INTERESTING: Casino defies evacuation order

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/fireblog

Barona Casino defies evacuation order
12:41 a.m.

***Begin Quote***

Sheriff’s Lt. Phil Brust said Barona Casino was told to evacuate as part of a mandatory evacuation order given earlier Sunday night for Wildcat Canyon Road.

“They said they would ‘shelter in place’ and did not evacuate,” Brust said.

The casino was not under lockdown and patrons could leave if they chose, he said.

***End Quote***

Now that’s interesting. “Mandatory evacuation” doesn’t apply to a casino.

:-)

I don’t think the men with guns in the gang called “california gooferment” will appreciate that attitude.

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Posted by reinkefj

INTERESTING: Trading Your Paycheck for a Coin Purse

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

http://www.safehaven.com/article-8633.htm

October 16, 2007
Trading Your Paycheck for a Coin Purse
by The Mogambo Guru

***Begin Quote***

“The damned government has now ruined the money so badly that the little bit of metal in the old coins is now worth more than the face value of the coin, but the government can’t wiggle out of paying for their sins by letting people not pay…taxes!”

JMR Arlo S. was cheery as he sent a link to Rense.com, whereupon one learns that somebody has figured out how to beat the inflationary destruction of the money by the actions and inactions by the Lying, Cheating Government (LCG) and the Lying, Cheating Federal Reserve (LCFR): Use old coins!

The headline was, “IRS Suffers Staggering Defeat”. In short, the guy paid his employees with old silver dimes, silver dollars and old gold U.S. coins according to their face value. Thus, he could pay his workers with silver dimes, silver quarters, silver dollars and gold coins, and thus the employee made so little money (according to the face value of the coins) that they fell below minimum income reporting thresholds, and thus no income tax was due.

Mr. Rense explains, “In other words, if a worker is paid with such coins, his taxable ‘income’ (if any) can only be the face value indicated upon the coin money paid – i.e., $1.00 for a circulating silver dollar or $50 for a circulating gold U.S. coin.”

The government, on the other hand, argued that the market value of those coins made them very valuable, and thus the employees owed taxes on the true value of their coins, not the paltry pittance of the face value. The IRS argued that, “Obviously, a $20 coin made of gold is worth at least $750, which is the market price of gold!”

So, “The essence of the argument is that under the Constitution, Congress is obligated by law to mint and circulate such coins as demand requires, and must establish the value of coins as they are used as legal tender, but the coins’ market value, arising as valuable personal ‘property,’ is a distinct, separate attribute of such coins, and is of no legal consequence if the coins are used as legal tender.” Hahaha! Fabulous!

***End Quote***

This is earth shaking.

It only works for imho American Eagles. Where the Mint has put a dollar value unrelated to the underlying value of the coin.

http://www.usmint.gov/mint_programs/american_eagles/index.cfm?Action=american_eagle_gold

So one buys American Eagle coins and gives them as a gift or trade. For tax reporting purposes, each coin is Fifty Dollars; not their value of $750 dollars.

A great tax dodge!

While the cited case is used to bypass the income tax laws, I’m always interested in getting around the gift tax limits (i.e., the 12k limit).

By extension:

Silver Eagle = 1 dollar = 13.49 market value = 161,880 gift value
Gold Eagle = 50 dollars = 763.80 market value = 4,582,800 gift value
Platinum Eagle = 100 dollars = 1441.00 market value = 172,920 gift value

Now, I’m neither a doctor, lawyer, accountant, or indian chief; nor do I play one on TV. But, I bet that they have just nuked the “gift taxes”.

I don’t think it will be long before the change the law, rules, and the coins.

But till then, it seems like there is a big hole you can drive a truck thru.

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UPDATE: To all my sharp eyed readers out there. (Zero) My fingers left contact with my brain when I wrote this. The correct number is $183,312.

It doesn’t invalidate the premise since I don’t know too many people who can give away 182k. What it does mean is that the 12k gift limit is temporarily in limbo!

If I had an elderly relative, then some specific planning might be in order.

imho!

NOTE: My usual disclaimer applies. I am not a doctor, lawyer, accountant, or indian chief. Nor do I play one on TV. And, I haven’t stayed in a holiday inn express in recent memory.

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Posted by reinkefj

MONEY: 20 timeless money rules

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/moneymag/0708/gallery.20_rules.moneymag/20.html

20 timeless money rules
Money Magazine collected the best advice from some of the smartest investors (and other people) who have ever lived.
By Carla Fried, Money Magazine

***Begin Quote***

1. Be humble
When you do not know a thing, to allow that you do not know it–this is knowledge.
–Confucius

2. Take calculated risks
He that is overcautious will accomplish little.
–Friedrich von Schiller

3. Have an emergency fund
For age and want, save while you may; no morning sun lasts a whole day.
–Benjamin Franklin

4. Mix it up
It is the part of a wise man to keep himself today for tomorrow and not to venture all his eggs in one basket.
–Miguel de Cervantes

5. It’s the portfolio, stupid
Asset allocation…is the overwhelmingly dominant contributor to total return.
–Gary Brinson, Brian Singer and Gilbert Beebower

6. Average is the new best
The best way to own common stocks is through an index fund.
–Warren Buffett

7. Practice patience
It never was my thinking that made the big money for me. It was always my sitting. Got that? My sitting tight!
–Edwin Lefevre

8. Don’t time the market
The real key to making money in stocks is not to get scared out of them.
–Peter Lynch

9. Be a cheapskate
Performance comes and goes, but costs roll on forever.
–Jack Bogle

10. Don’t follow the crowd
Fashion is made to become unfashionable.
–Coco Chanel

Or, as the legendary financier Sir James Goldsmith has said, “If you see a bandwagon, it’s too late.”

11. Buy low
If a business is worth a dollar and I can buy it for 40 cents, something good may happen to me.
–Warren Buffett

12. Invest abroad
The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.
–St. Augustine

13. Keep perspective
There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know.
–Harry Truman

14. Just do it
It takes as much energy to wish as it does to plan.
–Eleanor Roosevelt

15. Borrow responsibly
As life closes in on someone who has borrowed far too much money on the strength of far too little income, there are no fire escapes.
–John Kenneth Galbraith

16. Talk to your spouse
“In every house of marriage there’s room for an interpreter.”
–Stanley Kunitz

17. Exit gracefully
Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.
–Pablo Picasso

18. Pay only your share
The avoidance of taxes is the only intellectual pursuit that carries any reward.
–John Maynard Keynes

19. Give wisely
The time is always right to do the right thing.
–Martin Luther King Jr.

20. Keep money in its place
A wise man should have money in his head, but not in his heart.
–Jonathan Swift

***End Quote***

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Posted by reinkefj

FUN: dotcomeraden!

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=dotcomrade&defid=2615424

An [Internet] acquaintance; someone you chat with but have never actually met.

“So who’s this NrdPowr32 guy?”
“I dunno. Just a dotcomrade of mine.”

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Posted by reinkefj

MONEY: Economic September

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

http://www.survivalblog.com/2007/10/from_the_survivalblog_archives.html

Headline: Dumping of US Dollar Could Trigger ‘Economic September 11’

***Begin Quote***

There is a potentially fatal flaw at the heart of the global economy: the strong possibility of financial meltdown following a collapse of confidence in the greenback, Clyde Prestowitz tells Bruce Stannard
29 August 2005

THE nightmare scenario that haunts global strategist Clyde Prestowitz is an economic September 11 — a worldwide financial panic triggered by a sudden massive sell-off of US dollars that would lead inexorably to the collapse of economies around the world. If that happens, Prestowitz predicts: “It would make the Great Depression of the 1930s look like a walk in the park.” Australia would be sucked into the vortex of such a recession, which would cause great hardship throughout the world, he warns. Prestowitz is not a doomsayer, neither is he alone in his views. As president of the Economic Strategy Institute, a Washington think tank, he is in regular contact with the most influential US business leaders, several of whom — Warren Buffet and George Soros included — have taken steps to hedge their currency positions against the possibility of a cataclysmic plunge in the greenback. “Right now,” he says, “we have a situation in which the US is running huge trade deficits — about $US650 billion ($766 billion) in 2004 — which are financed by borrowings from the central banks of Asia — mainly the Chinese and the Japanese. All the world’s central banks are chock-full of US dollars — they’re holding many more dollars than they really want. They’re holding those dollars because at the moment there’s no great alternative and also because the global economy depends on US consumption. If they dump the dollar and the dollar collapses, then the whole global economy is in trouble.

***End Quote***

Sigh!

TEOTWAWKI (The End Of The World As We Know It) is postulated by a hyper inflation in Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse by James Wesley Rawles — the editor of SurvivalBlog.com.

So clearly his blog is sensitive to this issue.

But that doesn’t make it “impossible”.

When money is no longer a “store of value”, what does one do?

Beats me, but I’m open to suggestions.

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JOBSEARCH: Prepare for when the relationship goes sour

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Attention all turkeys:

When you start your new job, “prepare three envelopes”.

That’s an old joke.

http://www.notboring.com/jokes/work/3.htm

*** begin quote ***

Prepare Three Envelopes
A fellow had just been hired as the new CEO of a large high tech corporation. The CEO who was stepping down met with him privately and presented him with three numbered envelopes. “Open these if you run up against a problem you don’t think you can solve,” he said.

Well, things went along pretty smoothly, but six months later, sales took a downturn and he was really catching a lot of heat. About at his wit’s end, he remembered the envelopes. He went to his drawer and took out the first envelope. The message read, “Blame your predecessor.”

The new CEO called a press conference and tactfully laid the blame at the feet of the previous CEO. Satisfied with his comments, the press — and Wall Street — responded positively, sales began to pick up and the problem was soon behind him.

About a year later, the company was again experiencing a slight dip in sales, combined with serious product problems. Having learned from his previous experience, the CEO quickly opened the second envelope. The message read, “Reorganize.” This he did, and the company quickly rebounded.

After several consecutive profitable quarters, the company once again fell on difficult times. The CEO went to his office, closed the door and opened the third envelope.

The message said, “Prepare three envelopes.”

*** end quote ***

There are a lot of true things said in jest.

This is one of them.

Eventually, things will turn nasty.

I don’t care that today the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and all is right in the Universe. You may be looking forward to cashing your first paycheck. Time to look a little more forward.

There will be a day, in the all to soon future, where you will be –proverbially — opening the “third envelope”.

Now assuming that you don’t have an employment contract — not many of us do — you’ll be facing the unpleasantness of the potential axe.

So, today, right now, when all is good, please please plan your demise.

Create a folder at home called “DOOMSDAY”. Into that you should be putting “important” documents related to your employment. By “important”, I mean as it relates to your continued employment. So immediately, your offer letter should be in there. As well as anything that is ever given you by HR, Payroll, Finance, Personnel, whatever as it applies to your continued employment. In addition, you should document every significant conversation you ever have with anyone higher than you, lower than you, or in a support organization that has anything to do with your continued employment. Keep your own set of book. Fill out a personal time sheet. Have comp time, keep a record. Keep a score card of what you do. Don’t share it with anyone, store it on their computers, send it over their wire, or even keep it in the office.

Trust me. Some day, you’ll be glad you did.

You’re not doing this to pick a fight or focus on the bad stuff that can happen. (And will happen, if you focus on the negative.) This is to be ready for “war” should a fight break out.

It might get you some leverage in the severance process.

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Posted by reinkefj