It appears that as we get closer to November 4th, people (by people I mean the WSJ) all across the country are beginning to look closer at Obama’s proposed “tax cuts” and other tenants of his campaign. One of the most startling things people are finding is that while he promises to cut taxes on 95% of families (40% of which do not pay taxes) he’s “proposing one of the largest tax increases ever on the other 5%”. Something hardly anyone was talking about a week ago.

Now MSM (main stream media) and Others are finally taking note. So yes, while he would “cut” taxes, the truth is that just like other democrats before him who promised lower taxes, he’s actually raising them. In fact, according to the WSJ article:

Some families with an income of $40,000 could lose up to 40 cents in vanishing credits for every additional dollar earned from working overtime or taking a new job. As public policy, this is contradictory. The tax credits are sold in the name of “making work pay,” but in practice they can be a disincentive to working harder, especially if you’re a lower-income couple getting raises of $1,000 or $2,000 a year.

Thats something you won’t hear any of the talking heads on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN or any other MSM outlet mention or ask him about. Its only a wonder why we haven’t heard that from the McCain Camp yet.

Popularity: unranked [?]

I’m not a huge college (or even pro for that matter) football fan, yet for the past several years I’ve found myself sitting high above the crowd at the Georgia Dome for the Peach (come Chick-Fli-A) bowl on New Years Eve. Its one of the “perks” of doing pyro in the Atlanta area. Indoor pyro is a totally different beast than a larger outdoor show. Often times the work is harder on the indoor than the outdoor show for a couple of reasons I won’t go in to but I’ve decided I rather prefer outdoor displays to indoor stuff.

Last year’s game was ok as Georgia was playing in the bowl game. This year was cool as I could sit there and yell go Tigers and it didn’t matter who had possession of the ball. Not to mention it but the sea of Orange that encircled the dome was amazing as well (both Auburn and Clemson have orange as their color). It was actually a good game as well and a packed house (I looked around the dome from my perch at the top and was unable to find more than a dozen empty seats at kickoff!). Going by the stats, Auburn deserved to win. They had possession longer, they threw for more yards and had more first downs than Clemson, but Clemson wasn’t going to give up with out a fight.

The game ended regulation play at 17 -17 and for the first time in the bowl’s 40 year history, it went in to over time. Clemson took the lead on field goal but Auburn answered back with a TD to win the game. It ended up being a rather exciting match and both teams were pretty evenly paired up. Its hard to not get drawn in to the excitement of the game in that atmosphere.

Anywho, my job through out the game was to sit in the upper observation booth on the Auburn (home team) endzone and fire off four shots whenever a team scored. Pretty easy and a little boring. Not to mention that I had been sitting up there since about 4:30pm that afternoon and had spent all but maybe two hours of my day up there. New Years came and went with a flourish as we heard the rockets going off outside the dome, we were too concerned with breaking down the gear (we had to pull our cables out of a mess of fiber optic cables) so we could head home. By the time my head hit the pillow at 3am, I had been going for about 21 hours solid. In the pyro business, we’re often the first in and the last out at an event. All in all it was fun but one year, I’d like to be asleep in my bed before the new year rolls in.

How’d you spend your new years eve??

Popularity: 27% [?]

Thirteen Facts about NEW YEARS!
In no particular order…

1. The celebration of the new year is the oldest of all holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago. In the years around 2000 BC, the Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon (actually the first visible cresent) after the Vernal Equinox (first day of spring).
2. During the Middle Ages, the Church remained opposed to celebrating New Years. January 1 has been celebrated as a holiday by Western nations for only about the past 400 years.
3. The Babylonian new year celebration lasted for eleven days. Each day had its own particular mode of celebration, but it is safe to say that modern New Year’s Eve festivities pale in comparison.
4. The Romans continued to observe the new year in late March, but their calendar was continually tampered with by various emperors so that the calendar soon became out of synchronization with the sun.
5. In order to set the calendar right, the Roman senate, in 153 BC, declared January 1 to be the beginning of the new year. But tampering continued until Julius Caesar, in 46 BC, established what has come to be known as the Julian Calendar. It again established January 1 as the new year. But in order to synchronize the calendar with the sun, Caesar had to let the previous year drag on for 445 days..
6. The Tournament of Roses Parade dates back to 1886. In that year, members of the Valley Hunt Club decorated their carriages with flowers. It celebrated the ripening of the orange crop in California.
7. Although the Rose Bowl football game was first played as a part of the Tournament of Roses in 1902, it was replaced by Roman chariot races the following year. In 1916, the football game returned as the sports centerpiece of the festival. (Personally, I’d like to go back to the chariot races!)
8. Many parts of the U.S. celebrate the new year by consuming black-eyed peas. These legumes are typically accompanied by either hog jowls or ham. Black-eyed peas and other legumes have been considered good luck in many cultures. The hog, and thus its meat, is considered lucky because it symbolizes prosperity. Cabbage is another “good luck” vegetable that is consumed on New Year’s Day by many. Cabbage leaves are also considered a sign of prosperity, being representative of paper currency. In some regions, rice is a lucky food that is eaten on New Year’s Day.
9. An artificial spider and web are often included in the decorations on Ukrainian Christmas trees. A spider web found on Christmas morning is believed to bring good luck.
10. The use of an image of a baby with a New Years banner as a symbolic representation of the new year was brought to early America by the Germans. They had used the effigy since the fourteenth century.
11. It was once believed that the first visitor on New Year’s Day would bring either good luck or bad luck the rest of the year. It was particularly lucky if that visitor happened to be a tall dark-haired man.
12. Many cultures believe that anything in the shape of a ring is good luck, because it symbolizes “coming full circle,” completing a year’s cycle. For that reason, the Dutch believe that eating donuts on New Year’s Day will bring good fortune.
13. Other traditions of the season include the making of New Year’s resolutions. That tradition also dates back to the early Babylonians. Popular modern resolutions might include the promise to lose weight or quit smoking. The early Babylonian’s most popular resolution was to return borrowed farm equipment.