By Jesse Jose

A Cup O' Kapeng Barako

L aughing is healthy, especially first thing in the morning. So, for my health, I let go and laughed so hard. I really laughed, I tell ya. A hearty, mighty, LMFAO, laugh. A "hyena" daw kind of laugh, as one of my critics had described this laughter of mine. Well, it's a laugh for my health, my friend.  So sorry that it offends you.  

Because you see, Dear Readers, when I opened up my computer this morning to read the latest world news and my email, there was this short but hot story included in the top news portion of AOL, about a family portrait  of chimpanzee parents and their son, with BHO's face superimposed on a body of a chimp. 

And underneath the photo, a caption that reads: "Now you know why no birth certificate." Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! That's my hyena-like laugh, folks.

And that photo and text were mass e-mailed daw to friends and supporters by a California GOP official with Tea Party ties. And that now the members of the National Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) are all up in arms, calling for a bloodletting of this GOP official. 

It's "racist" daw and an "outrage" and a "disrespectful image" of BHO. 

Barack Obama is a handsome black man.  He's a sharp-dresser. He's tall. He has the cool moves of an athlete. He's highly-intelligent and a Harvard graduate. He's eloquent. He's got the stage presence of a rock star. Man, he rocks! We all know that. He's simply a cool dude, Bro ...  And he's the President of the most powerful country in the whole world. – Jesse Jose

A "MONKEY" JOKE; A "DAWG "JOKE: I dunno if that's really racist or an outrage or disrespectful. I think it's funny. It's a joke and that's all there's to it. Every President has had a "disrespectful" picture made of them. Why would Barack H. Obama be exempted from this?  Why would he be any different? Was it because he was depicted as a monkey? 

George W. Bush was depicted as a "dawg." There were many laughable cartoons and superimposed photos on laughable characters made of Mr. Bush.  Many other leaders of America and of other countries were depicted in much more insulting terms than this "monkey" image.

BTW, do y'all know that the "human race is only one-percent genetically superior to the chimpanzee, regardless of race"? You googlers, google it and you'll see.

Anyway, this GOP official and Tea-Party activist who circulated this funny photo and caption had already apologized for her "un-Christian" deed daw.  Hindi na daw siya uulit. Peks man daw. So I say, let's move on, ha? It was a great joke, a source of great laughter for many, and really, that should be it. 

We all know how Barack Obama looks like. He's a handsome black man. He's a sharp-dresser. He's tall. He has the cool moves of an athlete. He's highly-intelligent and a Harvard graduate. He's eloquent. He's got the stage presence of a rock star. Man, he rocks!  We all know that. He's simply a cool dude, Bro... And he's the President of the most powerful country in the whole world. Definitely, he's NO chimp! 

FORTY-FIVE PERCENT OF AMERICANS PAY NO TAXES: That was the headline in several newspapers in America Monday, April 18, the last day for filing our taxes. That headline made me angry. But like millions of taxpayers and procrastinators, who were perhaps angered by that headline, I, too, went to the Post Office, got in line to have my envelope of tax returns ... with a check in it, payable to the U.S. Treasury, stamped and mailed out on that date.

And, once again, I had to pay hundreds of dollars. No refunds for me! 

Because IRS says, everybody must pay their taxes, including me, who makes make "lots of money" daw.  Say what? I am already retired and just merely getting by. Sure, I still manage to go to Starbucks for my shot of caffeine and dish out two dollars for the brew ... and take my wife out to dinner at IHOP now and then, or when I am feeling rich and generous on a given day, perhaps a "two for one" (two for the prize of one) steak dinner at our neighborhood Applebees.

TAXES ON MY RETIREMENT CHECKS: You see, though I am fully retired, IRS still taxed me outrageously, I think. They taxed my military pension from the Navy. They taxed my police pension from Florida. They taxed my meager social security check from the federal government. 

They even taxed me for my IRA account that I am making a saving on for my "old age" because of that stupid thing, they called "excess contribution."  What excess contribution?  I am only putting in a hundred dollars a month, so that when I get old-old (I am 70-years old now), I won't be a burden to my family and to the state, and to Medicare/Medicaid, like the many PALAMUNINS and PARASITES of America.

Sure, at my age now, I am finally receiving from the Veterans Affairs a little tax-free "disability" pay, too, for a permanent injury incurred while I was in the military, laying my life on the line for this country that I love.  And from this, I am able to manage to pay, on a monthly basis, a luxury car that my wife and recently bought ... but what da heck, at my age right now, shouldn't I be entitled to a little luxury?  WTF, I worked my ass off in my heydays in jobs, often times, I had been placed in danger. 

Anyway ... back to the 45 % of Americans, who don't pay taxes.  According to Associated Press, the income tax for the wealthy is only "35 percent."  So how come people who make so much money pay so little in taxes. President Obama, from I heard, made $1.8-million last year ... at may refund pa! Can you imagine that?  I wonder who was his accountant? Perhaps, it was Geithner ... you know, Timothy Geithner, the former CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, who was found out that for several years had not paid his taxes, when he was picked by Mr. Obama to become his Treasury Secretary. Hmmmm, I tell ya....

Moving on, the nation's tax laws are packed with breaks for people at every income level.  There are breaks for having children, paying a mortgage, going to college and even for paying other taxes. 

Plus the top rate on capital gains is only 15 percent.  Whatever that means, I dunno. I am no economist or an expert in finance or a taxman ... nor a Geithner. But there were so many breaks and loopholes and "spending benefits" kuno in paying taxes that 45-percent of America's households paid no federal taxes at all for 2010.

Paraphrasing Mr. Obama, I suppose the "amount of taxes that one pays is determined by what kind of accountant you can afford ..."  But for many taxpayers, like me, all we can afford to pay for is a $20 Turbo-Tax, from Walmart. So, we pay up, while others don't! Forty-five percent of them! And, that makes me angry. That was yesterday ...   

Yesterday, I was angry at IRS, but today, I laughed at the Obama "monkey" joke. JJ