I'm done. I'm going to drive my eldery ill father to the gulf coast. not where we usually went, but to a beach in florida. I only hope I can find a beach wheelchair to carry him to the gulf.

I'd like to do more, but at his age I can't.

I'd like to also kick the rear ends of people on this site who blame the residents of Alabama, Mississipi, Louisiana, and Florida for this oil spill.

Jim, Kdog, keep them straight while I'm on vacation.

As Forrest Gump's mom said in the movie, "Vacation is when you go away and you never come back."

After her meeting with Mr. Correa, Mrs. Clinton delivered a speech at a museum in which she called for more economic equality across Latin America. Among a list of remedies, she called for tax reform to curb rampant evasion and to reduce the burden of taxes on the poor.

"It is also a simple fact that the wealthy do not pay their fair share," Mrs. Clinton said. "We can't mince words about this. Levels of tax evasion are unacceptably high - as much or more than 50 percent in some of this region's economies when it comes to personal income tax."

"Acknowledging this is not class warfare; it is not even us-versus-them rhetoric," she said. "It is a matter of recognizing that this cannot be a zero-sum game. We cannot take a winner-takes-all approach to our economic future."

Mrs. Clinton also cited the growth of the black-market economy, which further reduces tax receipts of overburdened governments. She praised President Correa for working to increase social inclusion in Ecuador, which still suffers from wide disparities of wealth in urban and rural areas.

NYT

Nothing like a little cropping to hide what you don't want the world to see.

This is the second go around for Reuters. Last time they fired some folks. Wonder what they will do now.

A Texas pipeline tycoon who died two months ago may become the first American billionaire allowed to pass his fortune to his children and grandchildren tax-free, The New York Times's David Kocieniewski reports....

Had his life ended three months earlier, Mr. Duncan's riches -- Forbes magazine estimated his worth at $9 billion, ranking him as the 74th wealthiest in the world -- would have been subject to a federal tax of at least 45 percent. If he had lived past Jan. 1, 2011, the rate would be even higher -- 55 percent.

Instead, because Congress allowed the tax to lapse for one year and gave all estates a free pass in 2010, Mr. Duncan's four children and four grandchildren stand to collect billions that in any other year would have gone to the Treasury.