There is definately something wrong with the human race

[4th Horseman]

perhaps I went too far with the play station Hyperbole? I am saying that US poor have more than shelter, food, and warmth; while the real poor in the world face real deprivation.

I get more upset with what people spend on their pets, or for 16 year old's birthday parties than I do with what entertainers make. But again, it's their money.

Taxes? The top 1% of US taxpayers pay a third of the total taxes collected by the government. Of course most of us think we pay too much and that too much of it is misspent. Instead of your employer taking taxes out of your check, I wish you had to write a check to each tax (fed, state, ss, medi). Then people might start thinking of it as their money.

Hey my friend...its a very complex issue. To most people, poverty is not being able to "keep up with the Jonese"...there is a very warped sense of entitlement in the U.S. - many, many people feel they are owed something by either their contemporaries or their government. We see the athletes like Alan Iverson complain that he has trouble feeding his family on his paltry 14 million dollar a year salary. We see actors refuse to pick up a script unless they get a minimum of 20 million dollars. We see Corp execs who take "golden parachute" packages worth millions regardless of their performance. In fact, it seems the worse leader you are, the more likely your board of directors will be so glad to get rid of you that they will sweeten the package..

Hippyroo, if i told you how much my wife and i spend annually for both of our son's travel baseball teams, you would think i was nuts. We travel constantly, one weekend down south, the next weekend up north. Both boys have been to Cooperstown (our older one goes back again this year) New York, Colorado, Arizona, and now it looks like Florida and Monterey California this summer. My older son, 12, has also been asked to go to Myrtle Beach in August with another team. Both my wife and i wonder just what that money would have bought US. A new addition to the house? A new car? But you know, neither of us would trade it for the world. The boys are making memories that will last a lifetime. Tempus Fugit my friend, i still remember bringing our first one home, and yet in two years its off to high school...It has been a sacrifice for us, but we have no regrets...pictures to come..

4th Horseman...

[HighPlainsDrifter]

hey 4th my son Gabe now swings and cranks his little baseballs all over the place. He throws like Raul Mondesi when he was a rookie. This kid has talent. He will sit on my lap and we watch snipets of players on the computer. He loves it. He can now say Pujols. We also watch alot on Matt Kemp. I like that guy.

[The Old Man]

test reply

[hippyroo]

hey that is a great picture of your son! Yeah, I think you ought to be free to spend your money how you want - that you spend it on your kid is fantastic! Personally, I'm always about spending money to support time with family over new cars or TVs etc.

[4th Horseman]

hey 4th my son Gabe now swings and cranks his little baseballs all over the place. He throws like Raul Mondesi when he was a rookie. This kid has talent. He will sit on my lap and we watch snipets of players on the computer. He loves it. He can now say Pujols. We also watch alot on Matt Kemp. I like that guy.

your kid looks like a budding slugger, Joe...strange though you would use Mondesi as a comparison...i never liked him when he was a Dodger and bid him good riddance when he went to Toronto...may i suggest you substitute Vlad Guerrero in his place....man, you just never know. I am not going to use this forum to talk about my boys. I will say that one being right handed, the other a leftie, gives us the best of both worlds...ability and talent are two things that can come at any time...i have played enough baseball (thru collegiate level) that i could regale you with stories of friends who were absolutely NOTHING when they were younger, who, over the course of two seasons, suddenly were signing contracts with the Cleveland Indians, so you just never know...

4th Horseman..