Here is a cool visual display of where your tax dollars go. This only represents the discretionary budget that the President submits to Congress every year. Entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security are not included even though they are a huge part of the taxes we pay.
Archive for the ‘Learn Something’ Category
Where do your taxes go?
Saturday, April 21st, 2007Brain freeze cure
Monday, February 12th, 2007Somewhere in the past, someone gave me the (almost) perfect cure for a brain freeze.
Brain freeze? We have all had them — drank something cold too fast leading to a headache.
Cure? Pinch the tip of your tongue. This remedy works for about 85% of the dozens of people I have suggested it to over the years.
Words of the Day
Friday, February 9th, 2007One of my fascinations in life is words. I have subscribed to Word-of-the-Day for years. Here are some of my highlights over the last couple months. Now let’s see you use them in a sentence. If you already knew most of these words, please email me. I would love to learn some more sesquipedalians.
Words of the Day
esurient ..ih-SUR-ee-uhnt; -ZUR-.., adjective:
Hungry; voracious; greedy.
recondite ..REK-uhn-dyt.., adjective:
1. Difficult to understand; [1]abstruse.
2. Concerned with obscure subject matter.
sine qua non ..sin-ih-kwah-NON; -NOHN; sy-nih-kway-.., noun:
An essential condition or element; an indispensable thing
gastronome ..GAS-truh-nohm.., noun:
A connoisseur of good food and drink.
quiddity ..KWID-ih-tee.., noun:
1. The essence, nature, or distinctive peculiarity of a thing.
2. A hairsplitting distinction; a trifling point; a quibble.
3. An eccentricity; an odd feature.
jollification ..jol-ih-fuh-KAY-shuhn.., noun:
Merrymaking; festivity; revelry.
melange ..may-LAHNZH.., noun:
A mixture; a medley.
sacrosanct ..SAK-roh-sankt.., adjective:
Sacred; inviolable.
paladin ..PAL-uh-din.., noun:
1. A knight-errant; a distinguished champion of a medieval
king or prince; as, the paladins of Charlemagne.
2. A champion of a cause.
tmesis ..TMEE-sis.., noun:
In grammar and rhetoric, the separation of the parts of a
compound word, now generally done for humorous effect; for example, “what place soever” instead of “whatsoever place,” or “abso-bloody-lutely.”
lassitude ..LASS-uh-tood; LASS-uh-tyood.., noun:
Lack of vitality or energy; weariness; listlessness.
anodyne ..AN-uh-dyn.., adjective:
1. Serving to relieve pain; soothing.
2. Not likely to offend; bland; innocuous.
noun:
1. A medicine that relieves pain.
2. Anything that calms, comforts, or soothes disturbed
feelings.
alpenglow ..AL-puhn-gloh.., noun:
A reddish glow seen near sunset or sunrise on the summits of
mountains.
sesquipedalian ..ses-kwuh-puh-DAYL-yuhn.., adjective:
1. Given to or characterized by the use of long words.
2. Long and ponderous; having many syllables.
noun:
A long word.