Abolish Income Tax for 3 Years

"The risk of doing too much is much less than the risk of doing too little."
-Lord John Eatwell

In April 2004, Alan and I were vacationing on the Carribean island of St. Lucia at The BodyHoliday at Le Sport Hotel. It was an unforgettalbe spa/exercise/all-inclusive meals experience.
www.definitivecaribbean.com/accommodation/TheBodyHolidayatLeSPORT.aspx
The clientele was predominantly British at the time of our visit. We made three key friends:
1. The Wimbledon Wives-a group of six women who live in the Surrey area of England who celebrate Birthdays' and go on vacations together. We named them 'The Wimbledon Wives' after comparing them to the 'First Wives Club' & 'The Calendar Girls' movies.
2. Lady Suzi Digby, a divorcee on holiday
3. Ron and Jean Ford with their daughter, Anne Ford (a European Union language translator)

Since 2004, Lady Suzi Digby has married Lord John Eatwell and we have become very good friends. Suzi is becoming quite the celebrity in England after being asked to be a 'judge' in the reality show 'Last Choir Standing'.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzi_Digby

Alan and I (pictured above) visited Cambridge, England last July 2008 in honor of Suzi's big 50th Birthday party extravaganza. This past Monday we had the joy of entertaining John & Suzi as our guests in Marina Del Rey, CA. John shared the initial quote (above) with us while staying here. I had to jot it down as something to remember. John is an influential British economist who is currently the President of Queens College in Cambridge.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Eatwell

Today, Lord John Eatwell has a featured article in the Financial Times "The Bank must act to bring lenders together".
www.ft.com/cms/s/0/565e877a-ddbe-11dd-87dc-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1
The article reminds us:

If only all could be persuaded to spend then all would be better off.

Institutions will not lend to each other because they are concerned about whether they in turn will be able to borrow cash when they need it. There is little incentive to be the first to resume normal money market operations.

...acting alone results in self-fulfilling misery. Acting together can result in self-fulfilling recovery.

In addition, I must share the words that impacted me this morning by a senior economist (Stephen Moore) for The Wall Street Journal. He wrote about the classic 1957 novel by Ayn Rand (Atlas Shrugged) which is about the economic carnage caused by big government run amok.
www.amazon.com/Atlas-Shrugged-Ayn-Rand/dp/0452011876/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231529802&sr=8-1
The moral of the story is that politicians will respond to crises--that in most cases they themselves created--by spawning new government porgrams, laws and regulations. These, in turn, generated more havoc and poverty, which inspires the politicians to create more programs.

The author, Ayn Rand, came to America from Soviet Russia with insight into totalitarianism and the destruction of socialism. Near the end of her classic fictional book that seems to have turned to fact fifty-two years later the econmy has been rendered comatose by all the great minds in Washington. Out of desperation, the politicians come to the heroic businessman. The fictional character gave this advice:
"...start by abolishing all income tax."
"Oh no!" screamed Mr. X (Nancy Pelosi), leaping to his feet. "We couldn't do that...How would we pay government employees."
"Fire your government employees."
"Oh no!"

I wonder what would happen if we did abolish income tax...for say...three years?

The Atlas Society is dedicated to promoting Rand's ideas.
www.atlassociety.org/

Twenty-five years ago today

January 9, 1984

I believe Barbara Reynolds and I have settled our differences. We shared glances, smiles and "hello" today. I also placed an order for some premium telephone services (Call Waiting and 3-Way Calling), giving Barbara the sale credit. Perhaps that broke the ice.

I called Morris Landy FORD on Park Street in Alameda and there is no word yet on the repair of my car stereo.

I called Paloma Sanchez-Guerra and she is having her own car troubles once again.
"If the car is repaired today I will come over tomorrow night," Paloma said.
That sounded 'promising'. Or is it merely 'questionable'?

I also called Cabine International Modeling and spoke to the owner, Gilbert. He asked me to come to his office in San Francisco at 5:30pm. I agreed.

After work in Downtown Oakland I took BART to San Francisco to meet with Gilbert Hernandez. He is Puerto Rican.

Funny...I just found this link of one his short-lived male models' career:
www.employees.org/~mlarsen/Cabine/

When I arrived at the Cabine International Office I saw Kevin Ward, Olga (Kevin's wife) and Gilbert. They were talking about marital bliss, marriage problems and the 'damned' mother-in-laws. Olga was practically in tears. It was amazingly dramatic and "real". How did I just happen to walk in and start to add my opinion about the marriage matters? It was an interesting visit to say the least. I suppose it was good for me because Gilbert was enthusiastic about me (or so I thought).
"You are very handsome and could easily be used as a 'commercial model'," Gilbert said with conviction.
It all sounded like a difficult process to me but a potential worthwhile adventure. We discussed other topics after Kevin and Olga had left the office. Gilbert told me about the time he almost committed suicide!
"I'm a Leo, born on August 23rd," he said. Or did he say August 28th?

I started to feel a little uncomfortable at his gestures and started to feel that he liked me just a little bit 'too much'. This isn't a good thing because the last thing I wanted to do is hurt the guy (suicide watch visions). I could be his confidant and friend though. Maybe he can bring about my five minutes of fame in life. It could prove fun and interesting...or at least worthy of looking further into his business operations.

Gilbert kept my snapshots.
"Please call me back tonight and we will talk more," he said.

I called him after I had called Leslie Fonseca. Leslie and I shared some general 'small talk'...nothing serious. When I called Gilbert he immediately said he would call me back in five minutes.

I am writing now as I wait for his return call.

He called back to invite me over for a drink tomorrow night (after work).
"Let's go dancing to the I-BEAM on Saturday night," he added.
The I-BEAM is the place that Paloma and I love to dance. I don't mind going with Gilbert but I want to know what the circumstances are with regard to taking hold of my so-called 'modeling venture'. Is he just trying to make a 'date' out of this? I want to see how far this will go.
"I want you to read this 'Love & Infatuation' poem. I really think you can use it," I said seriously.
I can't believe I talked to Gilbert on the phone until midnight. The experience was new to me. I just didn't know how to react to a lot of his flirtatious comments. He seems to be very attracted to me mentally and physically. I tend to read people well. I have no attraction for him whatsoever. Ugh. I would only be his friend/companion. What a hoot. Is this my entrance into Cabine International Models? How far I will get beyond this is unknown.
"You resemble Erik Estrada, most especially the smile," Gilbert said.