Antatut's bloggings - books

Dying Man’s Daily Journal - I’m male - thats my excuse

noreply@blogspirit.com (annto) — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 21:27:57 +0100

This morning I had what I think is truly a “guy moment”. Hey I am a guy so I can talk about guy moments which aren’t always the brightest. We do tend to sometimes get a little confused, in my case a little more often than most.

Use you imagination and picture this. It is about 3:00 in the morning. I am sound asleep naturally wearing my sleep apnea mask and Vi suddenly shakes me to wake me up. Our conversation went something like this:

After shaking me awake, Vi says: “did you hear that?”

Me: “huhhh”

Vi: “I heard something, like a loud bang or a crash or something.”

excus50
excus49
excus48
excus47
excus46
excus45
excus44
excus43
excus42
excus41
excus40
excus39
excus38
excus37
excus36
excus35
excus34
excus33
excus32
excus31
excus30
excus29
excus28
excus27
excus26
excus25
excus24
excus23
excus22
excus21
excus20
excus19
excus18
excus17
excus16
excus15
excus14
excus13
excus12
excus11
excus10
excus09
excus08
excus07
excus06
excus05
excus04
excus03
excus02
excus01

I am not sure if it was a throw back to our days in Norway House and the home invasion or just my male attitude showing through. But, I really do think I may have set speed records at least records for me. I was up in a flash and running from room to room with one though dominating my mind, “let me get my hands on you, you (#@*&) intruders.” I checked the main floor and was on my way down the basement, when maybe my brain started to wake up. I realized I had forgotten my trusty baseball bat, which I keep at bedside for just such occasions. “Ah, I don’t need it anyway, just let me get my hands on this little punk.” As I am checking out the basement (which was fine) my brain wakes up one more level and I realized, Vi said she heard a bang. But from where, here in the house or out on the street, where? I hadn’t even asked from where or what kind of bang or anything. I had a very small bit of information and was off and running, with what I knew. When I took the time to get the whole story, it had sounded to her like it came from the street in front of the house. I couldn’t see or hear anything out there so it was back to bed.

It makes me wonder how many times have I in the past only gotten part of the facts before I “knew” what needed to be done. How many times did I not stop to think there are at least 2 sides to every story. How many times did I act or speak without knowing all. How many people was I unfair to or maybe even hurt, because in my mind I “knew” the answer. An answer arrived at with only possibly a small part of the story. Really makes me think and wonder.
Would anyone care to share their experiences such as this?

I have a wonderful family story to share. As usual, I am having issues uploading pictures, I hope to share this later today.

Raise Revenue For Non Profit Organizations Over Holidays!!

noreply@blogspirit.com (annto) — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 17:25:44 +0100

Coming upon the holiday season many non profit organizations (i.e. churches, schools, charities) are called upon to nurture those in need. This unfortunate circumstance can be strenuous and emotionally challenging to many involved, not too mention financially staggering for those attempting to raise necessary funds. That being said, wouldn’t it be nice to have an outlet for these numerous institutions to call upon in order to alleviate some of this tension by helping all of those involved. Well I have found one!!

This Is Not A Solicitation In Any Way!!!! First and Foremost Please Understand That!!

Recently there has been an online shopping system created to help people use there online spending as a mechanism for helping change the world. This system is absolutely Free, No Fees Ever!!! You only have to register for Your own mall site and do your normal shopping (at all the brand stores you usually use) from your own shopping network. You’ll earn rebates for everything you buy. In addition, you give this free offer to those within your organization and recieve a small percentage rebate on what they buy from there own mall site. Also, you will find that the prices on your mall network are cheaper than what you’ll find if you were to go shopping yourself at your local mall–especially if you shop around on your mall site. Not too mention some of the proceeds from every member in the company will be sent to Save a child fund. It’s a total win win situation for everyone involved. This system allows you to raise money for your organization, help those within your organization save money while they shop, and help save children across the world with all of our buying power. Never before have I seen such a morally and economically sound program captured by one entity.

Please take a look at this program, You’ll Be glad that you Did!!

thoughts

noreply@blogspirit.com (annto) — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 16:59:14 +0100

didnt manage to get my hair cut today cause william was fully booked. ): so no bangs, yet. met princess, malau and mr slut at far east. taka to meet the two love birds- cpl and renee a while. i'm in love with the channel necklace while helping renee to look around. OMG! it was gorgeous on my neck. so wanted to bring it home. but then again, i've been spending too much of daddy's money lately. so no NO claud! if only we have birthdays twice a year. HAHA! off to cine, met girlfriend and sim peeps. i miss them. i'm so not excited for my school to start. HA. back to taka again to meet jav. cathay for movie. although we missed the beginning of the movie, i didnt regret not eating faster. please dont ever watch "MY NAME IS JUSTINE". its a total waste of money. storyline sucks to the core. plus its so sexed up.

christmas tree
christmas trees
artificial christmas trees
christmas tree shop
christmas tree ornaments
christmas tree shops
artificial christmas tree
artifical christmas trees
pre-lit christmas trees
christmas tree toppers
christmas fiber manurfacturs optic tree
christmas tree decorations
decorated christmas trees
christmas tree store
rockin around the christmas tree
fiber optic christmas tree
led christmas tree
seasonal specialties2c fiber optic christmas tree
upside down christmas tree
prelit christmas tree
christmas tree lights
aluminum christmas tree
rotating christmas tree stand
the christmas tree shop
the christmas tree shops
fiber optic christmas trees
pre lit christmas tree
christmas tree clipart
christmas tree skirt
prelit christmas trees
fiber optic poinsettia christmas tree

Healthy recipes--with cost data

noreply@blogspirit.com (annto) — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 16:27:45 +0100

Want to eat a cheap, healthy diet? Want some recipes that use real food instead of packaged food products? Want to argue about how much it costs to feed a family a healthy diet? Here's a free tool, created by the USDA, that will help you with any of those.

Can you eat for $21 a week? If you had to feed yourself using just food stamps, that's about how much you'd be able to spend. To help people trying to do that--and probably to help policy-makers arguing about the food stamp program--the USDA created a database of recipes and then used cost data from stores (gathered by AC Nielson in 2001, and adjusted based on the CPI) to calculate the cost of each dish. Even if you're neither on food stamps nor a policy maker, the USDA's Food Stamp Nutrition Connection Recipes Finder is available for free.

Nutrition facts for blue corn pan breadIt's kind of a cool tool. You can search by recipe name or by ingredient--that latter being very handy if you bought a bunch of something because it was cheap and are now trying to find a new way to use it. It provides not only cost per recipe and per serving, but also nutrition facts--a nice chart exactly like the one you find on any packaged food. It also lets you print the recipe in several different formats.

Another cool feature is that it will maintain a shopping list for you--click "add to shopping list" for the recipes that you plan to make and it will keep track and give you a list of everything you need. (Sadly, it doesn't total up the amounts when the same ingredient is used in several different recipes, but it does list them all together, making it easy enough to figure out yourself.)

As we've discussed in several recent posts, adjusting 2001 prices with the CPI is likely to underestimate actual costs. Since the data is based on national averages, though, regional and seasonal variations will probably be a greater source of inaccuracy than the inflation adjustment. (I couldn't immediately find a way to get at the price data used--it just presents aggregate prices for the recipes--so it wouldn't be easy to spot-check the prices for accuracy.)

Still, despite its limitations, it seems like a cool free resource for anyone who wants to make cheap, healthy meals out of real food.

The Blue Corn Pan Bread recipe looked good. They say you can make the recipe for $1.43, which comes to just $0.12 per serving:
Ingredients:

* 3 cups water
* 2 cups blue cornmeal (yellow may be used)
* 1 cup yellow cornmeal
* 3/4 cup raisins
* 1/2 cup sprouted wheat*
* 1/3 cup brown sugar

*To sprout wheat: Wash untreated wheat grains; drain but do not dry. Spread in a single layer in shallow pans and cover with damp cloths. Keep damp in a warm, dark place.
Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Line 8x8 inch cake pan with foil.
2. Bring water to boil in a large pot. Add each ingredient, one at a time.
3. Stir well until mixture is smooth and pour into foil-lined cake pan. Cover with a piece of foil.
4. Bake for 2 hours. Bread is done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

How to launder money

noreply@blogspirit.com (annto) — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 16:11:34 +0100

Money laundering is not a simple concept. It's two simple concepts, because there are two different--in fact, nearly completely opposite--activities that are called money laundering. Here's how to do both of them.

Busting-Acne-Myths-Requires-Individualized-Treatment-and-More-Research.php
Clear-Skin-Without-Cleansers.php
Clear-Your-Acne-With-My-12-Step-Program.php
Controlling-Acne.php
Coping-With-Acne.php
Alternative-Acne-Treatments--A-Brief-Users-Guide-For-Parents-Teens-And-The-Rest-Of-Us.php
Amazingly-Simple-Skin-Care-Tips-For-People-With-Acne.php
An-Effective-Acne-Skin-Care-Regime.php
Are-You-Tired-Of-Looking-For-The-Acne-Cure.php
Baby-Acne.php
Beware-of-Acne-Cyst-Take-the-Precautions-Necessary.php
All-About-Acne-its-Symtoms--Types.php
All-Natural-Acne-Treatments.php
An-Acne-Herbal-Hand-and-Footbath.php
Over-the-Counter-Acne-Treatment-Products-That-Work.php
Natural-Solutions-For-Acne-Are-Always-The-Best.php
Nlite-Laser-Treatment-On-Acne-Scar-Removal.php
Oral-Acne-Medication-Options.php
Middle-Age-Women--Acne-Be-Gone.php
Natures-Solutions-For-Your-Skin-Problem.php
Is-There-A-True-Home-Remedy-For-Zits.php
Learn-Your-Skin-Care-Facts.php
Lets-Dispel-Some-Acne-Myths.php
Major-Causes-of-Acne-Scars-and-How-to-Get-Rid-of-Them.php
Medication-Options-For-Acne-Sufferers.php
How-to-Get-Rid-of-Acne-A-StepByStep-Tutorial.php
How-to-Get-Rid-of-Acne-in-10-Days.php
Identify-Your-Acne-Before-You-Get-Treatment.php
Important-Acne-Information.php
Laser-The-Ultimate-Acne-Terminator.php
How-a-25-year-old-Asian-Man-Stumbled-Upon-a-Sweet-and-Delicious-Cure-For-Acne-That-Works-Fast-And-Permanently.php
How-Common-Is-Adult-Acne.php
How-to-Cure-Acne-Naturally.php
How-to-Eliminate-Your-Acne-and-HAVE-FUN-at-the-Same-Time.php
How-To-Remove-Your-Acne.php
Daily-Tips-for-Acne-Prevention.php
Use-Essential-Fatty-Acid-To-Help-You-Eliminate-Your-Acne.php
The-Truth-About-Acne-Skin-Care.php
Treating-Cystic-Acne.php
Treatment-for-Acne-Scars.php
Understand-The-Types-Causes-and-Treatments-Of-Acne.php
Traditional-Medicine-For-Acne-And-Its-Side-Effects.php
Taking-The-Pimples-Out-Of-PMS.php
The-Acne-Issue--Best-Acne-Treatments.php
Practicing-A-Proactive-Acne-Treatment.php
Splash-Your-Acne-Supplement-Expenses-with-Food.php
Stop-Acne-Now.php
index-6.php
index-3.php
index-2.php
index-4.php
index-12.php
index-13.php
index-14.php
index-1.php
index-10.php
index-11.php
What-Is-Acne--And-How-To-Prevent-It.php
What-To-Do-When-You-Have-Acne-The-Acne-Treatment-Just-For-You.php
What-You-Should-Know-About-Acne.php
index-7.php
index-8.php
index-9.php
index-5.php
index.php

Classic Money Laundering

The classic money launderer was someone who had illicit income--drug dealer, jewel thief, con man--and worried that he'd get the Al Capone treatment and be convicted of tax evasion even if the government couldn't pin any of the underlying criminal activity on him.

If the illicit income is small--and especially if you also have a straight job that you do pay taxes on, there's no need to do any money laundering. For example, suppose you work in some cube farm that pays most of what you need to live on, but you also turn the occasional trick to bring in a hundred dollars a week. You probably don't need to launder that money. Cut down on the amount of cash you take from your paycheck and use the money from hooking to make up the difference. As long as you still take some cash from your paycheck, the government would have a hard time proving that your cash expenses exceed what you're taking from legitimate sources.

Acne-Cures-Remedies-and-Treatment-Methods-to-Relieve-Acne.php
6-Steps-to-Decoding-and-Zapping-a-Zit.php
Acne--a-Nightmare.php
Acne--An-Introduction.php
ACNE--Basic-Understanding.php
3-Easy-Ways-to-Treat-Body-Acne.php
6-Steps-to-Clear-AcneFree-Skin.php
Acne-and-Green-Tea.php
Acnes-upsetting-problems.php
Acnes-Upsetting-Zits.php
Acne-Skin-Care-Treatments.php
Acne-Treatments-For-Black-Skin.php
Acne-What-It-Is-and-What-To-Do-About-It.php
Acnes-Top-10-FAQs.php
Acne-Skin-Care-For-You.php
Acne-Skin-Care-Methods.php
Acne-Skin-Care-Myths.php
Acne-Skin-Care.php
Acne-Skin-Care--How-To-Clear-Up-Those-Embarrasing-Blemishes.php
Down-with-Acne.php
Get-Control-of-Your-Acne.php
Get-Rid-of-Acne-With-a-7-Step-Plan.php
Got-Acne.php
Guide-to-Natural-Acne-Treatments.php
How-To-Fade-Acne-Scars--Fast--Easy.php
Dealing-With-The-Emotional-Scars-Of-Acne.php
Debunking-the-Myths-Concerning-Acne-and-Skin-Problems.php
Dermatologists-Offer-Advice-to-Parents-on-How-to-Talk-to-Teens-About-Acne.php
Dont-Spend-Money-on-Acne-Remedies-Fight-Acne-Naturally.php
Effective-Acne-Treatment-Options.php

But suppose that illicit income is a bit larger. Once you've got more than a few hundred dollars a week--more than can be conveniently hidden in your ordinary cash expenses--you've got a problem. As soon as you do anything with the money--spend or invest it--it might well come to the attention of the tax man.

The solution--classic money laundering--is to create a business to ostensibly earn that money. Any business that brings in a good deal of cash will do. You run the business as usual during the day. Then, after closing, you feed in your day's illicit receipts, pretending that they'd been received by the business. In due course the business pays its taxes and all the tax man can see is that you're running an unusually profitable business.

Acne-Skin-Care-Products.php
B-Vitamin-Hype-With-Ambitions-of-Fighting-Acne-Rosacea-and-Tumors-What-Can-This-Vitamin-Really-Do-For-You.php
What-Is-Acne--A-Brief-Users-Guide-For-Parents-Teens-And-The-Rest-Of-Us.php
Some-Acne-information-for-you.php
Acne-Treatment.php
Adults-Dont-Get-Acne-Do-They.php
Adult-Acne-Its-a-Lot-More-Common-Than-You-Think.php
Causes-and-Effects-Of-Acne--Understand-Your-Acne-Treatment.php
Whats-The-Real-Cause-Of-Acne.php
Acne-Rosacea-in-Adults--Is-It-Curable.php
Acne--A-Clean-Face--Step-1-in-a-12-Step-Program.php
Acne-Rosacea--A-Blush-You-Can-Do-Without.php

Now, the tax man may well take an interest in such a profitable business, so it's best if it'd be hard to prove that you couldn't be doing the business you're paying taxes on. A bar, for example, wouldn't be the best choice, because you wouldn't have ordered enough booze to pour all the drinks your books will say you've sold. Coin operated laundries and car washes are classics, because the only way to prove that you hadn't actually done all that business would be to have an undercover agent surveil your place for weeks, counting every coin inserted by every customer. (Although agents have been known to subpoena the water bill and try to make the case that way.)
Modern Money Laundering

The other thing sometimes called money laundering is when you have some big lump of cash that you'd rather not have people find out about. Sometimes it's an effort to keep the money from the tax man (literally the opposite of classic money laundering), other times the goal is to keep it from coming to the attention of someone else who might feel like they have some claim to the money--an ex-spouse, a creditor, the guy who owns the land where you found the bag of gold coins in the culvert.

In this kind of money laundering, the point is to make the money disappear. This is the sort of money laundering where you might make use of foreign banks, shell companies, and so on.

There are two parts to these strategies. First, you need to make the money disappear. Second, you need to make it reappear in some gradual fashion that doesn't bring it to the attention of whoever you're trying to hide it from.
Disappearing the money

The easiest way to disappear the money, especially if it's already cash (as opposed to, let's say, silver bullion or a winning lottery ticket) is to just stash it in a safety deposit box. You miss out on any investment income, but it's safe and you know where to find it.

If you really want to be able to invest the money, get it overseas. If it's an amount that you can just carry with you, buy a vacation package to the Cayman Islands or visit your family roots in Europe and take a little side trip to Switzerland or Austria or Liechtenstein.

There are plenty of fancy, complex ways to get the money overseas, that mostly require an accomplice. The most basic is an invoice scam. Establish a business that imports or exports something. Meet with your customer or supplier and arrange with him to either over-pay or under-bill, and then to have your counterpart deposit (most of) the excess into your foreign bank account. An ongoing scheme is good, because the guy knows that the lucrative cash flow will stop if you find out the money isn't getting deposited as it should, but you can also work this as a one-shot deal if your counterpart can be trusted.

Banks used to help their good customers get money discretely overseas, but nowadays there are a bunch of laws against such things, and bankers are particularly averse to going to jail for their customers. Expect them to refused to get involved and to rat you out.
Reappearing the money

Now we're basically back into classic money laundering territory.

If you stashed a duffel bag full of cash it in a safety deposit box (or under your bed), all you need to do is pull out a few bills now and then when you're heading out for a night on the town. You can raise your standard of living modestly. Alternatively, you could increase the amount that's going into your 401(k) and then use the cash to keep your standard of living about the same--gradually turning the hidden money into above-board money.

If you've got the money overseas somewhere, bring it back in some way that makes it legit. The easiest would be to create an overseas company that then hires you to do something. You do whatever it is and send an invoice whenever you want some cash. You can also reverse the invoice scam that let you get the money overseas in the first place--now you under-pay (or over-bill), while making up the difference out of your foreign bank account. A third option is a fake loan where you "borrow" the money and then simply fail to pay the money back.
Instant disappear-reappear cycles

If you can't wait to reappear the money gradually, and the amount involved isn't too big, you can always use a simple casino scam. Go to a casino and buy some chips. Do a little low-risk gambling. (For example, bet each chip, one at a time, on red. Do that 20 or 30 times and you'll have about the same amount you started with.) Get a few more chips and repeat. Play a few different games (blackjack, craps, slots). Ideally, go to several different casinos and repeat the whole process there. Eventually, cash in all your chips and go home with a story about how you won a bunch of money at roulette. Pay taxes on your winnings.
Laws Involved

There are lots of laws against money laundering as a general category and against specific techniques used in money laundering.

If your income is already illegal, breaking one more law may not expose you to much additional risk, but it might, and it might give the government a case that they can prove, rather than one they can't.

You're required to report cash or other bearer instruments (travelers checks, for example, but not gold coins or checks payable to a specific individual) that you carry into or out of the US. Similarly, banks are required to report large transactions (and to keep records of smaller ones).

If you have a foreign bank account, you're required to report it on your taxes each year. Also, if your foreign investments make any income, you're required to pay taxes on it each year (not just when you bring the money back).

Every time you don't declare the income, don't pay the tax due, lie on a form, or fail to file a required form, you're committing a crime.

All these money laundering crimes have large fines and long prison sentences. I recommend against them. I also recommend against expecting anyone else to be willing to commit these crimes for you--expect that any accomplices are really either Federal agents, or else will call Federal agents at the first opportunity.

Roasted Cauliflower Soup and Sauteed Shrimp

noreply@blogspirit.com (annto) — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 15:53:14 +0100

Roasted cauliflower apparently made the rounds in the food blogosphere awhile ago, but I have never claimed to not be behind the times.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Take a head of cauliflower, break or cut it into small bite-size pieces, a bit smaller than you might usually. Toss it with a few Tbsp of olive oil, 2-4 cloves garlic minced, kosher salt and a sprinkling of fresh lemon juice. Spread it on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Take out of oven and grate Parmesan cheese over it.

Meanwhile, heat a few Tbps. of olive oil in a saute pan, add another few minced up garlic cloves. In a minute add half a pound of peeled shrimp (ideally fresh wild-caught Maine shrimp, button-cute and tender). Saute till they whiten.

Serve together with a green salad, Chardonnay. Good.