Internet TV - Yes, No, Maybe?

We jumped the gun on the last blog post. Just when we thought that we had access to our favorite television channels on the Internet, our excitement gets dashed. We did have access this morning but our attempt to view CNBC's broadcast this afternoon gave us this message:

"Content from this channel has been removed at the request of the copyright holder."

VIEW THE JUSTIN.TV NOTICE

We're back watching TV on the Internet.

We were able to access our favorite financial news channel this morning via the Internet. What happened was, we had our bookmarks set on old web addresses that were saved many months ago. When we searched through Justin.TV this morning, we were directed to the right links and web addresses. We noticed that the previous links differed from the new ones. This allowed us to view our favorite financial news program – Squawk on the Street on CNBC. We are very pleased to have found these links as the information and insights that these outlets provide us are indispensable to our national and world view.  

Ain't gonna be no TV from now on!

There was a change in ownership at the Neighborhood Cup recently. The previous owners haven't made a formal announcement but there were telling signs and activities meant to bring about a fresh face to the establishment – a new arcade game table with most of the classic games including PacMan, Galactica, 1984 and many others for the classic price of $0.25 per game. A few days ago there was a contractor eye-balling the place, measuring walls and doing calculations for what I assume will be a re-design of the cafe. All that is a welcome change that I hope will make the Cup more appealing to a new set of future patrons. I have since met the new owners who confirmed the acquisition of my de facto office and favorite purveyor of caffeine.

With little variations, my routine has been much the same for the last few months. I'm usually one of the first patrons to enter the Cup in the morning. There are generally only two other individuals who would beat me by a scant few minutes – Joel, a corporate lawyer and Mary, an optics technician. When I come through the doors I usually set my bags down at the same table I've been using all these many months. I would make a quick about face to turn on the television and flip the channel to CNBC. Then, I would use the restroom. When I return I would place my order, now called “the usual” – the Neighbor Eggel and a small cup of coffee.

I'm usually still a walking zombie when I enter the establishment. So, this morning when I traversed that corner of the Cup where the television was, a moment of intense anxiety came over me. The television and my eyes to the world was all but gone. All that was left were the wall mounts and the cables hanging off it. The previous owner had taken it as part of, I assume, the transition. I have yet to speak to the new owners but one of the questions that I will ask will be - how big will the replacement television going to be? There used to be a television at the library next door. But after someone started bringing his own remote-control that he had synched to the tv and caused a fight, the head librarian decided it was best to curtail its use. 

So, I am now frantically looking for a way to access all the television channels on my computer so I can watch broadcasts live. There are way too many things happening in the world these days and I don't want to miss a thing. The outlet I found a few months ago, JustinTV, a consolidator of different channels had served us well. But for some reason these channels were not available to us this afternoon. There are certainly other ways to access these news outlets. Unfortunately, some require subscription and monthly fees. CNBC, for instance, makes access available for $29.99 per month with all the bells and whistles. At the moment, I haven't the money nor the credit card to acquire a membership. So this presents me with one of those moments. Such is the life of an indigent litigator. It is one challenge right after another as if Nietzsche was thinking of my brethren when he penned for us these words:

That which does not break me, make me stronger.

VIEW THE NEIGHBORHOOD CUP SITE

VIEW THE CNBC PRICING SITE

VIEW JUSTIN.TV

Want to be like GE and pay zero taxes?

A New York Times article came out this week about General Electric’s impressive tax saving strategies. So impressive, in fact, that they paid zero taxes for fiscal 2010 despite worldwide revenues of $150.2B and a declared operating income of $14.2B. That made me think. The bottom marginal tax rate for individuals is about 28% on taxable income. This is hypothetical, but if GE were an individual, they would have paid approximately $3.97B in taxes. Because corporate income are subject to very complex tax rules and formulas, I made a simple calculation just so I could use a figure for argument’s sake. Having done that, I posed the following questions:

• What is the best use of that cash?
• Who would best allocate that cash, the politicians or GE Execs?
• What can an individual taxpayer do to pay zero taxes?

We revel in the abilities of GE’s finance department for delivering such amazing results. What I find amusing is, if an individual were to report the same, it would have been because one of two things occurred - either they were reporting substantial losses or they have just committed tax evasion, an offense with very severe consequences.

A corporation the size of GE has a finance department that is certainly among the most competent in the world. I would not be surprised if somewhere in their corporate vaults there exists a piece of scholarly work - perhaps, encyclopedic in scale - produced by a team of highly talented accountants and lawyers that provide every tax loophole, tax-saving tactics, strategies and modeling every conceivable scenario unique to their businesses in the many industries they operate in around the world.

The temptation to criticize GE runs very strong considering the state of the economy and the astronomical national debt. But that kind of reaction is misplaced, if not irresponsible. Finding a way to retain their earnings is part of their corporate mission and one of the very reasons they exist. Retaining revenues and deploying their cash through smart investments is a responsibility that they have to their shareholders and all the partners they do business with.

I have always thought that the best social program is “job creation”. But I’m skeptical when I hear a government official promising to create jobs at the public sector. They all end up being an expense rather than a thriving and self-funding organization that offers value to the marketplace. The last call for another infusion of money recently came from the US Postal Service. Officials there warned that they will be running out of money by October of this year. An Associated Press (AP) article reported that “Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe told the House Oversight subcommittee on the postal service that his agency will owe the federal government a payment of $5.5 billion to fund medical costs, in advance, for future retirees, and in November it will need to make a $1.3 billion payment for worker's compensation”. He continued by saying: 

"The Postal Service will not have the cash available to make both of these payments. We need legislation this year to address that fact." 

It is plain as it could be. It’s gonna be another “bail-out”. Surely, all those hard-working employees of the US Postal Service deserve to be paid their pensions, medical insurance and worker’s compensation benefits. But by asking for more taxpayer’s money to fund their operation, they are actually punishing taxpayers for not buying more stamps or patronizing their services. Now might be the right time to take a look at their business model. At the extreme, perhaps it's time that the federal government consider selling the postal service and leave the task of waging competition in the open market to individuals and companies with the proper orientation - those who measure results based on market performance and relevant market needs. The business of mail delivery has changed over the many years. We are now in an era where communication and financial transactions are done more efficiently via the Internet. It’s time that they scale their operations to meet those hard realities. I suspect that if the USPS were in the hands of GE executives, they would be introducing new delivery solutions such as scanning certain types of correspondences and letters for customers so mail can be viewed on the web.

As for paying zero taxes, you’ll need to have a business to be able to do that. An employee has very little chance of reducing much of their tax liabilities outside a restrictive list of deductions such as car leases, mortgage interest payments etc. On the other hand, the IRS code allows individuals who are in business for themselves to deduct much of their expenses if spent during the normal course of conducting their business. A percentage of a person’s meal can be deducted if engaged in a business meeting over breakfast or lunch. Much of what is spent on a trip, for instance, can also be deducted if done so for the purpose of company business. That also means that most of the newest technologies available can be deducted if used for business - Mac Air, IPad2, IPhone and other tools that enhances productivity. None of which, under current tax laws, a regular employee is able to do.

So, if you want to be like GE and pay no taxes, find a way to get in business, even if only part-time.

READ NYT ARTICLE ABOUT GE
READ MSN ARTICLE ABOUT THE USPS

Spring Cleaning Time

It’s “Spring Cleaning Time” and back to the wonderful life of blogging. I took a long and much needed respite from writing recently. For some reason it seemed like it was what my body was commanding me to do. The recent rains knocked me off my sleep cycle and I haven’t been quite the same since. I intended to continue that cerebral vacation but felt left out by the many things that are happening in the world. Apart from the spectacle we call Charlie Sheen, there are also the cries of freedom from a number of countries in the Middle East. And who will ever forget the images being filed from Japan by reporters from all across the globe.
 
The wonders of modern technology gave me a chance to view clips uploaded by ordinary people from hotspots in Syria, Libya and other unknown locations in the Middle East. I also saw clips from brave amateur videographers testing their fate against the Tsunamis in Japan. None of them had any expert commentaries in the caliber of professional reporters, but the images were nonetheless riveting and compelling with nothing but the background staccato of gunfire or the fury of Tsunami’s waves pounding everything in its path. It was an interesting several days to be simply a witness.

So, the first order of business is to update the blog(s), particularly the RobertsJustice site. All the links need to be rechecked just to make sure that they are still working properly. I rely much upon YouTube clips that were uploaded by other people. Unfortunately, from time to time, they remove it on their own accord, invalidating the links that our sites were directing to. Unless we go back and check the many links on our site, we wouldn’t even learn of it.

There are actually a couple of civil actions that are not included on the site - Lacambra v. OC Sheriff’s Department and Lacambra v. Mackey. Of course, both cases are available publicly at the courts in which they were filed. My excuse is that I have lost access to my scanner. That is a story that I will discuss on another blog entry because I have yet to find out how it is that the person I entrusted it to simply vanished and is unable to return my calls. Considering my limited budget as an indigent litigator, the cost of scanning is simply cost-prohibitive at this time. Furthermore, I have no easy access to any of the files at the moment. I now carry a duffel-bag full of clothing, a roll-away and a computer case, representing the balance of my possessions. So, carrying voluminous case files is simply out of the question. Having said that, we will endeavor to upload both files on to our site as soon as we can.

MISSING: MARIZELA PEREZ

"LAHAT AY MAGIGING MAAYOS"  (Perez' Tattoo)

NAME: Marizela Perez
HEIGHT: 5’5’’
WEIGHT: 110 lbs. skinny build
HAIR: Brown w/ red highlights
EYE: Brown - may be wearing green contact lenses
TATTOO: On her left inner arm 
("Lahat ay Magiging Maayos", a Filipino phrase that translates to "All Will Be Well")
DATE DISAPPEARED: March 5, 2011
LAST SEEN: Safeway in University District, UW Seattle

CLICK FOR MORE INFO

Sympathies to the families effected by the events in the Middle East and Japan

I wish to apologize to our readers for not bringing you this month's installment of Yestradamus and Rich & Nina. There are two chief reasons for this. First, I felt that publishing the pieces were inappropriate considering the events of recent days – the bloody revolutions in the Middle East and the significant loss of lives in Japan caused by the earthquakes and the Tsunamis that followed. Second, the personal loss of a family friend - Nita Arichea (Tita Nits) - had an inhibiting effect on my writing, preventing me from being in a state particular to creating comedic pieces. They say that you'll never know what you have until it is lost. That saying is very much true. And in this case, I was experiencing a profound sense of guilt for not being able to attend her wake and bid her a proper farewell at her funeral.

We at RobertsJustice offer our deepest sympathies to those effected by the events in the Middle East and Japan. We will resume our series' in the very near future.

Sincerely,

Robert Lacambra

Blogger/ Advocate

Meth-head crashes through ceiling of ER

Consider these four decisions made by a meth-head. It will alert you to the dangers of methamphetamine use:

1. He decided he was a qualified chemist.
2. He decided it was safe to escape through the ceiling.
3. He decided it was possible to evade the cops on foot.
4. He decided it was possible to evade his medical bill by giving a false name.

Enter Nicholas D. Fultz (27), a small-time criminal with a two-page rap sheet. He was brought to the Southwest Hospital in Louisville, KY after a bottle of chemicals he was handling in a car exploded causing burns all over his body. In a chain of events that are as perplexing as the man himself, he attempted to escape by climbing through the ceiling of the hospital building. It wasn’t long before a crash was heard by hospital visitors who found Fultz on the floor. There are no additional details about his condition but a fall from one floor up while crawling on all-fours was likely to have caused a painful face plant and bruised knees. He was later charged with “manufacturing meth, trafficking in controlled substances, criminal mischief, resisting arrest and giving an officer a false name or address.”

Well, Mr. Fultz, in the words of Donald Trump, “You're Fried!”

CLICK TO READ THE ARTICLE