthly tax bill is going to be – it ain’t pretty.

You can enjoy the misery at MyGovCost.org.

Crassula Falcata

About two weeks ago, I posted a photo of this flower cluster growing on the Crassula Falcata succulent adjacent to our front porch. At the time, the tiny individual flowers were not open. Today, I took this photo of the flowers that are now open exposing the yellow stamens. The flowers also have a nice fresh fragrance. Click on the image to enlarge.

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Challenging the AGW Scam – Do the Math

green signDuring our return trip to California over the weekend, we passed this billboard on Interstate 10 near Quartzsite, AZ. The sign admonishes readers to “DO THE MATH” with regard to greenhouse gasses. I checked out the website www.psnorac.com and navigated to the Greenhouse Gasses write-up. In the lengthy treatise, the author breaks down the numbers of the composition of the atmosphere and in layman’s terms, explains the extremely small part of the atmosphere that can be considered as greenhouse gasses.

Image: billboard – click to enlarge

We did some research and found some graphics from the National Center for Policy Analysis and posted them in February of 2008. If you read the greenhouse write-up on psnorac.com, you will be able to visualize the numbers in the graphics in our post from 2008. You can download the National Center for Policy Analysis pamphlet (PDF), “A Global Warming Primer,” at this link. There is a lot of other information in the pamphlet that relate to the AGW issue.

Patriot Day 2010 – Nine Years After the Attack

Just in time for Patriot Day 2010, our Never Forget Tribute just ticked over 65 million views.

Buck Up for Wounded Warriors will be having a car show and riding their motorcycles in a police and fire-escorted 9/11 parade in Prescott, AZ today. Visit their site for details.

As we have done for several years, we are again honoring our 9/11 victim, Mark Zeplin and all the victims of Islamic Terrorism:


Damsel and I are very proud to be able to honor Marc Scott Zeplin on the eighth anniversary of the Islamic Terrorist Attacks against America on September 11, 2001 and to be part of the 2996 Project. This is the fourth year we have posted about Marc Scott Zeplin.

Zep” is what his friends called him. Zep was one of the 2996 victims who perished in the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Marc Scott Zeplin, age 33.

Place killed: World Trade Center. Resident of Harrison, N.Y. (USA).

Marc Zeplin worked in the World Trade Center offices of Cantor Fitzgerald, a financial services company. Reading what Marc’s friends and family have written about him, Marc was well-liked and respected by peers, friends and others who wrote words about him following his death.

The following is from Zep’s tribute at the memorial site that his company set up to remember their employees that were lost in the attack:

Date of Birth: January 12, 1968

Department: Equity Sales

A group of friends named and registered a star in the heavens in memory of Marc Zeplin. How fitting as he was a star in the eyes of so many.

Successful as an equity trader, he formed close relationships with his clients but he was foremost a family man. Marc was very caring and devoted to his wife Debra, sons Ryan (3 yrs old) and Ethan (10 months), parents, sister and in-laws. He adored his children and treasured the time he spent with them. Marc was very proud of the new home he and his wife built in Westchester and enjoyed the change from urban to suburban living.

Raised in Long Island, Marc attended Oceanside High School and the University of Michigan where he also continued to earn a master’s degree in the acclaimed business school. Marc’s first career calling was sports casting. He loved sports of all kinds and enjoyed broadcasting games in Michigan during his college years. However, when he returned to New York, he found immediate employment in the financial world and soon after started at Cantor Fitzgerald where he became a partner.

Marc was truly a “master of the word.” He knew how and what to say in order to put you at ease, make you laugh or help you resolve a problem. Marc loved people. He had many friends and demonstrated a zest for living life to the fullest. He was tops in every way. He even worked at the top. The right position for so many years unfortunately was wrong on only one day – September 11, 2001.

Debra Zeplin and Leora Zeplin, Marc’s Wife and Mother.

Please join us today as we remember Marc Zeplin and the rest of the victims of those attacks, and please, NEVER FORGET.