New Website For New England Appliance

Just finished a new website for New England Appliance.

Steffi Goetz - Artist Of Month

Steffi is known by her web friends at Renderosity as "Schnuck" and has been posting many beautiful landscapes and Vue scenes for several years.
This is a movie of her beautiful work.



BILLIONS AND TAXES

This is too true to be funny. 

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 it's 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 Congress for 250 BILLION DOLLARS to rebuild New Orleans . Interesting number... what does it mean?

A. Well... if you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, and child) you each get $516,528.

B. Or... if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans , your home gets$1,329,787.

C. Or... if you are a family of four... your family gets $2,066,012. 


Washington , D. C  - HELLO! 

Are all your calculators broken??

Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax (Fed)
Federal Unemployment Tax (FU TA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
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 Tax 
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration T ax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax

(And to think, we left British Rule to avoid so many taxes)


STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago...
and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt...
We had the largest middle class in the world...
and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.


What happened? Can you spell 'politicians!'

WHEN A SOLDIER COMES HOME

WHEN A SOLDIER COMES HOME
This email is being circulated around the world


When a soldier comes home, he finds it hard....

..to listen to his son whine about being bored.

....to keep a straight face when people complain about potholes.

to be tolerant of people who complain about the hassle of getting ready for work.

...to be understanding when a co-worker complains about a bad night's sleep.

..to be silent when people pray to God for a new car.

...to control his panic when his wife tells him he needs to drive slower.

..to be compassionate when a businessman expresses a fear of flying.

....to keep from laughing when anxious parents say they're afraid to send their kids off to summer camp.



....to keep from ridiculing someone who complains about hot weather.




....to control his frustration when a colleague gripes about his coffee being cold.



....to remain calm when his daughter complains about having to walk the dog.



.....to be civil to people who complain about their jobs.



....to just walk away when someone says they only get two weeks of vacation a year.


....to be forgiving when someone says how hard it is to have a new baby in the house.



The only thing harder than being a Soldier..


Is loving one.

ONE NATION UNDER GOD

One Nation Under God."

This simple phrase, added to the pledge of allegiance over 50 years ago has been the source of unbelievable debate and heated controversy. Likewise, the phrase 'In God We Trust' on our currency has been targeted and continues to be attacked as improper and politically incorrect. Lawsuits have been filed and legal minds employed to ascertain whether such statements violate the concept of 'separation of church and state'.

As this debate continues, some so called experts have implied or concluded that our Founding Fathers and Patriots were not religious. These secular champions, in an effort to further their own causes, have even painted these great men and women from our history as being devoid of religious passions or even a belief in God. This is a part of their strategy to remove any discussion of God from the public forum.

These men and women were passionately religious and saw the hand of God all around them. To God they gave Thanks for His Hand in the founding of this great nation. Tho Him, according to their own testimony they turned for wisdom and strength when life and liberty hung in the balance. Certainly the debate on separation of church and state will continue. But no one can dispute how our Founding Fathers and Patriots felt about God. The record is clear!

'One Nation Under God' is Jon McNaughton's witness and reminder that those who went before us knew from whence their blessings came!




MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL !


Merry Christmas And A Very Happy New Year To All

Remarks from CBS Sunday Morning - Ben Stein


I Only hope we find GOD again before it is too late !



The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.




My confession:
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat. 
Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God, as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking. 



Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (Regarding Hurricane Katrina). Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'

In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.



Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said okay.



Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.' 



Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace. 



Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it. 



Pass it on if you think it has merit. 



If not, then just discard it... no one will know you did,, only God! But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.
My Best Regards, Honestly and Respectfully, 


Ben Stein

CALLING ALL ANGELS

New artwork - Calling All Angels - Created with Vue 6


We The People

What would Thomas Paine say today? Well, watch this:


Words Truer Now Than Ever

RFK's amazing, timeless speech. I felt like paying some respect to these great words.

New Art - Just Over The Hill

Just something new that I am working on. Someone looking just over the next hill. It has a warm fall feel.

Thank You To Armed Forces

This is pretty neat.....(a short video)... Have you ever seen one of our military walking past you and wanted to convey to them your thanks, but weren't sure how, or it felt awkward?
Recently, a gentleman from Seattle created a gesture which could be used to express your thanks and has started a movement to get the word out...
Please everybody take just a moment to watch..... The Gratitude Campaign and then forward it to your friends! THEN START USING THE SIGN.

Web TV Show

Here are some of the artists being featured on my new Campbell Graphics Web TV show. Over the coming weeks and months I plan to feature the work of many artists which will include interviews and their great art. Just click here to go the the show site and see the video in full size. All of your comments and ideas are welcome and wanted as I am just getting this started.