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Man, we should be SAILIN'!

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Larry

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Mar 19, 2008, 2:04:46 PM3/19/08
to
Ahead of the big front, here in Charleston, it's beautifully warm, cloudy
and the wind varies between 20 knots and 35 knots all day!

You can tell it's not raceday at this windspeed....(c;

WE SHOULD BE SAILIN'!

Thomas, Spring Point Light

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Mar 19, 2008, 2:11:14 PM3/19/08
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Still snowing .. and snowing and snowing ..

==
"Larry" <no...@home.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9A66900BD1E...@208.49.80.253...

Larry

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Mar 19, 2008, 2:40:02 PM3/19/08
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"Thomas, Spring Point Light" <tom...@verizon.net> wrote in
news:6HcEj.14111$4q3.6515@trndny02:

76F, 35 knots gusting to 45 now, sun finally came out but front barreling
in at a terrific speed like last week. I got the whole house open. The
flowers at Magnolia Gardens & Plantation across the river are blooming and
it's blowing in the windows smellin' up the whole place!

http://www.magnoliaplantation.com/

Don White

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Mar 19, 2008, 3:10:51 PM3/19/08
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"Larry" <no...@home.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9A6696344F...@208.49.80.253...

Have to admit... your town is one if the places down there I'd like to
visit.
I suppose spring/fall is the best time for someone not used to a lot of heat
& hummidity.


Larry

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Mar 19, 2008, 8:27:17 PM3/19/08
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"Don White" <whi...@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote in
news:47e1653b$0$4032$9a56...@news.aliant.net:

> Have to admit... your town is one if the places down there I'd like to
> visit.
> I suppose spring/fall is the best time for someone not used to a lot
> of heat & hummidity.
>
>

It's just like Northern Florida, weatherwise. We just have more than a
ditch to sail and go boating in. You can anchor out in some creek in
Charleston and hardly see another soul all weekend. Come on down. Plenty
of room for everyone.

Bring some of those recently-more-valuable Canadian Dollars with ya...(c;

Don White

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Mar 19, 2008, 10:06:15 PM3/19/08
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"Larry" <no...@home.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9A66D0E64FB...@208.49.80.253...

I think our loonie slipped a couple cents today, but that's alright. I have
a $50.00 US refund cheque from Garmin to deposit.


dougk...@yahoo.com

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Mar 19, 2008, 10:21:12 PM3/19/08
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Larry <no...@home.com> wrote:
> 76F, 35 knots gusting to 45 now,

No racing on account of wind? What kind of pussies you got running the
sailing clubs down there?

DSK

Larry

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Mar 19, 2008, 10:17:56 PM3/19/08
to
"Don White" <whi...@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote in
news:47e1c699$0$4056$9a56...@news.aliant.net:

> I think our loonie slipped a couple cents today, but that's alright.
> I have a $50.00 US refund cheque from Garmin to deposit.
>

I have a Loonie and a Twonie, (that hasn't fallen apart), in my pocket from
some Canadian friends who came to visit. Just like our "golden" dollars,
made out of pot metal...(c;

Gold slipped hard today and I just looked and it was "only" $920/oz in Hong
Kong, tonight! I'd feel bad if I paid $1050/oz for it a couple of days
ago. Watch the dollars, yours and ours, slip into uselessness on:

http://kitco.com/images/live/gold.gif

Update the GIF picture continuously as it changes with every transaction in
realtime.....delayed, of course, so the elite get theirs first.

The GIF gives you the data...without all the spam it usually comes loaded
with, saving bandwidth on the boat wifi.

Capt. JG

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Mar 19, 2008, 10:49:20 PM3/19/08
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<dougk...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:6a8ce5c1-4e50-4952...@q78g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...


Maybe their sailing AC boats... there's an upper-wind limit. 35 kts out here
is on the high end of normal sailing wind, but not a show-stopper. I can
also safely say that if we had 75 deg and 35 kts, the bay would turn into
pinball game with all manner of sailboat trying to experience it. LOL

Fortunately, when the wind picks up, the temp drops, and we have to put
another layer under the foulies. This discourages enough people to make the
traffic reasonable.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com


Larry

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Mar 19, 2008, 11:52:32 PM3/19/08
to
dougk...@yahoo.com wrote in news:6a8ce5c1-4e50-4952-9c28-
9cbbe8...@q78g2000hsh.googlegroups.com:

> No racing on account of wind? What kind of pussies you got running the
> sailing clubs down there?
>
>

Oh, they race with no wind at all! I'm just jealous because on those days
we can't get the Amel beastie over the damned start line, to speak nothing
of how to get her around the bouys....(c;

The real sailboats go flying off, leaving us to ourselves, then come
ZOOMING by, pointing and laughing, as they cross the finish line from
behind us. That doesn't bother us much because we're usually working on
our 3rd coffee pot of Bloody Marys by then...(c;

My begging to leave just a FEW of the toolboxes on the dock go
unanswered....just enough so you can see the top edge of the antifouling
paint underwater....

"Do we REALLY need all 200 gallons of fresh water just to hose down a few
glasses if we run out?" "We're stocked to make BERMUDA without running out
of anything!"

...."Pass me that nice cheeze, will ya? I got crackers left and nothing to
go on them, thanks."

With our handicap, if we make it over the finish line after the committee
has packed up and sees us from the bar....we might place 3rd! They always
laugh holding their stomachs when someone runs out on the yacht club deck
and fires the finishing gun for us!

cavelamb himself

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Mar 20, 2008, 1:01:34 AM3/20/08
to
Larry wrote:

>
> Oh, they race with no wind at all! I'm just jealous because on those days
> we can't get the Amel beastie over the damned start line, to speak nothing
> of how to get her around the bouys....(c;
>
> The real sailboats go flying off, leaving us to ourselves, then come
> ZOOMING by, pointing and laughing, as they cross the finish line from
> behind us. That doesn't bother us much because we're usually working on
> our 3rd coffee pot of Bloody Marys by then...(c;
>
> My begging to leave just a FEW of the toolboxes on the dock go
> unanswered....just enough so you can see the top edge of the antifouling
> paint underwater....
>
> "Do we REALLY need all 200 gallons of fresh water just to hose down a few
> glasses if we run out?" "We're stocked to make BERMUDA without running out
> of anything!"
>
> ...."Pass me that nice cheeze, will ya? I got crackers left and nothing to
> go on them, thanks."
>
> With our handicap, if we make it over the finish line after the committee
> has packed up and sees us from the bar....we might place 3rd! They always
> laugh holding their stomachs when someone runs out on the yacht club deck
> and fires the finishing gun for us!
>


With OUR handicap they "real" racers would just smile at us on the start
line. You could almost hear them thinking, "Well, they're trying".

Then they would get home and log onto the web site for scoring and find
out we beat them after they left the lake.

Next race they weren't near as nice to us! hheehehehehehe!

Richard

Martin Baxter

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Mar 20, 2008, 9:51:22 AM3/20/08
to
Larry wrote:
>
> http://www.magnoliaplantation.com/

My dock is locked up in 3 feet of ice, there's a couple of feet of snow
on the ground, the wood stove is chugging along and you go and post this!

You are one nasty bastard ain't ya? ;-)


Cheers
Marty
>

Don White

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Mar 20, 2008, 11:16:22 AM3/20/08
to

"Martin Baxter" <baxt...@rmc.ca> wrote in message
news:47e26a2a$1...@win9.rmc.ca...

Could be worse...here's the state of boating a couple hundred miles north
east of me.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2008/03/20/ferry-emerg.html


Larry

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Mar 20, 2008, 12:06:04 PM3/20/08
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cavelamb himself <cave...@Xearthlink.net> wrote in news:13u3oo2clb28rc0
@corp.supernews.com:

> Then they would get home and log onto the web site for scoring and find
> out we beat them after they left the lake.
>
> Next race they weren't near as nice to us! hheehehehehehe!
>
>

We raced in the Gulfstreamer from Ponce Inlet, FL to Charleston offshore.
After we got becalmed 90 miles S of Charleston like everyone else, the
onboard joke was if we arrived by next Friday, with our handicap, we may be
first......by next week.....(c;

It was so calm the ocean surface looked like the surface of a glass of
water on a tabletop. I've never seen offshore THAT flat! The eager
beavers aboard got too antsy and wanted to get home by Monday, so Cap'n
Geoffrey cranked the diesel and we dropped out and headed for shore. I
told him I had to be home by November, then went to bed for a little nap.
The damned diesel woke me up....

Larry

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Mar 20, 2008, 12:08:41 PM3/20/08
to
Martin Baxter <baxt...@rmc.ca> wrote in news:47e26a2a$1...@win9.rmc.ca:

> My dock is locked up in 3 feet of ice, there's a couple of feet of snow
> on the ground, the wood stove is chugging along and you go and post this!
>
> You are one nasty bastard ain't ya? ;-)
>
>

Geez, sorry Marty! From the look of the license plates in our tourist
district, I thought most Canadians were already here! They all came to
load up after years of such awful exchange rates between our devalued
currencies. Even the city merchants are accepting Canadian dollars, again,
now!

Larry

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Mar 20, 2008, 12:12:46 PM3/20/08
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"Don White" <whi...@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote in
news:47e280d3$0$4031$9a56...@news.aliant.net:

Spring is here! It's +.7C in Toronto on the webpage!

You guys will be flogging through the slush to cross the streets in no
time.

Martin Baxter

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Mar 20, 2008, 12:52:25 PM3/20/08
to


Yeah, I've been following that on CBC the last few days. Followed the
track of the Luis S. St-Larent on this
site:http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/shiplocations.phtml

If you zoom in and scroll down you get a list of ships, click on the
ship name and you get a plot of it's positions in the last few days.

I expect to see the Griffon near my front door soon, (at the outlet of
Lake Ontario), the seaway system is supposed to open on Saturday and
there's still a lot of ice out in the main shipping channel.

Cheers
Marty

Martin Baxter

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Mar 20, 2008, 1:08:03 PM3/20/08
to


I'd be there if I could, but I work for a university, damn students need
me here, of course if it weren't for them I wouldn't have a job.


Cheers
Marty

Don White

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Mar 20, 2008, 1:34:19 PM3/20/08
to

"Larry" <no...@home.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9A677F78511...@208.49.80.253...


No slush for me here in the city... except in the woods.
Toronto is almost as far from here as you are. (about 1800 km)


Don White

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Mar 20, 2008, 1:36:23 PM3/20/08
to

"Martin Baxter" <baxt...@rmc.ca> wrote in message
news:47e294b6$1...@win9.rmc.ca...

Yeah that $%^%$ Seaway! ;-)
My dad was a longshoreman here in Halifax and that seaway sure took a lot
of port traffic from here..... summers were lean from the mid 50s' onward
until the container traffic really mushroomed.


Larry

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Mar 20, 2008, 5:52:02 PM3/20/08
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Martin Baxter <baxt...@rmc.ca> wrote in news:47e29860$1...@win9.rmc.ca:

> I'd be there if I could, but I work for a university, damn students need
> me here, of course if it weren't for them I wouldn't have a job.
>
>

I used to teach electronics at Sumter Technical College, Sumter, SC, back
in the 70's. The faculty always used to say, "This would be a great place
to work if it weren't for the damned students.".....(c;

Same idea....

It was a great time. For a 12 month contract, in 1971, I was paid the
princely sum of $7200. A new president was hired and he called me into his
office one day to tell me he was ashamed of my paycheck and I was raised up
to $14,400, effective immediately.

I, obviously, didn't teach for the money. We were treated well as long as
we didn't want to get paid. It was the best job I ever had. Dr Hu,
department head of Environmental Health (a buzzword that means shitplant
operators license course), used to hang a sign on his door:

"SALARY EQUALIZATION DAY"
"I will return Monday 8AM"

This sign was on his door every Friday I can remember...(c;

Industrial Trades instructors were more expendable so we didn't dare.....

Marty

unread,
Mar 20, 2008, 11:05:46 PM3/20/08
to
Larry wrote:
> Martin Baxter <baxt...@rmc.ca> wrote in news:47e29860$1...@win9.rmc.ca:
>
>> I'd be there if I could, but I work for a university, damn students need
>> me here, of course if it weren't for them I wouldn't have a job.
>>
>>
>
> I used to teach electronics at Sumter Technical College, Sumter, SC, back
> in the 70's. The faculty always used to say, "This would be a great place
> to work if it weren't for the damned students.".....(c;
>
> Same idea....
>
> It was a great time. For a 12 month contract, in 1971, I was paid the
> princely sum of $7200. A new president was hired and he called me into his
> office one day to tell me he was ashamed of my paycheck and I was raised up
> to $14,400, effective immediately.

I started a bit later than you, 1979 I was hired as a research
assistant, for $10,500, two years later I moved into full fledged civil
service position, did half the work, got paid twice as much.........


Cheers
Marty

Larry

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Mar 21, 2008, 9:52:18 AM3/21/08
to
Marty <bax...@kos.net> wrote in
news:oe6dndgPUOuMu37a...@giganews.com:

> I started a bit later than you, 1979 I was hired as a research
> assistant, for $10,500, two years later I moved into full fledged civil
> service position, did half the work, got paid twice as much.........
>
>

I left the Federal civil service, here, in 1988 when I was convinced the
Charleston Naval Shipyard would close for good, soon. I was fixing church
organs (electronics) in my spare time and was making more between 5PM and
9PM than I was all day putting up with bureaucrats and GS-11 step 4 pay.

I'd have to be awful hungry to work for someone else's money, again. This
is too much fun.

I've just turned Socialist Democrat, here, because I just got my first
Socialist Security payment. I can no longer afford to be a fiscal
conservative and will vote for anyone promising to double my measily
pension check.....except for Hillary, of course....

Bruce in Bangkok

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Mar 21, 2008, 11:25:44 AM3/21/08
to


Just out of curiosity (and tell me to f**k off if it is not my
business) but how much does a life time of labor get you in your
socialist service check?

And, could a guy that didn't own two diesel cars, miscellaneous
generator sets, a ham radio station and sail an Amil live on it?

without eating dog food?

Bruce-in-Bangkok
(correct email address for reply)

Capt. JG

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Mar 21, 2008, 12:43:35 PM3/21/08
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"Larry" <no...@home.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9A68656FCE5...@208.49.80.253...


I didn't realize she was a freemason...

Larry

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Mar 21, 2008, 1:05:55 PM3/21/08
to
Bruce in Bangkok <b*paige*125@g*mail.com> wrote in
news:8kk7u3pj997ekr8bd...@4ax.com:

> Just out of curiosity (and tell me to f**k off if it is not my
> business) but how much does a life time of labor get you in your
> socialist service check?

Well, after 50 years of working, and only 35 of that count in the
numbers games they play to come up with a figure, it only comes to
$877/month, which is reduced from $1,168 because I took my retirement at
62 instead of 65...oops...that got extended to 66 back a few years ago
by bureaucratic decree. I've been advised to take it ASAP because
they're broke and looking for ways to weasle out of it. I figured the
date would be extended more years in the near future to 70 or 75 or 95
at the stroke of a pen. But, now I'm on it so they'll have to take it
away, if they dare.

I won't live well on it, but during the depression I won't starve like
many will, either.

>
> And, could a guy that didn't own two diesel cars, miscellaneous
> generator sets, a ham radio station and sail an Amil live on it?

The Amel isn't mine. I have 4 boats that aren't mine. I can't afford
them, so like to work my way aboard swapping for sailing, which is a
great deal for all of us. I get to sail. They get the technology and
maintenance quite cheap.

>
> without eating dog food?
>

There's noone left in my family, so eating isn't so much of a burden
with only one mouth to feed. I don't know how Americans survive with a
wife and 3 or 4 kids to feed/house/clothe/entertain. I don't want to
work that hard, any more. Yecch...

In answer to your question, yes a guy could survive on it, but not in
the manner to which he is accustomed. He certainly couldn't dock and
fix a yacht on it.

-------------------------

A lot depends on how much you put in for how many years. I asked the
bureaucrats for an explanation of how they came to that figure and the
answer letter that explains it is 5 pages long, single spaced. Every
new Congress, trying to get out of paying back what they stole, adds
some more complexity. To give you an idea what we're up against, here's
the 2nd paragraph of my letter:

"The method for determining the primary insurance amount of an
individual who becomes disabled or attains age 62 after 1978 takes into
account the fact that the taxable earnings in prior years do not reflect
their relative dollar value in comparison to recent higher earnings
levels. Under this method, an individual's reported taxable earnings
after 1950 are adjusted to provide comparability to the average taxable
earnings of all American workers (sic) in the second year prior to the
year the individual attained age 62 or became disabled, referred to as
the indexing year. Reported taxable earnings in each year are adjusted,
or "indexed," (their typo) by multiplying the average earnings in the
indexing year by the ratio of the individual's actual earnings in the
year to the average earnings of all workers in that year. Earnings in
years beginning with the indexing year are used in determining initial
benefit amounts or increases. Once an individual's record of earnings
has been adjusted (or indexed), the average monthly earnings are found
by dividing the earnings in the computation years by the number of
months in those years.

In figuring your PIA, we first determined the number of years to be used
in the computation. This was done by subtracting 1968 from the year you
became age 62 then reducing the result by 5. You became age 62 in 2008;
therefore, we subtracted 1968.

This resulted in a total of 40 years. Reducing the 40 years by 5
resulted in a total of 35 years to be used in figuring your PIA......"

etc., ad nauseum. Who decided 1968? Who decided 1950? Who decided
minus 5 years? They are masters of deceit.

What pisses me off is we are TAXED in the dollar values of many, many
years ago.....then, we are PAID as if the dollars they are handing out
NOW are worth the same as all the dollars collected, which is CRAZY!
Gold was $35/oz until very recently, then they go on the BIG LIE that
the devaluation of the money is only 2%/year, taking out any factor from
the consumer price index (CPI) that costs them money....like FUEL and
FOOD and POWER....and other things we need to sustain any dignity of
life....CLOTHES. Levis aren't $7.99 any more!...(c;

So, we're paid a retirement check as if
it's......well.....1968!....or.....1950!

I'm still studying the Buzzwords to see if I have a BINGO on my BUZZWORD
BINGO cards.

If the rate of devaluation continues to halve the value of the worthless
dollars every 2 years, or worse, THEN we'll all starve. This payment
will be about 1 loaf of cheap bread.....

Bill Gates pays SSI, but only on the first $50K of his billion dollar
income. His Social Security tax is only on the first 3 hours of every
month's wages. The rich don't pay SSI on the other 99%. Their payments
are only about $6000/month after they're 62 from a lifetime of bumping
this arbitrary limit to prevent the collection of the SAME 15.7% of
GROSS income I paid all my life. Isn't that fair?

No, it's NOT.


Capt. JG

unread,
Mar 21, 2008, 1:27:01 PM3/21/08
to
"Larry" <no...@home.com> wrote in message
news:Xns9A6886B8E44...@208.49.80.253...

> Bruce in Bangkok <b*paige*125@g*mail.com> wrote in
> news:8kk7u3pj997ekr8bd...@4ax.com:
>
>> Just out of curiosity (and tell me to f**k off if it is not my
>> business) but how much does a life time of labor get you in your
>> socialist service check?
>
> Well, after 50 years of working, and only 35 of that count in the
> numbers games they play to come up with a figure, it only comes to
> $877/month, which is reduced from $1,168 because I took my retirement at
> 62 instead of 65...oops...that got extended to 66 back a few years ago
> by bureaucratic decree. I've been advised to take it ASAP because
> they're broke and looking for ways to weasle out of it. I figured the
> date would be extended more years in the near future to 70 or 75 or 95
> at the stroke of a pen. But, now I'm on it so they'll have to take it
> away, if they dare.
>
> I won't live well on it, but during the depression I won't starve like
> many will, either.


Coming depression? You're being the curve here Larry. LOL

Remember, a resession is when your neighbor has been laid off. A depression
is when you're laid off.

Wayne.B

unread,
Mar 21, 2008, 1:49:46 PM3/21/08
to
On Fri, 21 Mar 2008 17:05:55 +0000, Larry <no...@home.com> wrote:

>The rich don't pay SSI on the other 99%. Their payments
>are only about $6000/month after they're 62 from a lifetime of bumping
>this arbitrary limit to prevent the collection of the SAME 15.7% of
>GROSS income I paid all my life. Isn't that fair?

Not accurate. I contributed the maximum amount every year from 1968
onward to the present, and my payments will be *considerably* less
than $6000/month.

dougk...@yahoo.com

unread,
Mar 21, 2008, 7:49:03 PM3/21/08
to
Larry wrote:
> If the rate of devaluation continues to halve the value of the worthless
> dollars every 2 years, or worse, THEN we'll all starve. This payment
> will be about 1 loaf of cheap bread.....
>

Maybe. Think Weimar Republic.... those who do not learn from history
are condemned to repeat it.


> Bill Gates pays SSI, but only on the first $50K of his billion dollar
> income

Not quite. IIRC the cap on Social Security taxable income is in the
$95K neighborhood. So Uncle Bill (your friend & mine, a benefactor to
humanity) is kicking in twice as much as you give him credit for.

> .... Is that fair?....
> No, it's NOT.

Agreed.

DSK

Jere Lull

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Mar 22, 2008, 12:13:05 AM3/22/08
to
On 2008-03-21 13:05:55 -0400, Larry <no...@home.com> said:

> Bill Gates pays SSI, but only on the first $50K of his billion dollar
> income. His Social Security tax is only on the first 3 hours of every
> month's wages. The rich don't pay SSI on the other 99%. Their
> payments are only about $6000/month after they're 62 from a lifetime of
> bumping this arbitrary limit to prevent the collection of the SAME
> 15.7% of GROSS income I paid all my life. Isn't that fair?
>
> No, it's NOT.

I disagree with you freely when I disagree with your conclusions, but I
agree wholeheartedly with this.

"Social Security" taxes are the most regressive in the world, taxing
the poor and middle-class far more than the rich.

--
Jere Lull
Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI trips & tips: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

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