I Agree.

Tell that to the economists. I love this Bill Hicks quote. via

George Washington's View on The Debt Ceiling

Hello Washington, it's George. Is anybody listening?

Tax Collector Accepting Barter

"Paying the Tax" or "The Tax Collector"
(Click photo to enlarge)

Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1565–1636), Flemish painter. Oil on panel circa 1620. USC Fisher Museum of Art, The Armand Hammer Collection. I wonder if any of the stuff I've been getting rid of lately would have qualified as barter? I can identify with the lady digging through the basket to find something of value.

Taxpayers will have until Monday, April 18 to file their 2010 tax returns and pay any tax due because Emancipation Day, a holiday observed in Washington, D.C., fell this year on Friday, April 15. This just gave most people three more days to procrastinate.

Save New Jersey Libraries | Please

Photo by Pam Hasegawa

Budget imperils New Jersey's libraries
I go to the library at least once a week. My mother is legally blind from macular degeneration and she listens to books on tape every day. Webster likes them too. Mother (89 years old) loves a good mystery and Webster likes any audio book read by a man. For new readers of this blog I must explain that Webster is a dog. Tabitha (the cat) isn't picky and will listen to anything. The new governor of NJ Chris Christie is proposing a 74% reduction in library funding to include a 50% cut in direct aid to libraries. This is the most serious threat to New Jersey libraries for as long as anyone can remember. Click on the link above to read the full story about this whole mess.

I filled out a protest card at the Morristown library today (pictured above in photos 2, 3, and 4); they will mail it for me. Please go to your local NJ library to do this as well. There are more links below you should look at if you want to save New Jersey Libraries and their FREE INTERNET ACCESS which will disappear if this goes through.

We must raise our voices and protest as loudly as we can since the librarians can't speak above a whisper and don't belong to a union. They are planning a rally in Trenton to lobby for themselves on May 6th. I hope someone will be listening.

Save My NJ Library

I Love NJ Libraries

Save NJ Libraries! on Facebook

This is National Library Week and I'd much rather be posting something that celebrates libraries instead of threatening them.




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Wonderful Quote About Money and Books

This certainly rings true for me. This sounds like the perfect way to manage your budget so there's always enough money for another book. Read a short biography of Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus.

A screensaver for your desktop until April 15th tax deadline . . .

"Paying the Tax" or "The Tax Collector"
(Click photo to enlarge)

Pieter Brueghel the Younger (1564 or 1565–1636), Flemish painter. Oil on panel circa 1620. USC Fisher Museum of Art, The Armand Hammer Collection.

I thought you might want to use this as a screensaver for your desktop to remind you that April 15th is just around the corner and you should start figuring your taxes.

Some things never change, do they? There are papers everywhere and nobody looks happy. I wonder what that woman is digging out of that basket? Certainly not credit card receipts!

Timely 17th century quote on taxation by Jean-Baptiste Colbert . . .

"The art of taxation consists of so plucking the goose as to obtain the largest amount of feathers while promoting the smallest amount of hissing."

A very timely quote by Jean-Baptiste Colbert, French Economist and Minister of Finance under King Louis XIV of France 1619-1683.

Some things never change, do they? I appreciate the humor of this man in tights!

Image from one of my antiquarian prints.

My dog is worried about the economy . . .

My dog Webster is very worried about the economy.

His wet dog food is up to $1.00 a can.

That's $7.00 in dog money!

UDDERLY Unstable American Ecomomy . . .

OLD AMERICAN ECONOMY
You had two cows.
You sold one and bought a bull.
Your herd multiplied, and the economy grew.
You sold them and retired on the income.



NEW AMERICAN ECONOMY (SINCE 2003)
You have two cows.
You force one of them to produce the milk of four cows.
Later, you hire a consultant to analyze why the cow has dropped dead.
You sell the other cow, and start buying dead ‘bulls’ in the expectation that they will be reborn someday.

The solution seems pretty simple, doesn't it? I don't think it takes a genius to figure out how to fix it, do you?

Timely George Washington Quote about Debt . . .

Isn't this the best quote you've seen in ages? It is over 200 years old and still rings true. Too bad it is not practiced. Our national debt is incomrehensible to me.

Image is a scan of one of my early 19th century antiquarian prints. Engraved by A. Daggett from the original painting by Colonel Trumbull.

New York Magazine Cover | Bernie Madoff as The Joker . . .

Guilty of 11 counts of fraud + money laundering.
What about stealing $68 billion and conspiracy?

Jail is too good for this monster!

"Orange is the new black" | Bernie Madoff Quote

Do white-collar criminals have to wear those orange jumpsuits? Oh, how I hope they do!

Abraham Lincoln Money Quote . . .

Timely Thomas Jefferson Banking Quote . . .

"Banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies." Thomas Jefferson

Source: stated in 1811 when President Jefferson refused to renew the charter for the First Bank of the United States (the 2nd central bank chartered by Congress in 1791).

The beautiful building shown above is The Second Bank of the United States, Philadelphia on Chestnut Street between 4th & 5th. It was founded after the War of 1812 when it was realized that without a national bank (the charter on the first bank was allowed to lapse) it would be impossible to fund another war such as the one just fought. Founded in 1816, the building was finished in 1818. William Strickland, one of the first great American architects designed the building, and Nicholas Biddle was the first president of the bank. After a long battle, Andrew Jackson disbanded the bank in 1832 during his crusade against the national banking system.

Henry Ford Money and Banking Quote . . .

Bernie Madoff cartoon . . .

I am still in shock that this man is not in jail.

via