I’ve known for many years now that participation in the Social Security system was originally voluntary in nature and that law was still on the books up until shortly before the turn of the century (the 21st century that is) and I even personally knew a man who for ten years tried to withdraw from the system and have all the money returned that he had put into it over his working life. It was even legal to do so-by law. Didn’t seem to matter what the law stated as after those ten years he got exactly nowhere.

Anyway, here’s one from the mailbag:

**************************

Just in case some of you young whippersnappers (and some older ones) didn’t know this. It’s easy to check out, if you don’t believe it. Be sure and show it to your kids. They need a little history lesson on what’s what.

Our Social Security

Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, introduced the Social
Security (FICA) Program. He promised:

1. That participation in the Program would be
   completely voluntary,
2. That the participants would only have to pay
   1% of the first $1,400 of their annual
   incomes into the Program,
3. That the money the participants elected to put
   into the Program would be deductible from
   their income for tax purposes each year,
4. That the money the participants put into the
   independent “Trust Fund” rather than into the
   General Operating Fund, and therefore, would
   only be used to fund the Social Security
   retirement Program, and no other
   government program, and,
5. That the annuity payments to the retirees
   would never be taxed as income.

Since many of us have paid into FICA for years and are
now receiving a Social Security check every month –
and then finding that we are getting taxed on 85% of
the money we paid to the Federal Government to “put
away” — you may be interested in the following:
————————————————————-
Q : Which Political Party took Social Security from the
independent “Trust Fund” and put it into the
General Fund so that Congress could spend it?

A: It was Lyndon B. Johnson and the Democratically
Controlled House and Senate.
——————— —————————————-
Q: Which Political Party eliminated the income tax
deduction for Social Security (FICA) withholding?

A: The Democratic Party.
—————————————————————
Q: Which Political Party started taxing Social
Security annuities?

A: The Democratic Party, with Al Gore casting the
“tie-breaking” deciding vote as President of the
Senate, while he was Vice President of the US
—————————————————————-
Q: Which Political Party decided to start giving
annuity payments to immigrants?

A: That’s right! Jimmy Carter and the Democratic Party.
Immigrants moved into this country, and at age 65,
began to receive Social Security payments! The
Democratic Party gave these payments to them,
even though they never paid a dime into it!
—————————————————————–
Then, after violating the original contract (FICA), the Democrats turn around and tell you that the Republicans want to take your Social Security away!
And the worst part about it is that people believe it!

********************

This has made the rounds a few times before and I’m sure this isn’t the first time I’ve seen it but the points it makes might make you think a bit.

Just food for thought.

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A seagull in Scotland has developed the habit of stealing chips from a neighborhood shop. The seagull waits until the shopkeeper isn’t looking, and then walks into the store and grabs a snack-size bag of cheese Doritos.
Once outside, the bag gets ripped open and shared by other birds.
The seagull’s shoplifting started early this month when he first swooped into the store in Aberdeen, Scotland, and helped himself to a bag of chips. Since then, he’s become a regular. He always takes the same type of chips.
Customers have begun paying for the seagull’s stolen bags of chips because they think it’s so funny.

Look how much faster the bird walks on his way out.

Go bird go, I say!

Technorati tags: shoplifting, seagulls, shoplifting bird, animal antics

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A then, once in a great while, you get something like this:

***********************

How to Treat people

An Important Lesson (from a college student)

The Cleaning Lady.
During my second month of college, our professor gave us a pop quiz. I was a conscientious student and had breezed through the questions until I read the last one:
“What is the first name of the woman who cleans the school?”
Surely this was some kind of joke. I had seen the cleaning woman several times. She was tall, dark-haired and in her 50’s, but how would I know her name?
I handed in my paper, leaving the last question blank. Just before class ended, one student asked if the last question would count toward our quiz grade.
“Absolutely,” said the professor. “In your careers, you will meet many people. All are significant. They deserve your attention and care, even if all you do is smile and say “hello.”

I’ve never forgotten that lesson. I also learned her name was Dorothy

Second Important Lesson - Pickup in the Rain
One night, at 11:30 PM, an older African American woman was standing on the side of an Alabama highway trying to endure a lashing rainstorm. Her car had broken down and she desperately needed a ride.

Soaking wet, she decided to flag down the next car. A young white man stopped to help her, generally unheard of in those conflict-filled 60’s. The man took her to safety, helped her get assistance and put her into a taxicab.
She seemed to be in a big hurry, but wrote down his address and thanked him. Seven days went by and a knock came on the man’s door. To his surprise, a giant console color TV was delivered to his home. A special note was attached;
It read;
“Thank you so much for assisting me on the highway the other night. The rain drenched not only my clothes, but also my spirits. Then you came along. Because of you, I was able to make it to my dying husband’s bedside just before he passed away… God bless you for helping me and unselfishly serving others.”
Sincerely, Mrs. Nat King Cole.

Third Important Lesson - Always remember those who serve.
In the days when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10-year-old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him.
“How much is an ice cream sundae?” he asked.
“Fifty cents,” replied the waitress.
The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the coins in it.
“Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?” he inquired.
By now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was growing impatient.
“Thirty-five cents,” she brusquely replied.
The little boy again counted his coins.
“I’ll have the plain ice cream,” he said.
The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and walked away. The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped down the table. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and five pennies..
You see, he couldn’t have the sundae, because he had to have enough left to leave her a tip.

Fourth Important Lesson. - The obstacle in Our Path.
In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.
Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note
from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway.

The peasant learned what many of us never understand! Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.

Fifth Important Lesson - Giving When it Counts…
Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering from a rare & serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed the antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister.
I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, “Yes I’ll do it if it will save her.” As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheek. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded.
He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, “Will I start to die right away”?
Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save her.

*******************

How often the times we forget to remember how we would be like to be treated if we were placed in a similar position to the folks that are referred to in the above forward I received this evening. I especially had to re-read the the last one about little boy who thought that he had to die in order to save his little sister and decided that it would be worth it. And then I began thinking about how many of us could make that type of decision as adults?

Anyway…I believe it’s five good lessons that’s worth keeping in mind.

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With many years of service in my background I can assure you that this kind of person is very real indeed although who this person is may surprise you.

No peeking ahead now.

A LETTER FROM A FARM KID

The following letter, written by a ‘farm kid’ who had joined the U. S. Marine Corps, is now on display at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego, CA.

Dear Ma and Pa:

I am well. Hope you are. Tell Brother Walt and Brother Elmer the Marine Corps beats working for old man Minch by a mile. Tell them to join up quick before maybe all of the places are filled. I was restless at first because you got to stay in bed till nearly 6 a.m., but am getting so I like to sleep late. Tell Walt and Elmer all you do before breakfast is smooth your cot and shine some things. No hogs to slop, feed to pitch, mash to mix, wood to split, fire today. Practically nothing.

Men got to shave but it is not so bad, there’s warm water. Breakfast is strong on trimmings like fruit juice, cereal, eggs, bacon, etc., but kind of weak on chops, potatoes, ham, steak, fried eggplant, pie and other regular food, but tell Walt and Elmer you can always sit by the two city boys that live on coffee. Their food plus yours holds you till noon when you get fed again. It’s no wonder these city boys can’t walk much. We go on “route marches”, which the platoon sergeant says are long walks to harden us. If he thinks so, it’s not my place to tell him different. A “route march” is about as far as to our mailbox at home. Then the city guys get sore feet and we all ride back in trucks. The country is nice but awful flat.

The sergeant is like a school teacher. He nags a lot. The Capt. is like the school board. Majors and colonels just ride around and frown. They don’t bother you none. This next will kill Walt and Elmer with laughing. I keep getting medals for shooting. I don’t know why. The bulls-eye is near as big as a chipmunk head and don’t move, and it ain’t shooting at you like the Higgett boys at home. All you got to do is lie there all comfortable and hit it. You don’t even load your own cartridges. They come in boxes.

Then we have what they call hand-to hand combat training. You get to wrestle with them city boys. I have to be real careful though, they break real easy. It ain’t like fighting with that ole bull at home.

I’m about the best they got in this except for that Tug Jordan from over in Silver Lake. I only beat him once. He joined up the same time as me, but I’m only 5′6″ and 130 pounds, and he’s 6′8″ and weighs near 300 pounds dry. Be sure to tell Walt and Elmer to hurry and join before other fellers get onto this setup and come stampeding in.

Your loving daughter,

Gail

I wonder if she’s made Staff Sargent yet.

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FACTS TO PONDER:

Doctors:

(A) The number of physicians in the U.S. is: 700,000.

(B) Accidental deaths caused by Physicians per year are: 120,000. (Calculation) Accidental deaths per physician is: 0.171

Statistics courtesy of U.S. Dept of Health Human Services.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Now think about this:

Guns:

(A) The number of gun owners in the U.S. is: 80,000,000. (Yes, that’s 80 million)

(B) The number of accidental gun deaths per year, all age groups, is: 1,500.

(Calculation) The number of accidental deaths per gun owner is: .000188

Statistics courtesy of FBI

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

So, statistically, doctors are approximately 9,000 times more dangerous than gun owners.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Remember, “Guns don’t kill people…doctors do.”

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

FACT: NOT EVERYONE HAS A GUN, BUT… ALMOST EVERYONE HAS AT LEAST ONE DOCTOR.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Please alert your friends to this alarming threat. We must ban doctors before this gets completely out of hand!!!!!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Out of concern for the public at large, I withheld the statistics on lawyers for fear the shock would cause people to panic and seek medical attention… >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

From the author of this blog:

Somehow I just don’t think I’m going to rush right out, buy a gun and shoot my doctor. I kinda’ like the young man.

All in fun.

Technorati tags: doctors, guns, misc nonsense

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