Capital CO

SOURCE: Los Angeles TimesWhat’s in a closet? Well, for some women, this is the place that tells all the stores.

sFor some women, one of the fastest ways to get to know a new friend is to look through her closet. Sifting through the layers of silk, sequins, cotton and wool, one can learn about the new acquaintance’s past, her obsessions, her quirks and the things shared in common.

Los Angeles artist, photographer and fashion lover Jeana Sohn is inviting everyone to this intimate party, via a weekly feature on her blog.

Though women posting photos of themselves and their outfits online has become ubiquitous in this Internet age, Closet Visit ups the ante, presenting elegant, at-home portraits of some of L.A.’s most creative, stylish women, such as handbag designer Clare Vivier and jeweler Kathryn Bentley, shot with their wardrobes.

Not sure you’re that interested in seeing the formal dresses or shoe collections of the rich and famous?

Sohn says that since she started the feature in mid-September it has doubled traffic to her 5-year-old blog (jeanasohn.blogspot.com) — from 2,000 hits a day to 4,000 — and generated countless recommendations as well as a few eager volunteers. It not only indulges the audience’s voyeuristic impulses, it also satisfies the subject’s ageless feminine desire to play dress-up.

The Korean-born Sohn says that when she decided to launch this project as a way to “practice” with her new camera, a Canon 7D SLR, she felt nervous that the women approached “would be like, ‘Oh, she’s just some girl, I don’t want to show her my closet.’ But they’re actually flattered. I was really surprised; when I get there, all the outfits are laid out.”

Her first “visit” was with gallerist Heather Taylor, who represents Sohn’s delicate, nature-inspired paintings at Taylor De Cordoba in Culver City and helped her put together a list of potential future subjects.

“I was totally onboard right away,” recalls Taylor, whose bohemian Hollywood glam mode encompasses vintage floor-length Halston, ankle-length jeans from the Gap and studded velvet Prada pumps. “Jeana has such an interesting and unique aesthetic,” she continues. “Whether it’s photography on her blog or her paintings, she finds this light that’s really beautiful. I feel like it has a specific effervescence, so I knew she would bring that to it.” Still, Taylor says, “I can’t even believe how amazing they are.”

Normally posted on Monday mornings, each visit features up to eight different looks and settings, plus the found still-lifes that Sohn’s lens captures: a tangle of jewelry, shoes against a carpet or a work space mid-project. There’s an undeniable shared sensibility, but each woman is an original.

Although Vivier and Bentley live across the street from one another and wear each other’s pieces, Vivier’s style is classic with a streak of off-beat Parisian chic and a weakness for ankle boots, while Bentley mixes Native American jewelry and tribal prints with vintage Balenciaga and Belstaff. Mohawk General Store’s Bo Carney, also featured, has designs by Vivier and Bentley in her shop and her closet, but her style overall is bolder and more modern.

Sohn also interviews her subjects, and it’s fun to pick out the common threads: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Frida Kahlo and Sofia Coppola are repeatedly named as style icons, and the Italian label Marni seems to be the across-the-board favorite — and that includes for Sohn, who writes that she was “dying” over screenwriter Deborah Kaplan’s Marni collection.

But for Sohn, this is about more than finding a woman who “dresses cute.”

“I’m trying to find someone who’s more inspiring and creative and hard-working … and who dresses well,” she says.

The chic women in her orbit are definitely keeping Mondays looking pretty for now, but Sohn isn’t opposed to opening Closet Visit up to New York or other cities. “It would be amazing if someday it turned into a book,” she says. At the moment, though, “I’m gonna just have fun with it and let it grow.”

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MY TAKE: I actually have no interest in finding out whether someone’s closet contains a dozen unworn homecoming dresses, support stockings, linen table napkins, or love letters in shoe boxes. I do think that there are others who do. While I find it more interesting to look at women’s antique banquet tablecloths or quilts, others prefer the shoe collections. Remember how entranced the public was Imelda Marcos’ famous shoe collection? Now, I wonder if she also had a Sigvaris support hose drawer? Those shoes had to have made her legs ache!

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OTHER RESOURCES

Modern Styles and Retro Resurgence

Each fashion season brings with it a new style of dress but often the newest and trendiest styles are something retro or of a style that evokes the aesthetics of a different, bygone era. The newest womens dresses very much resemble the glamour and sophistication of a glittery seventies style that’s both bohemian and trendy. Styles like high-waist pants and graceful blouses are joined by evening wear that’s shiny and sophisticated. Fabrics like silk and satin are in plentiful supply for the most extravagant evening styles joined with earth tones and clean silhouettes for daytime and casual wear.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times

Kathy DeGrego’s T-shirt lets says it all: “Shhh,” it says, “is a four-letter word.”Rangeview, Colo., Library District. “We have to reframe what the library means to the community.”online repository of more than 700,000 digital images — including early American maps, photographs, books and historical documents — that attracts visitors from 230 countries every month. “It liberates our collections in a way that would have been inconceivable before.”Conjuring Arts Research Center, a dimly lighted magic library in New York, magician and librarian William Kalush has been working to scan in the entire collection, including 12,000 magic books dating to the 15th century.more than 10 million books from dozens of libraries around the world. Many of those books are under copyright, but Google wants to be able to share them anyway, including with libraries.

That spirit of bookish defiance has guided the makeover of the suburban Denver library system where DeGrego works. Reference desks and study carrels have been replaced by rooms where kids can play Guitar Hero. Overdue book fines have been eliminated, and the arcane Dewey Decimal System has been scrapped in favor of bookstore-like sections organized by topic.

“It’s very common for people to say, ‘Why do I need a library when I’ve got a computer?’ ” said Pam Sandlian-Smith, director of the seven-branch

In the struggle to stay relevant — and ultimately to stay open — libraries are reinventing themselves in ways unimaginable even a few years ago, preparing for a future in which most materials can be checked and read from a home computer, smart phone or electronic reading device.

University and public libraries are rushing to push as much material as they can onto the Web, so patrons can peruse genealogical records, historical maps or rare volumes without leaving home.

Many public libraries are also becoming digital activity centers, where in addition to books visitors can find game rooms, computer clusters or Internet cafes. Collections of DVDs have swelled, as has the number of high-definition televisions.

Some traditional librarians worry that experiments aimed at making libraries more accessible could dumb them down.

“If you want to have game rooms and pingpong tables and God knows what — poker parties — fine, do it, but don’t pretend it has anything to do with libraries,” said Michael Gorman, a former president of the American Library Assn. “The argument that all these young people would turn up to play video games and think, ‘Oh by the way, I must borrow that book by Dostoyevsky’ — it seems ludicrous to me.”

Others argue that reinvention is a matter of survival in an age when Google Inc. has made the reference desk almost obsolete and printed books are beginning to look more like antique collectibles.

The number of books checked out by the average public library user dropped nearly 6% between 1997 and 2007, according to the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Book checkouts at the New York Public Library alone plunged by 1 million volumes in the most recent fiscal year.

At the 540,000-square-foot Central Library in downtown Los Angeles — the largest public research library west of the Mississippi — few visitors wander the main floors where most of the building’s 2 million books are kept. At wooden reading tables, only a handful of people sit paging through newspapers.

But down the escalator it’s a different story. The 70-seat computer center is often packed as patrons read news, watch YouTube videos and scour the Web for jobs.

In the last fiscal year, the library system’s patrons checked out 102,000 e-books, more than twice as many as in the previous year. The number is on track to nearly double again in 2010.

Like regular books, e-books can be borrowed for a few weeks. Then the book deletes itself from the borrower’s computer, e-reader or mobile phone.

E-book collections at U.S. libraries grew nearly 60% between 2005 and 2008, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. During the same period libraries’ print collections grew less than 1%, though ink-on-paper works still make up 98% of U.S. libraries’ holdings.

Joan Frye Williams, a library consultant and futurist, believes that the underlying purpose of libraries will not change, even if bookshelves disappear.

“Saying that there’s a challenge to libraries because books are changing would be like saying there’s a challenge to family dinner because plates are changing,” she said.

Digital technology is also allowing libraries to digitize large swaths of their collections, creating a virtual library accessible from any computer.

Libraries are leading the effort to scan centuries’ worth of rare, unique and fragile materials as varied as medieval religious manuscripts and antique phone books — whatever they’ve been keeping in the basement.

Libraries are reluctant to digitize new bestsellers and other books still in copyright, or roughly anything published after 1923. But there remains a vast trove of classic books, government documents, historical papers and other material not covered by copyright that libraries can scan without fear of litigation. Many of these digital books and documents can be searched, read and even downloaded free.

“It’s a phenomenal boom,” said Paul LeClerc, president and chief executive of the New York Public Library, which has an

Smaller libraries with unique collections are going digital too. At the

“It sounds ridiculous,” he said, “but we want to digitize everything in the magic domain.”

Still, the universal digital library, where users anywhere can access any book, movie or album, is years away.

One hurdle is money. Many public library administrators say they don’t have the funds to make a full-scale conversion to digital books and related equipment, including e-readers that could be lent to patrons.

Piracy concerns have also limited the supply of popular new titles. None of the bestselling ” Harry Potter” books, for example, is available in a digital version. Publishers and some authors are concerned that books, once online, can easily be copied and shared without authorization.

In other cases, such as the new Jonathan Franzen bestseller “Freedom,” the book is available to consumers as an e-book, but the publisher does not offer electronic versions to libraries. The book’s publisher, Farrar, Strauss and Giroux., declined to comment on whether piracy concerns affected its decision to hold the digital version of “Freedom” out of libraries.

Libraries have been building their digital collections by stocking electronic versions of century-old classics not covered by copyright and so-called back-catalog books unlikely to appeal to book pirates, including an array of “how-to” and other nonfiction titles. But when it comes to bestsellers, the digital cupboard is often bare.

“What the libraries are worried about is being sued,” said Peter Jaszi, a professor of copyright law at American University’s Washington College of Law.

Until recently, the threat of a lawsuit by publishers was a “hypothetical concern” for libraries, Jaszi said. Noting that libraries are among the largest purchasers of books and other media, he said, “Generally it’s bad business to sue your best customers.”

That changed in 2008, when a group of publishers, including Cambridge University Press, sued library officials at Georgia State University for making digital copies of course materials, often from copyright-protected library books, available to students. The case is awaiting trial in federal court.

Legal worries have discouraged libraries from making and lending digital copies of many printed books they already own.

A few companies, like OverDrive Inc., offer a service that allows libraries to buy digital copies of some books. Once users download the digital copy to a PC, they have three weeks until the book deletes itself, at which point another patron can download it.

But OverDrive has a limited selection, and because e-books are often wrapped in proprietary software to prevent copying, the company’s books can be read on some electronic readers but not others.

If libraries are mainly staying clear of the uphill battle to change copyright law, Google isn’t. Since 2004, the company has scanned

Publishers and authors initially rejected the idea and in 2005 sued Google for making unauthorized copies. But after three years of litigation, the two sides crafted a settlement that would allow publishers to sell books through Google and give libraries and users instant access to huge numbers of books that have long been out of print but are still legally protected.

The settlement has been opposed by many authors, legal scholars and booksellers, who fear it could give Google too much power over the market for digital books. The 2-year-old pact is under review by a federal court in New York.

Some in the library community worry that libraries could be wiped out by the same technological revolution that threatens video rental, music and book stores, whose wares can now be downloaded in a fraction of the time it takes to drive three blocks and find a parking space.

In response, public libraries in particular are looking to become more like community centers.

At Rangeview in Colorado, visitors can help cultivate the library’s garden, take classes on how to use Facebook or attend “Harry Potter”-themed rock concerts on the library floor.

Alejandra Delacruz, 11, sat in front of a large-screen Apple iMac in the children’s section recently. “I come here twice a week to do my homework,” she said, switching among Facebook, YouTube and a text file with some written notes.

In Charlotte, N.C., the library district built a separate complex, the Imaginon, with digital equipment that children and teens can use to make blue-screen movies, stop-motion animations and rap songs.

Those who spent their childhood reading “Treasure Island” and “Ramona” in a quiet corner of the stacks may resist the idea that libraries could become frenetic workshops. But advocates say equipping libraries with tools for digital creation may be one way to help young people interact with history and literature in a familiar medium.

“That’s how a culture reproduces itself,” said Anne Balsamo, a professor of interactive media at USC. “It doesn’t just make things up willy-nilly, but it also takes time to look back and discover the ways things were done in the past. So yes to rap music and yes to turn-of-the-century poetry.”

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MY TAKE: Libraries have been evolving for centuries so it’s no surprise to find out that many are beginning preparations for becoming electronic resources, while hard copy books become relics of the past. I don’t know that we are within a decade or two of researching Electrolux HEPA filter or the theory of cultural landscapes without looking at a hard copy volume of articles or stories, but we certainly now have a lot more resources to draw from online. The history of vacuum cleaner bags, for example, and just about every other topic, can be traced online beginning with Wikipedia. Very little if any hard book reading is required. If we can play Wii sports games online find a mate, we do just about anything. Although, in my opinion, the ability to download Wii games online doesn’t begin to compare with the ability to peruse old books and sit quietly in a library reading.

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OTHER RESOURCES

Small Home Upgrades Boost Selling Power

If you are preparing to list your home on the market there are a few very simple things you can do to boost your home’s buying power, and among the most important is adding curb appeal. This goes beyond trees and landscaping. You can also replace old doors with new custom entry doors and bland porch and yard lights with nice country lighting that invites buyers. Wood and iron doors are elegant options and they go great with most country décor, Spanish style homes, and even modern designs.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times

Her Asics laced up and her water bottle at her side, Meredith Dobrosielski stepped onto the treadmill for a robust half-hour walk.

For the Towson runner, this wasn’t just any trip to the gym. The session took place in a lab at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore. And each step offered information on the impact of exercise on her fetus. Dobrosielski is about 8 months pregnant.

Doctors expect the information collected to fill in some gaps in the data on how much pounding is OK for a developing baby. Eventually, they hope to be able to develop personalized workout schedules for women in different states of fitness.

“We do know that not only can exercise be done, it should be done,” said Dr. Andrew J. Satin, professor and vice chairman of the department of gynecology and obstetrics for the Hopkins School of Medicine. “But the level of fitness should impact the individual’s prescription.”

Not too long ago doctors used to tell all women not to exercise when they became pregnant, but that advice has changed, said Satin and Dr. Linda Szymanski, a fellow in maternal fetal medicine helping conduct the research. But there still is little data about what’s too much for the elite athlete verses the couch potato and those in between. Satin said much is based on “opinion and common sense.”

They believe research is limited because doctors fear testing pregnant women. But nine months into the study, there have been no adverse reactions. As a precaution, the hospital’s labor and delivery area is close by.

About 60 women in their third trimester of pregnancy take turns on the treadmill. Some are regular runners and others are sedentary. Everyone takes a moderate walk, and the regular runners also run until they hit their peak capacity but don’t linger there. Several measurements are taken over the sessions from fetal heart rate and blood flow to the womb to fetal movement and amniotic fluid levels. The fetuses are examined by ultrasound before and after treadmill work.

Over time, the doctors plan to measure the impact on fetuses; partner with biomedical engineers to develop new ways to monitor the fetus, perhaps wirelessly during exercise; and collect long-term data on the pregnancy outcomes. The treadmill tests are the first step and some solid data should be available in a couple of months.

Doctors and groups such as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Pregnancy Association now give blanket advice to pregnant women to get 30 minutes of exercise a day.

Potential benefits include improvement in general health and a decreased chance of gestational diabetes and hypertension, among others. Also, these groups say, that labor, delivery and recovery can be easier.

But the advice is based on recommendations from government and groups such as the American College of Sports Medicine that non-pregnant people get such exercise. And it’s filled with notes of caution for those who are just starting and those with certain conditions. The college suggests seeing a doctor first, starting slow and stopping when there’s pain or bleeding — advice Satin doesn’t dispute.

He added that doctors do know driving up a heart rate and maintaining it there for too long can cut off blood flow to the fetus. Getting overheated and dehydrated are also problems. Joints also can become lax and balance may be off, so some exercises should be avoided, such as street biking late in pregnancy. Contact sports, horseback riding and downhill skiing also may cause injury from blows or falls.

But he and others say not everyone has gotten the message that exercise is beneficial.

It was a big change in 2008 when physical guidelines were published for Americans, including pregnant women, said James Pivarnik, who works with the sports medicine college and is professor kinesiology and epidemiology and director of the Center for Physical Activity and Health at Michigan State University.

He said the guidelines do indicate “that the elite runner can continue doing what she is doing for a bit, provided her health care provider is in the loop, and that she has no warning signs or other issues.” But he said “boutique” recommendations are hard with so many possible circumstances.

“Pretty much the aerobic recs are the same as for anyone,” he said.

Pivarnik agreed more research is needed, such as Satin’s. He’s now looking at how much weight lifting is good for pregnant women.

Szymanski said the incomplete data has only confused the message. “[Pregnant] women express frustration because a number of doctors give different advice. Some still tell them not to exercise, especially if they haven’t been exercising.”

Outdated information and myths perpetuated by the Internet still mean many women who had been exercising — up to a quarter by some accounts — stop because they fear they will harm their babies, the doctors said.

Satin said it’s actually a really good time to suggest starting an exercise program. Women are more apt to take care of themselves when they are pregnant. They’ll quit smoking, eat better and exercise for the sake of the developing baby and then carry over the good habits, he said.

As long as jogging is comfortable, runners can keep at it. Stationary bikes and running in a pool also are good exercises, Satin said. And walking is safe for nearly everyone. The fetuses are not “flipping and flopping,” he said. In fact, the entire uterus is moving with the exercise motion, buoying the fetus.

Satin said his interest in pregnant athletes grew out of his work with women in the military who wanted to stay physically fit. He was formerly a professor and chair of the Uniformed Services University F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine in the obstetrics and gynecology department. Szymanski also is an exercise physiologist and collegiate athlete.

Dobrosielski, who is about to have her second child, said she decided to participate in the study because she wanted to help other women. She’s been running “forever” and played field hockey in high school and college. An ankle injury stopped her from running after 4 months, but everyday she runs in a pool, or does yoga, lifts weights or rides a stationary bike.

She knows she won’t lose as much of her fitness and will be able to return to running, even racing, quickly. Others should be able to find out what’s good for them, she said.

“It’s a special population and there’s so little time for study,” she said of pregnant women. “I felt comfortable exercising and I knew when I needed to stop. I think it’s important for all women to exercise and maybe this research will convince them to do that.”

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MY TAKE: I’ve always thought that women who got out and exercised while pregnant were more likely to have healthier babies and easier deliveries. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to sit around and kint a blanket or a baby headband in those final weeks. But the flower hat cuteness and baby clothes and supplies will all be there anyway, why not do things the first three trimesters that will make it easier on you? I have seen pregnant women in almost every class I’ve taken at my local YMCS, including Pilates, and yoga. Now my gym even offers the Alexander Technique and pregnancy classes. The Alexander Technique is a breath and posturing form of exercise that is said to help make delivery go more smoothly, among other things.

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Other Resources

Law Lines
Don’t just settle for any DWI lawyer Redwood City has to offer. If you need a good, reputable Redwood City California DUI attorney get references and find out what you can about their last three cases and the results, as well as their fee schedules.

Clean it Up
Maryland cleaning services and maid services MD are relatively inexpensive these days. You can hire a Rockville MD maid services team to come in and clean your home twice a month for a relatively reasonable fee. Offsetting your free time is important. Give yourself a cleaning treatment and use that extra time to take care of you.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times

A women, assisted by famed Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred is taking an employer to court for some disparaging comments allegedly made to her about her large breasts and her career aspirations.

Allred says management at the company told Amy Blakely that other employees couldn’t concentrate in meetings because of her big bust.

Allred says the Blakely was told to hide her breasts because they were a distraction.

One manager also allegedly told Blakely that she was “too sensual” to be promoted.

Allred discussed the lawsuit during a press conference earlier this month. No dates yet have been set for a hearing.

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MY TAKE: Certainly, if you are a breast implant surgeon you don’t want to hear about this story. I would imagine that any breast augmentation surgeon, or California cosmetic or plastic surgeon who performs implant surgery would be squeamish about the thought of big breasts being the core of a lawsuit. On the other hand, this woman deserves to be heard and if she was in fact denied opportunities because of her physical attributes, it’s outright discrimination and says a lot about how far women have to go in the workplace for obtaining full equal rights and treatment by men. I would imagine that big breasts might get in the way if you were teaching Pilates for beginners. But let’s face it: A Pilates workout is not the same as an office position. The men complaining can’t be serious.

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OTHER RESOURCES

House Calls For the Future of Care

Home nursing care provides services that ultimately will form the backbone of the nation’s healthcare system: home visits.  House call doctors are already working in the homes more, shunning offices and using their PDAs to set and manage appointments. You’ll find they are able to bring in equipment ranging from medical diagnostics to hand-held ultra sound devices, and can provide care for you or your family members in your own home where you are more comfortable.

Cited: Reuters

If Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke gives a reassuring assessment of the recovery and retail earnings that shows an improvement, Wall Street could keep going up after its best week this year. The chairman seems to believe that the retailers hold the keys for stocks.

Investors are eager to hear more on the thinking behind the Fed’s surprise move to raise its discount rate, especially because the Fed’s loose monetary policy has provided a crucial spur to equities’ advance since their March 2009 bottom.

While the rate hike suggested that the Fed now considers the financial sector to have healed sufficiently to warrant taking back extraordinary liquidity, the hike also sparked unease about a possible broader removal of economic stimuli.

Bernanke’s semiannual testimony on monetary policy before congressional panels takes on an even more important dimension as investors look for clarity on the Fed’s intentions and how Bernanke sees the recovery progressing.

“We will be watching for more confirmation of which track the Fed is on,” said John Praveen, chief investment strategist at Prudential International Investments Advisers LLC in Newark, New Jersey. “We will be looking for more color on the timing of the (exit strategy).”

The Fed has said its benchmark fed funds rate would remain exceptionally low for an extended period to sustain the recovery, but there has been little light on the timeline of its exit strategy and what risks might that entail, more so with a high U.S. unemployment rate still a big menace.

“Is (the rate hike) a reflection of its confidence in the stabilization of markets and the economic recovery, or are they very worried about inflation and therefore are hiking rates?” added Praveen.

RETAILERS IN THE BULL’S-EYE

Earnings from major retailers, including Home Depot Inc, Target Corp and Macy’s Inc will also be in the spotlight, along with key economic data, including February consumer sentiment and January new home sales.

Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers gold miner Newmont Mining Corp and grocer Safeway Inc are on the earnings scoreboard.

With consumer spending accounting for about two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, any indication that consumers are again spending should go a long way in reassuring investors about the outlook for profits and add to the prevailing optimism that has underpinned the stock market’s rebound from the recent selloff.

Of the 422 S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings as of Friday, 72% have beaten analyst expectations, 10% have matched estimates and 18% have missed estimates, according to Thomson Reuters data.

That is well above the 61% that have beaten estimates in a typical quarter since Thomson Reuters began tracking data in 1994.

BIG BOUNCE

Optimism about the recovery has helped the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX trim its losses since its January 19 peak to 3.6% decline through Friday. The index fell by as much as 8% through February 8.

Investors have been scouring for beaten-down shares in growth-oriented stocks like commodities, technology and consumer discretionary sectors in the market’s latest rebound, helping the S&P 500 score its biggest weekly advance since November on Friday.

On the week, the S&P 500 rose 3.1%, the Nasdaq .IXIC gained 2.8% and Dow Jones industrial average .DJI climbed 3%.

“The reason stocks begin to work from here is that the data that came out of the fourth quarter was generally positive, visibility is improving and now we are starting to see that delinquencies are stabilizing,” said Thomas Lee, chief U.S. equity strategist at J.P. Morgan in New York.

“The macro trends are all moving in the right direction.”

Bernanke is scheduled to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee and he is due to testify before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee as well.

Investors’ fears about Greece’s fiscal deficit problems and concerns about the stability of the euro could affect the direction of the stock market depending on the progress the European Union makes to allay the investors in addition to Bernanke’s comments.

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My Take: Well, Wall Street seems to control the finances of this country; I hope they know what they’re talking about. People in this country are so frightened about money lately, and they just might make themselves sick. Here in Phoenix, they are actually proposing a tax on daycare centers licensing, which is not going to be very helpful people who aren’t making much to begin with. They even had a protest about it at the capitol building.

People have a hard enough time finding cheap daycare as it is. Have you ever done a daycare search? There are tons of them to charge an arm and leg and now they want a tax licensing. It is easier to find tablecloths than is to find a daycare you can afford. That is unless you’re looking for quality table cloth then it might just be as difficult.

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Other Resources

Industrial Security

One security manufacturing company provides metal detection technology for indoor and outdoor use, for high sensitivity as well as high discrimination demands. These metal detectors can be linked together with a remote security management system. In addition, they can provide a lightweight hand-held metal detectors which can be used in conjunction with a walk through metal detector or separately.

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Cited: MSNBC

People have begun to ask if there is low profile is an open invitation to crime. Well, if you don’t care about your rights online privacy, than why should Facebook or Google? Honestly, the way some of you people behave online, it’s like you’ve never had a stalker.

How is it you never received two dozen roses anonymously while working Christmas Eve at your mall job? Felt that thrill devolve into ick when the 3 a.m. hang-up calls began? Contacted the cops for the first time when the plastic nativity Jesus showed up in a plastic diaper bag on your doorstep on New Year’s Day?

Maybe if you had, you’d be a little less “shocked” by the plethora of personal information available to anyone with Internet access. Alas, those among you who have never converted old shoe boxes into “evidence files” dated by month and/or year, treat vigilance as a fad — an occasion to sign an “Official Facebook Petition” to “stop invading my privacy!” whenever a news story warrants, only to forget about it days later.

But before you send your next angry tweet about the evils of Google Buzz or whatever, consider how you, yourself may be actively violating not only your personal privacy, but your physical existence with the stuff you post on social networks every single day.

If that’s too much work, here a new Web site does it for you: Please Rob Me, the newly launched social media aggregator dedicated to “listing all those empty homes out there.” The site’s stated purpose isn’t to provide better living through technology for thieves and other ne’er-do-wells; Rather, the opposite.

“So here we are; on one end we’re leaving lights on when we’re going on a holiday, and on the other we’re telling everybody on the Internet we’re not home,” reads the “Why” section. “The goal of this Web site is to raise some awareness on this issue and have people think about how they use services like Foursquare, Brightkite, Google Buzz etc. Because all this site is, is a dressed up Twitter search page. Everybody can get this information.”

PC Magazine reported Feb. 18 that Please Rob Me’s associated Twitter account had been shut down for “suspicious activity,” but a feed was still available on the site. And even if this turns out to be a gimmicky spambot, it does at least make a valid plot point for a future “Law & Order” episode.

Would you like to use something other than Facebook to get messages from friends and family? Did you know that a live answering service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Think of telephone answering service as your virtual office. Meaning that they provide coverage at the times you need it most, and at a price you can truly afford. Find out what phone answering services can do for you.

A few examples from the constantly updated feed, which mostly includes Foursquare entries, illustrate the point (user names removed):

left home and checked in less than a minute ago: Don’t judge! I haven’t had fast food in ages!! (@ McDonald’s) http://4sq.com/bVVjJM

left home and checked in less than a minute ago I’m at The Pearl Cup (1900 Henderson Ave, McMilian Ave, Dallas). http://4sq.com/1wr9bz

left home and checked in less than a minute ago: I’m at New York Penn Station (7th Ave & W 32nd St, New York) w/ 10 others. http://4sq.com/1GoinW

Again, these are Foursquare entries, artifacts from the hipster-habituated, location-based social networking Web site in which you earn virtual merit badges by punching in your coordinates into your iPhone (or whatever) whenever you hit a bar, brunchery, hook up with other Foursquare participants, what have you. And as an added bonus, anyone who accesses your account not only gets your status, but a map revealing your real-time coordinates!

Consider yourself too savvy to engage in a location-based social networking Web site, just so you can earn imaginary kudos for “Superstar” (You’ve checked into 50 different venues!) or “Warhol” (10 different galleries!)? Well, get off your high horse, honey, because the finger wagging goes to you chronic Googlers and Facebook users who only heard about Foursquare just now.

“Internet shopping for burglars” is what reformed thief Michael Fraser calls it. Fraser, a member of BBC’s “Beat The Burglar” series, helped a British-based insurance company with a social network survey last year to find how just how easily people will reveal information to just about anyone.

Thirty-eight percent of the Facebook and Twitter users surveyed posted their holiday plans online, and 33 percent shared information about weekends away. “Coupled with the finding that an alarmingly high proportion of users are prepared to be ‘friends’ online with people they don’t really know, this presents a serious risk to the security of people’s home and contents,” the insurance company said in a statement.

Please note, those are British people, who certainly sound smarter than Americans anyway. In both countries however we’ve been enjoying a growing number of criminals who incriminate themselves via social media. For example, this dude charged with assault, drunk driving, and drug possession and using a BB gun to kill birds, posted his address on both his Facebook and MySpace accounts. Following his arrest, the Lockport, NY police posted this note on his Facebook Wall: “It was due to your diligence in keeping us informed that now you are under arrest.”

Meanwhile, the FBI has yet to announce a connection between crime and your Facebook status. But we can freak ourselves out over anecdotal incidents, such as the case of the Seattle video podcaster who tweeted his family vacation to the Midwest, only to return home to a jimmied back door and thousands of dollars of video equipment taken.

Now, there’s no way to know if the thieves were tipped by Twitter, “but we live pretty public lives,” Hyman said of he and his wife in an Associated Press interview.“I think probably in the future though I’m not going to be announcing when I’m heading out of town.”

Me, I wouldn’t tweet a trip to Starbucks. But bad memories of that plastic nativity Jesus aside, personal privacy is probably at bigger risk than your high-end electronics. Or so I’m told.

“Posting ‘My big-screen TV is awesome, wish someone was gonna be home to enjoying it, but everyone’s gone for three days’ isn’t the brightest move in the world,” says this one police officer I know from Facebook. “But it’s not as high on the list as say, leaving your front door unlocked or your garage door wide open.”

So, the next time you add to your Internet profile, remember the criminals are reading it as well. If you do not want to lose your property, be careful what you put on your profile.

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My Take: I do not use any social networking websites for the simple reason that it is nobody’s business but my own when I am doing. But I do agree with the author that putting all your information on the Internet is like giving your house key to a criminal. I think it’s bad enough that thieves carry around car opening tools and you want to give them an open indication to your house.

Need to remember that thieves are good at lock picking and if they have your address, your lock is going to get picked and all of your stuff will have grown legs and walked out the door. A criminal defense attorney would tell you that this is the worst mistake you can make. These are always looking for in easy way in and make easy money.

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Cited: BusinessWeek/Reuters

A General Growth Properties Inc. shareholder has filed suit against the company’s directors, saying they should not have rejected Simon Property Group Inc’s buyout offer of $10 billion, Bloomberg News reported on February 13.

It reported the suit was filed on February 19 in Cook County Circuit Court in Chicago by investor James Young and accused John Bucksbaum, chairman of the bankrupt Chicago-based mall operator, and six board members with breach of fiduciary duty.

General Growth spokesman David Keating declined comment, saying in an email message that he has not seen the suit and that he refrains from making comments about litigation matters. Attempts to contact Simon Property and Young for comment were not successful.

Simon Property, the No. 1 U.S. shopping mall owner, revealed its buyout offer on February 16, saying it decided to go public after General Growth rebuffed its offer of serious negotiations.

Simon Property said on February 19 it could not agree to conditions General Growth Properties wanted to impose before talks on Simon’s bid for the No. 2 U.S. mall owner. General Growth’s terms for a nondisclosure agreement were not constructive and “make clear your apparent interest in precluding our offer from moving forward or being considered by your stakeholders,” Simon said in a letter to its smaller rival.

The letter is the latest salvo in a battle that has rapidly escalated after Simon went public with its offer following months of behind-the-scenes maneuvering.

General Growth, which became the biggest real estate failure in U.S. history when it filed for bankruptcy in April 2009, has said it is pursuing an exit plan which includes emerging from bankruptcy as a stand-alone entity as well as potential deals.

General Growth has said it wants Simon to take part in its process, but the two sides have not been able to agree on the terms of a nondisclosure agreement, which is usually signed before a company opens up its books to another.

Chairman John Bucksbaum and six other board members were accused of breaching their fiduciary duty to the bankrupt mall operator’s investors when they turned down Simon’s bid, according to a complaint filed today in state court in Chicago, where General Growth is based.

“This conduct is substantially unfair to GGP and the company’s public shareholders,” investor James Young said in his complaint brought on behalf of stockholders and for the benefit of the company.

Simon, based in Indianapolis, offered to buy its largest rival out of bankruptcy for more than $10 billion in a bid made public Feb. 16. Under that offer, shareholders would get about $9 a share, including $6 in cash. General Growth said the price was too low and that it would invite other potential buyers to make bids.

David C. Keating, a company spokesman, said he hadn’t seen the lawsuit and couldn’t immediately comment on it.

Young seeks a court order barring the directors from entering into any contract that harms the company or its shareholders, or makes it more difficult or costly for a would- be purchaser to acquire it, plus other relief including the reimbursement of attorneys’ fees and costs incurred.

Two people with knowledge of the discussions stated that Blackstone Group LP, the world’s largest private and the firm, may be joining Simon’s bid. It was also stated that the negotiations are private and Simon would lead any resulting partnership that may come out of the preliminary talks between Blackstone and Simon.

More information on the case: Young v. Bucksbaum, 10CH07080, Cook County, Circuit Court, Chancery Division (Chicago).

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My Take: I thought a corporation had to get permission from its stockholders on decisions such as this. I am no expert, but it seems logical since the stockholders are basically the owners of the company. I wonder, would this be the kind of situation where a collaborative lawyer would be needed? Or is that just another type of divorce lawyer?

I know there are lawyers everywhere for every aspect of business and personal areas. But I really could not say what kind of lawyer would handle this type of lawsuit. I do know that a divorce attorney is different from a Redwood City CA DUI attorney. I also understand that a alimony lawyer is a specialized form of a New Jersey divorce lawyer. And these are all miles apart from a Redwood City criminal defense lawyer even though they are all lawyers or attorneys.

After reading my comments, I sound more like an advocate for attorneys and giving my comments. I have a bad habit of going off on a tangent. Sorry about that folks!

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Legal Records

Like doctors, lawyers need to keep records on and for their clients. One of the ways they do this is by using an LA California court reporting service. The service will provide LA Court reporters who will record or video meetings that are concerning their client’s case. The reporter will then put it into printed form so that lawyer can file it with other paperwork for the client. Our reporters are like lawyers in the fact that they cannot discuss or reveal any information they may hear concerning a client.

Cited: Reuters

Continued from “Is US Dollar Doomed? Part 1“

THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

The reserve currency status is conferred upon the United States that so-called “the exorbitant privilege”, as it was called by the former French president Valery Giscard d’Estaing when he was finance minister, the past 60 years.

Because the dollar is in high demand, U.S. borrowing costs remain low. That makes it easier for the government to fund domestic priorities and military commitments and the average citizen to buy a home or start a business.

It also means the United States need not borrow or repay debts in foreign currencies, making the value of its currency a less urgent concern than it would be for other borrowers who borrow and pay for imports with dollars.

But such easy access to capital has led to huge deficits. With Americans spending more than they save, the money to finance the shortfalls has to come from abroad.

“We are plainly overextended in our budgetary terms and in our dependence on foreign capital; we resort to the kindness of strangers to meet our deficits,” said former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker at an Economic Club of New York speech last month. Volcker is now head of President Barack Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. That kindness probably has a limit.

China and Russia have both talked publicly about long-term alternatives to the dollar. Some central banks, including Russia’s, have said they intend to hold a greater amount of their foreign exchange reserves in other currencies.

Chinese central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan also made waves last year when he said the dollar should one day be replaced, perhaps by a “super-sovereign” reserve currency based on Special Drawing Rights, the IMF’s in-house unit of account.

Economists have interpreted the comments as an attempt to give the Yuan, China’s currency, a more prominent role in global finance, in keeping with the nation’s growing clout on the world stage. Of course, that won’t happen overnight.

“There might be some progress toward multi-polarization of the international monetary regime, but there will be no immediate change to the dollar’s role as the main international currency,” said Zhang Zhigang, chief economist with the China Center for International Economics Exchanges.

But over the last year, China has voted with its pocketbook. It quietly struck currency swap accords worth some 650 billion Yuan ($95 billion) with central banks in Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe that allow importers to pay for Chinese goods in Yuan instead of dollars.

That could set the stage for greater use of the Yuan for offshore financial and investment purposes. And that is a precondition if the currency is to achieve greater international status.

For now, however, central bank reserve managers have few options beyond the dollar. No country is close to outranking the United States — economically, militarily or politically. The euro, which many see as the dollar’s most immediate rival, is tied to an economic area with no common political or fiscal policy. That’s part of what makes solving Greece’s debt woes so difficult.

It also lacks a common bond market. Veteran Brown Brothers Harriman currency strategist Marc Chandler likens Europe’s sovereign bond markets to those for U.S. municipal debt — lots of issuers of varying size and credit quality, but none that on its own can rival the deep, liquid U.S. Treasury market.

The U.S. Treasury, in an addendum to its October 2009 currency report, cited the disparate sovereign debt markets as the key reason the euro doesn’t take an equal share of global reserves, even though the eurozone approximates the United States in economic power.

But other rivals will likely continue to gain strength. Ten years ago, China “was hardly even on the radar screen” in Washington, said Jeffrey Garten, a professor at the Yale School of Management and a former undersecretary of commerce during the Clinton administration.

“So people who say their currency is nowhere near an international currency and that it’s going take at least 20 or 30 years — I think they’re living in a dreamworld,” Garten said.

TOWERING DEBT

As they open up and develop their capital markets, emerging economies such as China, Brazil or India could see their currencies occupy a larger portion of central bank reserves in coming decades, according to the October U.S. Treasury report.

It also asserts that as long as the United States maintains sound macroeconomic policies and open, deep and liquid financial markets, the dollar will remain “the major reserve currency.”

Some worry, however, that the parlous state of U.S. public finances makes betting on long-term dollar dominance dicey. The White House this month said the 2010 budget deficit would reach $1.565 trillion — at nearly 11% of output, the largest shortfall since World War II.

But America was running large trade and budget deficits before the financial crisis. “We went into the crisis in a weak fiscal position,” said C. Fred Bergsten, a former assistant Treasury secretary and current director of the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic Policy Research in Washington, said U.S. finances are still manageable and a weaker dollar is necessary to boost exports, cut the trade deficit and end a multi-decade spending binge.

Provided America invests in education and infrastructure, maintains high output and productivity and keeps people employed, he said it can overcome the challenges it faces.

“We are moving to a world that’s going to be multi-polar, a world where the dollar is not going to be as dominant as today,” he said. “But if we do things to keep the U.S. economy strong, we will be able to finance ourselves going forward.”

The United States found ready buyers for roughly $1.7 trillion in new debt issued in fiscal year 2009, which brought total debt held by the public to $7.89 trillion, some 55% of output.

There are, however, some early signs that buyers may be growing sated. Treasury plans to issue another $1.5 trillion to $2 trillion this year — a record $126 billion this week alone. Yet auctions for $41 billion in long-dated debt earlier this month attracted only modest interest. The yield demanded by buyers of fresh 30-year debt was the highest in more than two years.

The United States still pays less than 4% on its 10-year Treasury notes — well below an average of 7- 9% in the 1980s and 1990s. But economists also worry about the government’s unfunded pension and health care liabilities. Last year, Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher estimated that the United States may be on the hook for as much as $99 trillion, much of it tied to Medicare. That’s about seven times the size of the entire U.S. economy.

“The bottom line is that we can’t keep borrowing at this pace forever,” said Kenneth Rogoff, Harvard University economist and former chief economist at the IMF. “That only works if the Chinese are willing to lend us unlimited amounts of money at near-zero interest rates, and that just isn’t going to last forever.”

When it ends, Rogoff said the U.S. will have to deal with higher interest rates, higher taxes and slower growth, all of which will further undermine its economic might.

WHEN LEVERAGE ISN’T LEVERAGE

Of course, much as the United States depends on Chinese savings to finance its deficit, China depends on U.S. consumers to keep buying its exports.

Few think this mutual dependence can last indefinitely. U.S. authorities and a number of economists claim the problem is China’s inflexible exchange rate that pegs the Yuan to the dollar, thus keeping it undervalued to support exports.

Analysts at the Washington-based Peterson Institute say that given China’s massive growth, the Yuan may be undervalued against the dollar by as much as 40%.

Since President Barack Obama assumed office, the U.S. has twice declined to label China a currency manipulator, a move that could trigger trade sanctions. But the administration has repeatedly complained of China’s unfair trade advantage.

Recently, the White House even pledged to double U.S. exports in five years, a goal that economists say would require a significantly weaker dollar. It’s not clear how much other nations, particularly China, will go along.

In the post-Cold War era, currency talks are the rough equivalent of nuclear arms reduction negotiations. In language evocative of the U.S.-Soviet face-off, Chinese military officers have proposed punishing Washington with “a strategic package of counter-punches” that includes dumping U.S. government bonds.

While the military plays no role in setting China’s foreign exchange holdings, the comments underscored the rising level of tension and mistrust between the two powers.

Nicholas Lardy, a senior Peterson Institute fellow, dismisses such threats, noting that China’s vast dollar wealth would start to evaporate and its currency to rise if it started unloading Treasuries.

“The Chinese are in the classic dollar trap. They have so many dollars that they can’t diversify,” he said.

Marc Leland, head of Leland & Associates and deputy undersecretary of the Treasury during the first Reagan administration, said: “It’s only leverage if one thinks they can pull the trigger. I don’t think they can.”

Morgan Stanley Asia chairman Stephen Roach isn’t so sure. He said that if the U.S. eventually resorts to trade sanctions against China — not unthinkable in a U.S. election year, with the unemployment rate near 10 percent — Beijing would likely retaliate.

China might boycott a Treasury auction, he said, which could cause the dollar to plummet and interest rates to spike.

“I spend a lot of my time talking to the Chinese about that, and if it happened, I think they would feel compelled to stand up and take strong retaliatory actions, even though, yes, there would be consequences for them as holders of Treasuries and other dollar-denominated assets,” Roach said.

“Once you believe that you are better and greater than everyone else, you have a problem,” he said, “because today, the competition is right around the corner.” That may be especially true for any winner of a reverse beauty context.

The dollar’s future may depend on Washington assuming a more humble attitude according to Merk, the investor who is betting against the U.S. currency.

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My Take: It seems that China just might have the US government by the short hairs! Somebody once said when you control the money you control the country. I don’t know who said that, but I think they may have been right. While we worry about Halloween costumes and Njoy products, they buy our debt.

I wonder if anybody in the government has actually considered that. It will be interesting if they call the debt due because we are delinquent. I have seen people who junk a car to pay a debt. What will the government junk to pay its debt? Then again, some of these experts could be right and China could be between a rock and hard place and the people who buy junk cars will not be making any money.

I think I will sit back with my E cig and wait and see. Maybe by the time it’s time for people to start buying their adult costumes for Halloween we will know more. I truly believe in this country and believe we will survive this recession.

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Cited: Reuters

An optimistic Oracle Corp Chief Executive Larry Ellison said on February 20 he expected Sun Microsystems to be making a profit soon. The unprofitable hardware maker, Sun Microsystems, was purchased last month for $7.5 billion by Oracle Corp.

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Oracle executives have previously declined to say how long it would take for Sun to start turning a profit, although they have promised it would add $1.5 billion to operating profit within a year. The company had posted losses of more than $2 billion in the two years prior to its sale.

But Ellison, asked by reporters how the Sun integration was going on the sidelines of a news conference on Saturday in San Francisco, said: “I think it’s going really well and we expect to be profitable right away.”

Some analysts are skeptical that Ellison will be able to quickly turn around Sun, which never fully recovered from the bursting of the dot-com bubble in the early 2000s that savaged demand for its high-end computers.

He made the comments in his hometown after returning from Valencia, Spain, to show off the trophy he won for defeating rival billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli in the America’s Cup sailing race.

Ellison vowed to defend his title. But the 65-year-old, who founded Oracle more than 30 years ago, also said he has no intention of retiring from his position at the helm of Oracle to focus on sailing.

“I love Oracle and I love sailing, and I think I can do both,” he said, after accepting a key to the city from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who, like Ellison, wants to see the next America’s Cup race held in San Francisco Bay.

“It certainly makes commuting easier,” joked Ellison, whose Redwood City-based company is about 25 miles (40km) south of San Francisco.

Oracle Corporation (Oracle), incorporated in 2005, is an enterprise software company. The Company develops, manufactures, markets, distributes and services database and middleware software, as well as applications software that help its customers manage their businesses. Oracle is organized into two businesses: software and services. These businesses are further divided into five operating segments. Its software business consists of two operating segments, new software licenses, and software license updates and product support. Its services business consists of three operating segments, consulting, On Demand and education. The Company’s software and services businesses represented 81% and 19% of its total revenues, during the fiscal year ended May 31, 2009 (fiscal 2009). In July 2009, the Company completed the acquisition of Relsys International, Inc. In January 2010, the Company announced that it has acquired Silver Creek Systems, Inc. (Silver Creek), a provider of product data quality solutions. In January 2010, the Company acquired Sun Microsystems, Inc.

Sun has a tremendous technological legacy. Some claim to be “the dot in dot-com” in many of its marketing campaigns and it wasn’t hyperbole. Before anybody contemplated the possibility of network computers, the company was pushing the idea of network computers. It built the servers and storage to make it happen. It created Java, which allowed developers to write large programs for businesses that could run across different platforms. Now, after 28 years, Sun becomes Oracle.

Ellison has confidently predicted that the money-losing computer server business will soon turn a profit, shaking off numerous critics who say he should not have expanded into hardware.

The goal is to invest in new products and incorporate Sun’s high-end systems into a premium all-in-one computer system. It has begun to sell directly to Sun’s top 4,000 customers while increasing its research and development efforts.

Aggressive Oracle has been built on acquisitions, including more than 60 companies purchased in the last five years.

Shares of Oracle have been flat this year following last year’s 39% rise. Earnings in its most recent quarter were up 13% and ahead of forecasts as companies became less reluctant to spend money on technology.

Oracle has more than 40% of the database market, far ahead of IBM and Microsoft. It sells a wide range of enterprise solutions, including middleware and applications, as it aims to be a one-stop destination for any company looking for enterprise software. Software license updates and product support provide nearly half of the revenues of the company.

The consensus analyst recommendation on Oracle is “buy,” according to Thomson Reuters, consisting of nine “strong buys,” 16 “buys” and eight “holds.”

This profitable California-based company is in strong financial shape with plenty of cash to cover its debt. Ellison, who co-founded it in 1977, owns nearly one-fourth of the company. Oracle does, however, face fierce competition and there’s also the possibility that smaller competitors might pop up with something new that could affect its business. The results of buying Sun still remain to be seen.

For fiscal year ending in May, earnings are expected to increase by 10% and in the following fiscal year expected to increase 18%. Predictions from the application software industry expect a 13% increase in annualized growth rate; however, the growth rate forecast for the company is 14%.

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My Take: Wow, I thought Microsoft had the highest percentage in the industry. Anyway, I own some of Sun Microsystems programs and they are pretty good. I do not think I own any of their hardware though. Then again, I could be wrong. I wish I had stuck with my computer programming education. But, when I became disabled I was devastated and didn’t even think of anything. I regret that.

The money I could be making, even from home, doing data recovery or writing network security software makes my head hurt. There are so many people who need disk recovery or businesses that need intrusion prevention that a person could easily make enough to live more than comfortably. At least I have the right idea to begin with, computers.

I might even have been able to expand into PSP repair to make even more money. Think about the number of game systems are nowadays, you’d understand what I mean. I might even have been able to fix GPS systems, who knows. Well, they say hindsight is 20/20!

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Cited: Associated Press

Austin seems to be the center for tax road tests with the recent deadly plane attack by Joseph Stack. His methods are unthinkable, yet he is accused of ramming his plane into an IRS building in Texas. This is one of a long line of tax protests and Stack’s views are right in that line. He is among believers who believe that laws do not apply to them

While their numbers aren’t large, according to experts, their arguments are so enticing that the IRS has published a guide to debunk their claims. In 2008, the Justice Department was concerned enough to start the “National Tax Defier Initiative” to better coordinate prosecutions.

“You would think a little light bulb would go on in their head and they would say, ‘Why in the heck is everybody else paying taxes?’” said Peter R. Zeidenberg, a former federal prosecutor who is now a litigation partner at the law firm DLA Piper in Washington. “There are people who are peddling this stuff. It’s a way to get a person to believe something that’s too good to be true.”

A 3,000-word manifesto posted on a Web site registered in Stack’s name rails against the IRS and accuses the agency of ruining his life. Stack’s bitter feud with the IRS apparently drove him to commit suicide Thursday by slamming his single-engine Piper PA-28 into an Austin office building where the IRS has offices.

Stack’s writings suggest he was part of a loosely organized movement that stretches back to at least the 1950s. Some believe the 16th Amendment to the Constitution, which authorizes Congress to levy income taxes, was not legally ratified; it was ratified in 1913.

Others believe that paying taxes is purely voluntary. Still others believe in fictional loopholes that would exempt large groups of Americans from paying taxes if they were only in on the secret.

Believers aren’t limited to anti-government militia members living off the land out West. Stack was a 53-year-old software engineer in Austin. Other followers include movie star Wesley Snipes and a decorated police detective in the nation’s capital.

“They’re fairly prevalent,” said Mark Potok, director of the Intelligence Project for the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremist groups. “We’ve had a right wing tax protest movement going back several decades now. They were very hot in the 1990s, but they are very much still out there.”

The center has documented five plots against the IRS or its agents since 1995, including one that year to blow up an IRS office in Austin. Potok said he was unsure if it was the same building Stack crashed the plane into.

In 2006, a Utah man was accused of threatening IRS employees with “death by firing squad” if they continued to try to collect taxes from him and his wife. The man, David D’Addabbo, pleaded guilty to one charge of threatening a government agent and was sentenced to five months already served. Not all tax protesters resort to violence.

Snipes, star of the “Blade” trilogy and other films, was convicted on tax charges and sentenced to three years in prison in 2008 after claiming that Americans have no obligation to pay taxes and the IRS cannot legally collect them. The detective in Washington, D.C., Michael Irving got a 14-month prison sentence last year after prosecutors said he fraudulently arranged for the police department to stop withholding taxes from his paychecks.

“Most of us are respectfully fearful of the IRS. Most people understand their authority,” said Matthew J. Campione, a former IRS lawyer who is now a tax law specialist at the law firm of SmolenPlevy in Vienna, Va. “But you have people who are gullible, you have people who engage in wishful thinking, you have some people who are struggling to make ends meet.”

In the letter on Stack’s Web site, which has since been removed, Stack said he had gone to “tax code readings and discussions” where he learned about “wonderful ‘exemptions’ that make institutions like the vulgar, corrupt Catholic Church so incredibly wealthy.” He said an attempt to claim similar exemptions inevitably cost him $40,000 and “10 years of my life.”

He also complained about a 1986 change in the tax law that made it harder for engineers, like himself, to claim certain deductions as independent contractors, rather than salaried employees. One year, Stack wrote, he didn’t file a tax return, “thinking that because I didn’t have any income there was no need. The sleazy government decided that they disagreed.”

The head of the union representing IRS workers said federal employees are too often targeted with threats or violence for simply doing their jobs.

“This incident brings to light an ongoing concern that the atmosphere in our nation debases and denigrates the work of federal employees and contributes to such actions,” said Colleen M. Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union. “Too often, frustration with policies or politics takes the form of attacks on public servants, which is never justified and can contribute to misguided rage against federal workers.”

The IRS has a Web site called, “Don’t Fall for These Frivolous Arguments.” Among them are:

False claim: The filing and paying of tax is voluntary. IRS response: “The term voluntary compliance means that each of us is responsible for filing a tax return when required and for determining and paying the correct amount of tax.”

False claim: Wages, tips, and other compensation are not income because there is no taxable gain when a person “exchanges” labor for money. IRS response: “Congress has determined that all income is taxable unless specifically excluded by some part of the Code.”

False claim: Forming a business trust to hold your income and assets will avoid taxes. A family estate trust will allow you to reduce or eliminate your tax liability. IRS response: “Establishing a trust, foreign or domestic, for the sole purpose of hiding your income and assets from taxation is illegal and will not absolve you of your tax liability.”

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My Take: I remember back in the late 70s, early 80s there was a guy in San Francisco who managed to get out of paying income taxes for the rest of his life. There was a club called the “Golden Key”, at least I think that was the name that many construction workers were part of to get out of paying taxes.

I actually tried to find a newspaper article that they showed copies of everybody. I never did find an article. Their response was the IRS made sure you wouldn’t be able to find it. Of course, they were going on the fears of everybody because they feared the IRS. And it is true; the IRS is the most powerful part of our government. You don’t pay your taxes and you get a sentence as if you had robbed a bank.

I think everybody should just get themselves some Pilates exercise equipment and take out their frustrations on it because they are never going to stop paying income taxes. Those politicians need to get their six digit incomes. Maybe if they did some Pilates exercise they would not need to have so much money.

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