Month: March 2018

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I used to think gun control was the answer. My research told me otherwise.

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This is a well researched article. Here is a comment explaining the vital necessity for a population to be able to protect itself from a tyrannical government.
Wrong target! Read this: “And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms….The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants” (Thomas Jefferson in a letter to William S. Smith in 1787. Taken from Jefferson, On Democracy 20, S. Padover ed., 1939)
“Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined” (Patrick Henry, 3 J. Elliot, Debates in the Several State Conventions 45, 2d ed. Philadelphia, 1836)
“The strongest reason for people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.” — (Thomas Jefferson)
“Firearms stand next in importance to the Constitution itself. They are the American people’s liberty teeth and keystone under independence … From the hour the Pilgrims landed, to the present day, events, occurrences, and tendencies prove that to insure peace, security and happiness, the rifle and pistol are equally indispensable . . . the very atmosphere of firearms everywhere restrains evil interference – they deserve a place of honor with all that is good” (George Washington)
“Those, who have the command of the arms in a country are masters of the state, and have it in their power to make what revolutions they please. [Thus,] there is no end to observations on the difference between the measures likely to be pursued by a minister backed by a standing army, and those of a court awed by the fear of an armed people.” (Aristotle, as quoted by John Trenchard and Water Moyle, An Argument Shewing, That a Standing Army Is Inconsistent with a Free Government, and Absolutely Destructive to the Constitution of the English Monarchy [London, 1697])
“You are bound to meet misfortune if you are unarmed because, among other reasons, people despise you….There is simply no comparison between a man who is armed and one who is not. It is unreasonable to expect that an armed man should obey one who is unarmed, or that an unarmed man should remain safe and secure when his servants are armed. In the latter case, there will be suspicion on the one hand and contempt on the other, making cooperation impossible.” (Niccolo Machiavelli in “The Prince”)
For, in principle, there is no difference between a law prohibiting the wearing of concealed arms, and a law forbidding the wearing such as are exposed; and if the former be unconstitutional, the latter must be so likewise. But it should not be forgotten, that it is not only a part of the right that is secured by the constitution; it is the right entire and complete, as it existed at the adoption of the constitution; and if any portion of that right be impaired, immaterial how small the part may be, and immaterial the order of time at which it be done, it is equally forbidden by the constitution.” [Bliss vs. Commonwealth, 12 Ky. (2 Litt.) 90, at 92, and 93, 13 Am. Dec. 251 (1822)]
Tom’s comment:
Good people with guns are required to stop people with guns doing bad things.
The government want a monopoly on force.
America’s Founding Fathers knew first hand that there can be a tyrannical government, which is why they envisaged an armed population able to stop ALL people with guns, even the government, doing bad things.
You cannot stop a tyrannical government, armed with sophisticated weapons, if all you have is a pea shooter. Not datums of comparable magnitude.
Tyrannical goivernments want a disarmed populace.
Look at your history. Over 100 million people killed last century BY GOVERNMENTS! Most of them first disarmed their population. Even Russian President Putin decried the call for Americans to disarm their population.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/i-used-to-think-gun-control-was-the-answer-my-research-told-me-otherwise/2017/10/03/d33edca6-a851-11e7-92d1-58c702d2d975_story.html

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Are you ready to sell your business?

This is a potentially useful article from my accountant, Tony Cammarata at Prudential Partners.
Would you pay top dollar for a car that doesn’t have registration papers, a service history, keys, an ignition that works or a motor that runs smoothly? We doubt it.
On the flip side, you’d likely pay extra for a car if the owner went to the trouble of cleaning it out and polishing its paintwork on the day of sale.
It’s no different for businesses. Why would anyone pay top dollar for a business that has not been serviced or tidied up before being put on the market?
Before putting your business on the market, you need to put your thinking cap on. If you were a potential purchaser, what would you criticise about your business?
Now you need to do as much as you can to resolve those issues. If you don’t resolve them, don’t be surprised if they come up in negotiations as the basis for a purchaser offering a lower price.
Here’s where we can help! We have a ‘shopping list’ of common mistakes that business owners make when selling a business. This article shares our insights with you so that you don’t fall into the usual traps.
1. Corporate records are incomplete
Having poorly maintained or incomplete corporate/entity records is a classic way to put off purchasers (or their advisors).
We’re talking about things like member’s registers, director/member resolutions and share transfers. Sometimes they are missing, maybe they were never signed. This can make purchasers uneasy, and it demonstrates bad business ‘housekeeping’. It leaves purchasers wondering what else hasn’t been properly documented.
If you operate your business through a trust structure, then pay attention. Incomplete records are a common problem for businesses that involve trusts (especially unit trusts). A trust may hold some of the business assets or be the main operating entity. There is no central register for trusts like the ASIC register for companies, so trusts are only as good as their internal records. If the records are out of date or incomplete, the details of the current trustee or the recorded unit holdings may be altogether wrong.
We suggest that you undertake an audit of the corporate/ entity records for your business early. Certainly before putting your business up for sale. This will give you time to locate and collate documents that already exist and to reconstruct missing documents as appropriate.
2. Missing (or badly drafted) employment contracts
For most businesses, their team represents a great deal of the value. Often a purchaser wouldn’t consider taking on a business without the staff that know how to run it. Yet we see so many vendors –probably more than half – try to sell a business without having any employment contracts in place.
Even when there are contracts, they are often outdated, inadequate or just plain unlawful. There is no faster way to scare off a purchaser than having them think they are inheriting claims for unpaid employment entitlements or underpayment.
We recommend having your employment contracts (or at least those for your key staff) reviewed before putting the business up for sale. Any issues can be fixed up before potential purchasers are on the scene. Post-employment restraint and non-compete provisions could be included where appropriate to give the purchaser more comfort – and get you more money.
3. The lease expired (or worse, no lease)
If you value the location of your business, it is likely purchasers will, too. If your lease isn’t in good shape with plenty of time left on the clock, you likely won’t get top-dollar for your business.
The first thing to do is to make sure you actually have a lease in place. If you have a good relationship with your landlord or have been in the same premises for a long time, you may find that your last lease expired years ago. It’s a common oversight. Generally, the time to negotiate a new lease is before the landlord catches wind that you are thinking about selling, as they may not offer such favourable terms to someone else (i.e. your purchaser).
If you don’t have a lease, now is the time to insist on one. You might have been willing to rely on a handshake, but your purchaser won’t be. Ideally, the lease should be for a relatively short initial term (i.e. 2-3 years), with a few rights to renew for a similar period. This will give your purchaser the most flexibility. And more flexibility for your purchaser means more money for you!
4. Intellectual property ownership
You can’t expect a purchaser to pay big bucks for your business/product name or logo if you don’t own the registered rights to it. You need to make sure all your intellectual property ducks are in a row. This is where registered trademarks come in.
Registering your name or logo as a trademark with IP Australia ensures that you have undisputed ownership rights to that branding. The certainty of ownership equals value to a potential purchaser. And really all you are doing is making the most of what you have already got – you’ve already put the hard work in by developing and promoting the branding.
We’ve seen some awkward situations where the purchaser uncovers that the seller hasn’t actually owned the intellectual property rights it was trying to sell! Either the IP is owned by the individual personally or by a related entity that was not intended to form part of the sale. This can cause all sorts of headaches – and it is worse the closer to the settlement that the ownership issue is identified. We recommend that the entity structure (including relevant asset ownership) be mapped from the outset, preferably via an easy-to-read diagram. Bonus: you can provide the diagram to your purchaser and their advisors during the due diligence period as an easy way to explain your structure.
Think of this process as a ‘tune-up’ for your business. Yes, it will take some planning and effort, but it will pay off by attracting more purchasers that can see immediate value. And that feeds directly into your ultimate goals: Getting the highest purchase price possible and taking a well-earned break!

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Scientists have discovered a way to destroy cancer tumors using nothing but sound waves

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A recent breakthrough in high-intensity focused ultrasound therapy (HIFU) technology has proven its use as an effective cancer treatment. A multi-institutional research team from China developed the new design. Researchers said the level of intensity generated by the new design may lead to significant improvements in HIFU therapy. The findings were published in the Journal of Applied Physics.
HIFU is a non-invasive, targeted treatment that makes use of sound waves to eradicate cancer cells. HIFU converts electrical signals into sound waves, then concentrates ultrasound into a small focal region to raise the temperature to more than 65 decrees Celsius, thereby killing cancer cells in the process without inducing damage to surrounding tissues. The technique works in the same manner as focusing sunlight through a lens, which helps eliminate the disease-causing cells.
HIFU can be used as an alternative to traditional cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and surgery.
https://www.naturalnews.com/2017-03-29-scientists-have-discovered-a-way-to-destroy-cancer-tumors-using-nothing-but-sound-waves.html

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Scientific Bullshit — How ‘Science’ Is Used To Deceive The Public

Scientific_Garbage
Did you know that there was a shocking study published in the Public Library of Science Journal, that found“up to 72%” of scientists admitted their colleagues were engaged in “questionable research practices,” and that just over 14% of them were engaged in outright “falsification”?
If that’s not bad enough, between 1977 and 1990 the FDA found scientific flaws in 10–20% of all the studies they audited.
But it gets even worse; scientists at the Thousand Oaks biotech firm Amgen, set out to double-check the results of 53 landmark published studies in their fields of cancer research and blood biology. What they found was shocking; only 6 of the 53 studies could be proven valid. That means almost 90% were flawed, yet passed off to the public as fact.
In other words, there’s a lot of scientific bullshit floating around my friends. An important point to bear in mind when you are looking for truth.
https://anewkindofhuman.com/science-is-used-to-deceive-the-public/

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85 Per Cent of American Not Getting Enough Veggies

Factory_Food_Disaster
Industrial agriculture, factory farms and GMOs have devastated the environment, public health and rural economic development
The U.S. now spends more money on health care than any other nation, in large part due to damage to the environment and public health
Approximately 85 percent of Americans do not consume the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recommended intakes of the most important vitamins and minerals necessary for proper physical and mental development
We need to boycott GMOs and factory-farm food, and make organic, regenerative and grass fed food the norm by 2025
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2018/03/14/boycott-gmos-factory-farm-food.aspx