AP Photo

Iverson made his second debut as a Sixer on Monday night.

37 minutes. 11 points. 4-11 shooting. 6 assists. 5 rebounds.

And a 10-point Philly loss at home.

Get used to it, A.I. fans!

I have to admit that I am fascinated by the reactions of the people who lived during and were a part of the early church. Many of them were not only part of the initial start up of the church but were people who had actually been around, met or walked with and listened to Jesus themselves. What did they really think about Jesus? How did they interact with each other? The list of questions could go on and on. One question though particularly interests me. What was their motivation? I think that there are a lot of answers for us today in seeking out the answer to that question. A couple of passages that I think sheds some light on it is below. I encourage you to consider it and then look in the mirror. As we humbly worship God in how he has worked and continues to work I ask you to also consider how you are a part of and how you are living out that work.

6So we praise God for the wonderful kindness he has poured out on us because we belong to his dearly loved Son. 7He is so rich in kindness that he purchased our freedom through the blood of his Son, and our sins are forgiven. 8He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
9God’s secret plan has now been revealed to us; it is a plan centered on Christ, designed long ago according to his good pleasure. 10And this is his plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. 11Furthermore, because of Christ, we have received an inheritance from God,  for he chose us from the beginning, and all things happen just as he decided long ago. 12God’s purpose was that we who were the first to trust in Christ should praise our glorious God. 13And now you also have heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us everything he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God.
~ Ephesians 1:6-14 (NLT)

9The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise to return, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so he is giving more time for everyone to repent. 10But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and everything in them will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be exposed to judgment. 11Since everything around us is going to melt away, what holy, godly lives you should be living! 12You should look forward to that day and hurry it along—the day when God will set the heavens on fire and the elements will melt away in the flames. 13But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world where everyone is right with God 14And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to live a pure and blameless life. And be at peace with God. 15And remember, the Lord is waiting so that people have time to be saved. ~ 2 Peter 3:9 (NLT)

If you’re like me, you probably can’t name one or two modern Russian films. This is more than likely a sad effect of Hollywood’s pervasiveness in global cinema. Consequently, after viewing Vozvrashcheniye (The Return) (Zvyagintsev 2003), I was inspired to challenge myself to see not only more Russian films, but also more foreign films in general such as those from South Korea, Germany, and Spain. And yes, there are a lot of modern filmmakers outside of the U.S. that have made films worthy of recognition and praise.

The Return is a powerful contemporary film from Russian director Andrei Zvyagintsev and writers Vladimir Moiseenko and Alexander Novototsky, that portrays the lives of two young brothers, Andrei and Ivan, when their father unexpectedly comes back from a twelve-year absence. The boys and their father decide to go on a fishing and camping trip where the strange father tries to parent his two sons and instill discipline. The older son, Andrei, is more accepting than his younger brother, Ivan, of their newly returned father, but regardless, their conflicting emotions show more confusion than anything else.

Supposedly, the budget of this film is somewhat of a mystery, but according to IMDb, the producer and director of the film have hinted that it was under $500,000 and that they even made most of their money back before it was “discovered”. Regardless of the official amount, one can tell from watching Return that it was made with really small budget. To give some perspective, a high concept blockbuster like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Bay 2009) had a budget of $210,000,000 while an “indie” film with a “low budget” such as Juno (Reitman 2007) was made with $7,000,000. Return was made by an independent Russian production company called Ren Film and it looks as though it was primarily shot on very few locations and on a quick schedule. A rarity in Hollywood, the majority of the cast in this film are not experienced actors. Return proves that without the millions, a feature length film can still be produced.

Two things that many mainstream American moviegoers have stereotyped foreign films with are sleep inducing pacing and unfulfilling endings—and Return delivers both. I think these are some characteristics that push films like these away from the testosterone pumped summer blockbuster hits from Hollywood. And I like that it’s slow and that it doesn’t answer all the questions that it raises. These foreign filmmakers don’t want to be like the American films, they want to be different and have something to call their own.

I didn’t need to create my own blog to do the project I was doing.

So I abandoned this site.

But now I’m back, no rash promises however.

I’m going to go between here and blogspot, and see which one I like better.

I’ll be honest, wordpress has my vote so far.

It’s too bad that you can’t backdate posts because I could easily take excerpts from other places and put them in here in no time, but it would just look like I’d had a psychotic typing episode or become manic suddenly on December 7th, 2009.  (Which is, I’m sure, how many people survive the holidays, and then become catatonic shortly after New Year’s, making vacations to Hawaii necessary.  We could possibly put “Hawaii” in quotation marks and substitute the phrase “Betty Ford Clinic” but let’s just leave it at Hawaii.)

I ask this question because my significant other had postulated the question, “Are you happy?”  This caught me off-guard because my initial reaction was, “Of course I…”, but then I paused mid-sentence and replied, “Why do you ask?”  By this point I have several different thoughts running through my mind as to what is equating to my happiness before she even responds.  Why do I feel that I am happy?  Am I where I want to be in life right now?  Do I have the house I want?  Am I doing what I like to do and enjoy doing it?  Do I live where I want to live?  Do I have the friends I want to have?  Am I a respectful person and do I treat my family and friends respectfully?  She says, “Because I am.”

The definition of happiness is the quality or state of being happy and/or good fortune; pleasure; contentment; joy.

My thoughts on MY happiness and what makes me happy is the level of freedom I enjoy.  Freedom will bring me True Happiness.  When I say freedom, I mean the now.  When just the now matters and we feel like we can do anything, when there is no anger, no frustration, no worries, no barriers.  When I am free, my spirit is light and happy, and therefore, life is beautiful.

However, that thought, in and of itself, contradicts.  You can never truly be free because “Freedom isn’t Free” and the price is giving up some of that freedom.  TRUE Happiness can never truly be achieved because you will always want more, you could be the most powerful and successful person in existence, yet I can assure you that you will want something more, which equates to you not being satisfied, and as such, not being happy.  Though you can be happy, happy with your girlfriend, happy with your new job, happy that your friends said this or that about you – you can never achieve true happiness and keep hold of it forever.  As sad and depressing this is, it is true!

Freedom and happiness are constructs of your own will to be free and/or happy … Your mind creates a reality based on its experiences and necessities it encounters in its own existence and then chooses consciously and/or subconsciously what that reality would be like.  That reality is what you must achieve in order to be truly happy.  Yet once that reality is achieved… then what?  Your mind will, once again, construct a new reality in which that does not exist that you must strive for to be happy.

But, this is LIFE.  If life was capable of being TRULY HAPPY, then where are you?  You’re either in Heaven or on some amazing drug-induced high that will kill you in the process.  Life is you pursuing happiness.  You should always pursue happiness because that is the human tendency of living life to the fullest and if you do not pursue happiness then you are simply grazing in contentment or, in better words, the denial of your obliviousness of the fact that life can always be better.

Pursuing happiness is “living” – Living life and loving life!

I do believe that I am a happy person.  I love someone who loves me in return and I would do anything for them and vice versa.  I am happy with where I am because I have the will to construct a reality that allows me to see where I’m going and stay on the track that allows me to achieve all of my wants, goals and desires.  There will always be things that I want and goals to strive for.  Obtaining those things and achieving those goals will assuredly make me serendipitous in those moments and I will continue to keep going and feeling that way every day of my life.

Living your life in the pursuit of true happiness will make you happy… there is no doubt about this.

However, when you reach the end of your road in this pursuit of happiness, and that end was not forced, surrounded in life with friends and family that you love, enjoy and respect and they love, enjoy and respect you in return…

THAT is the point in which you achieve TRUE happiness.

I Believe in Everything. From the ridge tops there is a view of Everything Else. At Absolute Twisted Zero it is cold. The North Wind strikes third growth fir like strings. Pondersa bring up bass. Hundred foot trees sway like tall grass in fields

Light snow’s gift in the night. From frozen peaks Deep Seeing Techniques look at Return. Return means Turning Point. This is not arithmetic. It is not adding and subtracting elemental outlines.

Turning Points don’t matter what’s left and what is gone. When Everybody Else has Everything Else I will still have my Essentials. You need Essentials from one Turning Point to another. In Twisted Zero the shortest Turning Point between two distances is Time Alive. This is one step closer to the Truth.

Trees dance crazy normal. They have Time. At 3500 feet wind howls cold and scrapes my lungs. Through a ridgeline crack the Great River shines. Long December rays light 5,000 foot cliffs. Highlight Deep Shadows. Rows of columbaria stretch back to the Great Mother. She has no Doppleganger. Ancestors speak to me from Great Wilderness.

Deep Listening Techniques Follow Deep Difficulty. These reveal the Grandmother’s sacrifices. Her Time shaped Her Lives. Now Here I am Alive. A child of the Human Animal Father of Man. Acts of conscience run through my genes like a North Wind in the Great Canyon. It is my veins and in my bones. I am connected to Her through my Bff Pain. It’s strong. Maybe not Forever. It is Permanent. I am satisfied to Believe in Everything In Time.

(CFD.net.au – Contract for Difference, Share, Forex, ETFs, Commodities Traders) – on this name is quite low.” Almost non-existent a decade ago, the Islamic bond market has grown to $130 billion, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Prices are rebounding after three defaults in the past year because investors expect Dubai’s government to prevent state-owned developer eloper Nakheel from failing to make payments on its obligations. The company’s bonds due Dec. 14 rose to a record 108 cents on the dollar this month, up from 93.5 on Sept. 2 and 70 percent higher than a February low. Securities that follow Shariah laws, known as sukuk, have Returned 27 percent this year, an HSBC Holdings Plc Index shows. Last year, the market fell four times as much as Investment- grade corporate debt that doesn’t comply with religious edicts against interest payments as oil prices tumbled and credit markets froze. Sales to Double The bonds are climbing almost twice as fast as Global companies’ non-Islamic debt and heading for the best annual gain since the benchmark HSBC/Nasdaq Dubai sukuk Index’s introduction in 2005. Sales of international Islamic debt will double in 2010 to $14 billion as businesses including General Electric Co. plan debut issues, HSBC says. The Dubai government yesterday set up a $2.5 billion Islamic bond program as part of a $6.5 billion fund-raising plan, as the emirate seeks to sell international bonds for the first time in more than a year. The sale may take place as soon as next week, said two Investors who didn’t want to be identified because meetings are private. Nakheel, a unit of government-controlled Dubai World, owes more than $5 billion by 2011 in Islamic bonds and is among the biggest losers in a real-estate crash that cut home prices in half. The company is a “litmus test” for the debt of other emirate-owned enterprises, Moody’s said in June. ‘Uncertainty’ Dubai World has guaranteed Nakheel’s December bond, the offering prospectus says. Standard & Poor’s in June downgraded Dubai World’s companies citing “uncertainty” over the emirate’s willingness to help the firms pay their debt. Dubai World may be able to sell bonds to refinance Nakheel’s obligations, two bankers familiar with the group’s plans said last week. “The United Arab Emirates authorities are acutely aware of the amount of profile the Nakheel 2009 sukuk instrument has in the international capital markets,” said Chavan Bhogaita , head of credit research at National Bank of Abu Dhabi PJSC, the U.A.E.’s second-largest lender by assets. “In our opinion, they fully intend to repay this bond.” Thomas Brund , who helps manage $3.5 billion in fixed-income assets at Sydbank A/S in Aabenraa, Denmark, said the region’s bonds have become too risky after the premium paid for owning them plummeted. The gap between average yields on Middle East debt and the London interbank offered rate for loans between financial institutions has fallen by half to about 300 basis points, or 3 percentage points, in the past six months, HSBC/Nasdaq Indexes show. ‘Too Far’ “The spreads have gone too far,” Brund said. He has pared Gulf debt purchases in recent months because the premiums over Libor don’t “reflect the risks if things turn around again in the Global economy,” he said. Mohieddine Kronfol , the managing director at Dubai-based Algebra Capital Ltd., said his fund has Returned 25 percent so far this year after buying Islamic securities when yields were near record highs in March. “The question remains open of what to do from here? Decisions are harder than they were in March,” Kronfol said. Franklin Templeton Investments owns 40 percent of Algebra Capital. Islamic debt is governed by Shariah laws barring investors from profiting from the Exchange of money, as happens with interest payments on other bonds. Returns from exchanging funds for assets is allowed, as long as gambling, guns and alcohol aren’t involved. Bankers structure sukuk to generate income from real estate and other permitted investments. Created in the 1970s after almost a 20-fold jump in oil prices over 10 years, the Shariah finance industry caters to the world’s 1.57 billion Muslims . House Prices Investors fled the Islamic-debt market last year. Sales of international and domestic sukuk plunged almost 55 percent to $14 billion as oil and real-estate prices slumped and eroded Middle Eastern wealth, Bloomberg data show. Oil fell 54 percent in 2008, the most since at least 1987. Dubai home prices have tumbled about 50 percent from their peak in 2008’s second quarter and may drop another 20 percent this year after a construction boom created thousands of houses just as demand began to evaporate, Deutsche Bank AG said in June. The HSBC/Nasdaq sukuk index declined 19 percent in 2008, the most since its inception and quadruple the 4.7 percent loss of investment-grade bonds in Merrill Lynch’s Global Broad Market Corporate Index. The slide worsened as investors fled all but the safest government debt after the collapse of subprime- mortgage securities froze credit markets in 2007. Transparency “Lack of Transparency has become a hindrance in the market because the need for information and Rating requirements are much higher these days,” said Harald Eggerstedt , a credit strategist in Edinburgh at bond broker and advisory firm RIA Capital Markets Ltd. Some of the biggest Islamic debt losses were on Dubai-based companies’ bonds. DP World Ltd.’s 6.25 percent sukuk due 2017 lost 34 percent in last year’s second half and its yield spread over Treasuries reached 1,486 basis points in February, Bloomberg data show. Anything above 1,000, or 10 percentage points, is considered distressed. Investors sold out of Dubai on concern it would struggle to repay $80 billion in debt after the credit crisis ended its four-year real-estate boom and forced the U.A.E. to work on a bailout of the emirate’s two biggest mortgage lenders. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum, chairman of Dubai’s Supreme Fiscal Committee, said on Oct. 5 that he is confident the emirate can meet its obligations. Aston Martin The cost of protecting Dubai bonds from Default has fallen to about 294 basis points from a peak of 977 in February, five- year credit-default swap prices show. The contracts, which get cheaper as perceptions of credit quality improve, remain the sixth costliest of 39 emerging markets, Bloomberg data show. Several sukuk issuers have Defaulted in the credit freeze’s aftermath. In May, Kuwait-based Investment Dar Co. reneged on a $100 million bond maturing in 2010, triggering concern about untested restructuring laws for such debt. The company, which owns half of luxury carmaker Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd. in Banbury, U.K., hasn’t reached a restructuring agreement with Holders yet, the company said in an Oct. 12 e-mail. Saad Group, in the Saudi Arabian oil city of Al-Khobar, also doesn’t yet have an agreement with Holders of its Defaulted $650 million sukuk, according to an Oct. 7 statement from bond Trustee Citicorp Trustee Co. released by the Bahrain Stock Exchange. Defaults Houston-based East Cameron Partners LP, which issued $165.7 million of sukuk, sought bankruptcy protection in October 2008. The debtor is working on a “consensual plan of reorganization,” according to a Sept. 3 filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Lafayette, Louisiana. “The case is still in that same posture,” said Michael H. Piper , a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, lawyer who represents unsecured creditors, in an Oct. 22 interview. “There are only three to four defaults in the Islamic market, not 3,000,” said Sheikh Nizam Yaquby, a board member of the Bahrain-based Accounting & Auditing Organization for Islamic Financial Institutions, in an interview. “Standards are in place” for defaulted securities, said Yaquby, who serves on the boards of about 40 firms, including New York-based Citigroup Inc., HSBC of London and Paris-based BNP Paribas. Sukuk Sales International sukuk sales will total at least $7 billion in 2009 and $14 billion in 2010, up from $5 billion in 2008, said Mohammed Dawood , a director of debt capital markets at HSBC, this year’s second-biggest underwriter of such bonds. Including domestic issues, total sales may hit $15 billion in 2009 and $20 billion in 2010, said Wan Murezani Mohamad, a senior analyst based in Kuala Lumpur at Malaysian Rating Corp. International Finance Corp., a World Bank unit, said Oct. 21 that it wants to sell larger sukuk issues after it completes a $100 million sale this week. The state-owned Dubai Civil Aviation Authority may refinance $1 billion of debt due Nov. 2 with Islamic and non-Islamic bonds, two bankers familiar with the transaction said. Indonesia said it will sell its second sukuk in 2010. This year’s 27 percent gain for the HSBC/Nasdaq sukuk index compares with a 14.7 percent increase for investment-grade corporate bonds in Merrill Lynch’s global gauge. “We are seeing an extremely bullish and optimistic market,” Dawood said. The recovery of global markets and investor appetite is encouraging borrowers outside the Gulf region to consider issuing sukuk for the first time. General Electric Capital Corp., whose parent last year formed an $8 billion venture with Abu Dhabi’s investment company Mubadala Development Co., met with potential Islamic debt investors last week, said two bankers who declined to be identified because details are private. ‘New Entrants’ Asian companies and governments, which Standard & Poor’s says Account for 60 percent of 2009’s Islamic bond sales, will lead the increase, said Mohd Effendi Abdullah , head of Islamic Capital Markets in Kuala Lumpur at AmInvestment Bank, the third- largest underwriter of sukuk this year. “We have seen new entrants in Singapore and Indonesia, and potentially Korea and Japan as well,” he said. Hong Kong’s government said in May it is changing its laws to facilitate Islamic finance. Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Development & Investment Co. offered $1 billion of sukuk Oct. 13 and ended up getting orders for $7 billion. “The sukuk market is maturing,” said Yavar Moini , executive director of global capital markets at Morgan Stanley in Dubai. “Investors aren’t shying away.” To contact the reporters on this story: Haris Anwar in Dubai on Hanwar2@bloomberg.net To contact the reporter on this story: Laura Cochrane in London at lcochrane3@bloomberg.net Last Updated: October 26, 2009 02:57 EDT Islamic Debt to Rally on Nakheel Recovery, GE Sukuk (Update1) – Bloomberg.com

Source: By Laura Cochrane and Haris Anwar Oct. 26 (Bloomberg) — Islamic bonds are poised for record gains amid

mengembalikan jati diri bangsa

Untuk merumuskan pemasaran langsung Anda rencana keberhasilan penjualan pertama-tama menentukan tujuan pemasaran langsung Anda. Apakah untuk memperoleh penjualan kesadaran masyarakat untuk mendapatkan produk Anda atau membuat penjualan langsung Sebelum skala penuh Anda mungkin ingin menguji penjualan . hingga . potong.

RATE RETURN MAIL LANGSUNG

HERE ARE THE HARUS LAKUKAN PROSEDUR untuk memaksimalkan tingkat pengembalian surat langsung atas investasi. Pastikan daftar surat langsung Anda hanya ditargetkan pada prospek yang sebenarnya. Perbaiki daftar profil erat sampai yang paling sering Anda penanggap. Sorot cetak tebal manfaat dari apa layanan Anda produk atau kesempatan akan lakukan mengembalikan jati diri bangsa untuk prospek Anda. Pilih hanya bagian atas atau manfaat. Buatlah tawaran Anda waktu yang terbatas sehingga diinginkan bahwa itu terlalu bagus untuk dilewatkan.

Ketika menentukan surat langsung Anda tingkat pengembalian investasi yang Anda perlu mengetahui nilai klien baru atau agen penjualan. Ini disebut Lifetime Nilai Pelanggan atau laba yang benar. Mengembalikan Jati Diri Anda mengambil jumlah penjualan kurang Mengembalikan Jati Diri biaya mendapatkan prospek .. Kemudian anda kalikan dengan rata-rata kali transaksi penjualan Jati Diri Bangsa akan terjadi. Katakanlah Anda menerima menimpa pada penjualan yang dibuat Jati Diri Bangsa oleh agen dari dengan penjualan rata-rata sebesar . dan penjualan Mengembalikan Jati Diri Bangsa selama tahun. Mail langsung Jati Diri Anda pengembalian investasi akan menjadi . per agen dikurangi biaya rata-rata dikeluarkan untuk daftar perangko percetakan dan tindak lanjut. Nilai seumur hidup pelanggan. adalah .

Untuk setiap dolar yang dihabiskan untuk kampanye surat langsung kembali sebesar adalah menyadari. Dengan setiap faktor menganggap mengembalikan jati diri bangsa surat langsung tingkat pengembalian atas investasi adalah .

Click this for the poll and make sure you vote

Should I, Plopkopmop, return to my website, CPPC?
(polls)

-Plopkopmop

Allen Iverson admits that he cried because the Sixers are a really really bad team -- and now, he's a part of the horror.

With the resigning of Allen Iverson, everyone in Philadelphia assumed Iverson’s teary eyes during his first press conference in his return as a Sixer stemmed from the amount of passion and love he has for the team, the fans and the city. Well Philadelphia… you were wrong.

Iverson clarified what those tears represented and why he couldn’t stop the waterworks.

“Are you kidding me?” The Answer asked in question format. “I do love the fans and the city, but I was crying up there because this 76ers team is the crappiest team I’ve ever played on! Where’s Dikembe Mutumbo? Where’s Eric Snow? Where’s Matt Geiger? Hell, I’ll even take George Lynch!”

The Sixers are hoping the second time around will end much better for Iverson, who said that he wants to finish his career. But he still questions why Philadelphia, let alone any team, would want the former regular season, all-star and NBA Finals MVP.

“If this team didn’t suck so badly, then why would they sign a 40-year-old outcast like me?” Iverson asked reporters. “There were 29 other teams that didn’t want me. Even the Knicks didn’t want me on their team. The New York Knicks! But the Sixers? Hell, they would take someone from the WNBA if they could. Sorry, Lebron.”

Sixers Head Coach Eddie Jordan, who has six kids from two wives and a random relationship, said he was proud of the opportunity Iverson would have with the team.

“As a coach, you know your team is in trouble when Lou Williams gets injured and everyone cries out, ‘Oh no! Our second best player!’” Jordan said. “There’s a reason why the Sixers are second-to-worst in attendance this year.”

Jordan also thought this move of picking up Iverson would temporarily save his job.

“What? What are you talking about?” Jordan said. “How would I get fired in the middle of the season? Yes, I did get fired after a 1-10 start with Washington last year, but at 5-15, I’m only 10 games under .500 this season as opposed to last year when we were… well, nine games under .500.”

Meanwhile, Thaddeus Young is expecting great things in Iverson’s return.

“You don’t even know who I am,” Young said. “Can you even pronounce my first name correctly?”

BlackRock Gold & General has returned 732pc as the gold price has increased from just $220 an ounce in 1999 to a new record high of $1,225 an ounce this week.

In 1999 the fund was worth £70m now it is worth more than £2bn. Although performance would have played a part in its growth, BlackRock says new money has played a huge role too – it has regularly been a top seller in the second half of the decade.

BlackRock’s Tony Stenning said: “At the start of the decade people had lost faith in real assets and the fools gold rush was for paper assets on ridiculously high earnings. We decided not to promote the fund too heavily. While we have always believed gold should be a small part of a diversified portfolio we did not want to see widows and orphans put their life savings into it. Gold can be volatile and we have had one hell of a roller-coaster at times.”

Morningstar, which carried out the research, said it was not surprising that specialist funds featured at the top of the tables, rather than the mainstream UK funds, which are absent from the top 10. There is only one UK fund among the elite bunch and that comes from a boutique investment house, rather than one of the big players such as Fidelity or Jupiter. The fund is Marlborough Special Situations, managed by Giles Hargreave – he describes it as “relatively risk averse” because it limits itself to a 2pc holding in any single company.

At the beginning of the semester, I was having issues with the person I like to call my Baruch stalker.  He had been in one of my classes last spring, I think, and is in one of my management classes this semester.  In September and October he would always be writing on my fb wall during class, saying how I looked bored or should participate or something, or how he was sorry he didn’t catch me after class, blah blah.  Well, eventually he got the hint that I didn’t like him, though it took me completely ignoring wall posts and messages and avoiding him in and after class for him to get it.  I hadn’t heard anything from him in about a month…..until tonight.

I put my status as something about how I was annoyed that I had to miss the company holiday dinner because of my management class, and he comments, out of the blue “Hey that class is awesome ok, u just gotta start being more active and just have fun, ur classmates won’t bite u for participating.”  And it pissed me off for both illogical and logical reasons.

1) (illogical): I have more than one management class, so don’t assume it’s the one we both have.  Don’t know why that annoyed me, but it did.

2)  (logical) Stop fucking telling me to participate!  You’ve been saying that since September. Seriously, just stop it!  No one asked you, no one cares about your opinion, and you’re like a scratched record stuck repeating itself.  And stop sounding so fucking condescending, you jerk.

3) (logical–I think…..) I haven’t talked to you in over a month, why would you think I suddenly want to talk to you now?  Get a clue!

There were more, but I can’t remember them because I was sidetracked by the discovery that EK has temporarily deleted her fb!  See, I knew that she had commented on the same status he did, but the comment wasn’t there anymore.  She’s been know to delete random stuff in her paranoia, so I went to visit her page….which didn’t exist anymore!  I can’t believe she just abandoned me like that!  Sigh.  At least I’ll always have the memories of the better times at Magnolia’s…….

I came across this interesting, weird, funny but, serious article at http://www.wisebread.com

Actually it seems so true that most of the tax payers indulge into such weird tactics in order to save whatever chunk of tax they can. Its amazing, to what an extent a mind can imagine various creative ways. Its a pleasure to share the reading here.

Imagine the Tax Fraud Tactics: 20 amazing, outrageous and just plain weird tax deductions

Tax Fraud Tactic

Well, it’s that time again. The tax deadline is just around the corner. If you’re like me, you will have taken care of your taxes months ago and already be enjoying the cash your high-interest savings account is giving you on your return.

If you’re smarter than me, you won’t have any tax return at all. It’s best to come out owing nothing and getting nothing. Evens is best here. But if you still haven’t done your return, take a look at the top 20 funky, strange and outrageous deductions that folks have tried, and sometimes failed, to get away with.

It’s ironic that I was sweating over the deduction of office supplies for my home business, when some folks out there are deducting breast implants and beer. As I’m often told, God Bless America.

1 – Free beer – YES
Strange but true. A gas station owner gave his customers free beer (brand unknown…I doubt it was Stella Artois though) in lieu of trading stamps. And the Tax Courts said yes, this is a legitimate business expense and tax deductible. Which makes the next entry even stranger…

2 – Free whisky – NO
How ironic. A cunning fella thought a case or two of whisky would make nice client gifts, and thus tried to deduct them on his annual tax return. The category he chose was client entertainment. However, not only was it not allowed, it was a gift that violated state laws. Ouch.

3 – Cost of hiring an arsonist – NO
Hard to believe, right? A man with a failing furniture business decided to hire someone to burn it down. The store-owner’s plan was not only to collect the $500,000 insurance money, but also to deduct the $10,000 expenses of hiring the arsonist! He was denied. I’m sure it wasn’t too long before the police were also looking carefully at his return. Not a smart man.

4 – Fake Boobs – YES
This one is infamous. A stripper going by the name of CHESTY LOVE used her hard-earned savings to boost the size of her boobs, to the eye-popping size of 56-FF (do they even make bras in that size?) She figured it would get her more tips. And the write-off was allowed, being considered a stage prop essential to her act. Ha!

5 – Prostitution expenses – NO
Maybe in Amsterdam or at the Bunny Ranch in Nevada, but you can’t deduct expenses of illegal professions. Trying to deduct 4000 condoms or push-up bras are no good if you put down “prostitute” as your career. Similarly, drug dealers can’t deduct the cost of baggies or soil for Marijuana plants.

6 – Cat food – YES
Junkyard owners set out bowls of pet food nightly to attract wild cats. The wild cats also took care of their nasty snake and rat problem, making the junkyard safer for customers and providing a useful business service. Yep, you guessed it…the pet food is a business expense, it was allowed. I need to get the number of their tax attorney.

7 -Your own racehorse – NO
I can see how this would be a business expense to some people. But if you just go out and buy your own prize-winning horse, name it after yourself (the ego on some folks) and then take clients out to see your horse run, you cannot deduct this. It’s not a business expense, it’s a personal expense. But hey, if you can afford a racehorse and stables, why are you worried about the deduction in the first place?

8 – A fabulous African Safari – YES
If the IRS considers a business trip “ordinary and necessary”, you can take it as a deduction. For the owners of a dairy business, this included a wonderful African Safari, because many of the activities on the trip were focused on wild animals. Please note – going to see adult shows in Vegas would not count as viewing exotic wildlife.

9 – The costs of moving…the family pet – YES
Whether you’ve got a Great Dane or a Great White Shark, your pet is considered a personal effect. And that’s great news for you. When it comes to any expenses relating to any kind move associated with a job, the tax man says yes. But I suspect hiring a Hummer Limo to move your gerbil across the state may not be looked upon favorably.

10 – A Trip to Bermuda – YES, YES, YES
I love this one. I have to find a way to do it. ANY business convention held in Bermuda can be written off without even showing there was a special reason to hold your business meeting in paradise. And it’s not the only place. Barbados, Costa Rica, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada, Mexico and all U.S. possessions also fall into this special tax treatment. But outside the U.S. is a different story. I guess I can’t hold a board meeting in England so I can go see my folks then

11 – Body Oil – YES
If you’re a regular Joe, body oil is a once in a blue-moon splurge. Maybe something to spice up an evening with your partner, but certainly not a write-off. However, if you’re a pro bodybuilder and need gallons of body oil to make your muscles glisten, then it is a genuine tax write-off. Just don’t turn up at a client meeting covered in oil, wearing nothing but a thong and a smile. It won’t be considered “ordinary and necessary.”

12 – A trip to the Super bowl – NO
I’d like to put this one in the ‘nice try’ category. Someone decided to take clients and their spouses to the Super bowl, but just could not prove that the shindig was in any way related to business. And even if it was, it’s an extravagant expense for a meeting and would have been disallowed anyway. Sorry bud.

13 – A Private Airplane – YES
A couple with a rental condo didn’t fancy the hassle of driving up to 7 hours to check on it. They didn’t want to be stuck to the schedule of the only daily flight available. So, they did what you ore I would do. They bought their own jet! They were allowed to deduct all expenses on the jet relating to the condo, including the high costs of fuel. That must have been some

14 – A Mink Coat – NO
And thank goodness, because I hate fur. Claiming that the Mink coat was a conversation piece when visiting clients with his wife (what was the topic…blood on the runway?) a man tried to deduct the garment. Fortunately, he was denied.

15 – Babysitting costs – YES
Believe it or not, you can deduct the cost of a babysitter as a charitable deduction, if the mother of the child is leaving the house to do volunteer work for a charity. Which, of course, we all do on a daily basis.

16 – A ‘Playmate’ Party – YES!
How he got away with this one is beyond me. The owner of a nightclub promotions firm decided that a regular party wasn’t good enough for his clients. So, he brought in a bunch of scantily clad “bunnies” as decoration. The tax man said sure, it’s a valid expense. Whether or not pictures of the bunnies were attached to the return is unknown at this time.

17 – A Nuclear Fallout Shelter – NO
This one bombed (ouch, sorry…bad pun). Yup, way back in the days of the cold war and the threat of nuclear meltdown, one clever chap built a nuclear fallout shelter on his property and then decided to list it as “preventative medicine.” The IRS gave that one a big thumbs down. But who’ll be laughing if Word War 3 does happen?

18 – A beautiful swimming pool – YES
This one’s a great example of lateral thinking. After being told by his doctor that he needed to exercise (after developing emphysema), the smart fella put in a swimming pool. The deduction was put down as a necessary MEDICAL EXPENSE and was allowed, along with the various chemicals, heating, cleaning and general upkeep of the pool. Now that’s using your head.

19 – Dancing lessons – NO
Dancing With The Stars may be popular, but it’s not going down well with the IRS as the subject of a deduction. You CANNOT take dancing as a deduction for medical expenses, and the following reason are outlawed – dancing to relive varicose veins, dancing to cure arthritis and finally, dancing to alleviate nervous disorders. Try any of these and you’ll be dancing all the way to the tax courts.

20 – Sperm donation as a loss – NO
It’s one thing to make a little extra cash as a sperm donor. It’s quite another to try and claim a depletion loss on the aforementioned sperm. Unless you’re an oil well, that kind of depletion is not really going to make much of an impact.

Fantasy Football duo Frank Skinner and David Baddiel will reunite next summer for radio shows broadcast from the World Cup in South Africa…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: soccer live scores. The blog is also related to: world cup history soccer.

Acetylene cylinders at the centre of a fire in West Sussex, which led to homes being evacuated, are still being doused with water…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: deep ocean. The blog is also related to: atlantic ocean water.

AP Photo

It’s official. He’s back.

Via the Associated Press:

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A tearful Allen Iverson is happy to be back with the Philadelphia 76ers.

Iverson is returning to the franchise where he was an MVP, calling it an opportunity he couldn’t turn down. The 10-time All-Star guard signed a non-guaranteed deal with the 76ers on Wednesday, and said at the Wachovia Center that he’s ready to prove he can still play.

“I want to retire here,” Iverson said Thursday.

The 34-year-old Iverson was teary almost from the start of his news conference. He said he retired after his ill-fated stint with the Memphis Grizzlies because he felt like “the basketball part of my life was over.”

Iverson will play his first game for the 76ers against Denver on Monday.

“Coming back home, all I could think about was the people who made me who I am,” said Iverson, the NBA MVP in 2001, when he led the Sixers to the finals.

Philadelphia hasn’t won a playoff series since 2003.

In 10 seasons with the Sixers, Iverson posted the highest scoring average in team history (28.1), was second on the points list (19,583) and holds the record for 3-pointers (877). He was a seven-time All-Star, won four scoring titles and two All-Star game MVPs.

(CFD.net.au – Contract for Difference, Share, Forex, ETFs, Commodities Traders) –

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Madoff associate found dead

US authorities say Jeffry Picower, a philanthropist and a friend of Bernard Madoff for decades, has died.

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Palm Beach billionaire Jeffry Picower, described as the biggest beneficiary of Bernard Madoff’s fraud, died on Sunday. He was found at the bottom of the pool at his mansion home, police said.

Emergency services were called to the oceanside home after Picower, 67, was pulled from the pool by his wife and a housekeeper, and he was later pronounced dead, the

Palm Beach Post

reported, quoting police and fire rescue officials.

The trustee in the Madoff fraud case had said in court documents late last month that Picower, newly listed as one of the 400 wealthiest Americans by

Forbes

magazine, was complicit in the fraud. He was being sued for $US7.2 billion ($8 billion).

Ambulance crews at the house of Jeffry Picower, who was found dead at the bottom of his pool.

Picower and his wife Barbara were friends of Madoff, 71, who is serving a 150-year sentence after pleading guilty to running a $US65 billion Ponzi scheme.

Found dead

Picower’s wife told dispatchers that she had ”just found her husband at the bottom of their swimming pool” at their residence at 1410 South Ocean Boulevard, police said. He was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the police said.

”As standard operating procedure in any drowning, the Palm Beach Police Department is conducting an investigation into Mr Picower’s death,” police said in a statement.

Picower’s attorney, William Zabel, did not respond to a call and email seeking comment.

Picower benefited more from Madoff’s Ponzi scheme than any other investor, said Irving Picard, the lawyer liquidating Madoff’s investment business.

Picard sued Picower, his foundation and related entities, claiming they withdrew more than $US7.2 billion over 20 years, including more than $US5 billion in fake profits.

Picower said he was a victim of Madoff’s fraud rather than a beneficiary, as Picard claimed in his civil complaint in bankruptcy court in New York

.

Huge Returns

”Rather than recognising Mr Picower and the other defendants as victims of Madoff’s fraud, the trustee instead casts them as villains in history’s largest Ponzi scheme,” Picower said in a court filing on July 31 seeking to dismiss Picard’s complaint.

The complaint claims Picower, his Palm Beach-based foundation, and several related defendants should have known that the annual returns they were getting from Madoff – including some allegedly as high as 950 per cent – were the result of fraud. Picower had said those figures were wrong.

Picard said that Picower received more than $US2.4 billion from the fraud during the past six years alone, and that his accounts ”were riddled with blatant and obvious fraud”.

Picard is suing Madoff’s biggest investors and beneficiaries, including offshore hedge funds.

Among the institutions that benefited from Picower’s giving were the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which used a $US50 million donation from Picower in 2002 to fund a brain-research centre under Nobel prize-winner Susumu Tonegawa.

Reuters,

Bloomberg

Source: Bernard Madoff"s billionaire friend found dead in pool

Honduran lawmakers rejected the reinstatement of ousted President Manuel Zelaya during a heated debate which revisited details of the June 28 coup which polarized the nation.

Honduras’ ousted President Manuel Zelaya (AFP)

A simple majority of 65 lawmakers in the 128-member body had voted against Zelaya’s return to the presidency shortly before 730 pm (0130 GMT), after more than six hours of debate.

The decision came amid pressure to resolve the five-month crisis, and after many Latin American governments warned they would not restore broken ties unless Zelaya was allowed to finish his term, which ends January 27.

The vote, however, put an end to a US-brokered crisis deal between Zelaya and de facto leader Roberto Micheletti, who took over after the coup.

Micheletti, who stepped down briefly over the elections, said before the vote that Zelaya was “history.”

As the political drama played out in the Congress, dozens of security forces faced off outside with backers of Zelaya, who has been holed up in the Brazilian embassy since returning in September.

Despite angry speeches from several deputies who slammed both the coup and a military crackdown which followed, only nine lawmakers had backed Zelaya’s return when the majority against it was reached.

The same Congress, along with the Supreme Court, business leaders and the military, had backed Zelaya’s expulsion over his plans to change the constitution, which they saw as a bid to undo term limits.

Lawmakers had received advice from the attorney general and the Supreme Court, which has said that criminal charges against Zelaya still stand.

“As far as I know, the Congress does not have the capacity to make this decision,” Zelaya told local Radio Globo ahead of the vote.

Zelaya had suggested that he would not resume the presidency even if Congress voted him back in, saying a US pact which left the decision to Congress had failed.

Divisions in the Central American nation have remained wide since controversial weekend elections held under the de facto regime, in which conservative Porfirio Lobo claimed a solid victory.

Lobo, who backed the coup, has vowed to work for national reconciliation.

His National Party, with 55 seats in Congress, voted against Zelaya’s return.

Lobo, who lost to Zelaya in 2005 elections, has not spoken out on the issue, prefering to leave the decision to Congress.

Zelaya suffered from splits within his Liberal Party which has a majority in Congress but is deeply divided over his swing to the left under the influence of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

The United States, a key business partner and donor, and the European Union, also a key donor, said they saw the weekend polls as an important first step forward out of the crisis, but many in Latin America, starting with powerhouse Brazil, said they served to whitewash the coup.

Rights groups said the elections were marred by the lack of international consensus, and slammed a military crackdown on journalists and activists since the coup.

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Rep. Issa Questions Plan to Pay Government Workers for Government Property. Maybe when you print money all day, it becomes easier to spend. A Republican congressman is taking a hard look at a program in the Bureau of Engraving and Printing that would give hundreds of senior employees $75 gift cards in exchange for their printers, which the government already owns.”It’s absurd and demeaning that managers would offer employees gift cards for the simple act of returning office property,” Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., ranking Republican on the House Oversight Committee, said in a written statement Tuesday.Issa wants to know why the bureau is not asking employees to return the printers for free and has written a letter to Director Larry Felix demanding an explanation.

“I’m going to need your assistance in helping me understand why your agency needs to spend in excess of $40,000 to recover its own property,” he wrote.

Wow, he has truly grown! Even before my eyes, when I look back at his previous photos, I cannot believe it is the same kid. Calvin is doing well. He is eating well, sleeping well and pooping well =).

I know it has been a long time since the last post but I promise to try and get back on track but forgive me beforehand as the house is still needing a lot of attention.

Who does he look like? Voice your opinion on the comment box by clicking on the topic above!

For the time being, here is Calvin with his mom holding him tight. Enjoy!

I hope it works out, and where else should Iverson end his career? PHILI baby!!

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Dust off the No. 3 jersey. Allen Iverson is with the 76ers again.

Team president Ed Stefanski announced the signing Wednesday on the team’s Web site. Iverson is expected to make his debut Monday at home against the Denver Nuggets.

“In light of the recent injury to Lou Williams, which will sideline him for close to eight weeks, we felt that Allen was the best available free agent guard to help us at this time,” Stefanski said in a release.

Williams, who averaged 17.4 points and 5.1 assists, broke his jaw in Philadelphia’s loss to Washington on Nov. 24.

Iverson, his agent and business manager met with Stefanski, coach Eddie Jordan and two other members of the organization Monday.

The 34-year-old Iverson announced his retirement last week after an ill-fated stint with the Memphis Grizzlies. The 10-time All-Star was NBA MVP in 2001 when he led the Sixers to the NBA finals.

“We had, at times, a rocky road with Allen Iverson, but we also had a fantastic run with Allen,” Peter Luukko, COO of Comcast-Spectacor, which owns the 76ers and Flyers, told The Associated Press. “The expectations with Allen have changed dramatically. We’re not looking for Allen to individually lead this team the way he has in the past.”

Iverson was offered a one-year, non-guaranteed contract Tuesday, according to a person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the talks were private.

The Sixers would owe just under $650,000 if they guarantee his contract for the remainder of the season on Jan. 10. Stefanski plans to talk about Iverson’s return in a noon teleconference.

“The whole situation wasn’t about the contract and the money,” Iverson’s agent, Leon Rose, told The AP. “It was about the opportunity and the chance to come to Philadelphia.”

In 10 seasons with the Sixers, Iverson posted the highest scoring average in team history (28.1), was second on the points list (19,583) and holds the record for 3-pointers (877). He was a seven-time All-Star, won four scoring titles and two All-Star game MVPs.

The Sixers (5-13) have lost seven straight entering Wednesday night’s game at Oklahoma City and need Iverson to spark sagging ticket sales and their playoff chances.

Luukko said Iverson’s deal was “absolutely, strictly a basketball decision.”

This reconciliation was once thought foolish after their acrimonious split three years ago. Iverson’s last game with Philadelphia was Dec. 6, 2006 in Chicago. He refused to play the fourth quarter and was banished from the team two days later. He was eventually traded to Denver as part of the Andre Miller deal, and bounced to Detroit before landing in Memphis.

“Certainly, the way it left off, it’s surprising,” Luukko said.

Rose said he wasn’t surprised both sides put their bitter parting behind them.

“It was a good situation that made sense for them,” Rose said. “Allen has always had an affinity for the city of Philadelphia, the fans, the memories of playing here. He’s always talked about the opportunity to come back. Now is the time where it really makes sense for everybody.”

The 6-foot Iverson played three games this season with Memphis before taking a leave of absence to attend to personal matters. He was waived after the two sides agreed to part ways.

The New York Knicks considered signing Iverson after he cleared waivers, before deciding he would take too much playing time from younger players they are trying to develop.

He will likely start for the Sixers with Williams out. Iverson’s refusal to come off the bench ended his time in Detroit and Memphis on a sour note.

Iverson would get another look at his former teams after playing Denver. The Sixers, who have not won a playoff series since 2003, play at home Dec. 9 against Detroit.

Iverson was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1996 draft, but his 10 turbulent seasons in Philadelphia were marred by his rants about practice, run-ins with former coach Larry Brown, arrests and a failed rap career.

Iverson often arrived late for practices or missed them entirely. In one infamous blowup at the end of the 2002 season, he repeated the word “practice” nearly 20 times during a rambling monologue.

“Times change, situations change,” Luukko said. “The best way was to make this a basketball decision. Don’t get personal with it.”

Iverson has a career average of 27 points in 889 games over 14 seasons. He is tied for the fifth-highest scoring average in NBA history and ranks third among active players.

Iverson has played in 71 playoff games and has the second-highest postseason scoring average (29.7 ppg) in NBA history, trailing only Michael Jordan (33.4 ppg).