Stole this from an Email... Obama's Historic "Firsts!"

 

President Barack Obama's Complete List of Historic Firsts!

Yes, he's historic, all right.
• First President to Preside Over a Cut to the Credit Rating of the United States Government
• First President to Violate the War Powers Act
• First President to Orchestrate the Sale of Murder Weapons to Mexican Drug Cartels
• First President to be Held in Contempt of Court for Illegally Obstructing Oil Drilling in the Gulf of Mexico
• First President to Defy a Federal Judge's Court Order to Cease Implementing the 'Health Care Reform'Law
• First President to Require All Americans to Purchase a Product From a Third Party
• First President to Spend a Trillion Dollars on 'Shovel-Ready' Jobs -- and Later Admit There Was No Such Thing as Shovel-Ready Jobs
• First President to Abrogate Bankruptcy Law to Turn Over Control of Companies to His Union Supporters
• First President to Bypass Congress and Implement the DREAM Act Through Executive Fiat
• First President to Threaten Insurance Companies After They Publicly Spoke out on How Obamacare Helped Cause their Rate Increases
• First President to Threaten an Auto Company (Ford) After It Publicly Mocked Bailouts of GM and Chrysler
• First President to "Order a Secret Amnesty Program that Stopped the Deportations of Illegal Immigrants Across the U.S., Including Those With Criminal Convictions"
• First President to Demand a Company Hand Over $20 Billion to One of His Political Appointees
• First President to Terminate America's Ability to Put a Man into Space.
• First President to Encourage Racial Discrimination and Intimidation at Polling Places
• First President to Have a Law Signed By an 'Auto-pen' Without Being "Present"
• First President to Arbitrarily Declare an Existing Law Unconstitutional and Refuse to Enforce It
• First President to Tell a Major Manufacturing Company In Which State They Are Allowed to Locate a Factory
• First President to refuse to comply with a House Oversight Committee subpoena.
• First President to File Lawsuits Against the States He Swore an Oath to Protect (AZ, WI, OH, IN, etc.)
• First President to Withdraw an Existing Coal Permit That Had Been Properly Issued Years Ago
• First President to Fire an Inspector General of Americorps for Catching One of His Friends in a Corruption Case
• First President to Propose an Executive Order Demanding Companies Disclose Their Political Contributions to Bid on Government Contracts
• First President to allow Mexican police to conduct law enforcement activities on American soil
• First President to Golf 80 or More Times in His First Two-and-a-Half Years in Office
http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2011/06/president-barack-obamas-complete-list.html

Bar Stool Economics

Urban Legends debunker snopes.com claims that this is not attributable as of yet, but it is very informative.

www.snopes.com/business/taxes/howtaxes.asp As of 27 May 2011

At the very end, this turns into a Herman Cain campaign add, with the line "Herman Cain’s Fare Tax proposal..." Of course we all realize that while Herman Cain is a neat guy, and an extremely viable candidate for President -- the "Fair" tax proposal is many years older than Cain's Presidential aspirations.

And now, after all my Blathering -- here's the text of "Bar Stool 101" Economics for the alcoholically challenged.
*****

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20."

Drinks for the ten now cost just $80

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay! And so...
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100%   savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man, "but he got $10!"

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"

"That's true!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!" The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

(Authorship denied by several folks including David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
a Professor of Economics, University of Georgia )

For objective federal tax info: http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/250.html  (Last year, the top 10% of wage earners paid nearly half of all taxes.  The bottom 50% paid almost no taxes!

The fact is that “the rich” who make their income solely from investments rather than “salary” (i.e. Warren Buffet paid less than 18% vs. his secretary and other employees paid between 33-41%: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/09/19/earlyshow/main20108139.shtml) do pay a lower tax rate on that income (capital gains tax of ~18% vs. up to ~40%).  However, at least theoretically, the “rich” paid taxes on that money when they made it in the first place.  The US has just about the highest top federal tax rate on its wealthiest citizens and corporations (both ~35%).  Some state corporate tax rates are as high as 10%.  Some state income tax rates are as high as 10%.  So theoretically, if you own a corporation, you may pay up to 45% of your profits in taxes, then may pay another 45% of your salary in taxes…but you are still not paying your fair share according to our president…even though nearly half of our citizens pay no net federal income tax!  So, theoretically, if you’re “rich” as much as 90% of the money you made went toward state & federal taxes…and don’t forget about city and state sales taxes, property taxes, etc.?

Herman Cain’s Fare Tax proposal – 9% Income Tax, 9% Corporate Tax, & 9% Federal Sales Tax -- no matter how much you make…  (Exempt groceries from the sales tax?)  That seems to allow us all to pay our “fare share”.  No more loopholes for “the rich” and no more freeloading from “the rest”.  All of us, individually, city, state, federal governments, should live within our means and not spend more than we are making…or live off of other citizens.

 

Llama .380 Auto (9mm Kurz) A1 stamp, factory engraved

I've got my Grandfather's Llama (after the Colt 1911 patent) in .380 Auto. Apparently the Germans call it a 9mm Kurz (which I believe means "short"). As near as I can determine this was made in the mid 1950s, (maybe 1955) as indicated by one of the three "Proof Marks" directly above the shotgun shell. The third of those three marks is "A1" which is apparently indicative of the first run of this weapon after some modifications.  (http://www.ehow.com/how_7166226_do-_380-pistol-serial-number_.html).

Note the lanyard ring on the rear of the butt where the magazine is inserted. This is apparently a variable feature on these weapons. I've not seen another of the heavily engraved .380s with this ring.

Also note that the top of the left side grip (probably plastic not mother of pearl) is a trapazoid (except for a small scallop cut for the slide lock lever). Many of  Llamas from this era had a thumb groove with raised lip on the left side of the weapon.

Another thing that's a little more difficult to detect unless you've got the original JPG is that the second proof mark (supposedly the one that records the date the gun was actually "proofed" or fired for effect) is duplicated about 1/4" above the thumb lever safety inlet at the rear of the slide, just forward of the hammer. I've not seen this particular feature on any other engraved Llama.

I've scanned the web fairly thoroughly and so far have not found any disassembly instructions other than "hey guy, it looks like a Colt 1911, so take it apart that way." If it comes to that, I'll have my friend Bill the gunsmith right next to me so he can catch the parts that go winging across the shop when I make a mis-move.

It's a great shooter.  I put several boxes through it in the early 1970s before my Grandfather died. The gun went to my Dad then, and he and I put a couple of more boxes through over the years since then. When Dad died this year, he left the Llama to me.

I don't recall a single problem with the darned thing -- it cycled two clips through today with absolutely no problems. Sweet!

Owned by three generations and shot by four generations -- this Llama is a good piece.