fritz

Taxes Accounts Receivable Tax Building Permit Tax Capital Gains Tax CDL license Tax Cigarette Tax Corporate Income Tax Court Fines (indirect taxes) Dog License Tax Federal Income Tax Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA) Fishing License Tax Food License Tax Fuel permit tax Gasoline Tax (42 cents per gallon) Hunting License Tax Inheritance Tax Interest expense (tax on the money) Inventory tax IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax) IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax) Liquor Tax Local Income Tax Luxury Taxes Marriage License Tax Medicare Tax Property Tax Real Estate Tax Septic Permit Tax Service Charge Taxes Social Security Tax Road Usage Taxes (Truckers) Sales Taxes Recreational Vehicle Tax Road Toll Booth Taxes School Tax State Income Tax State Unemployment Tax (SUTA) Telephone federal excise tax Telephone federal universal service fee tax Telephone federal, state and local surcharge taxes Telephone minimum usage surcharge tax Telephone recurring and non-recurring charges tax Telephone state and local tax Telephone usage charge tax Toll Bridge Taxes Toll Tunnel Taxes Traffic Fines (indirect taxation) Trailer registration tax Utility Taxes Vehicle License Registration Tax Vehicle Sales Tax Watercraft registration Tax Well Permit Tax Workers Compensation Tax COMMENTS: Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago and our nation was the most prosperous in the world, had absolutely no national debt, had the largest middle class in the world and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.............. fritz

Hooray for Abe, On tomorrow's day, he freed the slave, and freed all state employees on that day. No work for mrs fritz tomorrow is a day of ritz. Let's all enjoy the day, each in his own way that old Abe, in his forsight and using all his might, Began the tradition if that was his mission, of setting aside this day so that we all may have a day of leisure if it pleases your. It will please mrs fritz, as a state employee. BTW, she also got Doctor King's birthday off work. What a country! fritz

My mother never hit me. My father had this leather whip called a quirt that he used on horses (and me) when I was bad. Many was the day I was tempted to hide that damned quirt, or otherwise destroy it. But I lived with it. fritz

"I believe the acceptable phrase is "Aggie Rigging." Dr.Hess" That may be so, Docktor, but what an Aggie puts together is, at best, questionable. I would sooner go with Sooner or UT rigging. We have all heard enough about the Aggies (in jokes, some are true). fritz

Larry is not my brother, but he speaks the truth--- Mexico - A surfers View Subject: Mexico These are my brother Larry's impressions after spending 2 weeks on a surfing vacation in Mexico. Leilani I'm back, after my two week surf trip to Mexico. Well I believe every American should be required to spend at least a week in Mexico. If they are honestly open with themselves they would be storming Congress demanding the borders be secured. Mexico is at best a Third World Country.. Do you ever wonder why the Illegals live here in such squaller and filth, put their used toilet paper on the floor, leave all their trash and garbage just laying around? This is their way of life..... You should take a walk along their beaches, it's like the city dump only with dogs crapping everywhere. And yes it leaves worms behind in the sand and then it filters out into the ocean. The rivers that run to the ocean are filled with everything imaginable and things you just won't believe, living and dead. There is no way I can explain in detail what you see there without filling pages of text. But belive me this is what is being imported into our American cities on a daily basis. No wonder we have so many diseases and sicknesses popping up all over the US... They are bringing their way of life to the US. Their not going to change no matter how much money we give them. We will have to get used to living in an unflushed toilet. This will be the end of the US as we knew it. And yes it will happen in our lifetime.... I can't stress enough that you must daily contact you Congress people and Representative. Send Emails, Call.. We must get this Amnesty bill stopped and force them to secure our borders and regulate the workers who come here. If not for us, do it for our kids and their kids... We want our country to move forward not backward... I know you see these Emails from time to time and we just look the other way. I know your a Democrat or a Republican, and you must vote so your party gets Elected... Please stop the Party games, kick any one out who isn't moving our country forward... Make them accountable if we don't no one else will. Sorry for the less than rosy Email but I couldn't just let it go... Larry BTW, my brother-in-law used to run a convience store in Goliad (at the crossroads of US 59 and US 183, the roads that the illegals take) and he will testify that the Meskins, to the man or woman, would leave the toilet paper on the floor, as well as piss on the floor. fritz

Subject: Keeping the 1983 Amnesty Promise When I was a kid, someone invented bubble gum, and grocers couldn't keep enough on the shelves to satisfy demand. The owner of Patronella's Grocery Store decided to turn this to his advantage. Shrewd old Mr. Pat required his young customers to buy three unpopular candy bars, like Bit-O-Honey, at 5 cents, each, in order to get one penny bubble gum. Something similar happened in the US Senate this week. After 2 weeks behind closed doors, a dozen Senators presented their colleagues and the American people with a poke containing a bunch of pigs, some worth buying and some scrawny and diseased. As the pigs came out of the bag, one by one, The American people felt betrayed when they saw the "comprehensive" package our lawmakers were putting together to satisfy political agendas instead of the Country's need. The folks back home rose up and screamed, loud and clear. As the Bill began going down to defeat Thursday night, one frustrated Senator said on C-SPAN, "What do they want us to do?" I don't pretend to speak for America, but here's a suggestion. Why not go back to the 1983 Amnesty Bill, when Congress promised that, if we would accept their decision to give amnesty to 3-4 million illegal aliens, they would close the borders to further illegal access. Introduce a Bill to make good on that promise! Such a stand-alone Bill would have plenty of room for debate. What do we really need to stop criminals, terrorists, drugs and undocumented workers from coming across our borders without permission? Do we need 300, 600, 800 or 1,000 miles of fence? Will 20,000, 30,000 or 50,000 more new Border Patrol people be necessary to get the job done? What type of high-tech surveillance equipment is called for to achieve success? Can American inventiveness develop a fool-proof documentation card that will identify workers without allowing fraudulent substitutes? That's a plateful, but it is where our elected officials need to start. They still have unfinished business from 1983. So, Senator, do what the Senate said it would do 24 years ago before you pull the amnesty pig out of the poke, again. fritz

I wish you could hear the music, by Jim Reeves---- Keepers I grew up in the 40's/50's/60's with practical parents. A mother, God love her, who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the original recycle queen, before they had a Name for it... A father who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones. Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and Mom in a house dress, lawn mower in one hand, and dish-towel in the other. It was the time for fixing things. A curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, the hem in a dress Things we keep. It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing, eating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more. But then my mother died, and on that clear summer's night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more. Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away...never to return. So... While we have it... it's best we love it... And care for it.... And fix it when it's broken..... And heal it when it's sick. This is true... For marriage.... And old cars.... And children with bad report cards..... Dogs and cats with bad hips.... And aging parents.... And grandparents. We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it. Some things we keep. Like a best friend that moved away or a classmate we grew up with. There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special.... And so, we keep them close! I received this from someone who thinks I am a 'keeper', so I've sent it to the people I think of in the same way... Now it's your turn to send this to those people that are "keepers" in your life. Good friends are like stars.... You don't always see them, but you know they are always there. Keep them close Author unknown Music: "May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You" - Jim Reeves fritz

This says it all-- fritz

Well, What you end up with is just another version of a schitty excuse for an assault rifle. Have we downgraded to that? fritz

My advise is to carry a big bore pistol (.450 Casull or equivialent). If not restricted, of course. If handguns are restricted, I would carry one of the new big-bore rifles. There are many out there now. More gun than a fellow in South Texas needs, but then you are not in S. Texas. We ain't got no bears down here. fritz

Thanks, fellows I thought of that furnace cement when I was in the big town today. I had to drive all across town to a small hardware store where I knew was the only place to find it. Sure enough, a pound can of furnace cement (good for up to 3000 degrees) only costs four bucks. It has no asbestos in it anymore, so I wonder if it will be as good as the old stuff with asbestos. I used to repair cast iron wood stoves with the stuff, and it worked. I have a friend who has promised to bring me some thin stainless shim material from his job site. But right now the J-B Weld and the beer can are holding. Jason---I know what you mean about J-B Weld's fumes when it melts. After the tractor motor warmed up, I could smell the stuff melting and burning. But the beer can and the clamps kept it from leaking exhaust gas. My plan is to remove the J-B Weld and replace it with the furnace cement, then place the stainless shim material around it as a sleeve. Add clamps and cross my fingers. Do you know the difference between jerry-rigging and German engineering? German engineering is having all the material needed to do the job on hand. Jerry-rigging is German engineering without the materials on hand. I am a German engineer, in addition to being a Gentleman farmer. BTW, that J-B Weld stinks when it melts, as you said. fritz

I have learned to shake the boots out before putting them on, especially with all the scorpians we have been seeing lately. Mrs fritz got bit by one in the kitchen sink this morning, the damned things are seeking moisture. Our exterminator cannot gaurantee his stuff will kill scorpians. We usually only see them in the house during a dry spell. There is lightning on the northern horizon tonight, maybe rain is on the way. That may slow down the scorpians, but increase the feral hog activity. Life is never dull, down on the farm. fritz

Jason, The reason your J-B Weld did not hold is because you left out the beer can! Now, if I had been smart, I would have used one of those new insulated beer cans that Coor's Light comes in. You can never be too safe. fritz

This falls into the category of jerry-rigging, but we have been there before and got distracted, etc. With my favorite sweetheart tractor in the shop for a check-up, I went to a backup tractor today to start cutting hay again. No telling how long it will be before my David Brown is checked out and returned to service. So I hooked the cutter to my old Ford 4600 diesel, that has a loader on it. After a few rounds I noticed smoke coming from under the hood. I shut 'er down and raised the hood. There was a leaking manifold pipe that leads to a muffler under the running boards (yes, they still have them on tractors). It was causing enough heat to smolder the oil buildup on the engine (no, I had not pressure washed the engine in some time). I got on the phone and called around for a new exhaust pipe, the underslung muffler type. They are not available, and when I looked closer, I saw that when they put the loader on the tractor they installed a crossmember that basically boxed in the exhaust pipe (which looks like a snake, it has so many bends). There is no way to install a new pipe without removing all the loader mounting brackets. So I order a new manifold and muffler that goes upright (an option from the factory when the tractor was sold). In the meantime, I need to keep using the tractor, so I took some J-B Weld in the industrial size tubes and spread it over the cracked pipe. Then I cut a piece out of a beer can (it was a Milwaukee's Best Light can) and slit it to make a sleeve over the still soft J-B Weld. Added a few gear clamps to hold everything together (I could have used baling wire, but I am more sophisticated than that). Tomorrow we shall see. The J-B Weld is only recommended for up to 600 degrees, and I am sure the temp at the manifold is higher than that. But that is all I had at the time. Jerry-rigging has worked for me before, and who knows, maybe I will not need to install the new manifold and muffler. But like a good Boy Scout (I never was one), I am prepared. fritz

Consider Ron Paul, the Congressman from Texas. fritz

Whatever brand of boots you decide on, don't leave them on the back steps if you have a dog. I thought my three year old lab was over that puppy thing, but I left a pair of old worn Georgia Giant boots on the steps (because they were wet from dew). This morning when I went to put them on, they were chewed on the heels and the toes. Well, only one boot, but she bit both ends. Are the Wolverine boots dog-proof? fritz

"Check out these Figures....... Has the U.S. gone mad or is it just the people who are running it......... So often, we get caught up in a debate over political semantics and end up ignoring the hard-shell realities of what we're talking about. According to mmigrationCounters.com, here are some of the realities that the Flake-Gutierrez Bill would airbrush out of the picture: Number of Illegal Aliens in the Country 20,807,645 Money Wired to Mexico City since January, 2006 $ 22,213,001,672.00 Cost of Social Security Services for Illegal Aliens since 1996 $397,450,739,56300 Number of Children of Illegal Aliens in Public Schools 3,958,789 Cost of Illegal Aliens in K-12 Since 1996: $ 13, 965,063,431.00 Number of Illegal Aliens Incarcerated 332,594 Cost of Incarcerations Since 2001 $ 1,398,127,429.00 Number of Illegal Aliens Fugitives 642,799 Skilled Jobs Taken by Illegal Aliens 9,872,838 Figures can trick your eyes. Take particular note that items 2,3,5, and 7 reflect BILLIONS not millions of dollars -- and that item 3 exceeds one-third of a TRILLION dollars. Can you imagine how much it will cost taxpayers if we triple the number of Illegals entering this country!! **************** So, What's in a Billion?....... Granted.............. this is from the US ! 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? If it all went to the people and not the infrastructure. a. Well, if you are one of 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, child), you each get $516,528.00. b. Or, if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans , your home gets $1,329,787.00. c. Or, if you are a family of four, your family gets $2,066,012.00. Washington, D.C. .... HELLO!!! ... Are all your calculators broken?? This is too true.........And these numbers don't lie.........and, it's not funny!!! WHAT AN EYE-OPENER! fritz

Jerry, Thank you for venting your disgust with the status quo. You are not alone, my friend. Many Americans (and especially Texans) feel the same way. We are a people without a party. Some of you who read my posts may consider me to be a liberal Democrat. That is not so. Nor is it so that I have a closed mind when it comes to being obligated to supporting our Commander-in- Chief. All this schitt I hear from some that alledge, that by not supporting the current administration lends aid and support to the enemy, is just their interpretation of the Constitution. By their reasoning, many citizens (Democrats) of this country are guilty of treason. Well, I wish I could give you an answer to your question. But I cannot, nor can anyone who is not predjudiced towards a certain person or party. You may get an answer from someone who falls into that category of those predjudiced against a certain candidate or party, but at this point in time there is too much turmoil going on to reach a truly fair decision. You have asked an important question, and only time will tell who that person is. fritz

Hospital Window A great note for all to read it will take just 37 seconds to read this and change your thinking Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back. The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. Every afternoon when the man in the bed by the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window. The man in the other bed began to live for those one hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amidst flowers of every color and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene. One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man couldn't hear the band - he could see it. In his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Days and weeks passed. One morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of the man by the window, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the other man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone. Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the real world outside. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall. The man asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommate who had described such wonderful things outside this window. The nurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see the wall. She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you." Epilogue: There is tremendous happiness in making others happy, despite our own situations. Shared grief is half the sorrow, but happiness when shared, is doubled. If you want to feel rich, just count all the things you have that money can't buy. "Today is a gift, that's why it is called the present." fritz

What started out as a complaint filed by the Houston attorney (hired by the local underground water district) has turned against the district and their Gestapo actions. There is uranium ore in the northern part of this county, and a company has leased land to test the potential for production. No production has started, only test holes drilled down to about 200 feet, and core samples taken. This entire issue involves private property rights, and the rights of landowners to lease or not to lease their land for exploration. No different than their right to lease for oil and gas exploration. What is different is the fear of the unknown. The fear that the entire county will suffer contamination from a few test holes being drilled (no different than a new water well being drilled). If the uranium is at the same depth as the potable water, the landowners have been drinking it for years, with no adverse affects. They started testing their water wells this year, and some found uranium in tiny amounts in the water. If they had tested it 50 years ago, it would be the same. The Texas Railroad Commission has a surface mining division (and most folks thought they only regulated oil and gas). BTW, they have nothing to do with railroads--go figure. So, the complaints went to the Commission and stated that this mining company was ruining their water (the water that they have drank all their lives). The Railroad Commission sent an investigator (who is a registered professional geologist) to examine the so-called problem of discolored water and water levels dropping in nearby wells. To start off, no water has been used from our acquifer in the test holes (the county underground district said it was verboten to use our water to drill with, even though thousands of barrels of water a day are being exported for use in oil drilling. The uranium company bought their water from a neighboring county. A county that has no Gestapo, biased, predjudiced "experts" on the movement of uranium in the aquifer. The Railroad Commission wrote the attorney, and it was publish in this week's paper that their findings were that no contamination of water has occured in our county from the activitives of the uranium company, and that the investigation was closed. They explained in the letter to the district's lawyer just how uranium travels through an acquifer, at a rate of several feet in several thousand years. And still some landowners receive threats to not lease their land. If that don't smack of the KKK and the Gestapo/KGB, what does? fritz

"The city won't say anything to the garbage people. They will make a law to prohibit hitting trash cans with a big fine if you do. Enjoy your game while you can." Indeed I shall. And I shall always veer to the right in order to avoid having a head-on collision with an on-coming vehicle. If the other guy is as safety-minded as me, he will wipe out the garbage can on his side of the road----thus double bingo-bango! Another variation of the game that ignorant bureaucrats and greedy, shortcutting garbage collectors invited. The best thing about it is playing it on their home turf. I burn my garbage in an open pit on the back forty. BTW, I would love to see someone make a law that says you must take evasion action away from a wayward garbage can! BTW, the reason that the city will not say anything to the garbage people is because they are too damned cheap to keep on using the old company that picked it up for years----with no "accidents". fritz

First off I need to explain that our little town has gone to using the services of an out-of-town (Austin Tx, 150 miles distant) garbage collection company. The stuff obviously ends up in the big landfill near Creedmore (Tony, you know the place). But to save money, the company uses a sorta automated machine that has tongs that grab the can (which must be placed by the resident within 6 feet of the pavement). The problem (actually the fun part) comes when the machine does not replace the garbage can 6 feet away from the pavement. Now, you must understand that the residential streets in this small town are not very wide. And there are residents on both sides of these narrow streets. If, perchance (chuckle), one motorist meets another motorist on one of these narrow streets with garbage cans (empty now) on both sides of the road----something has to give. You either sideswipe the other motorist, or do what I do----run over the garbage can that is on the roadway on your side. I am having quite a bit of fun with this new game, but I do not recommend it to anyone who does not have a heavy-duty brush guard on their truck. I wonder how long it will take for the city council to see all the damaged cans before they give their new garbage company some advise----Place the damned cans back where they were before! In the interim, I will continue to pursue my new game. Today I sent one saling about 30 feet. Who needs the old Bat The Penguin game, when there is a game so close by? fritz

The Texas Legislature was supposed to take up the issue of high game fences (that fence in native game animals as well as fence in exotic and non-game species). Most any pasture 2500 acres will have native game living on it, and when someone erects a high fence around it---it fences IN the native game animals (which happen to be the property of the State of Texas.Just ask any game warden!) The fenced-in native game animals (whitetail deer) cannot get out of the confinement area that a so-called "game management" creates. That is not right, but just like the Texas grey law on having a handgun in your vehicle being a violation unless you were "traveling", the law on having a handgun in your vehicle has changed. As long as a motorist (does not have to meet stupid criteria of "traveling") is driving lawfully, he/she cannot be charged with having a handgun in the vehicle. There is no need for the license issued by the State of Texas to carry a concealed weapon. But, do not leave your vehicle with the gun on you. It must stay in your vehicle. Makes sense to me. What does not make sense to me is that someone who has gotten in favor with his local county extension agent and become a member of a county "game management area" can erect a high fence and do whatever the hell he wants to do on it. By being a member of the county game management program, he/she is not checked as regularly as a non-member. Now we once again see truth in the old saying---"Membership has its advantages". I think it will be a long time before the Texas Legislature actually does anything about the high fences. Hell, they don't want to piss-off the owners of these big game preserves. These are "big shots". Anyone who owns 2500 acres ain't exactly a poor old country boy! fritz

I wonder what the going price is on wetbacks delivered to the buyers. I figure I could cram about a hundred into my cattle trailer (hey, they are used to traveling in worse things). Calves bring me a little over $500 each, but I cannot cram as many calves into the trailer as I have seen wetbacks struffed in trucks. Let's see, 100 wetbacks @2 grand (the going rate a coyote charges), equals $200,000. Five loads a week and I am a millionaire. No, I forgot to take into consideration the price of diesel today. I may have to make another trip just to pay for the fuel. But that leaves me one day left in the week to count my money. What a business! fritz

The freezer thing reminds me of a joke I once heard. This fellow had a talking parrot who was using profane language all the time. He told the parrot one day that if he cussed one more time, he would punish him. The parrot ignored the threat and continued using foul language, so the fellow stuffed him in the freezer and told him he couldn't come out until he reformed. Not long afterwards, the fellow heard a pecking sound on the freezer door. He opened it up and the parrot came out and swore that he would never cuss again. Then he asked the fellow, "What did the turkey do?" fritz