World Premier: Provision Theater Presents Capote October 28, 2008
Posted by Steve in : Weblog , add a commentCheck out the World Premier of Truman Capote’s “A Christmas Memory” and “The Thanksgiving Visitor”presented by the critically acclaimed Provision Theater Company. This adaptation by Tim Gregory opens in just a few days (Nov 5) so get your tickets now! More info
Provision Theater Company at the Royal George Theatre
OPENING DATE: Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008
CLOSING DATE: Sunday, Dec. 21, 2008
TIME: Wednesdays at 1 p.m.
Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.,
Sundays at 3 p.m.
LOCATION: 1641 N. Halsted Street - Chicago
Thanksgiving and Christmas mean something different to everyone. For seven-year-old Buddy, it means a new home and a new family. When his mother drops him off with her somewhat eccentric family at the edge of a small town, Buddy’s first friend becomes his best friend. He develops an unforgettable relationship with his elderly cousin, Miss Sook Faulk. The two find themselves on one amazing adventure after another, proving that friendship is the greatest gift of all. Based on the best selling books by Truman Capote, A CHRISTMAS MEMORY and THE THANKSGIVING VISITOR, center on the author’s early years growing up in Monroeville, Alabama. After becoming a literary sensation in his 20s, Capote still referred to his late cousin, a recluse who had never crossed the county line, as “an irreplaceable part of myself.”
Tickets are $26 and can be reserved by phone or Click here to buy online. Discounts for groups
Provision Theater Box Office - 312-988-9000
For more information about Provision Theater Company visit www.provisiontheater.org
A Nation of Redistribution? October 27, 2008
Posted by Steve in : Breaking News , 3commentsWow!….I do not think it is our elected officials job to redistribute wealth through legislation. As a serial entrepreneur, I am trying to build businesses, hire folks, and create value for my investors, many of whom are friends and family. I do not think that whoever is President should redistribute wealth — that creates huge disincentive for entrepreneurs like me to build new businesses and makes it incredibly hard to get investors in new businesses. I do not want a Russia-like economic environment. Listen folks, I am not about personal attacks — I just want to see the best possible business environment so that entrepreneurs and small business owners can thrive. What do you think? I would like to hear your comments on the impact of redistribution of wealth on entrepreneurs.
here are others reporting on “redistribution of wealth”
Democrat: Why are We in this Housing Mess? October 23, 2008
Posted by Steve in : Weblog , add a commentI read an article today laying out why we are in the housing mess that we are. The writer, Orson Scott Card, is a Democrat and a newspaper columnist, and in this article he helps us understand what government decisions lead to the housing crisis we are in today. He says”
This housing crisis didn’t come out of nowhere. It was not a vague emanation of the evil Bush administration. It was a direct result of the political decision, back in the late 1990s, to loosen the rules of lending so that home loans would be more accessible to poor people. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were authorized to approve risky loans. What is a risky loan? It’s a loan that the recipient is likely not to be able to repay. The goal of this rule change was to help the poor — which especially would help members of minority groups. But how does it help these people to give them a loan that they can’t repay? They get into a house, yes, but when they can’t make the payments, they lose the house — along with their credit rating. They end up worse off than before. This was completely foreseeable and in fact many people did foresee it.
He then goes on to look at reporting which is not so much my concern today — As a free-marketist (Is that a word?), I am not sure that having the government tell financial institutions who to make loans to gives us a solid financial footing in the long run…
What do you think?
Tribune Analyzes Palin October 21, 2008
Posted by Steve in : Weblog , add a commentThe Chicago Tribune looks at Sarah Palin’s faith over the years, speaking to former pastors. Says Pastor Tim McGraw:
“She was very conscientious about applying the worldview of what she was discovering in Christ to her day-to-day life. But I think she did it with and does it with what the Bible calls wisdom—in other words practicality, not religious craziness.”
The article also looks at her youth, childhood and experience as Governor of Alaska, commenting:
As chief executive of Alaska, she signed a proclamation marking Christian Heritage Week as an occasion to remind Alaskans of the role Christianity has played in the state’s history. Palin also argued that public school students should engage in a “healthy debate” between evolution and creationism.
Our Simple Tax System October 20, 2008
Posted by Steve in : Weblog , 2commentsI got this in the email from a university professor and had to laugh. I always love it when the academics break things down for simple folks like me. Whichever way you vote (and please make sure you do), I found this entertaining. This is why Joe the Plumber is not happy about our tax system — it encourages him to make less, not work as hard, or leave.
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it
would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. ‘Since you are all such good customers, he said, ‘I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20. Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But
what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his ‘fair share?’
They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).
The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to
compare their savings.
‘I only got a dollar out of the $20′, declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,’ but he got $10!’
‘Yeah, that’s right’, exclaimed the fifth man. ‘I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than I!’
‘That’s true!!’ shouted the seventh man. ‘Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!’
‘Wait a minute,’ yelled the first four men in unison. ‘We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!’
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
Tennessee Joe the Plumber Speaks Out Too October 18, 2008
Posted by Steve in : Weblog , 3commentsIt’s Joe the Plumber’s time to speak out in Tennessee.
Joe the Plumber, of Knoxville, that is, says he’s less concerned about whether he gets a tax break if his customers still can’t afford to hire him. Still, Joe Shanks, a licensed master plumber and owner of Joe’s Plumbing Service in the Cedar Bluff area, has followed the presidential campaigns the same as his much-quoted counterpart in Toledo, Ohio, who questioned Democratic Sen. Barack Obama over his proposed tax hike for those who make more than $250,000 a year. Shanks said his business, which he jointly runs with his wife, Catherine, doesn’t earn the couple nearly that much income.
Shanks, an independent voter, said he’s supporting Republican Sen. John McCain, citing the official’s career experience in office as the deciding factor for him. “I’d just feel more comfortable, confident and safe with McCain,” the plumber said. “McCain’s been there. Obama’s just not that experienced.” Shanks likened the decision to a homeowner in need of a plumber - would you hire the guy who just got his trade license, he asked, or a seasoned professional?
Think you are having a bad day???…… October 17, 2008
Posted by Steve in : Weblog , add a commentWhenever I have a bad day, I watch this and don’t feel my problems are that bad….
(HT: Brain Nuggets)
Supermajority: Potential Impact October 17, 2008
Posted by Steve in : Weblog , 1 comment so farWow- this was sobering….I am a free market entrepreneur and even I did not think about all the government intervention in our lives if either party gets a supermajority (including more than 60 votes in the Senate that makes all legislation filibuster-proof).
Joe the Plumber Now Part of Election October 16, 2008
Posted by Steve in : The City, Breaking News , 2comments
Who is ‘Joe the Plumber’? He is Joe Wurzelbacher, an Ohio man looking to buy a plumbing business who came to symbolize the notion Obama’s plan involving ’spreading the wealth’ in Wednesday night’s third and final presidential debate. You won’t find it in his campaign ads, but Barack Obama let slip his plans to become a modern-day Robin Hood in the White House, confiscating money from the rich to give to the poor. Check out this clip where he tells an Ohio plumber that he intends to take the profits of small-business owners and “spread the wealth around” to those with lesser incomes. The fracas over Obama’s tax plan broke out Sunday outside Toledo when Joe Wurzelbacher approached the candidate. Wurzelbacher told Obama that he planned to become the owner of a small plumbing business that will take in more than the $250,000 amount at which Obama plans to begin raising tax rates.
“Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn’t it?” the blue-collar worker asked. After Obama responded that it would, Wurzelbacher continued: “I’ve worked hard . . . I work 10 to 12 hours a day and I’m buying this company and I’m going to continue working that way. I’m getting taxed more and more while fulfilling the American Dream.” “It’s not that I want to punish your success,” Obama told him. “I want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they’ve got a chance for success, too.
Then, Obama explained his trickle-up theory of economics. “My attitude is that if the economy’s good for folks from the
bottom up, it’s gonna be good for everybody. I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody.” Critics said Obama let the cat out of the bag. “It’s clear that his main goal is redistribution of wealth, not growth,” said Andy Roth with the anti-tax group Club for Growth. Obama has been meticulous, Roth said, to conceal the “socialistic”nature of his tax plans. “But every once in a while, he lets it slip,”he said.
What did Joe the Plumber think? When asked if Mr. Obama’s response about “spreading the wealth around” satisfied him, “His answer actually scared me even more,” Mr. Wurzelbacher said. “He said he wants to distribute wealth. And I mean, I’m not trying to make statements here, but, I mean, that’s kind of a socialist viewpoint. You know, I work for that. You know, it’s my discretion who I want to give my money to; it’s not for the government decide that I make a little too much and so I need to share it with other people. That’s not the American Dream.”
What a Downer Week….. October 6, 2008
Posted by Steve in : The City, Chicago, Breaking News, Church, Powerful Passages, The Cultural Conversation, Culture and Faith, Entrepreneuring, Faith at Work , add a commentStock market ….DOWN
Michigan throttled by Illinois 45-20
Cubs Lose in first round of playoffs
White Sox Bounced from playoffs
At least we got Jesus and the Promises of God below in our corner…..
The Promises of God
| REFERENCE | |
| Seeking the best investment… | Matthew 7 |
| Starting a new job… | Psalm 1; Proverbs 16; Philippians 3:7-21 |
| You have been placed in a position of responsibility… | Joshua 1:1-9; Proverbs 2; 2 Corinthians 8:1-15 |
| Making a new home… | Psalm 127; Proverbs 17; Ephesians 5; Colossians 3; 1 Peter 3:1-17; John 4 |
| Wanting to live successfully with your fellow man… | Romans 12 |
| Anxious for dear ones… | Psalm 121; Luke 17 |
| Business is poor… | Psalm 37; 92; Ecclesiastes 5 |
| Discouraged… | Psalm 23; 42; 43 |
| Everything seems to go from bad to worse… | 2 Timothy 3; |
| Friends seem to go back on you… | Matthew 5; 1 Corinthians 13 |
| Sorrow overtakes you… | Psalm 46; Matthew 28 |
| Things look “blue”… | Psalm 34; 71; Isaiah 40 |
| You seem too busy… | Ecclesiastes 3:1-15 |
| You cannot go to sleep… | Psalm 4; 56; 130 |
| You have quarreled… | Matthew 18; Ephesians 4; James 4 |
| You are weary… | Psalm 95:1-7; Matthew 11 |
| Worries oppose you… | Psalm 46; Matthew 6 |
Are You a Slacker? October 1, 2008
Posted by Steve in : Weblog , add a comment
Are you a Slacker? or an I-Podder? Later this month, Slacker introduces it portable digital music player and the questions are already coming. Is it an iPod? Is it an old-fashioned transistor radio? These are just some of the questions the Slacker portable digital music player will have to answer when it hits U.S. stores this month in time for the lucrative holiday season.
Owners of the more than 160 million iPods out there no doubt love their sleek digital music players and their favorite music. But even favorite music gets old, and that’s where the new Slacker G2 comes in.
The $200 Slacker is a new Web radio-enabled player whose makers hope will go one better than the iPod by helping music fans to update their songs while on the go — and for free.
Here’s how it works: Users pick from a variety of pre-programmed and personalized stations on the Slacker website (www.slacker.com), ranging from those that play classic jazz to ones that play the latest indie rock hits.
They can then save their favorite stations to the Slacker — about the size of a small deck of cards with a 2.4-inch color screen — by linking to their PC either via a standard USB port or by a wireless Internet connection.
The Slacker G2 comes in a 4GB version that carries 25 stations, or around 2,500 songs, with around 1GB of personal storage space for MP3 audio files. There is also an 8GB version that carries 40 stations, or 4,000 songs, has 3GB of personal storage and sells for $250.
WiFi access makes the device particularly elegant since it refreshes your player with new music for each station saved on the player every time you connect. Once an updated station is saved, users can skip ahead on songs, or save the ones they like to a personalized station on the Slacker player.
