Ford Motor Co. workers have overwhelmingly rejected contract changes that would have allowed the automaker to cut labor costs, leaving Ford at a disadvantage to its Detroit rivals as it continues its struggle to return to profitability.
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President Barack Obama said Saturday that reports the economy is growing again and that more than 1 million jobs were saved or created by his stimulus plan show “we are moving in the right direction.”
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And he’s focusing on recovery.
Screen legend Dennis Hopper is facing an uphill battle — the 73 year-old actor has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
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We had to take him to the emergency room in middle of the night. Why is it that kids always get really sick in the middle of the night? It always has to be the middle of the night when you take them to the emergency room.
I was so nervous for him. I needed to make sure that he was ok. I was glad to hear it was just a little bit of medicine that we needed to give to him to make everything better. It is always comforting to hear that one of your sick kids only has something really small that isn't going to really hurt them very much.
Someone reminded me to set my watch back for Daylight Saving Time on November 1. ‘Set my watch?!’ I thought. Don’t most people rely on cell phones to tell the time these days?
Top Searched Watches on AOL Search:
1. Rolex watches
2. Omega watches
3. Invicta watches
4. Fossil watches
5. Seiko watches
6. Citizen watches
7. Casio watches
8. Breitling watches
9. Timex watches
10. Movado watches
The truth is, even though digital technology is taking over in many sectors, timepieces still hold a firm spot in our society. Not only are they functional, watches are also pieces of jewelry. Take, for example, ladies watches with interchangeable watch bands to match your outfits and diamond watches to wear on special occasions. Other luxury watches, like Rolex and Cartier, are a sort of status symbol. Do you think the dignified pocket watch will ever come back in style?
Even though I have not worn a watch in years, I decided that maybe I should invest in one. It is probably a good idea to always know exactly what time is and not just guesstimate. Who knows … it may even help me with my problem of being chronically late for everything!
Being as I know nothing about watches, I decided to see what brand name watches people were searching for on AOL Search. Rolex was of course number one. But, I have never heard of Invicta watches. I have heard good things about Movado watches, so maybe I will get one of them?
Does your favorite watch brand make our list? Try searching for watches on AOL Search or check out the options on AOL Shopping.
More Offers: Swatch watches, watch winder, Zodiac watches
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I think that people make such a big deal out of chocolate and I just don’t want to be part of that. I suppose I get that from my mother. She does not like chocolate much at all. I like chocolate; I just don’t get overly excited about it like most people do.
I like chocolate more than my mother does though. Whenever we make brownies she tells me not to put in all of the chocolate because if you do it makes it way to chocolaty. I think she’s a bit crazy because of that. Brownies are supposed to be chocolaty.
Everyone should be asking themselves at one point or another – “Should I Pay Off My Mortgages Early”?
When choosing whether to pay down debt or invest, the primary factors are the interest rate on the debt and what rate of return you think you could safely achieve by investing. Sometimes, however, this calculation isn’t as straightforward as it appears.
For example, even your after tax interest rate on a fixed-rate mortgage can change over time. Let me explain.
If your mortgage interest is your only itemized deduction (or if your other itemized deductions are not sufficient such that they’d be larger than the standard deduction), then only a portion of the mortgage interest deduction is really providing you with a tax benefit. Therefore, as the amount of interest you’re paying goes down–because your outstanding mortgage balance is decreasing–your after-tax interest rate increases.
How about an example or two?
Jim and Jane are married and have an average outstanding mortgage balance in 2009 of $400,000. Their mortgage has a fixed 6% interest rate. They’ll pay $24,000 in interest and receive an itemized deduction for that amount.
Jim and Jane have no other itemized deductions, so they only receive a benefit for the amount by which their mortgage interest exceeds their standard deduction ($24,000 – $10,900 = $13,100). If they’re in the 25% tax bracket, they’ll save $3,275 (or $13,100 x 0.25) in taxes due to their mortgage interest deduction.
Jim and Jane’s after-tax mortgage interest rate is 5.18%, calculated as follows: ($24,000 – $3,275) ÷ $400,000 = 5.18%
Carlos and Carla are in the same exact situation as Jim and Jane–married, 25% tax bracket, 6% fixed-rate mortgage, no other itemized deductions. There’s just one difference: they’ve been paying their mortgage off for a longer period of time already, so their average outstanding mortgage balance in 2009 is only $200,000. As a result, they’ll pay $12,000 in interest this year.
Like Jim and Jane, Carlos and Carla only receive a tax benefit for the amount by which their mortgage interest exceeds their standard deduction ($12,000 – $10,900 = $1,100). If they’re in the 25% tax bracket, they’ll save $275 in taxes due to their mortgage interest deduction.
Carlos and Carla’s after-tax mortgage interest rate is 5.86% calculated as follows: ($12,000 – $275) ÷ $200,000 = 5.86%.
Each couple is in the 25% tax bracket and has a 6% fixed-rate mortgage, yet because they have different outstanding balances, their after-tax interest rates are different.
In short, if nothing else changes, your after-tax interest rate on your mortgage increases as you pay off the balance (unless you have other itemized deductions sufficient to surpass your standard deduction), thereby making mortgage prepayments relatively more attractive as time goes by.
Eventually, your mortgage interest will even be less than your standard deduction assuming you have no other itemized deductions. Once that happens, none of your interests are really tax deductible because you receive the standard deduction tax benefit regardless of the interests that you are paying, making it even more attractive to pay the mortgage off early.
About the Author: Mike Piper is the author of Investing Made Simple. He also blogs at The Oblivious Investor.
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It seems so hard sometimes. Some people wake up every morning and just think about how miserable it is that they have to go back to work one more day. If those people could just take a minute to look around them at how beautiful creation is.
If they would look at the ocean and appreciate its beauty or look at a couple of birds in a nest with their baby birds, they would realize how wonderful life really is. Things can seem very hard sometimes. It seems like it will never end. People need to smile more and be more cheery about things.
101 Dalmatians the Musical is on tour. The stars of the Broadway show are 12 real dogs that are mostly rescue dogs from shelters. These pups were unwanted and left in shelters and now they are living on a Florida ranch when they are not touring in their rock star style tour bus and acting in the show.
The National tour of 101 Dalmatians the Musical starts this month in Minneapolis. And what people are talking about most is the finale, which is a 3 minute choreographed finale starring just the dogs! After the Disney movie, 101 Dalmatians premiered in 1996 and then the second one in 2000, people wanted Dalmatians for pets. Unfortunately, as cute as the black and white spotted dogs are, they don't make the best pets. Dalmatians tend to be more sickly and need vet visits which are costly. They are not real trainable and don't get along with kids so well.
So, a few years later, shelters were flooded with these cute pups that people no longer wanted to work with in their homes. But now, 12 of them have been saved by the movie. But shelters were worried there would be a repeat of the 1996 and 2000 fiasco involving over breeding then flooding the pounds with Dalmatians. So the producers of the show are giving a warning with the show, the dogs are cute but don't make great pets, so don't go out and buy one and especially, don't go out and have them bred.
I can't wait until 101 Dalmatians the musical comes to my town. I may not want a Dalmatian for a pet in my home, but I sure want to see the finale and the choreography involved with 12 Dalmatians dancing!
The world is a little bit heavy I would assume. Can you imagine someone standing with the weight of the world on its shoulders? It would be kind of funny. Maybe gravity would make it less heavy.
It might make it so that the world was a lot less heavy. I wonder what the weight of the world is. It is probably pretty heavy. It would include all the weights in the whole world and all the people in the world as well. It would be really weird to be able to test the weight of the world.
I have always loved geology classes that teach all about the earth and the way that it is built up. I wonder if the earth is secretly something else. The movie, Journey to the Center of the Earth, makes the earth seem to be very different than science say.
It's too bad there is no way for anyone to ever know. I love studying things like plate tectonics. It is so cool to think of all the different systems made in the earth that make it possible for everything to work out the way they do. It was a perfectly made planet for human life to be on. What a coincidence.
But we wouldn’t all just start floating away. There wouldn’t be some mysterious force pulling us all into the air. So what would happen is this: we would all just stay where we were, but if we jumped or anything, we wouldn’t fall back down to the ground.
We would be weightless, because you need gravity to have weight. We would still have mass, but we wouldn’t have weight. It might be the end of the world if gravity stopped working because we wouldn’t be able to really get anything done. I’m glad that we have gravity.
When something is extremely rare, we place a lot of value on it. So, since I am the only me there is, then I am rare, right? That means that I am very valuable since I am the only one of my kind. I suppose I probably share a lot of similarities with a lot of different people, but no one on earth is exactly like me in every single way. I wonder if there is anyone out there who is almost exactly like me and only different in a few simple ways.
That would be weird, especially if we met each other on the street one day. I wonder if we would notice that we are so much alike. I think that too often we assume that others are more different from us than similar. We focus in on the differences and don’t take enough time to notice all the similarities. I wonder if we would get along with each other, this almost-me and me. You always hear stories about people who are a lot alike that don’t get along very well.
I suppose that there are some people who are a lot alike that get along just fine. I guess us getting along would depend on the ways that we differ from each other. And it is difficult to say which differences would allow us to get along, because it would depend on how we are feeling at the time and what the weather is like.
Nikumaroro is an island in the Pacific Ocean. It is a long triangular shaped island with a lagoon in the center. It is only 6 kilometers long and less than 2 kilometers wide. There is a reef at both ends blocking entrance by most boats.
On the Island you can find the ruins of an old village but other than that, there is nothing on this island and it is inhabited. There is an old theory that Amelia Earhart landed on Nikumaroro Island and that maybe even she survived there after she was known to have disappeared. Amelia Earhart disappeared on July 2, 1937, somewhere in the Pacific while trying to fly around the world. Amelia Earhart was just 40 years old when she went on the fated flight that likely ended her life. She was the first woman to be awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for being the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean on her own.
For years, people have speculated about what happened to Amelia. But now, it's official that Nikumaroro Island is where Amelia Earhart died, if you ask researchers at the International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery. They say she crash landed on the coral reef surrounding the island. Although a skeleton was found on the island in 1940 that were speculated to be Amelia Earharts, not that we have DNA to prove or disprove this, the bones have disappeared.
They did find a woman's shoe next to the body, that they still have and that is a shoe from the 1930s. Movies, Books, TV shows have been fascinated with Amelia Earhart. Hilary Swank is starring in a new movie opening soon as Amelia. It would be nice to know what happened to this very brave young woman.
This might be cool for kids. The Spend Save Bank randomly deposits coins into either the ‘Save’ or ‘Spend’ section. It’d be even better if there was a option to set what percentages you want to split between spend and save, but I guess that would be a lot more complicated than a swiveling tray. Via Gizmodo via bookofjoe.
Here are some more funny piggy banks I’ve ran across.
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Got a reader question today about the purchase limits for savings bonds:
Can I get around the $20,000 annual buying limit by purchasing I-bonds in my child’s name?
After doing some research, it does appear that yes, you can exceed the usual purchase limits by buying more bonds in the names of your children. Currently, the annual purchase limit is now $5,000 in paper bonds and $5,000 in electronic bonds per series type (EE/I) and per Social Security Number. Thus, a couple could buy a total of $20,000 per year in I-Bonds.
From the TreasuryDirect Change in Annual Purchase Limit FAQ:
I'm buying bonds for myself and my children through my TreasuryDirect account. How does the limit apply to these purchases?
You can buy up to $5,000 each year of electronic Series EE and I bonds in TreasuryDirect on which you are the primary owner, plus up to the limit of each series in the name of each child for whom you've established a linked account in the child's name as primary owner. Minor linked accounts are sub-accounts of your own master account, but do not provide you with ownership rights to securities held in the linked sub-accounts.
The next question is do you have the ability to buy and sell the bonds? From the TreasuryDirect Establish an Account for a Minor page:
A Minor account is a custodial account you may establish for a child under the age of 18 if you are a parent, natural guardian, or person providing chief support. You may purchase, redeem, receive gift deliveries, and perform other transactions within the account on behalf of the minor. When the minor reaches age 18 and establishes his or her own Primary account, you may de-link the securities from the Minor account to move them to the newly established account.
Other considerations
Since these bonds will be bought in the name of a minor, they are the one that will receive the interest income when redeemed. This might actually be a good tax move, as a child can earn a certain amount of income ($1,900 in 2009) before it is subject to tax at the parent’s higher rate. See this IRS page for more info.
When the child turns 18, it is then in their control and you can no longer perform most transactions like selling the bonds. In addition, there is also the education exclusion which can allow bond owners to avoid paying tax on the interest when used for qualified higher education expenses. If you’re thinking of doing this, remember that the bond has to be in the parent’s name, not the child’s name. More details here.
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I have a friend who just bought a $5,000 coffee machine, and yet, this was discounted, from some place in Italy. He got another machine there a couple years ago for $2,000 and loved it but you know, prices have gone up. I cannot imagine spending that kind of money on coffee.
Everything I do has to be about pinching pennies. If I had to spend this much on a coffee machine, I would have to quit drinking coffee. Everyone has a vice and guess his is the special coffee that comes out of a machine that costs that much. He says he does not go on European vacations, he just drinks espressos. If you think of it, one trip to Europe would cost more than his silly, expensive coffee machine.
Why do sports stars cheat on their wives. Many sport stars cheat and then bounce back, especially if their wives support them. Lakers superstar Koby Briant cheated on his wife in 2003. His wife Vanessa stood by his side as he apologized on public TV.
A-rod publicly cheated on his wife Cynthia Rodriquez which ended in divorce for him. David Beckham has been accused of cheating on his wife, but he vehemently denies it. Pammy Anderson caught her sports star husband Kenny Anderson cheating. She called his hotel while he was out of town and a woman answered the phone. She has explained why this happens so much of the time. She says the team bus pulls up in a new town.
The sports stars get out and there's 30 to 50 women waiting to just sleep with them. These stars have so much money that they start to think there is nothing they can't buy, for fix with money. Wives put up with their husband's affairs because of that money.
In a way, the men are right when they think they can fix everything with money. They cheat but their wife's have great houses, great cars, lots of money. And they know they will lose much of this money if they divorce these cheating men. Pammy Anderson says eventually she divorced her husband. She said eventually the relationship and the love die.
The wife may forgive him several times, but eventually it takes its toll. Now it's Steve Philiips' turn. Steve Phillips is an ESPN analyst. He used to be the New York Mets General Manager. And he had an affair. Not just one. First in 1998 he had an affair with a NY Mets employee and was sued for sexual harassment. They settled that case but still his wife stayed with him.
Then he cheated on his wife, Marney, again, this time with Brook Hundley, his assistant. Brooke was not happy. She wanted Steve so she confronted Steve's wife. Brooke told Marney that it wasn't just an affair, that they were in love. Then she threatened Marney. At least that's what Marney said to the police in her emotional 911 call. And it goes further.
Brooke friended Phillip's son on Facebook to find out about the Phillips' family. Brooke even paid someone else for information on the family. Sounds like an old movie. Remember Fatal Attraction with Glenn Close? Glenn Close was on a talk show today saying that therapists use videos of her movie when working with their patients to show what might happen when you end your affair or to show you what may happen to you if you've been cheated on. Either way, watch Fatal Attraction and don't let that happen. Apparently it's happening to Steve Phillips' wife.
Marney Phillips says Brooke Hundley has cyber stalked her and threatened her with her life. Marney has filed for divorce from the cheating husband and asked for custody of their 4 children. However, that has not stopped her from being threatened by the assistant. Do you think ESPN should fire Phillips? Do you think an affair should get you fired from your job?
Maybe you wanted to be on one because it would be fun? I learned that stars are round (just like our sun) and ALL of them are extremely hot in degrees Celsius. The reason we have the star look the way it is is just because of how the stars would twinkle in the sky.
I believe our sun twinkles but we are to close to notice it. Small stars live up to about ten million years. Medium sized stars live up to around ten billion years. Large stars live up to about one-hundred billion years. Weird knowing that even stars live right? And not just how long we live, but they live what we would call forever.
Is this for real? Is there really an Oreo Fun Barbie? Yes, surprisingly there is and it is nothing new. Barbie is known to everyone as the doll with the perfect body that is impossible for any real woman to achieve and therefore, a very bad role model or image model for young girls.
Yet millions of Barbie Dolls have been sold my Mattel since 1959, in all kinds of versions. There have been several controversies surrounding Barbie dolls, including the controversy I mentioned about her unrealistic body image. Along with that, in 1965, one of the Barbie's came with book called How to Lose Weight which stated, Don't eat.
The doll also came with a scale showing 110 pounds which is nearly impossible for most young women to attain. In 1997, they gave Barbie a wider waist. In 1992, Teen Tal Barbie said things like, I love shopping and will we ever have enough clothes. Again, not the best thing to teach young girls as ideal. Then there was Oreo Fun Barbie.
It was introduced in 1997 along with Nabisco to promote Oreo cookies. There was both a black and white version of the Oreo Fun Barbie. However, it didn't go over well in the Black community as some argued that Oreo is a derogatory word that means the person is black on the outside and white inside. Since it didn't do well, and because of the controversy, Barbie and Mattel recalled it.
Now it's a huge collector's item, as it is so hard to find. I want to know how it is possible for Barbie to keep that figure if she's eating Oreos.
Every week I get to the point where it is time to do laundry again and I get really frustrated. I want to do the laundry but there is so much to do. It makes it hard for me to be able to do anything else when I have to do laundry all day long. It is really frustrating.
I can't even leave the house. Not only do I have to wash all of my clothes and my sister's clothes but I also have to wash the clothes of all my nieces and nephews as well. I also have to wash all the sheets in the house. It is quite frustrating. I wish someone else would do laundry for once.
In the clear night sky tonight you will find a meteor shower. October 2009 brought back the Orionid Meteor Shower that we last saw when Ronald and Nancy Reagan lived in the White House.
It is called the Orionids because the meteors come from the constellation called Orion. Orion mean the Hunter. It is said the swarm of stars is easy to spot, shaped like an hourglass. Halley's comet is the culprit, leaving a trail of debris in its path that can be seen in the night sky. If it is clear and warm where you live, I would head out to the hills to watch this spectacular event.
The last time Halley's comet flew buy was 1986. And we don't expect to see Halley again until July 28, 2061. I don't know about you, but I won't exactly be young when it returns. They are saying this meteor shower will produce 20 to 25 meteors an hour. And this is actually expected to go on for a few nights so if you can't get out tonight, get out tomorrow. And it doesn't matter where you live.
They are saying this meteor shower is visible from anywhere in the world, as long as you have a clear sky. The best time of night is the same worldwide, locally just after midnight. What a great date idea! Go to a dark spot away from the city lights and let your eyes adjust. No need for binoculars, just look up. A reclining chair or a blanket is a necessary accessory. At this time of year, many areas around the world are cooler or down right freezing s so a coat is also probably warranted.
Once a few years ago, we went out into the hills. There were many of us friends that decided to do this together. It was a warm summer night and the talk was all about the meteor shower. We started with a barbecue hot dog dinner on a little individual grill. We didn't want to start a fire because it would make it harder to see the stars, we thought. Little did we know what we were in for. We laid a blanket in the back of the truck and counted hundreds of falling stars.
The skies were alight with the meteor shower that night. It wouldn't have mattered if we had built a giant bonfire, we would not have been able to miss the lit night sky. There were some smaller children in our group and they were fascinated. This is a great family activity as well as a great date idea. It can open the door to lessons with children of the stars and planets. Who knows where it will lead. Maybe encourage some little astronomers. It was a memory I will never forget.
Most American workers may be unaware that their insurance rates are based on the demographics and medical claims of their co-workers. When a serious medical condition strikes, especially at small companies, everyone can be affected.
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Football is getting really bad this season. Dante Wesley hit on Clifton Smith in a game. I think it is pretty funny. For any of you who don't know, Dante Wesley is on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Clifton Smith is of the Carolina Panthers. Luckily, they ejected Dante Wesley after his nasty display.
He almost started a full on fight. I don't know why people think that they need to do that kind of stuff. They are just perverting the sport. I don't see why people have this need to always beat on the other people. Is there no way that they can just play the game and give people the entertainment they need without making such a big show out of it with all of their pushing and shoving afterwards? I hope they figure it out soon.
Image of Bernard Kerik from Wikimedia.
Bernard Kerik knows that committing tax fraud is a no-no. He made that clear in 2004, when he withdrew his name from consideration for Secretary of Homeland Security. At that time, Bernard Kerik admitted that he had committed tax fraud.
Bernard Kerik had employed an illegal immigrant to work for him as a nanny. Although he had failed to pay taxes on his employee, Kerik said he didn’t know the worker was undocumented. This was only the beginning of his legal troubles. He apparently didn’t know, or didn’t care, that confidential information must remain confidential when one is being investigated for conspiracy, fraud and possible mob connections. But let’s back up.
Shortly after Bernard Kerik withdrew his name from the running for Secretary of Homeland Security, investigations began regarding ethics violations, unclassified misdemeanors. He pleaded guilty to those and paid a $221,000 fine.The court said “pay the money now, and you’ll be free,” so he did.
But it wasn’t over. Near the end of 2007, Bernard Kerik was indicted by a grand jury. His charges include conspiracy, tax fraud and making false statements. That brings us to the present, where Bernard Kerik was out on bail and waiting for his trial, which begins Monday. … click here to read the rest of the article titled “Bernard Kerik Back in Jail for Putting Confidential Info Online“
I really need to watch a scary movie tonight. I am feeling up to watching one. I asked some friends for some advice into which movie they believe might actually scare me and is semi new.
Someone recommended Halloween Resurrection. I don't know anything about it. I hope that it turns out to be good. I might watch it or I might not. Sometimes it is fun just to go to the video store and get some old movies that I know what happens in. That will keep me from getting too scared when I watch them.
I also might like to have something that scares me. I guess we'll just have to see what kind of mood I am in tonight. It really always just depends on the mood I am in.
Smithsonian American Art Museum. Image from Flickr.
Some teenagers want to skip school when they get an acne breakout. Some women refuse to leave the house without makeup. However, Richard Yarosh — who is missing the tip of his nose and his ears and has a face completely covered in scar tissue — says “I’m proud of the way I look. I’m proud of the reason for the way I look.”
He isn’t the only one. Painter Matthew Mitchell has turned Richard Yarosh’s head and shoulders into a work of art — one that will be on display at the Smithsonian. The Associated Press reports that Mitchell’s portrait “is a finalist in the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition, which recognizes modern portraiture at the gallery known for its collection of notable Americans.”
If Mitchell wins the competition, he won’t need to worry about finding a money lender before he can start his next series. First prize is $25,000.
A bit more than three years ago, Sept. 1, 2006, Richard Yarosh was in Iraq “manning the turret of a Bradley assault vehicle,” says the Associated Press. The vehicle hit an explosive device, and the fuel tank, the vehicle and Richard Yarosh went up in flames. At the time, Yarosh was 24.
Richard Yarosh miraculously survived, though he suffered third-degree burns to 60 percent of his body and had his lower right leg amputated. “His fingers are permanently bent and rigid,” says the Associated Press. To read a full account of Richard Yarosh’s accident, check out the AP story, where you can view a photo of Richard Yarosh. … click here to read the rest of the article titled “Richard Yarosh Painter Could Win $25,000“
I need ideas for cheap Halloween costumes for adults. Children are easy. But I guess if you think about it, adults can wear the same kinds of costumes as children. You can just find clothes that are too big for you and just look kind of droopy. You could take a sheet and cut out holes to be a ghost.
Paint on the face is all you need to look dirty and bummy. You could find someone you know who has an army or navy uniform. Or pull out an old letterman's jacket or sweater. You could take a black blanket and turn it into a cape, to be a witch or a vampire. Harry potter glasses are a nice affect. You could go to the dollar store and find all kinds of wigs and witches hats and ideas. Glow sticks from the dollar store could make a halo and wear white.
Shorts and a Hawaiian shirt or lai. Wrap a towel around your waist and put one in your hair. Put a hole for a head and arms in a big black garbage bag. Tape purple balloons all over you and be grapes. Put clothes pins all over you. Pull out an old wedding dress or tuxedo. Wear a bathrobe and slippers. There are no rules, just fun and creativity to come up with cheap Halloween costumes for adults or kids.
I love meeting new people. People are always exciting to meet and get to know.
I don't know if that makes me a quidnunc or not. I don't really enjoying learning the juicy details of people and I especially don't enjoy spreading those rumors around. I don't know how people feel about this or not. Most quidnuncs I know are pretty bad about all of the gossip that they spread about the people that they know.
These people are the kinds of people that I don't particularly enjoy meeting every day. I like meeting innocent people who don't realize that what they are doing is wrong. People who spend their days trying to spread the gossip that they learn about other people are just really annoying people.
Basketball fans love Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He is 7 feet 2 inches tall but is now retired from the game. Many say he is the greatest basketball player of all time. He played center for the LA Lakers.
He has also acted in some movies even comedy in the movie Airplane! There's a very funny part of that movie where a boy looks at him and says he looks like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar but Kareem insists he is Roger Murdock, the co-pilot of the airplane. The boy continues to insist he's Kareem and then goes on to tell him the things he does wrong when he plays basketball when Kareem grabs the boy and yells at him that he busts his buns out there, basically admitting he's Kareem.
He was also funny in the movie Fletch. He has also written books. Kareem has five children.
If he hadn't discovered America, we would not have Columbus Day which is a Post Office Holiday which means I have the day off work. I am surprised at how many people do not have the day off work.
Kids go to school on Columbus Day. I'm so surprised that the children go to school. Are the post offices delivering mail today? No. There are 10 days each year where the post offices do not deliver mail and I think these should also be holidays for schools. They are holidays for my company and many other companies out there.
Christmas Day, New Year's Day, Thanksgiving Day, Veteran's Day, Columbus Day, Labor Day, Independence day (the Fourth of July), Washington's Birthday (or President's Day) and Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday are the 10 holidays that the Post Office closes for. Christmas Day (December 25), New Year's Day (January 1), and Independence Days (July 4) all fall on the same dates each year, so I'm sure you are familiar with these dates.
This year, 2009, the dates for the closures for the other holidays are January 19th for Martin Luther King Jr's birthday, February 16th for Washington's Birthday or President's Day, May 25th for Memorial Day, September 7th for Labor Day, October 12th for Columbus Day, November 11th for Veterans' Day and November 26th, always the 4th Thursday in November, for Thanksgiving Day. I hope your company is as gracious as mine in giving you these days off work.
If you have ever lost a job and the health benefits that went with it, you have probably heard of COBRA, the program that requires employers to extend your health coverage for a price. That price, however, is one that all but a fraction of laid-off workers find much too high. The federal stimulus bill has helped some workers by lowering those payments, but that help may soon run out.
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I read these articles all the time and by now, most of the ideas sound familiar. Why am I still starving a few days before my next paycheck is due?
As I sit here pondering about a personal finance topic to write about, I started wondering what will happen if I covered every possible personal finance subject. By then, I would have found the perfect get out of debt plan and shared it with all of you, the key to ensure financial prosperity and the three step (or at the very least, the four step) approach to comfortable retirement.
That’s when it dawned on me. Whether I have yet to write about it or not, these ideas already exists. In fact, I’m pretty sure that responsible personal finance theories have been written, debated, and followed ever since the middle class started being literate.
Most of you already know the majority of the principles that I talk about, because the core of building wealth is incredibly simple – earn more, and save more.
The reason why regular readers of personal finance sites are more likely to succeed is not only because of the constant reminder of the importance and enjoyment of financial success we try to ingrain in you. The reason why you will succeed is because you care about your financial future a heck of a lot more than the average person.
It takes guts, energy and will power to be in healthy personal finance shape. The good news is that like everything else, it’s hard at first but gets increasingly easier.
For those who are succeeding, congratulations because you are already doing this. For others who are struggling, promising yourself to act on the advice that you already know is perhaps the most important step.
Reading personal finance articles is just like buying cliff notes for an upcoming test. You need to read it, understand it, know how to apply the knowledge but more importantly, mix in your own ideas at the moment the test question is staring right in your face.
Knowledge is great, but action is what ultimately leads to results.
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She’s spending the summer with her parents and siblings that live near by and all day long she complains about how she misses her finacee. It’s soo annoying! He’s all she ever talks about and gives anyone who will listen a play by play of every conversation they’ve had since the last time she saw us and tells us the same stories about him over and over again. We’re all ready to scream at her that we really don’t care but we all give her some slack.
I’m sure we all were like that or will be like that at some point in our life. We still love her though and tolerate it because we are excited for her that she found such a great guy. Luckily school is starting for her soon so we don’t have to listen to her crying much longer.
Breakfast potatoes! Image from openphoto.net.
A propitious esculent, quite simply, is a potato. The potato is one of the least expensive and most versatile foods in the world. Potatoes were a form of debt survival during the Depression in the U.S. and a staple food for poor families in other countries throughout history.
Author John Reader last year released a book called “Propitus Esculent: The Potato in World History.” One review on Amazon says the book “Propitious Esculent” is an “impressively researched account.” So if you want to know all there is to know about the potato, check it out.
To honor the propitious esculent for providing families with inexpensive food for so long, I looked up some great potato recipes to show how many creative ways you can use a potato.
Ingredients:
6 ounces mashed potatoes
5 medium baking apples, peeled and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons butter, melted
8 ounces self-raising flour
4 tablespoons Milk
Brown sugar or white sugar
2 whole cloves
Juice of half a lemon
3 tablespoons cider
Directions:
Stir melted butter into warm mashed potatoes. Add pinch of salt and flour. Mix well. Add enough milk to make a soft dough. Roll out potato dough and line a one quart bowl with part of it. Set aside enough dough for the top of the pudding. … click here to read the rest of the article titled “Propitious Esculent | Great for Banks and Bodies“
If I could live out in the woods somewhere in a little log cabin, I would. There is something about a simple life that is just so appealing and soothing. When you don’t have a billion things on a to-do list that are for the benefit of some other person that you don’t even know, life is peaceful.
Living out in the woods you might still have a to-do list that has a billion things on it, but those things will all be for your benefit and you get to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Life is simple, yet there is so much that needs to be done every day, and I would find that fulfilling.
We all have our weaknesses and things we are afraid of. For me, one of the best ways you could torture me is take a beautiful musical instrument, it doesn’t matter which one really, and smash it to bits. That would be awful and I would not like to endure watching that at all. Somebody took a lot of time and energy to, first of all, learn how to build it and then actually put it together. It kind of makes me angry just thinking about it.
Another way you can torture me is to make a delicious meal that smells really good, and not let me eat it. That only works when I’m hungry though.
I use a professional to prepare my tax returns each year, so there’s no point in me bothering to learn about taxes. In fact, that’s the entire reason I use an accountant.
I come across that line of reasoning all the time. And as a former tax accountant, let me say this: It’s a huge mistake–one that could cost you thousands of dollars each year. Even if you use a professional to prepare your tax returns, you still need to have a basic understanding of taxation.
To explain why, let me use an analogy:
And yet, you’ve still taken the time to learn the basics of how to live a healthy life, right? Why is that? As far as I can tell, the primary reason is this: You understand that ultimately you bear the responsibility for your health.
It’s the same thing with your accountant. Yes, he (or she) can prepare your taxes. And yes, there are many things he (or she) can do to help you save on taxes. But ultimately, it’s your money. And if you don’t understand the tax consequences of the financial decisions you make, you’re going to be throwing your money away.
You need to know the difference between your heart and your lungs if you hope to have any sort of meaningful conversation with your doctor. Similarly, you need to know the difference between a tax deduction and a tax credit if you want to understand (and get the most value from) your accountant’s advice.
Your doctor isn’t available before every meal to help you decide which foods to eat. You need to know about the nutritional significance of protein, vitamins, fiber, etc. (as well as which foods contain them) if you want to make healthy eating decisions.
In the same way, you need to know how tax brackets work in order to make good financial decisions. For example, it’s important to understand that if you’re in the 25% income tax bracket, that doesn’t mean that all of your income is taxed at 25%.
Luckily, there are plenty of good resources for finding information about taxes, and many of them are freely available online.
For example, the IRS publishes a series of plain-English tax guides. There are Publications on topics ranging from Investment Income and Expenses to Medical and Dental Expenses. (Or, if you’d like a list of IRS Publications, sorted alphabetically by topic, you can find that here.)
If you know very little about how income taxes work, I’d suggest starting with IRS Publication 17: Your Income Tax (pdf). It’s an excellent introduction.
Or, if you’re looking for the answer to a specific tax-related question, I’d suggest making the following Google query (without the brackets):
site:irs.gov [insert topic here]
What this does is use Google to search the IRS website for whatever keywords you entered. The reason I use this method is that the IRS’s site has tons of information, but its built-in search function is decidedly mediocre. Unsurprisingly, Google does a better job.
If you sit at your computer all day and eat fast food 15 times per week, you’re going to have health problems. You won’t be able to visit your doctor and have her magically fix you (at least, not for the long-term). There’s no question that the best route to good health is to stay healthy in the first place.
When it comes to taxes, something very similar occurs. Every year, there are many things you can do to save on taxes. But if you wait until April 10th of next year, it will be too late to take advantage of many of them.
Don’t let that happen to you! Take the time to educate yourself by doing a little reading.
About the Author: Mike Piper is the author of Investing Made Simple. He also blogs at The Oblivious Investor.
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If anyone knows what a million dollar bill looks like, it’s likely Oprah or Whitney Houston. “Million Dollar Bill” is the name of her new single, and you can watch the music video on Whitney Houston’s official web site. To read the whole Whitney Houston interview with Oprah, part 2 and part one, you can check it out at Oprah.com.
Splitting up the Whitney Houston interview with Oprah into two parts and airing them on the first two episodes of her new season is the kind that made Oprah a billionaire. However, I was a little disappointed with Whitney Houston’s interview with Oprah part 2.
As I read Whitney Houston’s interview with Oprah part 2, I found myself thinking that it would take me less time and no fax to get payday loans, plus then I’d end up with some cash. Whitney Houston talked a lot about Bobby Brown — a lot. She also confirmed that she is no longer on drugs and talked about her daughter quite a bit, but I thought the whole thing was overkill. You know, TMI but not in the “gross!” kind of way, more in the “snore” kind of way.
I guess I have just heard enough about Whitney Houston. She and Oprah talked about Whitney Houston’s “come-through,” little phrase Oprah made up to replace “comeback”. Die-hard Whitney Houston might enjoy reading or watching Whitney Houston’s interview with Oprah part 2, but unless you want to know all there is to know about Whitney Houston and have it repeated a few times, you might want to just stick to listening to her new album, “I Look to You.” “I Look to You” was released Aug. 31, and it is doing very well. It sold more than 300,000 copies in its first week.
Stephanie Birkitt is the unwilling center of the David Letterman extortion plot.
Stephanie Birkitt is, or was, a long time employee at the Late Show and NBC, and she had a brief affair with Letterman several years ago, which was supposed to have ended before when Letterman’s long time girlfriend and now wife, Regina, gave birth to their son.
Turns out that Birkitt’s roommate, one Robert Halderman, stole her diary, found out what had happened and attempted to extort David Letterman of $2 million, or he would reveal the affair. Letterman fessed up anyway, and the matter is now in the hands of the New York Police Department, who will probably shoot an unarmed person, not Halderman, in response. (They do that.)
Halderman will probably need some payday loans for a lawyer.
Spending and saving behaviors adopted during the recession may usher in a “new fiscal conservatism” by households as Americans continue to pay close attention to their personal balance sheets, according to a poll by Consumer Reports.
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Robert Maday is going to likely be synonymous with police failure. Robert Maday, a career criminal, was somehow able to free himself from police custody earlier this week, and while police were conducting a search, he managed to rob a First National Bank branch, and then hijack a woman’s car around Bloomingdale, IL.
The woman whose car he robbed her of identified him to police, and then they caught the surreptitious little creep. Still – how such a dangerous person was given the opportunity to escape custody is astounding – as he apparently overpowered two (2) police officers on the way to the courthouse, in a car – in handcuffs.
Authorities may have been embarrassed by Robert Maday, but it looks like no instant cash for a lawyer is going to spring him now – he’s probably looking at 30 years.
The Plano Balloon Festival 2009 is set to kickoff the weekend of September 18th through 20th, so if you like watching rich people muck about with toys that you’ll never be able to afford, then check it out. It’s one of the larger hot air balloon festivals in the U.S., held every year in Plano, Texas, and typically draws a big crowd.
It isn’t nearly as big as the Albuquerque international Balloon fiesta – the largest event of its type worldwide – but still a huge draw. So if you want to see some really neat sights, get great pictures, and see a huge flying Garfield cat (well…if someone takes one there) then it might be worth payday loans to get to the Plano Balloon Festival 2009.
Another athlete has been busted on weapons charges, as Delonte West has been arrested for two (2) pistols AND a shotgun. He was pulled over, driving a 3 wheeled motorcycle (riding a TRIKE? Not very manly), and told the officer that he had a handgun. Later, it turned out he was packing serious heat.
HE currently plays for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and formerly the Boston Celtics and those sold out punks now in Oklahoma that should be shot from a cannon, the Seattle Supersonics. Even more shocking is that this guy was allowed to go to college. (What a moron.) A low rate personal loan for Delonte West might get him a lawyer, but it doesn't fix stupid.
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These are dangerous if you're running on empty. A cash advance can keep you going until your next payday. (Photo: flickr.com)
With all of the financial turmoil that American families are facing right now, cash advances have become a way to get the money you need, when you need it. Read on to better understand a few of the main reasons why people turn to a cash advance in times of need, as well as how you can take advantage of this same benefit.
The most common reason people apply for a cash advance is to avoid overdraft fees and credit card late payments. The fees for an overdraft check or a late credit card payment range from $26 to $56. In addition to large fees, being late on your credit card can have serious negative effects on your credit score. So, using a cash advance in these circumstances can really aid you in saving money and protecting your credit score. … click here to ! read the rest of the article titled “Get Financial Help With A Cash Advance Now!“
Krista Brewer proves William Blake right. Blake, an English poet wrote that “some are born to endless night” and Krista seems to have been born living proof. At age 4, she was diagnosed with a brain tumor, which she courageously fought for the next seven years.
She passed almost exactly one year ago, in September 2008. Her family still lives in the area of Galveston, TX. Brain cancer is one of the less common cancers, and there is a higher prevalence of mortality in diagnosed children, and treatment costs more than a few payday loans. (The immune systems of children aren’t fully developed and therefore more fragile – the highest risk groups are always children and the elderly.) One hopes that the family of Krista Brewer can find some peace.
