Forum: Author Hangout

Take some time off and then "get back in the saddle."

Special meaning for a writer of westerns.

bb

Special meaning for a writer of westerns.

That was my intention. :)

I was always taught that if you didn't have something nice or constructive to say you were far better off saying nothing.

The presidential debates would be 2 hours of silence.

The presidential debates would be 2 hours of silence.

or 2 hours of master-debates

Here is what I think they should be:

Each political party should make donations to welfare organisations equivalent to what they spend on the campaigns.

Another idea is to make political donations non-deductible, so they come out of the company profits after tax.

Campaign donations have never been tax deductible in the US.

Not being in a business in the US I never looked up the laws, but I was told they count as an operating expense and are taken out of the books prior to calculating the taxable profits, thus they reduce the tax burden by cutting back the amount you pay tax on.

Corporate income tax is based on profits, not revenue. Profits = revenue - expenses.

Corporate income taxes work completely differently than personal income taxes.

Actually, they're basically the same.

Corp: Profit = revenue - expenses

Pers: Taxable Income = income - deductions

Actually, they're basically the same.

Most tax laws cover the same basics in you can legitimately remove the special costs of earning the income, but not personal living expenses. Which is why you can deduct the cost of using your private car for a business trip, but not the day to day task of getting to work. Normal clothes aren't can't be deducted, while special work clothing usually can.

they count as an operating expense

I doubt, the IRS would consider such a contribution to be an operating expense. If found, it would be disallowed.

Each candidate gets two minutes to apologize for wasting our oxygen. :)

I personally would prefer that all career politicians would just go away at election time. Get new blood in.

I personally would prefer that all career politicians would just go away at election time. Get new blood in.

I prefer a limited campaign, like that used in other countries. I can put up with only two weeks of pointless bluster, but three and a half years of it? That's excessive in anyone's book. Once the election is over, I'd prefer if the talking heads all took a long vacation together, where they could shout at each other all they want, just as long as the leave the rest of us alone.

I'd prefer if the talking heads all took a long vacation together

Perhaps both groups, politicians and media reps, should take a permanent vacation to the same location. We could give each of them a dull spoon and the rest of us could sit back and watch the bloodletting begin.

I suspect a black hole would spit them out in disgust.

AJ

I suspect a black hole would spit them out in disgust.

Black holes are notoriously sloppy. They spit out dense particles when they swallow other objects (burping), and when they eventually die, they radiate the same dense particles throughout the galaxy. That's where most of our denser, non-renewable elements come from (gold, uranium, cobalt, etc.).

If we cast our politicians into random black holes, we'd only be infecting future planets with their vile essences!

dense particles

Does Dense Partycles imply politicians have already been spat out by black holes?

AJ

I can think of a few good locations:

How about the Coliseum in Rome. We could sit in the stands with snacks and cool drinks while we cheer them on.

Why would you be so cruel as to feed politicians to unsuspecting lions. :)

Not sure which I would prefer. Feed the politicians to the media, or the media to the politicians. Either way someone will have an upset stomach. Break out the Alka-Seltzer.

How about the Coliseum in Rome. We could sit in the stands with snacks and cool drinks while we cheer them on.

What do you think we're doing now? And we're currently wrecking perfectly good countries doing it, while spending billions we could otherwise be wasting on useless technology that blow up in our pockets. ;D

while spending billions we could otherwise be wasting on useless technology that blow up in our pockets.

It isn't wasted. It gives lawyers something to do. :)

It isn't wasted. It gives lawyers something to do.

Oh, no. I don't think the exploding smartphones are wasted. After all, it's very entertaining when some idiots pants catch on fire. What IS worthless is everyone's preoccupation with smartphones, and their inability to do ANYTHING without checking their phone every 5 minutes.

By the way, with all the restrictions against traveling with Samsung phones (the U.S. Navy just restricted carrying Samsung phones on their ships and/or planes), could we pass a law limiting their transportation, except in the case where one transports them under the seat of a lawyer driving? Hopefully with a large magnetic charge in their automotive carpeting?

Note: One of my stories focuses on a young girl deciding to shoot a lawyer to shut him up before he can poison all the good people are trying to accomplish.

large magnetic charge in their automotive carpeting

Is the result anything like James Bond's passenger seat ejection system. :)

Let the misplaced criticisms and insults roll like water off a duck's back because they mean nothing.

That's nice, in theory, but often it feels like acid, scalding the duck's back. Just sayin'.