Here is an email that was forwarded to me today:

This is a real eye opener!

 This is too true to be very funny.   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 in 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 . .

 Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D), is presently asking the Congress for $250 BILLION to rebuild New Orleans .

Interesting number, what does it mean?

 A. Well, if you are one of 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, 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??

Tax his land,
Tax his wage,
Tax his bed in which he lays.
Tax his tractor,
Tax his mule,
Teach him taxes is the rule.
Tax his cow,
Tax his goat,
Tax his pants,
Tax his coat.


Tax his ties,
Tax his shirts,
Tax his work,
Tax his dirt.

Tax his tobacco,
Tax his drink,
Tax him if he tries to think.

Tax his booze,
Tax his beers,
 If he cries,
Tax his tears.

Tax his bills,
Tax his gas,
Tax his notes,
Tax his cash.

Tax him good and let him know
That after taxes, he has no dough.

If he hollers,
Tax him more,
Tax hi m until he's good and sore.

Tax his coffin,
Tax his grave,
Tax the sod in which he lays.
Put these words upon his tomb,
'Taxes drove me to my doom!'

And when he's gone,
We won't relax,
We'll still be after the inheritance TAX!!

Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Perm it Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License 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 Fe e Tax,
Telephone Federal, State and Local Su rcharge Tax,
Telephone Minimum Usage Su rcharge Tax,
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax,
Telephone State and Local Tax,
Telephone Usage Charge Tax,
Utility Tax,
Vehicle License Registration Tax,
Vehicle Sales Tax,
Watercraft Registration Tax,
Well Permit Tax,
Workers Compensation Tax.

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, 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.

I hope this goes around THE USA at least 100 times

What the heck happened?????

Have you ever been interested in knowing which people choose not to reply to my messages?

Well, the wait is finally over. I'll be listing all people that don't respond to me for whatever reason. You can make your own list too. It will be fun to see if there is a pattern.

Peace.

No more crying for the present moment
No concern in finding better words to describe
The fading away of a mind in torment
And a natural defense -- running to hide

The obvious reminder of a hell-bright sun
And the ever so cold of being alone at night
Are all included in our human package of fun
Whether on the ground or in flight

So while living our lives in this jungle of wealth
Breathing the air, eating the food, enjoying our health
The big picture, and all that you need to know, is just around the bend
The Cosmic Rhythm shows us Where and When, but Who is at the end?

© 2003 Jordan Couch

I know, I know. The title is misleading. But let me explain. I have not yet heard anybody talk logical and rational ideas about peace. And I know this sounds arrogant (afterall, I am American), but I have the best ideas when it comes to peace. Nobody thinks as far into the future about humanity as I do. And I mean nobody. If someone can explain ideas about peace without getting all metaphysical and sappy, then it is just going to waste more time. My ideas about peace can stand up to any arguements. Believe me, my ideas are right. Anyone that enters dialogue with me, spiritual or physical, who opposes me at first, will walk away agreeing with me, unless they are too proud to concede.

I am so confident that I encourage others to email or IM with me about peace. Please, if you oppose peace or you think that it's okay to intentionally harm people sometimes, hit me up for a chat. We can work together to come up with more specific ideas that will eventually lead humanity in the direction of peace. I'm not an expert in all subjects, so it will take more than just my grand ideas to get the ball rolling. We need to start with the future, which I have already done. Then we work our way back to the present so we can figure out how we will reach that future. You either see a future of doom and gloom, or of peace and survival. Which camp do you belong to?

So! To start things off, please answer with a yes or no: Do you believe it is okay to kill people sometimes, for any reason? If your answer is anything other than no, then great. You are who I've been looking to chat with.

The entire thread:  http://pods.gaia.com/great_news_show/discussions/view/220811

Here is a post I made on a pod:

This is great. My true passion is dialogue about peace. My intial post was the public version, and when I am in dialogue with particular individuals, I try to be much less competetive, and more understanding and cooperative. Afterall, it's about peace among all people, not just my own recognition. I've thought about these things for myself without reading or hearing it from other people. In response to you David, it is very complicated and I sort of want to have some sort of organization to the line of thought.

First of all I need to say that I thank you David for your work in the military. Whether or not you have killed people, you are a man that is working to protect America and Americans. I am not against having state sponsored militaries. I understand that the way things are right now in the world, people need to do all they can to protect themselves from other people who intentionally and aggressively try to harm and kill them and others. Thank you David. Thank you America.

Let me step back a little from this post and say that I wish we could have an instant message (IM) dialogue, and then post it here. I think it's more real and efficient than sending emails and posts in the traditional way.

One of my favorite lead in questions regarding peace is: Do you think it is okay to intentionally kill other people sometimes?

Here is where things get complicated. Why? Because I tend to think globally instead of nationally. Most of us respond to the question about killing in this way: Yes, it is okay to kill sometimes because we need to protect ourselves and others from killing and harming us. Unless we kill the aggressors, then we will die. Okay. Let me do my best to explain. I ask the question not just of Americans. I ask the question of all people. I ask that question even to terrorists. Here is a senario. If all people don't agree with killing others, then there is nobody to kill in order to protect ouselves. If you answer YES, it's okay to kill others sometimes, then there is another person sitting behind an AK-47 on the other side of the world that will say that there is a guy wearing an American military uniform that believes it's okay to kill me, so I should kill him first.

This is not coming out as clear as I wanted to write about it. I'll try to simplify it. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If you don't think it's okay to kill people sometimes, then other people won't think it's okay to kill you (in theory). Regardless our of cultural, economic, political, and religious differences, if all people can answer NO, to the killing question, then nobody is targeted to die. We can have dialogue to settle differences and cooperate with others.

Well, I'm not sure if that last paragraph made sense, but I think my next idea will be more understandable. Why do people kill? They think that if they kill, then they will be protecting themselves and others. Protect and defend is the key. Here is the reason why I stand behind David and the military. They can only defend with the tools and training they have been given. They aren't necessarily paid to think of different ways to defend people without killing. They are trained with an assault rifle and told that the way to defend is to kill or capture the enemy. That's about it in a nutshell.

If you have the tools to defend without killing, would you still choose to kill? I think most of us, whether in the military or not, would answer, NO. So, why don't we have the method to defend without killing? Because we don't want to. For some reason, we (people) want to inflict pain and suffering on others because we want to get revenge. We want to see others suffering in pain. Why? That's a whole other story I can talk about later. So, David and everyone reading, here is the next question:

If you had the technology to defend yourself and others without killing, would you still keep open the option to kill other people sometimes? Yes or no?