I would first like to congratulate my 2 brothers on landing jobs at Raymond James. Well done fellas, life is about networking, and you used the fish factory to land very respectable jobs. Nice work.
Now on to more important things, check out the nowwhat.com beach house . . . . yeah, it's the real deal!
http://www.majesticbeachresort.com/
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Binge Drinking at UGA
The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit. Why does that happen?
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20."Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
"I only got a dollar out of the $20,"declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man," but he got $10!"
"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"
"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
University of Georgia
For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.
Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
The fifth would pay $1.
The sixth would pay $3.
The seventh would pay $7.
The eighth would pay $12.
The ninth would pay $18.
The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.
So, that's what they decided to do.
The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20."Drinks for the ten now cost just $80.
The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?' They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer. So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.
And so:
The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).
The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33%savings).
The seventh now pay $5 instead of $7 (28%savings).
The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).
Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.
"I only got a dollar out of the $20,"declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man," but he got $10!"
"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than I!"
"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two? The wealthy get all the breaks!"
"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!"
The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn't show up for drinks, so the nine sat down and had beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!
And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.
David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
University of Georgia
For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Can We Learn From The Past???
It's about 9:45 Wednesday Morning and I'm drinking my first cup of coffee, thanks Dad. The Market is down, housing sucks, and we're all still long MVIS. With the new Jack Johnson CD blaring through my speakers I barely hear something interesting on MSNBC: "current market conditions are eerily similar to those of 1989-90." Well I was in 4th grade playing RYSL on the weekends at that time. I decided to run a Google Search "1989-1990 Market Conditions." There wasn't much worth looking at on the first 10 search results. I decided to click on the last result on the second page of results. It's An Article From April 2006 and It's Titled 'Echoes of 1990?' The Author Is John Rubino. He is the author of The Coming Collapse of the Dollar, How to Profit From the Coming Real Estate Bust (2003). He is a former Wall Street financial analyst and columnist with theStreet.com. He currently writes for Fidelity Magazine, CFA Magazine, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, and Merrill Lynch Advisor.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
What MVIS Is Doing This Week
20th Annual OC Growth Stock Conference
Presented by ROTH Capital Partners
Monday, February 18, 2008
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
What is your life expectancy?
With more and more Americans dying from cardiovascular disease and cancer then ever before, living a healthy life should be a number one priority for Americans that have the first name of Paul or Jeff. Check out this incredible "Living to 100 Life Expectancy Calculator" to see how long you will live. And in case your wondering, it is 100 percent accurate. So, whether you are a sedentary lawyer or a waiter that slings fish at the market all day, knowing the answer of this important question is truly priceless. In case your wondering, mine is 91.
http://www.livingto100.com/
On a side note, Toronto is filled with 9's and 10's. Boys, the amount of single women here is ridiculous. And I'm not talking about cougars. Roarrrrrrrrr!
http://www.livingto100.com/
On a side note, Toronto is filled with 9's and 10's. Boys, the amount of single women here is ridiculous. And I'm not talking about cougars. Roarrrrrrrrr!
Marathon Schedule for Monday, February 11th to Sunday, February 17th
Monday off
Tuesday 30 min run
Wednesday off
Thursday 30 min run
Friday easy walk
Saturday 4 miles and Magic Mile*
Sunday off
*http://www.jeffgalloway.com/resources/gallracepredict.html
Let the members of the Clif Bar Pace Team help you cross the finish line of the marathon in under two minutes of your goal marathon time! CLICK HERE for more information and to sign up.
Tuesday 30 min run
Wednesday off
Thursday 30 min run
Friday easy walk
Saturday 4 miles and Magic Mile*
Sunday off
*http://www.jeffgalloway.com/resources/gallracepredict.html
Let the members of the Clif Bar Pace Team help you cross the finish line of the marathon in under two minutes of your goal marathon time! CLICK HERE for more information and to sign up.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Sunday, February 3, 2008
A $45 billion bet
Microsoft's bid for Yahoo!
IT IS a potential deal that has been talked about for years, but has suddenly become a real possibility. On Friday February 1st Microsoft, the world’s biggest software company, made a $44.6 billion offer for Yahoo!, an ailing internet giant. The proposed deal, which would transform the software and internet-services industries, values Yahoo! at $31 a share, a 62% premium over the closing price on Thursday.
In a letter to the board of Yahoo!, Microsoft’s chief executive, Steve Ballmer, referred to previous discussions between the two companies in 2006 and 2007 about a possible partnership or merger. At the time, Yahoo! was hopeful that Panama, a new system it had developed to place advertisements next to the results of internet searches, would improve its fortunes and help it to catch up with Google, the leader in both internet search and advertising. Panama failed to live up to expectations, however, prompting Yahoo!’s chief executive, Terry Semel, to resign in June 2007.
His place was taken by Jerry Yang, one of Yahoo!’s co-founders, who promised to put things right at the sprawling internet conglomerate. But Yahoo!’s latest results, released on January 30th, were disappointing, and its share price fell to a four-year low. Mr Yang said that the company faced “headwinds”, as Yahoo! announced plans to cut 1,000 jobs, some 7% of its workforce. Microsoft saw its chance. “While a commercial partnership may have made sense at one time, Microsoft believes that the only alternative now is the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! that we are proposing,” wrote Mr Ballmer.
Google is not mentioned anywhere in Mr Ballmer’s letter, but its increasing clout in the online-advertising market, as a result of its leadership in search, is what has motivated the deal. “Today, the market is increasingly dominated by one player who is consolidating its dominance through acquisition,” he wrote. Combining Yahoo!, the number two in search and advertising, with Microsoft, the number three, would provide a stronger competitor in an industry where scale provides a huge advantage.
Google currently handles 66% of searches on the internet in America, compared with 21% for Yahoo and a mere 7% for Microsoft (through MSN and its new search engine, live.com). Strikingly, over the past year both Microsoft and Yahoo have seen their share of searches decline while Google's has gained.
The more people use your search engine, the more advertisers you can attract; and the more advertisers you can attract, the more likely you are to be able to serve up relevant advertisements that people will actually click on. As Mr Ballmer puts it: “While online advertising growth continues, there are significant benefits of scale in advertising platform economics, in capital costs for search index build-out, and in research and development, making this a time of industry consolidation and convergence.”
Microsoft is desperate to grab a bigger share of the online-advertising market because many of its software products are being challenged by free, advertising-supported services offered by Google. The company is also worried that Google’s dominance in search and advertising allows it to dictate terms to advertisers, and gives it an unfair advantage over its smaller rivals. This is a bit rich coming from Microsoft, a convicted monopolist in operating-system software, which has also been known to squeeze out smaller competitors, but its anger that it has had to endure years of scrutiny by regulators, while Google has been left alone, is genuine.
As well as creating a stronger rival to Google, the deal would also have other merits, Microsoft claims. The two companies could combine their research-and-development efforts into search, advertising and other areas; they could save money by consolidating the huge warehouses full of computers, known as “server farms”, that both firms operate; and they would be better placed to compete in new areas such as online video, social networking and online commerce. But it is clear that the real prize is greater clout in search and advertising.
Whatever Yahoo!’s management makes of the offer, the firm’s shareholders will be delighted at the news. Microsoft shareholders are likely to be less enthusiastic: integrating the two companies would be a mammoth task, and Microsoft has never made an acquisition on anything approaching this scale before. Some sceptics say that this is too much to pay for a troubled company, even if it is, by some measures, the world’s biggest internet firm. Microsoft says it is confident that regulators will approve the deal, which could be completed by the end of the year.
More Poor Blog Etiquette, Come on Senior, Get it Together
The local United Way office realized that it had never received a donation from the town's most successful lawyer, so a volunteer was sent to solicit his donation.
"Sir, you have a successful law practice. You must be worth millions. Surely you could give back a little to your community through The United Way."
The lawyer said, "First, are you aware that my mother is dying from a long, painful illness? And that she has medical bills far beyond her ability to pay?"
Embarrassed, the United Way rep mumbled, "Uh, no."
"Second, did you know my brother, a disabled veteran, is blind, confined to a wheelchair, and unable to support his wife and six children?"
The stricken United Way rep mumbled another, "Uh, no."
"Third, do you realize that my sister's husband died in a dreadful traffic accident leaving her penniless, with a huge mortgage and three young children?"
The United Way rep was humiliated. "No, sir. I had no idea."
The lawyer concluded, "Well, then. If I don't give any money to them, why do you think I'd give any to you?!"
"Sir, you have a successful law practice. You must be worth millions. Surely you could give back a little to your community through The United Way."
The lawyer said, "First, are you aware that my mother is dying from a long, painful illness? And that she has medical bills far beyond her ability to pay?"
Embarrassed, the United Way rep mumbled, "Uh, no."
"Second, did you know my brother, a disabled veteran, is blind, confined to a wheelchair, and unable to support his wife and six children?"
The stricken United Way rep mumbled another, "Uh, no."
"Third, do you realize that my sister's husband died in a dreadful traffic accident leaving her penniless, with a huge mortgage and three young children?"
The United Way rep was humiliated. "No, sir. I had no idea."
The lawyer concluded, "Well, then. If I don't give any money to them, why do you think I'd give any to you?!"
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Marathon Schedule for Monday, February 4th to Sunday, February 10th
Monday off
Tuesday 30 min run
Wednesday off
Thursday 30 min run
Friday easy walk
Saturday 10.5 miles
Sunday off
Tip of the Week
Pacing of long Runs. Run all of the long ones at least 2 minutes slower than you could run that distance that day. The walk breaks will help you to slow the pace, but you must run slower as well. You get the same endurance from the long one if you run slowly as you would if you run fast. However, you'll recover much faster from a slow long run.
Forget about speed on long runs. Focus only on the component of endurance.
Tuesday 30 min run
Wednesday off
Thursday 30 min run
Friday easy walk
Saturday 10.5 miles
Sunday off
Tip of the Week
Pacing of long Runs. Run all of the long ones at least 2 minutes slower than you could run that distance that day. The walk breaks will help you to slow the pace, but you must run slower as well. You get the same endurance from the long one if you run slowly as you would if you run fast. However, you'll recover much faster from a slow long run.
Forget about speed on long runs. Focus only on the component of endurance.
20 More Weeks to the Marathon
Grandma's Marathon and the entire Twin Ports Community mourn the loss of Wesly Ngetich, two-time champion of Grandma's Marathon (2007 and 2005)
THERE ARE ONLY 1,900 SPOTS LEFT IN THE 2008 GRANDMA'S MARATHON
THERE ARE ONLY 1,900 SPOTS LEFT IN THE 2008 GRANDMA'S MARATHON
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