How many zeros in a billion?

How many zeros in a billion?
Source: Email Contribution

This is too true … to be funny.

The next time you hear a politician use the word 'billion' in a casual manner, think about whether you want the 'politicians' spending YOUR tax money.

A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into some perspective in one of it's releases.

A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.


B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.


C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.


D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth.


E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.

While this thought is still fresh in our brain, let's take a look at New Orleans. It's amazing what you can learn with some simple division.

Louisiana Senator, Mary Landrieu (D) is presently asking Congress for 250 BILLION DOLLARS to rebuild New Orleans. Interesting number... what does it mean?


A. Well... if you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans (every man, woman, and child) you each get $516,528.

B. Or... if you have one of the 188,251 homes in New Orleans, your home gets $1,329,787.

C. Or... if you are a family of four, your family gets $2,066,012.

Washington, D. C .....HELLO???!!?? Are all your calculators broken?? Accounts Receivable Tax

Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax
Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax
Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers)
Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax


STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?

Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.

We had absolutely no national debt...

We had the largest middle class in the world .... and mom stayed home to raise the kids.

What happened … ?? …. can you spell 'politicians!'

And I still have to press '1' for English.

WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED ???


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How to Start a Wiki

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

A wiki is a Web-based application that allows a group of users to edit and contribute content through a web browser. It's one of the most fascinating new technologies that have been introduced to the Internet in the past few years! Since the editable articles are generally available to anyone through the World Wide Web, wikis are also becoming more important to business operations as well--having a wiki that runs internally behind the corporate firewall is a very productive environment for employees to share company information, such as specifications and corporate tutorials, for example.Have you ever wanted to start your own wiki website, like wikiHow, Wikipedia or Wikitravel? Here's how to set up your own wiki, which is quite easy with just a bit of research!

Steps

1. Decide which features you want your wiki to have. There are several software packages available that have slightly different features. If you have a general idea of which features you want, you can start researching the different options and make your selection.
   
2. Research the various available software packages (see External Links below) and take a look at a few sites that operate on these systems. For instance, Mediawiki is the software that Wikipedia currently uses. If you would like the feature set that Wikipedia has, you would probably choose this one. MediaWiki is derived from UseModWiki, a wiki engine that is also publicly available and that has a simple interface and is used on some of the sites that WikiWikiWeb, the first wiki, considers its "sister sites." Other popular sites use TikiWiki.
   
3. Choose how you want to host your wiki. In most cases, you will want your wiki to be accessible from the Internet, so you will have to find a hosting package that either offers a wiki or meets the requirements for building your own wiki. Keep in mind the following:
   
   • Most wikis require an environment that has MySQL, PHP and Apache to be run effectively, but other configurations are supported since there are several packages to choose from.
     
   • If you are very ambitious, you can consider getting your own dedicated server to host your wiki. This generally provides much more flexibility for your wiki, but is much more expensive.
     
   • Several free wiki hosting sites are available and relatively easy to set up (see External Links).
     
   
   
4. Carefully and thoroughly read through the instructions that accompany your wiki regarding the configuration. Sometimes you'll be required to change your Apache configuration or add MySQL databases and tables. Some wikis will have a configuration page that you can submit all of your relevant values and the page will set everything up for you.
   
5. Develop community guidelines and a focus for your wiki. Clearly present this information to visitors so that they have a basis through which to view and contribute to the wiki.
   
6. Spread the word about your wiki. Start by e-mailing fellow employees or contacting friends. Initially you can expect that your wiki will grow slowly, probably slower than you would like. Establishing a user base is a big challenge and finding dedicated users who are inspired by your ideas in the early phases can be quite difficult.
   
7. Most importantly, have fun with your wiki and enjoy the information that is being communicated between people! The Internet was built in order to facilitate communication and the wiki is currently one of the most effective environments for collecting and sharing information. Congratulations on starting your own!
   

Tips

• Make sure you choose a license for your Wiki's content before you start up. The most common licenses are the GNU Free Documentation License and Creative Commons license.
  

Warnings

• Submitting copyright-violating information on your Wiki can get you into legal trouble if your wiki is publicly accessible.
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Create a Website
  
• How to Write a New Article on wikiHow
  
• How to Start an Online Discussion Community
  
• How to Contribute to wikiHow
  

External Links

• Well-known wiki farms and wiki engines reviewed by users of WikiWikiWeb, the first wiki ever.
  
• WikiIndex lists over 3,400 different wikis, along with language, topics and wiki engine.
  
• Wikipedia's List of Wikis.
  
• Wikia, a free Wiki-hosting project owned by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales. Formerly known as Wikicities.
  
• How to start a new Wikia
  
• ScribbleWiki, a free Wiki hosting service.
  
• Wikimatrix, comparisons of wiki packages.
  
• MediaWiki, popular wiki engine (Used for Wikimedia projects and wikiHow)
  
• PBwiki, a high-quality and easy to use wiki hosting service that has free and premium versions.
  

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Start a Wiki. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

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