text:
Our August 2005 Newsletter:..
Oil at US$100 - Fact or Fiction? The Cost to Live Well in the US These Days and Can You Afford It? Plus Our Readers Write In Section.
WHAT IT COSTS TO LIVE WELL IN THE US - Forbes magazine, July 2005
How much does a family of four need to earn per year to live the upper-middle-class American dream? Forbes.com looks at a major metro region in each of the 50 states and estimates such expenses as primary and secondary homes, private education, taxes, utilities and more, to find out what it costs to live the good life. One thing is for certain: The dream is a pricey one.
EDITORS NOTES: According to Forbes, to live well in the North East part of the US, one needs to take home about US$400,000 AFTER TAXES. To do the same in the Mid-West and some other areas, a bit less, but still they offer up the figure of about US$200,000 take home pay AFTER TAXES. It would seem that living abroad on about US$2,000 per month (complete with live-in maid, nice home or apartment in a warm weather environment, etc., etc.) is looking better and better every day.
Peak Oil is also called Hubbert's Peak, named for the Shell geologist Dr. Marion King Hubbert. In 1956, Hubbert accurately predicted that US domestic oil production would peak in 1970. He also predicted global production would peak in 1995, which it would have had the politically created oil shocks of the 1970s not delayed the peak for about 10-15 years. Oil will not just run out because all oil production follows a bell curve. This is true whether we're talking about an individual field, a country, or on the planet as a whole. Oil is increasingly plentiful on the upslope of the bell curve, increasingly scarce and expensive on the down slope. The peak of the curve coincides with the point at which the endowment of oil has been 50 percent depleted. Once the peak is passed, oil production begins to go down while cost begins to go up.
In practical and considerably oversimplified terms, this means that if 2000 was the year of global Peak Oil, worldwide oil production in the year 2020 will be the same as it was in 1980. However, the world's population in 2020 will be both much larger (approximately twice) and much more industrialized (oil-dependent) than it was in 1980. Consequently, worldwide demand for oil will outpace worldwide production of oil by a significant margin. As a result, the price will skyrocket, oil-dependant economies will crumble, and resource wars will explode.
The issue is not one of running out so much as it is not having enough to keep our economy running. In this regard, the ramifications of Peak Oil for our civilization are similar to the ramifications of dehydration for the human body. The human body is 70 percent water. The body of a 200-pound man thus holds 140 pounds of water. Because water is so crucial to everything the human body does, the man doesn't need to lose all 140 pounds of water weight before collapsing due to dehydration. A loss of as little as 10-15 pounds of water may be enough to kill him. In a similar sense, an oil-based economy such as ours doesn't need to deplete its entire reserve of oil before it begins to collapse. A shortfall between demand and supply as little as 10-15 percent is enough to wholly shatter an oil-dependent economy and reduce its citizenry to poverty.
The coming oil shocks won't be so short-lived. They represent the onset of a new, permanent condition. Once the decline gets under way, production will drop (conservatively) by 3% per year, every year. That estimate comes from numerous sources, not the least of which is Vice President Dick Cheney himself. In a 1999 speech he gave while still CEO of Halliburton, Cheney stated:
By some estimates, there will be an average of two-percent annual growth in global oil demand over the years ahead, along with, conservatively, a three-percent natural decline in production from existing reserves. That means by 2010 we will need on the order of an additional 50 million barrels a day.
Cheney's assessment is supported by the estimates of numerous non-political, retired, and now disinterested scientists, many of whom believe global oil production will peak and go into terminal decline within the next five years.
Some geologists expect 2005 to be the last year of the cheap-oil bonanza, while estimates coming out of the oil industry indicate a seemingly unbridgeable supply-demand gap opening up after 2007, which will lead to major fuel shortages and increasingly severe blackouts beginning around 2008-2012.
.EDITORS NOTES: What the article failed to mention or also factor in is the growing demand of new economies. In other words, nations such as China, India, and a host of others that would have been called third world just twenty or thirty years ago - are now emerging as more developed economies with increased demands for petroleum accordingly. China especially has been trying to buy up American and European oil companies with all that extra cash they have accumulated from surplus trade. Are they doing this because they have nothing better to do with the money - or could there be a logical reason and goal in mind? Accordingly, why is the US so fearful of selling an American oil company to the Chinese? They have sold US car companies to the Europeans, and a host of other US businesses as well. They have allowed a sale of a previously IBM owned business to the Chinese - so why not oil? You know why - Specifically, what is for sure coming down the road in terms of the limited supply of oil, and who (plus who will not) have access to it. Was this the reason for the Iraq invasion or was it to bring democracy and freedom? You decide, but certainly the information baits the question.
The bad news is that you can expect inflation to become a very serious issue going forward as the cost of petroleum continues to rise, thus increasing the costs of just about everything that involves the use of oil. Not just gasoline, but the cost of vegetables in the supermarket (as just one example) since the cost to truck those products from farm to store shelf goes up in tandem. The good news is, you are aware of this issue and can plan both personally and in terms of your investments as well. Going forward, in terms of investment ideas, take a look at renewable fuel sources or companies involved with this technology. Solar panels, wind turbine generators, hydroelectric power, battery inverter systems and a host of other industries will both profit and become very necessary in the future. If you have watched any television commercials lately, you will notice that BP (British Petroleum) coins the terms, beyond petroleum. Even Exxon Mobil has started to talk about alternative energy products and businesses. Why? Just as buggy-whip manufacturers had to retool and switch over to making something else after the invention of the automobile - so will petroleum companies be forced into other businesses as their existing main product line becomes less available.
On a personal level, what will you do when the cost of electricity starts to increase? Is severe conservation measures and rolling blackouts a very real possibility? It is interesting to note that there currently exists a two-month backorder wait for solar panels from many US distributors. Why? The Europeans in general, and the Germans most notably, have been buying up solar panels like crazy - and are willing to pay top dollar to get them (even if that means buying from the US). Are they gearing up for what is yet to come or has everyone in Europe simply gone green? If you do make the decision to re-evaluate your life and maybe where you want to end up living (if in another country) - then perhaps the idea of a warm weather climate with year round sun for your solar panel system is not such a crazy idea after all.
INDIA TO EXPLORE ENERGY COOPERATION WITH CHINA, Indo-Asian News Service - New Delhi, August 5, 2005
An Indian delegation leaves for China on Sunday to lay grounds for a historic collaboration in oil and gas exploration and other common activities leading to energy security. India and China are going to be the world's main energy consumers in the coming years and currently account for a substantial share of global oil imports to meet the voracious needs of their fast-growing economies.
Update for you. I moved to Santo Domingo! Waiting for my furniture to arrive. Thanks for all the advice you made it less scary. And now for better news - I went from a 3/2 in Sunny So Florida to a 5/4 in Santo Domingo and best of all- NO MORE MORTGAGE. Thank you for the applause. You deserve one too!
EDITORS REPLY: Thank you for your letter. I am glad to hear you have relocated into a better financial situation for yourself. Certainly I have commented in the past, that it is possible (and perhaps wise) to consider selling overpriced real estate in North America or Europe and with the equity or profits, purchase a home for cash in the Dominican Republic, Thailand, Ecuador and a host of other places as well. In fact, most people will probably find, as you have already, that it could be possible to purchase a home for cash and perhaps invest the rest for a monthly income (often enough tax-free in the new country). We are seeing more and more middle class people from the US and Europe doing this as a way to maintain and perhaps even improve their lifestyle. Many Dominicans living in Boston, New York, New Jersey, etc. are also doing the same thing. In addition, those that have teenagers are doing this because they can send their children to some of the best private universities in the capital for about US$1,000 per semester in tuition costs. So, it is possible to afford your own retirement, educate your kids and not go broke in the process or better said, not give up one for the other.
As we already know, the long-term trend of the US Dollar will continue to be devaluation (inflation). The cost of petroleum will continue to rise. Both of these things will not happen in a straight line of course, with temporary lapses or slight ups and downs during this long-term journey. The question is: How will you be able to survive higher costs down the road? If you can increase your salary or earnings in tandem, then you might be able to tread water, but this is not so easy to do. To be sure, you will be reliant on other people (such as your boss if you are working) to provide salary increases accordingly. If the past is any prediction for the future in this regard, do not count on it.
An much more sound idea and one within your control, is to reduce your living expenses, or an case whereby you can have the same lifestyle as you currently do (or maybe a better one) at a lower cost. How do you achieve such a goal? Obviously getting rid of some monthly expenses, such as mortgage payments, is a start. How do you do that? Purchase the same if not larger home somewhere else for half (or maybe less than half) the cost of your current home, paying cash in the process. In addition, relocating to a place that allows you to have a live-in maid for about US$200 per month yet another example of trading up in terms of life style. If other people have done it - so can you.
Hello. I much enjoy your newsletters. If nothing else, thank you for the hours of pleasure you have given me. You offer assistance in incorporating in the DR and Nevis, if I understand correctly. At least you know more about it than I. I have an US account with a major US discount broker for online margin trades. How nice for me. But of course, it being an American account in my own name, there are things that I cannot do that, say, a Dominican could do legally. Is it possible to start a Dominican and/or Nevis corporation and find an online broker that would open an account in the corporation's name, without having to give my own? And do margin trades? If margin trades are allowed, then at what percentage? My current US discount brokerage account, with which I am very comfortable with, except for the risk of future governmental confiscation when the fit hits the shan and the economy collapses, has a 50% limit, which I understand to be the US law. And of course, how low can a stock be and be margin-able, since I do lots of "penny stocks" which aren't, and for which I have to pay cash?
EDITORS REPLY: Generally speaking, the concept of deep discount brokerage services and on-line trading will be difficult to find in the offshore arena. There are some exceptions of course, such as Internaxx, an on-line discount broker based in Luxembourg, which is a joint venture between TD Waterhouse and Banque General Du Luxembourg. However, as you alluded to some extent, they will not accept US citizens as clients. In fact, the application form for an account with them forces you to sign off and declare that you are neither a US citizen NOR a citizen of another country with dual US citizenship. This is very interesting indeed, because it tells me that the powers that be are now aware of the large numbers of Americans who are expatriating AND who are also obtaining other nationalities (second citizenship - second passports) as well (often enough simply to have the ability to be accepted as a client with a foreign bank or investment firm). This declaration on the Internaxx application form so far seems to be an isolated thing, or certainly not mentioned in applications forms from other brokers (or banks). Meaning, many people have acquired a second citizenship so they can open an account as a citizen of where ever else and not have any difficulty with a bank or brokerage firm in doing so. But, as I said, it is very telling that an offshore discount broker (that is affiliated with a US discount broker) has started to put this in their application forms or as a requirement for opening (or not opening) an account.
Regardless, I do believe the long-term trend will be increased pressures and initiatives to somehow stop the exodus of middle-class Americans (and somehow try to stop the flow of money out as well). Logically, one would think that someone in authority, those that govern, would start to ask the question: Why are these people leaving? What can we do to correct the problems and the reasons for this? Yet, rather than fix the problem, the response seems to be an impetus to fix the blame rather than the problem. Better said, attack the symptoms rather than attack the disease. So be it. We, collectively including politicians in this, sadly never learn from the lessons of past history. But, it would seem the window of opportunity for US citizens to move funds abroad and function as dual citizens is slowly closing (which is why NOW is the time to consider doing something before the window is closed altogether).
In any event, getting back to what, and what is not, available in terms of investment options - it is safe to say there are a whole myriad of investment options and products available to you. However, as I alluded to earlier, the concept of on-line trading and deep discounted brokerage services really is something that started in the US, copied to some extent in the UK thereafter, but to a large extent stopped there. There are many brokers and private banks that offer brokerage services. But, at the moment, you will find that commissions will probably be higher than what you are used to seeing (if you currently trade with a discount broker in the US) and the ability to trade on margin, if even available, a costly proposition as well. I would say that if you wanted to do some exploring, probably Hong Kong, Singapore and maybe South Korea are places you can maybe find the types of brokerage services you are looking for as an active trader. Or in the least, perhaps have a better chance of finding lower commission schedules and the kinds of services you are looking for.
Hi, I recently heard from a source in the DR that the government may be considering allowing the DR Peso to fall to an exchange rate of RD$35 per US$1--any comment on this? Is this a likely option? If so, when might such an action be likely to take place? Thanks in advance.
EDITORS REPLY: Many economists believe the correct current exchange rate to be about RD$35 or RD$36 Pesos per US Dollar. In fact, the IMF and World Bank in terms of their own internal accounting or calculations, have loans pegged to this figure. It is not really a question of IF the exchange rate will float back to this level, but rather a question of when. Keep in mind though that the current governmental administration has the concerns of inflation and paying off the foreign debt as some of its top priorities. To be sure they have done quite a bit during only one year of being in charge, but there is a way to go as well. One of the things they seem to be doing is creating a spread or a hedge for some of these purposes, and principally for accumulating US Dollars in order to retire some of these foreign loans and IMF loans. Remember that when Dr. Fernandez was President before, his administration had NO IMF loans outstanding and in fact CANCELED the IMF drawing rights or line of credit with the IMF as well for the Dominican Republic. So, this would seem to be an administration that feels getting rid of the IMF and foreign borrowings is a good thing (and I would agree with that as well). However, how do you do it? Do you raise taxes? What is one way you can capture funds, and more specifically foreign currency, without doing damage (or minimizing the damage economically) to the local population and to the local economy? One of the ways is exactly what I believe they are doing at the moment, taking the spread between the real rate and the current rate. As a foreigner converting Dollars or Euros to Pesos, of course I would rather get 50 to 1 instead of 29 to 1. Of course you will hear Dominicans abroad complaining that in the past when they sent US$100 to Aunt Rosita in the Dominican Republic, Aunt Rosita walked out with RD$5,000 Pesos in her pocket and went to the Supermarket a happy woman. Now, that same US$100 gets her about RD$2,900 and naturally she can buy less as a result of the exchange rate accordingly.
In the recent past under the previous government, you had double-digit inflation rates, so those that did have foreign currency coming to them every month (and those that could convert at RD$50 for every US$1) were at least keeping up. But, there seemed to have been no end in sight with the inflation and not everyone had a very nice nephew living in New York who was sending US$100 on a regular basis either. So, it all depended upon what side of the fence you were on. Now, I do believe, there is a positive economic reason for the current exchange rates. One is to curb or cut down the inflation rate, which for most part has been done (at least report the claim is an inflation rate of about 4 percent for the third quarter of this year). The other is to try and capture dollars less expensively to pay off the foreign debt, and hopefully send the IMF packing.
Interestingly enough, economic problems crop up whether you want them or not. Often enough it is the case that such problems are created by the politicians via the economic policies they put in place (or fail to put in place as the case may be). The question becomes then - What are you going to do about fixing it, as a politician? Sometimes taking the bitter medicine now to fix the problem is better than brushing it under the rug and hoping it will go away (it never does). Once again, as an individual citizen getting a lower exchange rate than before, the idea does not thrill me if I have Dollars or Euros to sell - If I am buying Dollars or Euros with Pesos, then of course I am very happy. On the other hand, if I know or believe the government is doing the right thing for the long-term benefit and health of the economy, then in such a case I must be positive minded on what the longer-term results will be. However, most people are impatient and do not understand economics nor do they understand that economic policies often take time to filter down and show results. Problems are not created overnight and the medicine to fix them does not work overnight either. But, this is the reason for the current exchange rate levels and yes - you will see rates in the thirties going forward. How far down the road is difficult to say, but the correct rate based on economic indicators is probably about 35.
I read some articles on forums about living costs in DR. They all say life in DR is expensive and these people are living there (they mean electricity bill, water, food, cars and other things you need for living) but not real estate. In your articles you say it is not so expensive. I found some apartments for less then back home in Europe and I agree with you about real estate. What about other things? I think they are right. Why should they lie about it? There is not one positive commentary about cost living. I am looking forward to hear from you.
EDITORS REPLY: Well, to a large extent, this dovetails into the letter mentioned above. However, when one mentions the idea of something being costly or cheap, one is really making a comparison either to previous prices OR to prices for similar products or services elsewhere. In addition, the question has to be defined or clarified as to: Are we asking if the Dominican Republic is still a less expensive and favorable relocation choice for foreigners - or are we talking about cost of living issues for the native Dominicans?
You can say that certainly some things, such as the cost of electricity, in the Dominican Republic are more expensive than before, but in comparison to when and where? More expensive than before absolutely, but is it more expensive than say electricity rates in Panama, California, Europe? This is the real question, and the truth of the matter is that no one likes to pay higher prices for anything - myself included. Also, I would have to say that a great many things were almost dirt cheap before in the Dominican Republic, whereas at the moment, they are probably about the same as they are in many other countries. Of course, there are some specific exceptions to this. But let us take all of these things item by item.
Electricity first. Yes, electricity rates in the middle class and upper middle class areas have gone up tremendously (probably from an average of about US$40 per month many years ago to perhaps US$200 or so per month). Part of the reason for this has been that the previous government refused to allow the electric company to cut off the people that did not pay in the poorer areas. Remember that the electric company, prior to privatization under the previous administration of President Fernandez, was owned by the government and as a result really subsidized by the taxpayers. The pooper people paid almost nothing if at all for electricity in the past. As a result, many Dominicans have grown up with this idea that electricity is supposed to be free or very cheap. When the new private electric companies attempted to cut people off for non payment, many Dominicans scurried up the pole the minute the truck turned the corner and reconnected illegally, OR other people started to protest and become unruly (in the pooper neighborhoods). The previous government, fearful of the poor people rioting, told the electric companies they could not disconnect and or could not raise rates in these areas also. The result? The brilliant (I am being sarcastic) idea was, as a result, that the rates should be raised in the so-called middle class and wealthier areas instead. Ergo, these so-called wealthier and middle-class people have found higher electricity bills, in reality subsidizing all the people that do not pay. In addition, we now have the issue of higher petroleum prices, which will have an effect on everyone and on power generating costs (electricity) worldwide. So, I will expect electricity rates to go up even more, both in Europe, the US and the Dominican Republic as well. Now, with that said, are the CURRENT rates any higher than one might expect to pay in California, Florida, Panama, Belgium, etc.? My answer or reply is no and in fact I had found the electricity rates in Panama previously to be outrageous in the past in comparison to the previous rates in the Dominican Republic. So, where as electricity rates in the past were very, very cheap - at the moment they are probably somewhat in line with rates in North America or Europe. In fact, I am not a gambling man, but I would be willing to gamble that if you currently live in Boston, New York, Chicago, Phoenix, Miami or Los Angeles - with the average suburban middle class home running air-conditioners, that you monthly bill is at least US$200 (if not more). So, what are the options in you live in the DR currently? Move to California, Florida, New York, Panama or wherever else, and pay the same thing (assuming we are comparing apples to apples, meaning a warm weather climate with the air-conditioner running all the time). Or, another idea is to consider investigating solar panel and wind systems for your home - to charge your battery inverter system, run the house and have the ability to tell the electric company to go have a nice day. Remember, electricity rates will be going up worldwide in the near future, at least in any country that generates a portion of electricity from petroleum or natural gas. Better to consider a solar panel system in a country that has sun most of the time, most of the year. By the way, President Fernandez has started an initiative to allow for ZERO TAXATION on alternative energy products and businesses engaged in same, in order to stimulate the market for these products.
Let us talk about water, food, cars, and so on. When the exchange rate shot up to 50, the excuse from the stores and retailers was that imported products became more expensive (and as the cost to exchange pesos to a foreign currency goes up, the prices for imported items goes up). So, imported food products especially did go up in price. In fact, some businesses, such as car dealers, did start to price in US Dollars rather than Pesos. Did the prices go up in US Dollars? The answer is NO. Did the prices go up in Pesos? The answer is yes. So, if you had US Dollars or Euros and were willing to pay for things in these currencies, then in that case, it was no major change. If you were paying in Pesos, then yes you did see the cost go up. Obviously not everyone had Dollars or Euros, but most of the foreigners did or do (assuming they did not convert ALL of their foreign currency holdings to Pesos previously). What about local food products? To be sure, as we reported in some bulletins we wrote in the past, some local producers took advantage and engaged in price gouging. Where as the exchange rate doubled before (went from about 25 to 50) - some local producers of onions, as just one example, jumped prices 400 percent or more. The claim was that fertilizer and some other foreign products they use went up in price and therefore the price increase. However, most people with common sense will tell you, most Dominican farmers do not buy expensive products from Monsanto or Ortho. They use local fertilizer or whatever else. So, this argument was not valid. Even if they did use and purchase such foreign products, what would the corresponding cost of product and price increases be? Ten percent? Twenty percent? Certainly such costs would not constitute or reflect a doubling or more of retails prices for these kinds of local food products.
What has happened since? Well, the goal of the current administration was to bring prices and inflation down. To be sure, even though the Peso has strengthened in value versus the US Dollar (from 50 down to 29, or down to say 35 if you will) some prices have come down by 10, 15 or maybe 20 percent. Whatever prices have come down within the past year, they certainly have not come down 30 percent across the board (whereas a drop from 50 to 35 represents a 30 percent difference, meaning improvement). For this reason, the government has been very perturbed with private industry to some extent - questioning why many producers have not indeed lowered prices in tandem. Again, some food and produced items are less expensive in terms of Pesos than what they were say 18 months ago - yet they are higher than what they were 5 years ago. Looking at some other prices, such as the cost of a Burger King whopper, French Fries and Soda - the cost in the Dominican Republic is about double what it is in the US. However, if you take a look at locally produced food items, such as rice, beans, chicken, coffee, cooking oil, chocolate, potatoes, onions, garlic, etc., etc. - such products are less expensive than what they are in the US or Europe right now. So, it really all depends upon exactly what specific things we are talking about. Going back to the fast food example for a minute, the items I just mentioned from Burger King will cost the equivalent of about US$7 in the DR. However, if you visit the local equivalent of a fast food joint and get the daily plate (chicken, rice and beans) you will pay about US$1.00. So it also all depends too on what you buy and where. If you live like a local, you can live very inexpensively. Imported items and foreign food chains do cost more, but then again, they always did. Also, many clients living in the US have told me US supermarket prices have skyrocketed (they officially say that there is no inflation or very little inflation in the US, but of course food and energy is left out of the statistics if you read the fine print).
This leads us to touch upon another point. It all depends on who you are talking to, and to what or where you are making the comparison. Is it a lie that electricity, food prices, car prices, etc. did indeed increase in Peso terms? No, it is not a lie and the prices did go up. But, in the context if you are talking to someone who is making a comparison to current prices in another country, or based upon what local prices were, say five years ago as well. Also, it is very true as we reported in previous writings, that the local population in the Dominican Republic were hit very hard economically as well due to this inflation cycle that took place under the previous government administration. Imagine, just as in any other country, prices go up for many things yet your salary is the same. However, the other interesting thing is that real estate, as usual, has kept pace or has increased in value also. So, if you owned real estate, if you owned gold or if you had your liquid cash in Euros or Dollars, you were not so much affected at the end of the day. In fact, many of our clients actually made money via the swings or differences in the exchange rates. Also, if you owned real estate, then you did see your assets go up in value, not down.
With that said, it is interesting to note that even with real estate price increases (in Peso terms) and even with a devaluation of the Dollar or Euro versus the Peso (or conversely that the Peso has strengthened versus these currencies - in theory making the Dominican Republic more expensive) that Dominican Republic Real Estate IS still a bargain. Again, better stated, a bargain in comparison to Panama, Aruba, Chile, St. Martin, United States, Europe, etc., etc.
In summary, yes cost of living has gone up. But does this mean, in comparison to the idea of choosing to live in the US or Europe as an alternative, that the Dominican Republic is still a less expensive alternative? I would say the answer is yes. However, if you talk to any local Dominicans that live and work and earn their salary in Pesos, for sure they will tell you that their same salary today does not go as far as it did four or five years ago. Some prices have actually come down from where they were one year ago, but overall still more expensive that what they were five or six years ago. In addition, some items do remain to be more costly, as they always were more costly. For example, the government has an import tariff on cars and vehicles, and because of this reason alone, this results in prices for new cars at least about 35 percent more costly than what the sticker prices are in North America. On the other hand, some of our clients from Denmark are thrilled with the new car prices in the DR, because they are much cheaper than Denmark (Denmark has a 100 percent tax on cars). American fast food restaurants are more costly than what the prices are in North America, but then again they always have been. I noticed this when I first start traveling to Europe many years ago, comparing prices for such things at the time. So, it depends on what or how you are making a comparison and for what products specifically as well.
Please check out the site: WWW.FAIRTAX.ORG, and let your readers know about it. It is a national US sales tax proposal before congress that would eliminate the IRS, and turn our economy into another economic bonanza like Hong Kong.
EDITORS REPLY: I have seen some of these kinds of initiatives before, and this is not the only organization discussing the idea. Certainly, even though there is some criticism to the effect that national sales taxes affect the poor disproportionately in terms of income spent on taxes, I do think it to be a fairer and more democratic form of tax payment system. Basically, for the most part, this is what already exists in the Dominican Republic in terms of where the government is getting tax revenues from (sales and other use taxes, import tariffs, etc.)
However, I also would wager to think (in terms of the US) that you are going to see BOTH a new national sales tax AND a continued income tax as well. As much as I would like to hopeful about it, my gut instinct is to say they will not eliminate the IRS and not eliminate the existing tax structure. I believe if anything, they may not increase income tax rates but may institute a national sales tax instead of raising income taxes in the future. But, time will tell and we can only wait and see what comes to pass.


text:
When Congress began meddling in interstate commerce, using the most generous criteria to justify federal interference in private business and state powers, critics with common sense argued that the ultimate result would be absurdity.
If Congress wasn't made to stick to the powers Constitutionally enumerated, then there would be nothing Congress wouldn't do!
The proponents of big government said, in effect, "Don't be ridiculous."
Yet the ridiculous is now the normal business of Congress. Recently, the august members of the House have been deliberating the "Don't Let the Bed Bugs Bite Act of 2008." This legislation would direct the Commerce Department to provide grants to eligible states to assist in the inspection of hotel rooms.
Representative G.K. Butterfield, a North Carolina Democrat, says that bed bugs, 50 years after being nearly eliminated, are back.
Hmmm. Since hotels depend on their reputations to make money, they have every incentive to fix this problem, without taxpayer help. Hotels should be financially responsible for their own inspections. If there is a role for local and state governments, it would be to streamline the court system to make it easier for afflicted customers to get compensation.
But Congress authorizing $50 million to solve their bed bug crisis? Butterfield insists "it's not a joke."
But it is. On us. Congress now defines commerce as extending to the traffic of bed bugs.
Oh, it's nice that Congress worries about us so. But let's kill bed bugs locally.
This is Common Sense. I'm Paul Jacob.
Related Posts
1 Comment
[…] I suggested that Congress should stay out of it. […]

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Chiaro™ Designs
Chiaro Screens offers four distinctive design categories:
- The Signature Range – These designs are the result of the collaboration between Chiaro Screens and nationally and internationally acclaimed artists and designers. Each screen in the Signature Range is etch signed with the artist's / designer's signature.
- Ornamental Designs – Circles, squares & rectangles in all sorts of combinations spanning the history of decorative design.
- Filigrees and Paisley
- Nature – Representational and abstracted designs based on flora and fauna.
Please contact us to discuss how we can help with your design requirements.
Check out the other Chiaro™ Design Categories
The Signature Range
Ornamental Designs
Filigree & Paisley
Nature Designs


text:
Best. Farm. Ever.
1 Day Ago
4 Weeks Ago
8 Minutes Ago
If you are new to Hay Day or these forums, take a peek in here for some great guides and help!
14 Hours Ago
16 Minutes Ago
2 Hours Ago
Looking for more Neighborhood members to join your Neighborhood? Do it in here!
16 Minutes Ago
40 Minutes Ago
Have a great idea for Hay Day? Post it here! Want to request a feature? This is the place.
Make Tom cost coins instead...
2 Hours Ago
Have you ever created some Hay Day art, Hay Day videos or maybe written poems / stories? Post it in here!
Come check out my new Hay Day...
4 Days Ago
Found a bug, typo or visual glitch in the game? Post it here! Remember to select a prefix for your thread so we can identify the issue!
[Android] How to report bots
5 Hours Ago
December 24th, 2017
5 Hours Ago
5 Hours Ago


text:
Internet Browser Control
Browser Security and Control
- Lock browser to your specific site to access your online catalog or website,
- Prevent modification of browser Internet options, modifying Favorites, accessing History,
- Lock browser to a list of specific sites for news or email services,
- Supports latest Web standards,
- Locked kiosk-mode option,
- Returns to your web site after a period of inactivity,
- Force screen to remain maximized,
- Prevent hard disk drive browsing via URL Address Bar,
- Track all URL usage,
- Compatible with Internet and proxy filtering services,
- Usage reports and logs generate statistics on all patron activity.
Internet Content Filtering
CYBRARIAN® Internet Browser filtering automates Internet content filtering on public computers.
Generate usage reports and log statistics on all patron activity.
Restrict websites, files, downloads, chat-rooms, music, or videos.
- Dozens of selectable filtering categories.
- Create custom categories based on your policies.
- Create multiple profiles based on patron record info.
- Protect your network from malicious downloads.
- Prevent access to inappropriate content.
- Create custom block/allow lists.
- Manage from any PC connected to the Internet.
- Both PC and MAC compatible.


text: CERT TRAINING IS JUNE 6,13,26 at 8AM at the Fire Hall in Gold Beach. The class is limited to 25 people. It will be the first Three weekends in June. Call Don Kendall to reserve your spot. 541-247-6893 or email at email@example.com to register for the upcoming class. The club greatly encourages all members to take part in this training even if its just to take care of yourself and family in a disaster, the information is excellent.


text: I have a laptop that came with Windows xp (for refurbished pcs) but it also has a Vista Business OEMACT sticker underneath it. Its a IBM x61, I'm trying to install Vista Business. I have used SLIC ToolKit 3.2 and it says I have LENOVOTP-7N_V2.0 its SLIC status says validated etc. I can't get my Pkey or Cert though as its just the Windows XP Pkey. I found lenovo.xrm-ms online to use as the certificate but I don't know what to use as a product key. Do Lenovo/IBM use one or a few product keys for SLIC installations, or does each laptop have a unique product key. I tried the key in "Vista OEM SLP Keys" for vista business but it didn't work, also tried the key thats on the sticker of the laptop, predictably that didn't work either. It says Windows Vista Business OEMAct Lenovo Singapore I have no recovery media or anything, just the laptop and the sticker! (I made a vista reistallation cd though) Thanks


text:
They completed the sweep over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday, overcoming a 5-0 deficit to win 9-8 to finish the three game series.
ANGELS 4, TIGERS 1 Angels star Mike Trout hit a home run in his third consecutive game and Alex Meyer pitched three-hit ball into the seventh inning.
"The biggest thing was this was a game we needed to win, avoiding a sweep", Gausman said. That's an average of 4.67 per game, almost two runs more than the 2.73 runs they had been averaging through last Sunday's games. "Even after I gave up those two runs in the fourth, I've got to find a way to get out of that inning".
Duffy left after seven innings, yielding two runs on eight hits. "He's pretty banged up", Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "The skills are there". While I'm still iffy on these Royals overall, you have to like the way they've played the last week.
You can't take even one pitch off because you're going to need a good jump if someone hits a ball into a gap.
Orioles: LHP Wade Miley will start the series opener Tuesday at Detroit after a day off Monday.
Karns struck out a career-high 12 in five innings, Eric Hosmer reached base four times and the Royals beat the Baltimore Orioles 4-3 on Saturday night. "Fortunately, today we scored a good amount of runs and was able to hold off a great team over there and found a way to win again". "Off the bat I knew it had a chance, but at the same time I got a good look at him running down a lot of balls in the World Baseball Classic". And our relief pitchers, too. "That's how good I felt". "It was good to get that one under the belt and hopefully it'll be a little easier getting back out there".
Bundy came out after six innings and 112 pitches.
LeBron ties record with 11th All-NBA pick, Harden unanimous
Wall's first career All-NBA selection comes on the heels of the best statistical performance of his career. Sure, no Warriors players had better seasons than any player voted into the first team .
"It's frustrating", Gausman said. "I think they started eliminating my curveball early in the game".
"I threw it down, middle third, and he was able to get out on it", Bundy said. That's the biggest thing.
"That was one thing previous year, that was a pitch I felt like I could go to, really, in any count and get a swing and miss". Oh, right, but he uh.well, he sure seems to be wrong a week later. But his last start was against the Nationals, the best offensive team in baseball so far this year, and he went 7 innings only allowing 2 runs while striking out 8.
On a day in which several fly balls turned into hits when lost in the sun and five homers were belted, the Kansas City Royals pulled off their largest come-from-behind victory of the season.
If the guy on the edge of the top step is your guy, you rush to the steps, put your hands up and tell him he's OK; go ahead and try to make the catch and we'll prevent you from falling. He's not a guy that's going to sit there and feel sorry for himself. None of the others have more than four starts hitting ninth.
"I was watching all the way and hoping it would fall", Hosmer said.
"I'll be all right", he added. "I knew it gone as soon as he hit it". "Because I'm not the pitcher that my numbers are showing, so I have to go out there and compete and kind of get back to what I did a year ago, when I was really going after guys and pounding the bottom half of the strike zone and really keeping guys off balance".


text:
What's the old saying? Imitation is the purest form of flattery? Something like that. Either way, I'm doing it.
I turned 26 a couple days ago, and I have decided to make a list of 26 things I would like to do in the next year. Some are brand new, some are things I've been talking about forever, and just need a reason to do them, and some are things I've done many times, but now that I'm married, and madly in love, I sometimes just daydream about romantic picnics and skating with hot cocoa.
So, without further adieu, in no particular order:
2. Go Snowshoeing with my love (There's a story here...) Sadly it looks like this won't happen- if there is any snow before my birthday, I doubt it will be enough *knock on wood*
3. Make homemade salsa (The homemade is kinda implied, huh?)
5. Draw. Anything. (Something I used to really enjoy and constantly swear I'll start up again)
6. Create a Numbers spreadsheet for our budget (Get out of the paper & pen dark ages)
7. Go skating at the rink near our house - Again... very sad, but I missed the boat on this one :(
10. Paint our entire home (ALL rooms!)
12. Jump off 30 ft diving board at Kinsmen Swimming Pool Attempted!!!
14. Make a Gardening log book (re: get better at gardening)
15. Make a photo book with all our wedding pictures
19. Begin getting up earlier (Currently: 7:45. Goal: 7:00)
20. Go to a driving range and a hit a golf ball (for the first time)
So the deal is that when I cross something off my list, I blog about it. Dealio?
Stay tuned!!


text:
The Cruel Wife Returns
History continued.
Things progressed fairly well for a while. Ruth took great pains in instructing me in the proper way of doing things. And truthfully once I realized how important my obedience was to her, I began to enjoy my new role as househusband. She insisted that I spend a lot of time in foreplay before I was allowed to have sex with her and for a while that seemed to satisfy those urges as well. And then she stopped allowing me to penetrate her with my penis. She did insist with me giving her oral ministrations. This started out with her having one orgasm and then two orgasms and finally three. I was spending so much time on my knees that I swear my kneecaps were growing calluses.
For my part, she went from giving me a hand job when I was through to allowing me to give myself a hand job when I had done my duty and then to orgasm denial altogether. Of course that didn't stop me. I just had to suffer until she was out of sight and then I took care of my own problem. What she didn't know couldn't hurt me.
I was sure that Ruth had no knowledge of my extracurricular activities until one night she announced that she was tired of me playing with my little worm and that she had found the perfect solution to the problem on the Internet. And she handed me my very own chastity device and informed me that I would no longer be allowed to masturbate unless under her supervision. If I ever wanted to be unlocked again I had better become exceptionally obedient to her needs and my duties.
So we had progressed from a normal loving marriage, or at least, what I considered being normal, to one where Ruth called all the shots and where my cock was locked in a cage. Even then I was not terribly unhappy. But then she progressed from monthly discipline sessions to weekly discipline sessions and her instrument of punishment changed from my belt to a riding crop.
By that time, I was doing almost all of the cooking, cleaning and yard work while she lounged in what used to be my easy chair with her laptop on her knees. If the television was on it was tuned to a channel of her choosing and, of course, I had work to perform anyway so that didn't matter.
Only when she produced a heavy taws that she had purchased on the Internet and announced that she was going to start daily whipping sessions did I finally rebel. I had enough and I wanted a divorce.
Ruth did not even try to talk me out of it, which I found to be strange. It seemed to me she was getting about everything that a woman could want and she should have tried to hold on to it.
We had a family lawyer and so I approached her and asked her to file the proper paperwork. She agreed but informed me that the courts would not process it unless we could show that we had tried to work things out. She then recommended that we go through counseling and recommended we see a Dr. Loretta Marks.
In our first joint session, Dr. Marks put me totally at ease. She seemed so dedicated and caring that I was soon spilling my guts out to her about how badly I was being treated. And then she separated us so that we could feel more comfortable with telling her what was going on. And for about a month of sessions, she just listened to me and allowed me to get it all out in the open.
You would have thought that Ruth would have eased up with the whip during that time but if anything she became more brutal. So one day I walked into Dr. Mark's office and showed her the scars from the previous night's beating. I was sure she would now see how cruel my wife was and announce that she was satisfied that I should be granted a divorce. But once again, I was wrong.
I realize now that I was being manipulated but not at that time. I did, however, find it strange that Dr. Marks was wearing tall high-heeled leather boots. That threw me for a loop because I have always had a fetish for women in boots.
"You must have done something to deserve Ruth's wrath. What was it?"
I couldn't believe it. How could she think that anyone could possibly deserve to be beaten this severely? So I tried to explain that it was a minor infraction of Ruth's cleaning code. All I had done was once the bathroom was clean, I discovered I needed to urinate and some of my flow had missed the bowl and splattered on the floor. Before I noticed it, Ruth had come in, seen it and went ballistic. "It was not my fault, Doctor." I insisted.
"Then who's fault was it Herb? Did Ruth come in and grab your penis and deliberately aim it to miss the bowl?"
"No of course not, but it is such a minor thing?"
"Do you really believe that it was minor? Has Ruth lovingly taken the time to show you what she expects from you as far as cleaning goes?"
"Well, yes," I admitted. "But do you know how hard it is for a man to always hit his target when he is urinating? Of course you don't because you are not a man. All your parts fit inside the bowl when you urinate."
Dr. Marks looked at me and then smiled. "Herb I think perhaps you just discovered the answer to your dilemma."
I was taken back a little and then agreed. "You mean that I should not try to urinate standing up?"
"Exactly, now are you ready to admit that Ruth was justified in correcting a behavior that she had trained you to avoid."
"Yes, Doctor," I said with my head down. Of course it wasn't just that I was hanging my head in shame, I was sneaking a good long look at those boots.
"Then I don't want to hear any more talk about divorce. It is clear to me that your wife loves you very much and is only doing what is in your best interest. I think you should get down on your knees, kiss her feet and thank her for being so kind as to correct your behavior. How do you feel about that Herb?"
Well truthfully I was thinking of getting on my knees anyway but not in front of Ruth, so I agreed to do as she asked.
She called Ruth in and told her we had made a breakthrough and told me to do what I had agreed. I started to just tell Ruth that I was grateful but Dr. Marks insisted that I do it right and shortly I was on my knees kissing the toes of my wife's shoes as I begged her to forgive me and promised I would become a better servant to her.
Dr. Marks told me to go wait for my wife in the outer office. Ruth was in there for what I thought was an exceptionally long session, but when she came out she was all smiles, as was Dr. Marks. I should have suspected that they were up to something but at that time, all I could think about was those damned boots.
On the way home Ruth insisted on stopping at a discount shoe store and told me to wait in the car for her. She was gone a long time but when she came out she was wearing a pair of boots that was eerily similar to the ones Dr. Marks had been wearing. I knew then I was being set up but as Ruth drove towards our home I was excited by the possibility of just what I might be set up to do.
Ruth did not say anything about why she had bought those boots. She just outlined my days work and went in sat in what was now her easy chair and propped her booted feet up on the ottoman. That evening she made her rounds with her notebook, checking on my tasks and making notes as she usually did. And while she did find some faults she was mostly pleased and announced that I should come into the living room for a special treat. When she was again seated and her feet propped up she told me to get down on my knees. "Herb I really liked how you got down on your knees and begged my forgiveness in the Doctor's office today. I especially liked the part when you kissed the toes of my shoes. Did you enjoy that as well?"
"Yes, ma'am," I admitted.
"I think it is time you called me mistress, don't you?"
"Yes, mistress," I said reverently.
"You did your work well, for the most part, today. Would you like to kiss my new boots as a reward?"
I was almost drooling at that point. I not only wanted to kiss her boots I wanted to lick every single inch of leather.
"Yes, mistress, may I?"
"Make sure you use your tongue like you do on my pussy."
So from that time forward I became her bootlicker as well as her servant. She took to this new development with a gusto that she had not shown for anything other than the whip. I could tell she was deliberately getting those boots dirty as it wasn't even the rainy season and yet she managed to find mud to walk in. And no matter how dirty they were I was not allowed to use any type of rag. Everything had to be licked clean and then swallowed. I didn't realize that she was videotaping these sessions but it would become obvious later.
After our next session with Dr. Marks, Ruth announced that she would no longer be disciplining me for each separate violation of her code. She would be giving me a weekly maintenance whipping. This would be especially harsh as it had to make up for all the small infractions that she was allowing to go unpunished. And this would take place the night prior to our scheduled appointment with Dr. Marks.
One of those whippings was so severe that when I went for my counseling appointment I could not sit down in her office. Of course she insisted that I take my pants down and show what Ruth had done to me. After remarking on how grateful I should be to have a wife that cared enough about me to properly discipline me, she asked if I thought that my tiny penis might play a role in Ruth's frustrations. And she made it a point to let me know that it was the smallest penis she had ever seen. "Why I have seen babies with larger members than that," She announced.
So I had to admit that yes, Ruth did find my lack of size frustrating and that she had not allowed me to enter her for over a year now. I even told her that I was normally locked in a chastity device and was surprised that she had taken the cage off before we left for our appointment.
"Well, Herb, I am sure you can understand how frustrating it is for a woman not to have a decent size cock for her use. I feel so bad for Ruth that I suggested that she should take a lover but she said that you would not allow that to happen. Are you really that selfish, Herb?"
"I don't think it is selfish to expect my wife to live up to her wedding vows. We vowed to keep ourselves only to each other."
"You also vowed to love your wife, more than yourself, did you not?"
"Yes, I guess. I don't know if those were the exact words but something to that effect."
"If you really love Ruth, shouldn't you want her to be happy and sexually fulfilled?"
"I do everything she asks of me. I spend hours on my knees with my head between her thighs."
"And as well you should, but that doesn't take the place of a real cock. A woman needs something deep inside where your tongue can't reach. You know Ruth could have just taken a lover behind your back but she loves and respects you too much for that. Don't you think it is time you repaid that love?"
I was so confused and she was still wearing those damned boots. I could hardly think straight. Feeling about as submissive as a man could feel I asked her what she wanted me to do.
"I want you to invite Ruth in here, get down on your knees, kiss her feet and tell her you are sorry you have such a small little piece of meat and that it would be all right with you if she took a lover. Can you do that?"
"Yes, Doctor."
Dr. Marks keyed her intercom and had Ruth sent in. I met her in front of the door on my knees. I bent my head and kissed her boots and begged her forgiveness for my lack of size and told her I wanted her to take a lover. I had never seen her smile as broadly before and she almost jumped up and down for joy. I was then told to leave but as I turned back to close the door behind me, I saw Ruth give the Doctor a high five.
It did not take Ruth long to follow through on my agreement to become her cuckold. I was busy doing my normal chores when I heard the front doorbell ring. I hurried down the stairs not wanting my wife to exert herself by having to get out of her chair. I could not believe it when I opened the door and there stood my former best friend Howard. The reason it was such a shock was that Howard and I had not spoken in five years. In fact, we hated each other, but that is another story altogether.
"What do you want Howard?" I asked with venom in my voice.
"Ruth invited me over. She said that you had finally agreed to let her have a real man in her life. Now, why don't you be a good little cuckold and show me where she is."
I tried to get my anger under control and so I just pointed in the direction of the living room and let him pass. And then to calm down, I decided to take a walk around the block. I must have been gone about 15 minutes when curiosity finally got the better of me and I went back to the house. I could hear the two of them talking and laughing so I closed the door loudly enough so that they would hear and stop whatever they were doing.
"Herb!" I heard my wife yell. "Get in here before I get the taws."
With my head bowed in shame, I walked into the living room. Howard was sitting on the sofa with his arm around my wife. It was plain from how puffy her lips were that he had been kissing and sucking on her lips. Her blouse was undone and her bra had been removed. I just stood there and stared open mouthed.
"Herb, apologize to Howard for your rude behavior. You agreed that I could take a lover and then you turn around and treat him like a leper."
"I didn't know that you would choose him," I replied. "And I didn't expect that you would bring a man into our own home and rub my nose in it."
"So you would rather I took up with some stranger off the street and went sneaking around behind your back. I thought you talked that out with Dr. Marks?"
"Yes, well I am beginning to think that you and Dr. Marks cooked this whole scheme up together."
"I don't give a damn what you think. Unless you want the video's I have been taking of you licking my filthy boots to find their way to your parent's inbox, you better do everything I tell you from now on. And I am telling you to beg Howard's forgiveness for being an asshole."
I had not seen her taping anything but I had no reason to believe that she had not done so. Until I could be sure of what I was dealing with I decided that discretion was the better part of valor.
"Howard I am sorry for my rude behavior. Please make yourself at home. I will leave and give your two some privacy."
"To hell, you will, sissy. Get your ass over here and help me get undressed. You can start by getting on your knees and taking off my shoes and socks."
I looked at Ruth with disbelief but she just merely pointed to the floor in front of them. I obeyed and when I pulled off his socks, Ruth insisted that I kiss both of his feet and then help him off with his trousers. I kept removing his clothes until he sat there completely naked. His cock was standing straight up in the air and I was sorry to see that it was plainly much larger than mine. I wondered which one of us was illegitimate. Ruth even made me undress her.
When she finally allowed me to rise, I was told to take off my clothes as well and then to put on her used panties. "A cuckold should wear panties, don't you think Howard?"
"Hell looking at that tiny thing in a cage, I would think he should be completely feminized. His peter isn't any bigger than a good sized clit."
Ruth laughed so hard I thought she was going to topple over. When she could finally get her breath she said. "You are right of course. I will send him out to buy some lingerie for himself tomorrow. And, I think a nice pair of high-heels would be appropriate as well."
"But now my little sissy, I think you should go fix dinner for me and my new lover. But first bring us some wine."
I did as she asked and I stood in the corner while they ate. Both of them made as many disparaging remarks about me as they could and, of course, I was not allowed to say anything in my own defense. Nor was I allowed to eat anything myself.
When they were finished they announced that they would be going up into our bedroom. I was to clean up the kitchen and then fix them drinks and serve them.
I took as much time as I could puttering around a job that I had learned to do in 15 minutes. I was hoping that Howard would jump her bones and get it over with before I had to witness anything. But of course, Ruth had other ideas. When I walked into the bedroom carrying the tray with their drinks on it, they were both naked and on top of the covers. She had her lips wrapped around the head of his cock and was trying to take the entire length down her throat. She had always hated giving head so I was even more humiliated than I might be.
I sat the tray down on the nightstand and started to leave the room. Only then did Ruth take her mouth off of his cock. "Where do you think you are going?"
"I am sorry mistress. I thought you would like some privacy."
"On the contrary. I want you to stay and watch a real man fuck your wife. In fact, I not only want you to watch, I want you to participate. Come over here and lick my cunt and get it nice and slippery. I am sure you can see that Howard's cock is so much bigger than yours that he will need all the lubrication he can get in order to get that monster all the way inside me. I can see you hesitating. Remember I still have those videos."
So I went to the bed and while she went back to her ministrations on his cock, I proceeded to lick her pussy in preparation from my hated former friend to stick his cock into her. I knew that this would be the last straw. I would find a way to leave Ruth and Dr. Marks be damned.
I had only taken a few swipes with my tongue when Ruth shoved me away from her with her foot. "That is enough, my cunt is sopping wet with the anticipation of a real cock being put in it. You stay right there while Howard gets on top of me between my legs. Then when he is ready you can guide his cock to my entrance.
At that point, something unreal happened to me. I knew that if I was not enclosed in a cock cage I would have become hard. Ruth's constant attempts at humiliating me were finally doing what they were not intended to do. She was turning me on.
Howard wasted no time in repositioning himself. He settled between her thighs and told me to do my thing. I bent down and took his cock in my hand and put the tip directly against her very wet cunt. I swiped it up and down the slit a few times and then inserted the head inside her. Howard didn't need any more help as he drove himself to the hilt with one thrust. Ruth cried out. I still am not convinced whether it was a cry of pain or of joy but there was no doubt about the feelings when he started a slow back and forth motion. She matched him stroke for stroke and she was moaning and begging him to fuck her harder. She raised her hips up off the bed trying to get even more meat inside her. And then her hips began rocking violently and she was almost screaming as a huge orgasm rocked her world. Howard was not far behind her as he drove all the way to the hilt and held it there as I watched his ass muscles contract and then expand.
"Oh God, that feels so good. You must have shot a quart of cum into me. Herb squeeze his cock from the base to the tip and make sure every little bit of his cum is inside me." And with no other choice I did as she said.
Being completely sated, Howard rolled off of my wife and lay beside her with a shit-eating grin on his face. "Wow, that was one great ride. Did you enjoy seeing your wife taking my big cock in her cunt?"
I just ignored him as I started once again to back out of the room.
"Answer him, slave. Tell him how grateful you are that he gave me that much pleasure."
"Thank you, Howard. I am so grateful that you gave pleasure to Ruth."
"That didn't sound very sincere, slave. However, I will still give you a reward. I know you didn't get any dinner tonight, but I have a whole cunt load of protein for you. Get between my legs and eat Howard's cum out of me."
I had never tasted anything as nasty and disgusting in my life. Even her boots on their worst day tasted better than Ruth's juices mixed with his cum. But she assured me that I was going to get used to it because if I was not there each time he came inside her, she would save the ejaculate in a bottle for me to ingest later.
She then told me to get the hell out of her bedroom. I could move in down the hall or sleep on the sofa but Howard was now sleeping in her room.


text:
Veronika Radke naked in Black Nightie
Veronika Radke naked for Digital Desire. At 20 year-old, Veronika Radke is a fresh pornstar with long black hair. If she's used performing hardcore video, she knows how to play with her natural body to tease you as a glamour babe. In front of plate glass windows, Veronica Radke slides down her black nightie to show you her natural breast. Then removing her panties, the beautiful brune reveals her sweet shaved pussy.
Veronika Radke naked bio
Aliases : Scarlet, Daisy Blue
Birthdate : May 27, 1993 – Birthplace : California, Maryland
Measurements : 34B-26-36 – Height : 5'2″ – Weight : 95 lbs
Official : Twitter
Titles : Twisty's Treat of the Month December 2012


text:
The Best Reports to Look at in Google Analytics
Which reports really matter in Google Analytics? Get the cheat sheet and find out!
Get the Google Analytics Cheat Sheet
Want to get the most out of your Google Analytics? Collecting website and user data is great, but understanding how to interpret it is key. Learn which reports you should be looking at and why these reports matter.
You will learn:
What to look at and what really matters
What different reports can tell you
Get the cheat sheet today and start reporting on what matters.
Privacy Policy
ⒸIncentric | Part of RDW Group, Inc.


text:
Charl Van Wyk is the Operations Director of Bon Hotels. Making his first visit to Nigeria as part of the General Managers Meeting of Bon Hotels International West Africa, Van Wyk said in this exclusive interview that the group will continue to promote and invest in hospitality and tourism on the continent. EXCERPT:
Please let's meet you
My name is Charles Van Wyk; I am the Operations Directors of Bon Hotels. I have travelled to Nigeria to attend the general/regional manager's meeting here in Bon Hotel Stratton, Asokoro, where the other general managers throughout Nigeria has come to this particular property to come and share ideas, understand each other businesses, understand each other's hotels and obviously, the main reason for it is to create a sense of community within and around the Bon Hotels.
This is an opportunity to get everyone together around the same table, and to do a bit of refreshing, retraining and to understand the Bon Ami Loyalty card and to understand more of ourselves and what we are doing.
How would you describe the meeting so far, and what would say is the takeaway from this?
There are certainly a lot of takeaways from everybody here. There is growth in Nigeria, we are developing and building new hotels all the time, we have some very new general managers around the table that haven't been exposed, and we are building a foundation, that's the biggest takeaways.
What should we be expecting from bon hotels in the coming months and years?
The growth of Bon Hotels in Nigeria has been phenomenal, and we are growing, we are adding new hotels on a monthly basis, and we have a couple of more hotels that are coming on board that have already signed contracts and we are waiting for the hotels to be finished and opened.
Are there any challenges you feel should be addressed by the government or other stakeholders in the industry?
Well, I guess all I can say to this is that the growth of the Bon Brand in Nigeria has been phenomenal, and we are projecting that the coming years will be even better.


text:
Wednesday, 24 June 2009
No win, no fee to end?
Grieve admitted that the Conservatives had first permitted such arrangements, but said that Labour's Access to Justice Act 1999, which replaced personal injury in legal aid with no win, no fee 'seriously went off the rails'. In a response to a question from solicitor Simon Foster about what the Conservatives would do about NWNFA if elected, Grieve said, 'If I could see a way of removing no-win, no-fee agreements and introducing a contingency fund I would do it. I believe no win, no fee is a flawed system which has a gentle corrupting influence on the legal profession'.
In the last ten years there has been a large growth in personal injury cases funded in this way and to an extent they have succeeded in allowing many people who otherwise could not afford it to pursue their claims; but at a cost. Unregulated claims assessors were siphoning up to 20 per cent of a client's compensation and there has been much complaint about shoddy work. The courts eventually ruled on the issue of the amounts the claims companies could charge and claims management regulation came into force in April 2007.
While it would seem then that the problems with claims companies have been largely resolved, the point remains that lawyers have a stake in the outcome of cases, leaving many clients without representation as their cases have merit but are either too complex or too risky to take on. Clients also might be advised to take settlements as lawyers do not want to risk losing in court. Grieve's solution is a contingent legal aid fund (CLAF) and this is supported by the Bar Council and Citizens Advice, among others. Such a fund would be paid for by charging application fees and taking a percentage from the winnings in successful cases.
LAG has warned that such a system could not co-exist with NWNFA, as lawyers would cream off the better cases leaving those with less chance of success for the CLAF. It would seem Grieve believes this as well. The question is if he takes the reins of power next year at the Ministry of Justice does he have the determination to drive through the abolition of the current arrangements and replace them with a CLAF?
1 comment:
- john..... said...
nice post author many a thanks for this nice post Conditional fee cases are better know as no win no fee legal arrangements. If your personal injury case is thrown out of court you will not owe your solicitor any fees. The costs are usually claimed from those defending the case. If the case is won than you will have to pay your solicitors fees though, in reality, those costs are usually claimed back from the other side.
Unfortunately, despite the no fee part of the agreement there will still be costs that you will have to meet in order for the solicitor to move your claim forward. Even if you have a no win, no fee legal agreement, there could be still be other costs attached to your personal injury claim. You will still be liable to pay any medical and accident report expenses, court fees and any expert witness expenses. The expenses could be very large and are not covered by a conditional fee arrangement. These expenses can soon add up to quite a large sum and they will not be covered by the arrangement you have with your solicitor.for more insights please visit : - www.accidentsdirect.com/no-win-no-fee.aspx
- 15 February, 2010


text:
NORTHERN MICHIGAN - During his 14 years in the U.S. House of Representatives, Bob Davis represented one of the United States' largest congressional districts.
And as several who knew and worked with Davis note, the results of his legislative efforts could be seen in many parts of that sprawling territory, stretching over the entire Upper Peninsula and much of Northern Lower Michigan.
Davis, who died Friday at age 77, had served for four years in the Michigan House of Representatives and eight in the state Senate before taking his congressional seat in 1979. An Upper Peninsula native, he lived in Gaylord for much of the time he served in Congress.
Former Herald Times' Publisher Jim Grisso was acquainted with Davis for years, during his rise from funeral director to state politics to Congress.


text:
Monthly Archives: January 2013
Sisters Sisters not by blood but by a common enemy Bound tighter then a Celtic knot All the women that the world forgot In your eyes I see my beauty When you hurt I shed tears And when your … Continue reading
A New Free Life
This Poem is for my Dear friend Anew @ http://anewfreelife.wordpress.com/ I just want to let her know that I love and support her. I am praying for you sweet sister. A New Free Life A new free life is what she's … Continue reading
An Army of Affirmers
An Army of Affirmers An army of affirmers To remind me it was bad An army of encourages To lift me when I'm sad An army of fellow survivors To show the path ahead An army of supporters To help … Continue reading
What I Want
What I Want Should I go to the beach or the mountain Will I stay there a week or two I can take a walk though the garden Or maybe take a boat down the bayou Without you I go … Continue reading
The Lost Years
The Lost Years I sailed away into the vast deep ocean For many long years I was gone I wish I could say that I was the captain And that it didn't feel like an ea-on I wish I … Continue reading
Witch Hunt
Witch Hunt Loss of control I refuse to yield It makes me so angry I could spit You expect me to just take it While power over me you wield You yell and scream, till I yell back Then … Continue reading
In the Desert
In the Desert I miss him, I know it's hard to conceive It hard this life out on my own The mask I wore was easy to believe Anything is better then being alone Was I better off in … Continue reading


text:
Educated in India and abroad, Mr. Kingshuk Datta holds a B. Arch degree from Sir J J College of Architecture and M. Arch from School of Built Environment, Oxford Brookes University. He has been an educator for architecture over a span of 12 years and is currently, both an academician and a practicing architect.
Mr. Datta has a rich teaching experience and has been associated with the School of Planning and Architecture in New Delhi, Sushant School of Architecture in Gurugram and his alma mater, Sir J J College of Architecture in Mumbai. His teaching interests include Biomimicry, Architecture and Urbanism and Visual Representation Techniques amongst projections on Trans-Technological Pollination of Architecture.
His industry experience includes various prominent projects on interiors and architecture of up-scale residences, Resorts, Rurban Public libraries, and Sports and Leisure properties. He has also managed residential projects in the UK such as Wheatly House, Staverton Road Residence and High Littleton Housing. He is also the co-founder of SHIDA Architecture, an architectural studio set up in New Delhi catering to green building, architecture, interiors and parametric design.
He has been a keen attendee at multiple workshops and seminars conducted for architecture such as India Design and DesignXDesign held in New Delhi, and Oxford School of Architecture Year-End Exhibition and Architectural Association Year-End Project Review held in London.
Being a British MENSA-n, his interests are widespread, ranging from Emergence in Architecture & its analogies in Ancient Indian Architecture, to Mythology, along with healthy doses of Sci-Fi & Travelling.
Mr. Datta is a believer in emergent design. He learns his architecture by observing what nature does and how architecture evolves laterally in our surroundings. He is currently mentoring the students of Interior Architecture and Design at IIAD and his progressive teaching practices include covering crucial aspects of interior and architectural principles that nurture budding designers.
To know more about Kingston School of Art
please visit https://www.kingston.ac.uk/faculties/kingston-school-of-art/about/
To learn about our association with Kingston University,
please visit https://www.kingston.ac.uk/faculties/kingston-school-of-art/enterprise/


text:
- jpc_1937Asked on October 19, 2013 at 09:31 PM
- CesarAnswered on October 19, 2013 at 10:19 PM
Hello, to turn off Secure Forms, do make sure that the URL you are using does not start with
instead it should be displayed as
For example:
Unsecured Example Form:
Secured Example Form:
Do let us know if you need further support. Thank you.
- digi3dworksAnswered on April 06, 2014 at 01:15 PM
This is not working for me...
The SSL counter is still going up....
Link: http://www.jotform.us/digi3dworks/GIS_RX
- JotForm SupportBDAVIDAnswered on April 06, 2014 at 01:38 PM
Hi, .your source code indicates that the form resources load over https:
Please try generating another custom URL, I think this happens because the form builder is loaded on a secure link - https://www.jotform.us/login.This time. log in using http://www.jotform.us/login
Make sure not to check the secure form checkbox:
Let us know if this helps you, we will be glad to assist you.
- digi3dworksAnswered on April 06, 2014 at 02:45 PM
Many thanks... The logging out and back in... that seems to have worked....
I do not have the check box checked....


text:
My car was damaged recently. It was in a car park and I was somewhere else. The culprit drove off. I claimed on my own insurance, and I was directed by them to a specified accident repair garage. The garage took my mobile number, ostensibly to contact me when the car was ready. They did not. Instead they sold on my details to a claims management company in breach of the Data Protection Act. I know this because I received an SMS text a week later telling me that I had been in an accident and was entitled to £2,750.00 for my "injury". Most people I have spoken to have had a similar experience. It has probably happened to you.
Round about the same time a projected rise of 13% in insurance premiums was blamed on the rise in personal injury claims, and in particular claims for whiplash injuries.
Whiplash claims now make up 70% of all motor accident claims. Typically neck and back symptoms might last 3 – 6 months with the courts routinely awarding damages of between £1,500 - £3,000, so the claims themselves are not large. However it is an injury which has few objective signs and there is a clear temptation for fraud and exaggeration. There was evidence placed before the Transport Select Committee in 2011 that the insurance industry loses £2.1bn per annum to fraudulent claims. The Association of Chief Police Officers testified that they believed that there were around 30,000 staged "cash for crash" accidents in 2009. The insurance industry once again presents a story of the honest citizen paying an added price for a system tilted in favour of the unscrupulous.
But like much of the compensation culture mythology, scratch beneath the surface and a different picture emerges.
First of all there is no compensation culture in Scotland. Our claims record for all kinds of accidents is dwarfed by those of our English neighbours. Figures obtained from the Compensation Recovery Unit show that in England there were 1,904,298 claims with the Scottish figure being 76,470. Where one might expect a proportion of around one tenth based on population, the figure is in fact one twenty fifth. The disparity is repeated for car accident claims and it is so marked that the House of Commons Transport Committee Report "The Cost of Motor Insurance" noted that other countries without the whiplash problem included France, Germany, Spain and ...Scotland."
The highest claiming area in the UK is the North West of England with figures showing 20 claims for every 1,000 residents involved in a a car accident. So that is 2 out of every 100 persons involved in a car accident. Scotland has an even lower claim to accident ratio. The figures for Grampian and the Glasgow and Edinburgh areas is 0.03% , that is 3 claims for every 1,000 residents involved in a car accident.
The most likely reason is that Scotland has relatively few claims management companies, and the referral market, whereby payment is made for sales leads for road traffic accident claims, is far less developed north of the border.
A brief tour round the road traffic claims industry might illuminate where the real opportunities are:-
These are not lawyers. Their business model consists in the identification and encouragement of possible claimants. Details are then sold on to solicitors as "oven ready" in the industry jargon. In England referral payments up until recently were routinely between £250 - £650. The claims companies operate customer-friendly 24 hour helplines and have a ubiquitous online and TV presence. It is sometimes claimed that they fulfil a public need in that persons who might otherwise be too intimidated to speak to a lawyer prefer to make the first approach to a claims management company. Whilst that may have been the case 20 years ago, is it really true of the current consumer? For anyone who can operate a mouse, this is an introductory dating service which is wholly unnecessary.
These companies will provide a replacement vehicle whilst your own is being repaired. They will have paid a referral fee generally of around £500, typically to a body repair shop. Their hire costs greatly exceed the spot market rates. The idea is that all of these costs will then be transferred to the insurer of the driver at fault. An example of the business model in operation is the case of Clark v. City of Edinburgh Council [2010] CSOH 144. After a close scrutiny of a credit hire arrangement Lord Turnbull concluded that the unwitting pursuer was effectively required to raise proceedings for the sole purpose of recovering his credit hire payments without any real knowledge of the arrangement details. His 14 year old Toyota Celica (worth £1,000 with 91,000 miles on the clock) had been damaged and he found his way to the offices of the Accident Exchange Company. They provided a replacement car, namely a Honda Civic 2 litre GT which had done only 900 miles. The hapless Mr. Clark then racked up around £12,000 of credit hire costs based on a daily rate of £161.63. He sued for a total of £12, 857.13. In a withering judgement Lord Turnbull held that a "new vehicle for old" hire approach was not appropriate and awarded him a total of £1,950.00.
Insurers frequently incorporate a low priced add-on which provides legal cover in the event of a road traffic accident. The claimant is then referred to the insurer's panel solicitor in the event of an accident. You may believe that this recommendation is of a badge of quality. What is less well publicised is that the insurer receives a referral fee from that solicitor for every claimant. The insurance industry is coy about these backhanders, but estimates of their value vary between £2 – 4 billion per annum. Admiral admitted that in 2010 the figure they received was £24.5 million. These payments never appear in the industry analysis of cost per claim against premium income. There may be further conditions whereby the solicitor agrees to direct the client to specific medico-legal practices or car hire firms, generating further referral fees. Road traffic claims tend not to be particularly difficult. This is work which most no win, no fee lawyers will do for you without charge. The Transport Select Committee has recommended that insurers should publish on their website a list of the firms with which they have referral arrangements, an indication of the level of fees paid and a clear explanation of how referral arrangements work and their purpose. When claims are made insurers should make it clear to claimants that they need not use the solicitor, vehicle repairer or credit hire firm which is recommended by the insurer.
In my own case it is likely that my insurer has some kind of referral fee arrangement with the accident repair garage. However the key information is the mobile phone number which enables text messages to be sent. As you read this someone is receiving a text from a claims management company probably based in England, encouraging a claim to be made, and telling the person they would be stupid not to.
The truth is that the whole car insurance market is bloated, incestuous and corrupt, with the consumer being the last concern of the major players.
This is a system which seems to provide profit opportunities for vendors of fresh air at every stage of the process. The Transport Select Committee has described it as "a dysfunctional merry –go-round". The problem has recently been addressed in England under the LASPO Act which is supposed to ban referral fees. The Government also announced that it intends in England to do away with claims for whiplash altogether. But saying the sky is green does not make it so, and even this Government cannot simply disinvent the injury. There is no reason why ordinary motorists should have to pay increased premiums for injuries which only required taking paracetamol for a few days. But once again the honest persons who have suffered genuine injury and pain with symptoms lasting months or in some cases years will be denied to benefit the insurance industry. This is a devolved issue and there are at present no plans to extend it to Scotland, but you should expect the insurance industry to start making noises and agitating for change up here as well.
In the meantime when you get your renewal premium don't blame your fellow motorist, or at least those of us living in Scotland.
And has the time not come for concerted north of the border agitation for much more significant postcode discounts?