Friday, September 25, 2015

Corporations buy candidates but evade taxes by "living" overseas

Corporations pay taxes only when they want to! “corporations are people, my friend?”
Mr Romney was wrong. Corporations are NOT people. When you earn money overseas on your mutual funds, you must pay tax then. Not so for most large corporations. They are hiding $2,096,644,000,000 profits outside America so they don’t have to pay their share of armed services that guard their assets, facilities, employees and money. The buy our reps but we pay for millions of service people in 150 bases around the world to protect them and they won’t pay their fair share. Now we can do the same.

Another waste of our money
We spent $½ Billion to train FIVE 5 fighters in Syria—US has trainers in Syria
General Lloyd Austin, that the U.S. plan to train thousands of Syrian opposition soldiers has cost half a billion dollars and results in "4 or 5" trained people on the battlefield. 
We could have fixed 10,000 bridges employing thousands of Americans.

How much retirement money are you giving away?
Most people think their plan costs nothing. Advisors hide fees so we won’t baulk at giving away up to 63% of our potential income for life. Average savers give up $200,000. Average advisor investor earned just 3.79% while index investor earned 11%. We will need that extra cash as we are living longer and prices double every 25 years.
https://www.brightscope.com/ rates your retirement plan based on fees and services.  
https://www.feex.com analyzes the fees associated with specific IRA and 401(k) portfolios. https://investorjunkie.com/39312/feex-review/ explains how many different fees you are paying. Total average fund costs: 3-4% for 30-40 years=$200,000+.

Another Tax Evader—Etsy—just moved its tax address offshore
By incorporating in Ireland, Etsy joins other corporate offshore tax-avoiders like Apple, Google, and Microsoft. U.S. corporations already cost us around $90 billion in tax revenue each year by hiding their profits in overseas tax havens. This is money that should be going to our schools, roads, and programs to help our families.

Do you earn up to 70% LESS than other employees in your job?
Unless you are a store clerk or health practitioner, you probably are. Even CEOs of major corporations are paid 70% less than their peers. So how will you save enough for retirement? First, max out your 401k or Roth 401k if you receive a match. If no match, start your own Roth IRA with low-cost trustees like Vanguard, Schwab or Fidelity. Third, use low-cost advisor-beating index funds. You don’t give up 63% of your potential to fees and you pay no income taxes later. You can always get your contributions back free.



Exxon study showed mankind is raising global temp—strategy to deny formed in 1980.
In the decades that followed [global warming confirmation in 1977], Exxon worked instead at the forefront of climate denial. It put its muscle behind efforts to manufacture doubt about the reality of global warming its own scientists had once confirmed. It lobbied to block federal and international action to control greenhouse gas emissions. It helped to erect a vast edifice of misinformation that stands to this day.

Our next president?   Jeb still leading in the race (for dollars)

Trump to “look into” Muslim training camps in US and Obama is not American again?             Said he is not obligated to correct audience “crazies;” McCain did!
Jeb claims he kept Trump gambling out of FL—Trump denied but tried with politicos
Carson wants to cancel the VA to save money—Vets protest
            Carson wants religious test for president elect—“only my religion” is OK.
Christie’s militia: “It’s like the mob,” said Brian Scully, a lieutenant who served.

Boehner has had enough of the blackmail shutdowns and war on women.
Clinton forgot you can’t really “delete”: FBI recovered Clinton's “deleted” emails.
            Is Liz Warren running for VP to Biden?


In case you think Gold is your best alternative to stock market anxiety …
Gold just hit a 5 year LOW. Gold is a commodity. It does not grow like stocks of profitable companies. Over time, gold will not make you rich. It lost 12% while stocks gained 75% since 2010. Gold mining companies are down 73%. Historically, stocks averaged 10% a year while gold maintains parity with inflation at 3% since 1800. Gold is a defense during inflationary times.

Supremes boycott their spiritual advisor because ….?
Pope asks Congress to act for poor and immigrants. Supremes Scalia, Alito and Thomas, the conservative Catholics, snubbed their supreme advisor (a once in life opportunity). Shame. Do they burn Bibles: Jesus Sermon on Mount too much?
Ideology trumps civil respect! What will they say when St Peter asks them why?

31% of middle-age Americans supports an adult child living beyond means
Paying rent, Uber cars, lattes, kale salads on $30,000 salary is not possible without help. Pizza is just not good enough to keep up appearances. Parents are giving up their retirement dollars to pay for a child’s lifestyle choices.


SCAMS
We are still wasting $8 million per HOUR we don’t have in Iraq/Afghan/Ukraine.
America needs to take care of American’s needs FIRST!
Rebuild America Act: a five-year plan would invest $1 trillion and create or maintain at least 13 million decent-paying jobs—Senate Budget Committee but GOP says no.
We trained and equipped ISIS leadership—US arms fighters on all sides for profit
Residents of Okinawa object to tens of thousands of U.S. troops and military sitting there
We are supporting child abuse by Afghan leaders by giving them money.

We waste $2.7 Billion for a blimp warning system that does not work—funded 17 years
Pentagon has spent $2.7 billion developing a system of giant radar-equipped blimps to provide an early warning if the country were ever attacked with cruise missiles, drones or other low-flying weapons. In April, a Florida postal worker flew a single-seat, rotary-wing aircraft into the heart of the nation’s capital to dramatize his demand for campaign finance reform. NO WARNING SYSTEM FAILED! He could have bombed Congress.

Responsible managers DO NOT even get indicted!
General Motors' $900 million plea deal with the U.S. government after the automaker concealed a deadly ignition-switch defect linked to the deaths of 124 people has rekindled a debate over how tough federal prosecutors should be when fighting corporate wrongdoing. Proof of 2nd murder: Exbt C, p 5: “Before the Defective switch went into production in 2002, certain GM engineers knew that it was prone to movement out of the Run position…” “Engineer in charge approved it anyway.”  In 2004 customers experienced “sudden engine shutoffs.” GM decided not to recall due to “cost [$0.57] and other factors.” “GM even rejected simple improvement …” Define 2nd degree murder “a killing caused by dangerous conduct and the offender's obvious lack of concern for human life.” Adolf Eichmann “we were just following orders.”
Corporations are people, my friend” except when they kill or avoid taxes.

VW cheated on emission tests and we wasted $51 million
The federal government paid $51 million in subsidies for "clean" VW vehicles, according to a Times analysis. The German automaker used software in 482,000 of its diesel vehicles since the 2009 model year to cheat on U.S. emissions tests.

Bankers' discrimination has no jail time for bankers
Hudson City’s redlining practices illegally cut off opportunities for consumers in predominantly Black and Hispanic neighborhoods, according to regulators.

China hacks US by using innocent emails we open
Researchers say they found the key to China hackers stealing military secrets: use innocent looking emails that gov workers open. Too much time on their hands?

Fretz and Freeman get away with fraud—No Jail Time
William B. Fretz Jr. and John “Jack” P. Freeman, Philadelphia, orchestrated the fraud through their unregistered advisor, Covenant Capital selling partnership shares worth nothing. They were not indicted.

IAN
41 Watchung Plaza, B242
MontclairNJ 07042
973.746.2014
Alerts

Friday, September 18, 2015

Six programs GOP NOT debating: Welfare for the rich

Welfare for the rich
Six programs cost us $133 billion in government benefits plus tax breaks for wealthy like 2nd home in Switzerland and reduced tax for hedge fund owners. Total is $355 billion—far greater than the cost of food stamps ($74 billion) for poor. And the immigrants Trump will deport will cost us $100 Billion in Social Security funds—They can’t claim. Add in the loss of funds because anyone making more than $118,500 pays no more SS taxes but gets the benefits. : “ and the pursuit of happiness.. . by and for the rich”


Another wealthy tax evasion scheme we pay for—Family foundations
Consider: You pay yourself $225,000 a year with expense account to fly all over the world. Your job: give money away. And the nice part is your business pays NO tax on income and you live the high life. Officially called ‘philanthropy,’ this business’s income goes untaxed so the rest of us must pay to support it and its employees. 86,192 foundations held $715 billion in assets and distributed a record $52 billion in 2012.  On average, the 2014 assets increased 11 percent over 2013 levels.

50,000 wealthy Americans given amnesty for tax evasion—NO JAIL
Gov uses “sting” ops to try to catch evasion schemers but thousands use fake “complete corporate structures and merchant accounts to individuals and businesses to conduct their financial affairs in a private, secure, reliable, and tax-free environment.” They get credit card from offshore bank to spend their $2.2 million laundered cash.

Insurance and mutual fund costs have fallen—Save $3,000 every year
In the last 15 years, the average costs of most financial products have declined but many of us don’t shop so we don’t benefit. Unfortunately, our agents and advisors rely on us overpaying on stuff they sell, so they don’t tell us. Big ticket items like mutual funds are the worst offenders. I used to pay Fidelity over $4,000 (1.2%) a year. Now I pay $698 (0.2%) a year. I have found that my retirement funds are $500,000 greater because of that one change. I can get my rep on the phone quicker now too.

Is paying an advisor to stop you from making mistakes really worth it?
Every advisor and Wall Street employee will swear that the reason to pay an advisor to help manage your money is so that when a crisis comes, you are saved from disaster. New research by J. Ping shows that this is not true. He compared accounts of clients with and without advisors and found the opposite. You are better off leaving your money with low-cost fiduciaries like Vanguard. Morningstar and DALBAR research proved this maxim again in 2014 with 30 year annual return of 3.79% a year for advisors vs. 11.06% for non-advised index funds (1983-2014 QAIB).

Is a state run 401k plan right for you?
Oregon is the latest state to approve a state-sponsored retirement plan for those employees who don’t have access to a retirement plan at work. 45% of employed people in Oregon don’t have access to an employer-sponsored retirement plan and of those who do have access, nearly one-quarter do not enroll. Oregon Retirement Savings Fund Board will offer simple payroll deduction plans in 2017. Fees and managers were not disclosed.  
California, Illinois and Connecticut have plans.

Is this what America has become?
Our next president?   Jeb still leading in the race (for dollars)

Fiorina is "not prepared" to talk about “reforming” Social Security or Medicare NOW!
Huckabee thinks there's a law that 'black people aren't fully human'—Send history books
Trump thinks we pick prez as Entertainer-in-Chief by “facial” beauty—Send him mirror
            If he deports immigrants, we lose $100 Billion they pay to Social Security but             can’t claim.
Carson thinks this is Nazi Germany and ObamaCare for 10 million is slavery—US over.
Jeb wants to put Margaret Thatcher, the former British prime minister on the $10 bill???
Jeb has Wall Street’s Goldman at his back: top 1 percent get 10 times his plan benefits!
Tax plans of the rich and famous FOR the rich and we pay—We end up paying more! Christie feeling sorry for himself—“stop reading newspapers” Nobody proved nothin’
Autism is NOT caused by vaccine in its present schedule despite GOP fear-mongering
Perry quits—but still under indictment

Need medical procedure—check cost first
Costs of upper back MRI can cost $400 or $1200 in NYC. Get three estimates: http://clearhealthcosts.com/

College with the highest graduation rate, salaries, lowest cost?
A new site, www.collegescorecard.ed.gov, focuses on affordability and supporting all students who enroll. It highlights groups of schools that do particularly well in metrics like graduation rates, cost to low-income students, and salaries of graduates.

GM gets away with 124 murders—no jail time for anyone
Everyone claims it was not their responsibility. At least 124 deaths were directly linked to ignition switch that cost $0.57 to replace. But not one employee had the B___s to say “we have to do the right thing and fix it.” Stockholders—that is, us, via our mutual funds—pay for the fine. GM got off cheap compared to Toyota. “You shouldn’t get probation when hundreds of people have been killed or injured,” said Laura Christian,  mother of 16-year-old Amber Rose, who was killed in a July 2005 crash in Maryland. For GM, it’s just the cost of doing business. No one takes responsibility. Others pay the price.

Can your car be hacked?
Most cars with computers/network connected can be hacked according to recent research. "It takes a lot of resources, money, and you have to be an expert. I am not concerned that someone will take over my car,” according to one. 

California is burning
Gov. Jerry Brown says "there is more to come." The number of fires in the state this year tops 6,000 — up 1,500 from last year, officials say. 10,000 people evacuated.

Snowpack getting low—more snow please
The Sierra Nevada snowpack is at its lowest level in more than 500 years. "We were expecting that 2015 would be extreme, but not like this," Valerie Trouet, paleoclimatologist, University of Arizona.

Why? Tax deductions?
Janis Joplin’s 1965 Porsche 356c 1600 Cabriolet is expected to fetch more than $400,000

SCAMS
We are still wasting $8 million per HOUR we don’t have in Iraq/Afghan/Ukraine.
America needs to take care of American’s needs FIRST!
Rebuild America Act: a five-year plan would invest $1 trillion and create or maintain at least 13 million decent-paying jobs—Senate Budget Committee but GOP says no.
We trained and equipped ISIS leadership—US arms fighters on all sides for profit
Residents of Okinawa object to tens of thousands of U.S. troops and military sitting there

Pope complains people “friend” him aggressively—welcome to The New World
"I have felt used by people who presented themselves as my friends and whom I hadn't seen more than once or twice in my life. They have used that to their own benefit.”
You can thank Mark Z.

Giant sucking sound: Fiat (formerly Chrysler) moving three vehicle assembly to Mexico.

Greedy men put our safety at risk?
Option-laden executives have been found to make unwise food and drug product safety decisions. The study, “Throwing Caution to the Wind: The Effect of C.E.O. Stock Option Pay on the Incidence of Product Safety Problems,” concluded that “C.E.O. option pay was associated with both a higher likelihood of experiencing a recall as well as a higher number of recalls.” “Options could be making C.E.O.s ignore the downside potential of some of their actions.”
Auto industry too: GM killed 124 people and lied about ignition switch. No jail time.

White collar crime pays -- No Jail Time
Paul Ricky Mata, David Kayatta and Mario Pincheira as Secured Capital Investments, Logos Wealth Advisors, Lifetime Enterprises and Logos Real Estate Holdings, and formerly advisors for Ameriprise stole money from investors after promising them ‘indestructible wealth’ as part of a religion-based, $14 million real estate scheme. They had been previously sanctioned by a state regulator for making guarantees. Mata has an “extensive disciplinary history.”  In 2014, California suspended his license. No indictment, no jail though.
World Law Group stole $67 million from 21,000 for an alleged debt relief scheme.
Jason Mogler Investment Roadshow of Scottsdale is charged with stealing $17 million.
Jaspen Capital Partners CEO Andriy Supranonok Ukraine hacked news service press releases and using the information to make millions have agreed to pay $30 million.
Jeffrey B. Rubin, Pro Sports Financial, defrauded clients in a casino project. No jail.

IAN
41 Watchung Plaza, B242
MontclairNJ 07042
973.746.2014
Alerts

Friday, September 11, 2015

Rich evade taxes forever. Legal but is it moral?

We pay more taxes so the rich can evade taxes forever. Legal; but moral?
The rich avoid taxes using lawyers like Edward Renn, Withers Bergman. With enough money you can buy his deal: “Tax-efficient trust structures that exempt assets from state tax or foreign grantor trusts that are exempt from U.S. income tax are as common as a domestic business succession structure designed to maintain the client’s control while minimizing or eliminating gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes." In other words, evade taxes. And their kids get to perpetuate this inequality.

You don’t need high-cost advisors to do better than Harvard’s team
Harvard University’s endowment had the worst performance of any of the eight Ivy League schools in 2013—just 11.3%. Yet its CEO at the time took millions from poor earnings. Harvard doubled compensation for Mendillo to $9.6 million in 2013, almost nine times what it paid its president, Drew Faust. You earned 32% in ’13 and 13.5% in ’14 using a low-cost index fund that Harvard should have used and keep the $9.6 million.

¿2016 President? “If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense.” Alice

Trump: “Look at that face! Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?" 
Jeb will cut taxes for rich & corporations and borrow $3.4 Trillion; we pay more.
Sarah Palin wants to be Energy secretary under Trump but GOP to cut Energy. Palin sees             glaciers growing not receding like scientists say. “..weather NOT man’s doing.”
Cruz wants to shut gov again. If you closed your employer, would you go to jail?
Huck uses KY clerk to give Trump’s press a rest. If you refused a court order, would you    be applauded? Is Ms Davis afraid of going to hell for signing a government       paper? She should read John 4: 7.
Huck: “the Dred Scott decision of 1857 still remains the law of the land which says that             black people aren’t fully human.” GOP never reads history—see 14th Amdmt!
Christie gets United Airline CEO fired for giving Chris’s buddy free flights. OMG!

Warren: "Donald Trump and I agree that there ought to be more taxation of billionaires
Sander, Socialist, gets praises from Warren Buffett, Capitalist?
Obama: US to take 10,000 Syrian refugees—GOP stunned

We don’t save for retirement because ….
Schwab survey says more than one-third (35%) of us say we aren’t saving more for tomorrow because we are unwilling to sacrifice our quality of life today. OK, but if you had $3,000 a year without sacrifice, would you invest it in tomorrow? Most say yes. So what do you do with your tax refund? If you are receiving a refund, you are giving the government too much money. Use the money for your future instead with NO change in your life now. Give up nothing except expensive products and services.
  
Did you sell stocks in your 401k last month?
The index for last month shows that trading activity among 401(k) participants on August 21 was two times the normal level, while trading activity on August 24 was seven times higher than normal. The trading movement on those two days was out of stocks and into fixed income, according to Aon Hewitt. Unfortunately, you now have a loss. To get back to even money with fixed income will require 50 years or more given the low interest rates now. Long-term retirement nest eggs usually don’t recover lost levels using short-term interest-rate earnings. Stocks have long-term average earnings of 13% since 1980.

CA regs to reduce emissions killed by big oil
Unable to overcome fierce opposition from the oil industry and resistance from some Democrats, Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative leaders announced today that they will remove a major portion of an ambitious proposal to combat climate change, sources say. A provision calling for a 50% cut in petroleum use by 2030 will be dropped.

What is it like to live in CA without water?
Residents in the houses with dry wells are relying on deliveries of bottled water or perhaps a hose connected to a working well of a friendly neighbor. They may be taking "showers" with water from a bucket, using paper plates to avoid washing dishes, and eating sandwiches instead of spaghetti so there's no need for boiled water.

Lion killer says he did nothing wrong—someone will show him fun-killings are wrong!

US new coalition partner: Al Qaeda!
Al Qaeda Leader Al-Zawahiri Declares War on ISIS 'Caliph' Al-Baghdadi


Pope OKs annulments (marriage never existed) and abortion?
How can a religion pretend that real “divine” events, “unions sanctified by God are indissoluble” never took place? How can a religion make “hundreds if not thousands of dollars” from such a fiction? “They wanted $8,000 to process my husband's annulment! I'm a Jew now," Desirée O'Clair tweeted. The "indissolubility of the marriage bond” is apparently NOT indissoluble with enough money (see chart). Also, now lowly priests can allow women with abortions back in the building, at least this year.
Why now?
"The church has been in sharp decline in both Latin America and Europe and Pope Francis sees such reforms as key to reversing the long-term slide."
So this is why ancient “beliefs,” canon laws, are changed.
Survey says 89% of ex-Catholics say they cannot imagine ever returning to the church, even though they like Pope Francis.

Who owns your account now?
Assurant’s employee-benefits business to Sun Life Financial, Canada.

SCAMS
We are still wasting $8 million per HOUR we don’t have in Iraq/Afghan/Ukraine.
America needs to take care of American’s needs FIRST!
Rebuild America Act: a five-year plan would invest $1 trillion and create or maintain at least 13 million decent-paying jobs—Senate Budget Committee but GOP says no.

Where would you be if you refused to pay your property taxes?
You would lose your property and perhaps part of your paycheck. But in the new era of Tea Party private rights and freedoms, you can ignore the law and do what you want. A year ago, Clive Bundy lost in court but won in gun showdown with the federals. Jail?

Joseph P. Zada, Wellington, Fla., and Grosse Pointe Shores, Mich., swindled victims out of $50 million in a Ponzi scheme that spanned ten years by faking oil and currency trading through a top-secret board headquartered in London. Used excuses of Saudi family ties when asked about returns. Jail?

Bill collectors may owe you—just try to collect
Regulators found that Encore Capital Group and Portfolio Recovery Associates bought debts that were potentially inaccurate, lacking documentation, or unenforceable. Without verifying the debt, the companies collected payments by pressuring consumers with false statements and churning out lawsuits using robo-signed court documents.

IAN
41 Watchung Plaza, B242
MontclairNJ 07042
973.746.2014
Alerts 

Friday, September 4, 2015

Profits up, wages down=disaster?

Corporate profits at 40-year high but worker share at all-time low
Billionaires know income inequality is dangerous—think French guillotine! So Paul Jones wants to shame corporations with a ‘Just Capital’ listing. The wealthy can fix the problem by paying more to employees he thinks. CEOs take 373 times employees pay and so workers have no money for the basic American dream of the 50s. He quotes Adam Smith, that capitalism must have a moral foundation to be sustainable otherwise the rift leads to “the highest degree of disorder.” But corporations are NOT people (despite the Supremes) and don’t live by “community” standards. The largest firms take HALF their profits from the poor of the world so the firm’s world is based on the lowest labor and materials costs on the planet. Their new moral foundation is the 19th century robber barons with no regulations and worldwide markets. The most successful corporations pay little tax by pitting one COUNTRY against another. There is no fair share of profits.
            Nearly every major corporation has its share of tax tricks. Apple accomplishes this feat with a two-pronged tax strategy. For domestic sales, the company pays profits as a royalty on a subsidiary it owns in Ireland, which are then routed to a tax haven. For overseas sales, the company uses a second Irish sub, routes the profits through The Netherlands to avoid European taxes, and then sends its profits to its tax haven via the first Irish sub. This sub is called a “disregarded entity”—an affiliate not subject to U.S. income tax. (This strategy is called the “Double Irish with a Dutch Sandwich,” this report says.)

Is your advisor providing the best advice and products?
Most non-fee advisors/brokers/agents are sales people who get paid by selling you. They sell what their firm tells them to sell. Financial services is a very profitable industry and sales people can’t provide the best product from your point of view. Most sales people don’t know what the ‘best’ solution for you is because usually the best for you does not provide the highest revenue for the firm. Proof: The average investor earned just 3.79% while a simple non-advisor index fund earned 11% over time. Dalbar.com QAIB survey.

 “Are you paying anything for your retirement plan?”
An AARP survey said 71% of respondents answered NO—It’s FREE. (23% say they do pay for their plan (6% were unsure)). The fact that seven in 10 Americans have been tricked by Wall Street is a scandal, especially because 401(k) fees can take 63% of your nest egg by the time you need it. Brokers/advisors and also employers have lied or misled us on five fees and charges, despite a regulation in 2012. The Perfect Crime! No one reads those book-length disclosures because the lawyers write them so we can’t read them.
Double your nest egg! Drop your 401k fees and live longer.  http://www.amazon.com/Tune-your-401k-EARN-Tax-FREE/dp/1490591028

“If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense.” The 2016 President?


Warren stumping for student loan refi bill candidate
Elizabeth Warren will fight with GOP over her 2014 bill that would have allowed students to refinance their loans. Approximately 40 million Americans have student loan debt, with the average borrower owing nearly $30,000. Many can’t pay without jobs and the 6-8% finance charges continue to grow. Young voters may feel 8% is unfair since the money costs only 1% for a Fed profit of 7%.
GOP says not fair to rich if miss 7% profit.

Can your credit score double your car premium?
Survey says a poor score tells insurer you are not careful and can double your coverage premium compared to someone with excellent score.

Buy life insurance without an agent
PolicyGenius asks the questions for 26 different insurers so you find the one you can afford for the coverage you need. Standard health questions in 4 minutes give you the list of carriers and their prices per month and year. You can adjust the coverage and term in real time. You can buy a policy with FREE fluid tests. Laddering 10-year term is best.

How do you pick a health plan if my employer went private?
Time, Inc just switched 5,000 to Towers Watson’s exchange. After checking if your docs are on the three or four cost levels, you decide how much to spend before all expenses are covered by using past spending as a guide. Low premium-high deductible plans are good if you never need a doctor checkup. Employers cut costs with wellness plans.


Obama visits Alaska to watch ice melt and cover island village—Cruz says not real!
Obama sees tiny village of Kivalina on the shores of the Chukchi Sea, which is being increasingly battered by extreme waves that, as sea ice dwindles, are more easily generated offshore. Sometimes waves can wash across the entire island, which can be terrifying, especially for a place so remote where help is very far away. Kivalina will have to be relocated, at a cost that has been estimated at well over $100 million of our taxes.

Neanderthal Cave Featured Hot Water, One Bedroom—Manhattan version $650,000
They think a hole among the hearths and heated rocks near a wall of the rock shelter that may have been used to heat water some 60,000 years ago. Ivory soap nearby?

11-year old with gun shoots intruder—NRA wet dream
MO boy, home alone, kills 16 year old kid breaking in to home. Parents leave loaded gun and 11 and 4 year old home alone. Welcome to the future.

New toy for survivalists—flamethrowers
New rage is not regulated so venture capital has rewarded a company selling flamethrowers to consumers that retail between $900 and $1600. You can shoot flames to 25 feet for “fun with family and friends.”

Consumer Reports' picks worst cars of 2015
The 200, Discovery Sport, Lexus NX, and Sedona top the list!
AND best used cars including Miata!

SCAMS
We are still wasting $8 million per HOUR we don’t have in Iraq/Afghan/Ukraine.
America needs to take care of American’s needs FIRST!
Rebuild America Act: a five-year plan would invest $1 trillion and create or maintain at least 13 million decent-paying jobs—Senate Budget Committee but GOP says no.

IL stiffs lottery winner—another American promise broken
Danny Chasteen won $250,000 last month in the state lottery but could not claim the prize as legislators had not passed a state budget. “You know what’s funny? If we owed the state money, they’d come take it, and they don’t care whether we have a roof over our head,” Chasteen’s friend said, according to the Tribune.
We pay, they delay, just like insurance, brokers, “guarantees,” etc.

Citi caught misleading us and NO ONE goes to jail nor even named—Crime pays!
Regulators gave bank a deal that holds no one at the bank accountable for behavior that caused investors to lose an estimated $2 billion. Brokers can screw us with tacit OK!
Reaz Islam should be the one fined and going to jail. Instead Citi stockholders pay and Islam got $10 million. Started his own firm (L-RManagers) to defraud and mislead again.

Ponzi operator does crime again but bigger!
Eric J. Aronson raised $26 million from investors in Ponzi for high life AND pay court-ordered restitution payments to victims of a previous financial scheme to which Aronson pled guilty in 2000, serving over three years in prison. Jail was not enough?

H&R Block pays Congress to add 5 pages to tax forms—more fees
It has pushed to expand the Schedule EIC—the form required to claim the credit. The new form would go from one page to five, and it would incorporate most of a 30-question eligibility checklist that only paid preparers, as opposed to self-filers, are currently required to submit. This new form will send more customers to Block to get taxes done.
AARP is asking Congress to cut it out of bill.

Muslims convert to survive in Germany
Hundreds of mostly Iranian and Afghan asylum seekers who have converted to Christianity at the evangelical Trinity Church in a leafy Berlin neighborhood.
Most say true belief prompted their embrace of Christianity. But there's no overlooking the fact that the decision will also greatly boost their chances of winning asylum by allowing them to claim they would face persecution if sent home.

IAN
41 Watchung Plaza, B242
MontclairNJ 07042
973.746.2014
Alert