Category: News and Politics
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My favorite quotes from Maya Angelou
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” “My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry; to get my work done and try…
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R.I.P. Tony Novak
Updated 12/14/2017 to reflect another “Tony Novak”, a younger attorney with Larson King in Minnesota, occasionally appearing in searches, obviously not the attorney mentioned in my post below. I suppose that most of us have at least Googled our own name. Those of us who are involved in brand-building around a name as part of a…
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NFL players recite Declaration of Independence
glad to see NFL players recite excerpts from the Declaration of Independence. I am reminded of the strength of these words: “When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the…
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Spying on Amercians pays off with arrest of two Chesapeake watermen
Those who feared that expansion of surveillance for national security reasons would eventually cross legal boundaries and be used in other law enforcement now have tangible proof. CBS Baltimore reports that Homeland Security cameras and radar systems were used to arrest two oyster poachers in the Chesapeake Bay. It’s now only a short legal jump…
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We still get an “F” for courting environmental tourism
Watermen (the term used to describe the people who harvest fish, shellfish, crabs and other resources from the bay) are known for their intelligence and sharp wit combined with a lack of formal education. The result can often be offensive to those with a deference to politically correct positions. The Money Island Marina community has…
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Privacy and security
I’ve been convinced for years that the concepts of “privacy” and “security” as most people imagine them no longer exist. Recent news surrounding NSA capabilities and activities brought that discussion into the mainstream. There is some value gained, I believe, in living with the presumption that all of our individual and collective actions and communications…
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The detail of my complaint against the Better Business Bureau
I became aware that the BBB had removed my A+ rating on Saturday September 21, 2013 I don’t known when they actually initiated the action. This was about one week after Yahoo Finance published an article on the potential for abuse by scammers playing off the federal health insurance exchange launch scheduled for October 1.…
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Advertising investigation by BBB
I am frustrated by the Better Business Bureau’s “shoot first and ask questions later” policy in pulling my A+ rating for an advertising review. I wrote about my original complaint with BBB staff behavior at https://novaktony.wordpress.com/2013/10/05/the-detail-of-my-complaint-against-the-better-business-bureau/. I became aware that the BBB replaced my A+ rating with a “NR” (not rated) on September 28 when a…
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50th Anniversary of “I Have a Dream”
Martin Luther King, 8/28/1963: “I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a…
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Tax planning notes for 2013
Following are unformatted meeting notes from a Presentation by Al Klingan JD, LLM, CLU, ChFC in a meeting 11/8/2012 hosted by First Financial at the Philadelphia Union League. CURRENT LAW FOR 2013 (if no congressional action) All brackets rise CG rise to 20% Dividends 39.6% Deductions phase out Exemptions phaseout Social Security to 6.2% Additional 3.8%…