MONEY: authentically gold-colored zinc ‘n’ copper clad tokens

Friday, April 27, 2007

http://www.bullnotbull.com/archive/mandrake.html

American Federal Reserve Token

***Begin Quote***

FART

AFARTs are brilliant 100% pure, authentically gold-colored zinc & copper clad tokens, engineered by the New American Empire and backed by the full faith and taxing power of inflation. Helicopter drops of the new FARTs are scheduled for neighborhoods soon.

***End Quote***

I think this is a stitch. Remember “helicopter ben” said in his conformation hearing that in a faltering economy he’d drop money by helicopter to keep the economy moving. That’s all the politicians had to hear. That told them that he make sure that they’d have all the money they could possibly spend.

Now where do you think all that “value” is going to come from? Yup, you guessed it. From us. The people. The schmoes. Anyone who has anything dollar denominated. Cash, savings, and such! They get to pay a special “inflation tax”.

Maybe that’s why they are so touchy about NORFED.

The Austrian economists teach us that fiat currency is the originator of the boom bust cycle. Eroding the value of the franc was factor in tumbling the French Kings.

Looking at — the Baby Boomer (losing productivity and putting them on the dole), Social Security Ponzi (decreasing workers will pay higher and higher taxes), unfunded pension plans in federal, state, local, and business (the promised benefits won’t be there), and the expanding Medicare and Drug benefits (that won’t be possible given the financial constriction) — you wonder where it ends.

Toyota displaces GM. College graduates can’t find work. College debt hangs on them.

Where does it end?

N.B. When we laugh at the “sovereigns”, they shrink in stature to be just men. That’s what they are. Fallible men!

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Posted by reinkefj

MONEY: Profits rose; guess where that come from … … your pocket?

Friday, April 27, 2007

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070427/D8OP24H80.html

Pricing Software Could Reshape Retail
Apr 27, 12:16 PM (ET)
By BRIAN BERGSTEIN

***Begin Quote***

A large retail chain had a problem. It sold three similar power drills: one for about $90, a purportedly better one at $120 and a top-tier one at $130. The higher the price, the more the store profited.

But while drill know-it-alls flocked to the $130 model and price-fretters grabbed its $90 cousin, shoppers often ignored the middle one.

So the store sought advice from a new breed of “price-optimization” software from DemandTec Inc. What followed offers us a clue about important shifts that technology is bringing to retail shopping.

After analyzing an array of variables, including sales history and competitors’ prices, the software suggested cutting the middle drill to $110.

That might have made the top drill seem more expensive. But drill aficionados still were fine shelling out $130. Sales of that drill didn’t change. However, now that the $90 version seemed less of a bargain, the store sold 4 percent fewer low-end drills – and 11 percent more of the mid-range model. Profits rose.

***End Quote***

So how do you know when you’re getting hosed? Or, drilled?

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Posted by reinkefj

RANT:Tax money being well-spent

Friday, April 27, 2007

http://wcbstv.com/local/local_story_117163117.html

Apr 27, 2007 5:07 pm US/Eastern
Porn Star Jameson Shows Up On N.J. School TV
Parents Furious; Private Firm Hired To Find Culprit
Andrew Kirtzman
Reporting

*** begin quote ***

(CBS) UNION CITY, N.J. Some eyebrows were raised at the Union City Board of Education recently. Officials discovered one or more employees have been watching pornography on school televisions.

*** end quote ***

Tax money being well-spent.

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Posted by reinkefj

JOBSEARCH: Interviewing, no college degree

Friday, April 27, 2007

Interviewing, no college degree

***Begin Quote***

May I suggest that you have good reasons for not having a degree? You just can’t express them.

To get past that hurdle, you need to be ready for the question. Some acceptable answers MIGHT be: money (“my family was dirt poor and they need my help”); unnecessary (“sales doesn’t require a degree because there’s no Bachelor of Sales; should be; so I learned on my own”); or even temperament (“sitting listening to lectures and taking tests is not how to learn; I’ve done this on my own. See here.”)

Just as now there are “extension schools” that give test with credit for life experience, you need to have EVIDENCE that you have the equivalent. Use your references. Have you written a book? Articles? Love letters … … err, no that won’t work unless you Liz barret browning.

In getting a job, you have to engage in a series of conversations that fully explore what is really required, and what is someone’s nice to have. When I interviewed people, I used to take a College Degree as evidence of an ability to stick with a four year project, self-motivate, and convince a variety of people that the candidate knew something. Try the same tactic. Identify what the buyer thinks that a college degree means, and give EVIDENCE that you have that quality.

You do have a BRAG BOOK don’t you? For every claim on your resume, you should have evidence in your “brag book” to support it.

Note that “evidence” does not mean you saying “X” it’s something tangible that proves you have it. Think what do I show Judge Judy. “Dumb is forever”. So, if I put on my resume (heaven forbid! this is an example) that I am a Sudoku player, then I should have a blue ribbon prize for winning my town’s contest. The entry on the resume is a claim. The certificate is EVIDENCE. Me saying it in the interview is merely repeating my claim. How does the interviewer know you are telling the truth?

***End Quote***

UPDATE: On 30 April 07, my answer was designated “best”!

Hey, reinkefj, look what you got!
Congratulations, you’ve got a best answer and 10 extra points!
Your answer to the following question really hit the spot and has been chosen as the best answer:
Interviewing, no college degree…?
Go ahead, do your victory dance. Celebrate a little. Brag a little. Then come back and answer a few more questions!
Thanks for sharing what you know and making someone’s day.
The Yahoo! Answers Team

Note: This is me doing my “best” dance!
avatar1-20070418182051.png

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Posted by reinkefj

TECH SERVICE: YAHOO is responding very poorly today now

Friday, April 27, 2007

FWIW, it usually is snappy. Today it feels like it is timing out. Sigh!

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Posted by reinkefj

RANT: employers who refused to cover medical costs

Friday, April 27, 2007

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/arti
cles/2007/04/26/standing_up_for_fairness_on_business_tax_ref
orm/?rss_id=Boston+Globe+–+Op-ed+columns

http://tinyurl.com/2xswdy

Standing up for fairness on business tax reform
By Joan Vennochi, Globe Columnist | April 26, 2007

HOUSE SPEAKER Salvatore DiMasi is at his best when he stands up for fairness.
title

*** begin quote ***

When Beacon Hill took up healthcare reform, DiMasi insisted business must share the cost of expanding coverage to the uninsured. He did it, he said, because it wasn’t fair to force taxpayers to cover for employers who refused to cover medical costs for their employees.

*** end quote ***

Argh!

Doesn’t the author realize who is using force here? It’s the gooferment. Maybe it’s the writer’s gooferment education kicking in, but first the gooferment causes a problem and then they rush in to “fix” it. And, in the process cause more problems.

:-)

“Benefits” came about as a result of the WW2 Wage and Price controls.

Business don’t “give” benefits, they pay for them. Pay dearly.

Business never “pay for” anything. They are really artificial constructs to pass stuff along. The business passes a cost along to a buyer, a supplier, or an employee. EITHER they earn a profit based on doing this or they go out of business.

So let’s examine “benefits”.

Having had my own business, and probably will again in the future, (after all no one hire OLD people anymore), what an employee earns is only a part of their total compensation. If a business “gives” the employee “benefits”, they could pay them less in salary. Don’t forget the “employer’s share of social security”! That comes out of the employees total comp too. If I’m an employer with something that needs doing, I include the cost of the labor. That cost is loaded with what it costs me; not what they employee’s check says.

Also, since the Taxachusetts mandatory health benefit will be a tax on business, who will pay it? Not who writes the check, but who going to get less? Think of it like a balloon. Hold it tight and push on one side. It expands on the other side. Like conservation of momentum! The business just passes stuff along. So, if the business has to pay more, who is going to pay more or get less? It’s truly a zero sum game.

When business have no way to pass along a cost (i.e., the market won’t pay more for their product, suppliers won’t charge less, or employees won’t work for less), they close up shop. No margin; no mission.

I wonder how the politicians will NEXT fix the “economy” or the “unemployment problem”?

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Posted by reinkefj