WE INTERRUPT THIS PROGRAM

Shadow’s World will be on hiatus for at least two months as I have accepted a temporary assignment in the Iraq theater of operations. Posting will be intermittent at best.

SPREAD THE WEALTH

It seems to me that the people who want to “spread the wealth” are exactly those who are unable – or unwilling – to create it.

AUTUMN LEAVES

Metz Middle School, Manassas, VA, about 3 pm.



The trees are just beginning to turn in Manassas. For the most part, green is still the color of the day.

FREE SPEECH FOR ME, BUT NOT FOR THEE

Bravo, Instapundit! Very well said. Read it all, then click on all the links.

MARKET UPDATE

Note the change in scale.














So far it's only paper money - but sometime in the near future I'm going to need to convert it to real money.

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER DOLLAR (LOST)

The stock market - and my aavings - January 1 through October 7.
The Dow Jones is down another 200 points today. I don't even want to think about it.

WV ROCKS!

Don Surber has my vote for President.

OBAMA'S TELEPROMPTER RUNS FOR PRESIDENT

Iowahawk reported that XD-235, the staff teleprompter for the Obama Presidential Campaign has issues with the Obama campaign.

Now we learn that XD235 has left the Obama Presidental Campaign and is itself running for President. Pajamas Media's Roger L. Simon has an exclusive interview.

THANKS, CONGRESS

The Dow Jones Industrial Average, for the month of September through today:
My retirement savings are down nearly 30% since the first of the year; 15% of that in the last week.

Please, don't help me any more.

PALIN PROTEST

Little Green Footballs reports on an anti-Palin protest in southern California:
















Perhaps she should vote with her vagina - the brain certainly isn't working.

PALIN ENDORSEMENT

Don Surber takes note of Dolly Parton’s endorsement of Sarah Palin:

“Question: What pair of stars came out for Republican Sarah Palin?
Answer: Dolly Parton.”

Commenter John responds:

“Dude, [t]hat’s the third keyboard you owe me this week.“

And commenter no, not THAT Glenn adds:

“The link to Michael Silence’s newspaperblog yields reader comment: ‘What do you have if Dolly Parton, Barack Obama and Joe Biden walk out on stage together? A Country Western star and two of the biggest boobs you’ve ever seen.’”

PORK WATCH

Neal Boortz helpfully supplied a list of just some of the breaks essential enough to be included in the Wall Street "rescue" bill.

Sec. 101. Extension of alternative minimum tax relief for nonrefundable personal credits.
Sec. 102. Extension of increased alternative minimum tax exemption amount.
Sec. 103. Increase of AMT refundable credit amount for individuals with longterm unused credits for prior year minimum tax liability, etc.
Sec. 201. Deduction for State and local sales taxes.
Sec. 202. Deduction of qualified tuition and related expenses.
Sec. 203. Deduction for certain expenses of elementary and secondary school teachers.
Sec. 204. Additional standard deduction for real property taxes for nonitemizers.
Sec. 205. Tax-free distributions from individual retirement plans for charitable purposes.
Sec. 206. Treatment of certain dividends of regulated investment companies.
Sec. 207. Stock in RIC for purposes of determining estates of nonresidents not citizens.
Sec. 208. Qualified investment entities.
Sec. 301. Extension and modification of research credit.
Sec. 302. New markets tax credit.
Sec. 303. Subpart F exception for active financing income.
Sec. 304. Extension of look-thru rule for related controlled foreign corporations.
Sec. 305. Extension of 15-year straight-line cost recovery for qualified leasehold improvements and qualified restaurant improvements; 15-year straight-line cost recovery for certain improvements to retail space.
Sec. 306. Modification of tax treatment of certain payments to controlling exempt organizations.
Sec. 307. Basis adjustment to stock of S corporations making charitable contributions of property.
Sec. 308. Increase in limit on cover over of rum excise tax to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Sec. 309. Extension of economic development credit for American Samoa.
Sec. 310. Extension of mine rescue team training credit.
Sec. 311. Extension of election to expense advanced mine safety equipment.
Sec. 312. Deduction allowable with respect to income attributable to domestic production activities in Puerto Rico.
Sec. 313. Qualified zone academy bonds.
Sec. 314. Indian employment credit.
Sec. 315. Accelerated depreciation for business property on Indian reservations.
Sec. 316. Railroad track maintenance.
Sec. 317. Seven-year cost recovery period for motorsports racing track facility.
Sec. 318. Expensing of environmental remediation costs.
Sec. 319. Extension of work opportunity tax credit for Hurricane Katrina employees.
Sec. 320. Extension of increased rehabilitation credit for structures in the Gulf Opportunity Zone.
Sec. 321. Enhanced deduction for qualified computer contributions.
Sec. 322. Tax incentives for investment in the District of Columbia.
Sec. 323. Enhanced charitable deductions for contributions of food inventory.
Sec. 324. Extension of enhanced charitable deduction for contributions of book inventory.
Sec. 325. Extension and modification of duty suspension on wool products; wool research fund; wool duty refunds.
Sec. 401. Permanent authority for undercover operations.
Sec. 402. Permanent authority for disclosure of information relating to terrorist activities.
Sec. 501. $8,500 income threshold used to calculate refundable portion of child tax credit.
Sec. 502. Provisions related to film and television productions.
Sec. 503. Exemption from excise tax for certain wooden arrows designed for use by children.
Sec. 504. Income averaging for amounts received in connection with the Exxon Valdez litigation.
Sec. 505. Certain farming business machinery and equipment treated as 5-year property.
Sec. 506. Modification of penalty on understatement of taxpayer's liability by tax return preparer.
Sec. 512. Mental health parity.
Sec. 601. Secure rural schools and community self-determination program.
Sec. 602. Transfer to abandoned mine reclamation fund.
Sec. 702. Temporary tax relief for areas damaged by 2008 Midwestern severe storms, tornados, and flooding.
Sec. 703. Reporting requirements relating to disaster relief contributions.
Sec. 704. Temporary tax-exempt bond financing and low-income housing tax relief for areas damaged by Hurricane Ike.
Sec. 706. Losses attributable to federally declared disasters.
Sec. 707. Expensing of Qualified Disaster Expenses.
Sec. 708. Net operating losses attributable to federally declared disasters.
Sec. 709. Waiver of certain mortgage revenue bond requirements following federally declared disasters.
Sec. 710. Special depreciation allowance for qualified disaster property.
Sec. 711. Increased expensing for qualified disaster assistance property.
Sec. 712. Coordination with Heartland disaster relief.
Sec. 801. Nonqualified deferred compensation from certain tax indifferent parties.

Congress should be fired en masse and replaced with 535 residents drawn at random from the population of the town of Wasilla.

MY TAKE ON THE WALL STREET "RESCUE"

"If prostitution is illegal, why is congress still operating?"

PHOTOBLOGGING

Historic church, now abandoned. Old Town, Manassas, VA.




















City Tavern Grille, Old Town, Manassas, VA

NO! NO! NO!

Dear Congresscritter:

I am writing to express my view of the latest version of the “rescue” bill. I’ve reluctantly come to the conclusion that some Government intervention is needed to restore liquidity to the financial system. But the operative word is “some,” meaning a limited intervention doing just the minimum to restore liquidity.

My reading of the news today suggests that the current version before the Senate does not meet that criteria. It will extend a number of renewable energy tax breaks for individuals and businesses; it will continue other expiring tax breaks, including the research and development credit for businesses and the credit that allows individuals to deduct state and local sales taxes on their federal returns. It will include relief from the Alternative Minimum Tax; and it will include a "Mental Health Parity" provision, requiring health insurance companies to cover mental illness as it would physical illness.

These elements are mere social engineering, irrelevant to the liquidity crisis. So I urge you to vote “No! Absolutely not!” Repeat that vote, again and again, until a clean bill addressing just the liquidity crisis is presented.

No bailouts. No. Never.

Respectfully,