• AMID AN UNCERTAIN & VULNERABLE ECONOMIC CLIMATE, FINANCIAL SCAMS – especially against seniors, one in five of whom have cognitive impairments – could hit $3 billion this year. Common schemes involve: (1) Personal identity confirmation requests (bank/birthdate/SS#) from robocallers whose phone numbers look legit; (2) IRS impersonators using fear & intimidation, claiming drastic consequences unless money is remitted immediately; (3) ‘Sweepstake Winner’ calls for remittance of taxes & fees before funds can be sent; (for a pathetic example, with some specific preventative steps, see com/help-keep-your-parents-from-getting-scammed/); (4) Immediate money demands to drop a charge or lawsuit or bank lien from some Government Agency or Law Enforcement Official or Attorney; (5) Impersonator of a victim’s child or grandchild, claiming kidnap or imprisonment or being trapped in a foreign country, begging for help sent through Western Union. “The 3-Step Process perfected by Bernie Madoff is ‘Build Trust, Make Promises, Convince that questioning or hesitating means missing out.” [WEALTH MANAGEMENT – 4/21/20]
  • CORONAVIRUS WORRY, ANXIETY & FEAR OF AN UNCLEAR FUTURE ARE ALSO IMPAIRING SLEEP. More than three in four Americans’ sleep habits have been negatively affected by the crisis, a study of 1,000 people found, although 46% said that “avoiding the news has helped!… Some other behavior tips: (1) Avoid evening aerobic exercise or weight training to keep metabolism & body core temperature cooler; (2) Keep bedroom temperature cooler than warmer; (3) Avoid eating & drinking (especially alcohol) two hours before bedtime; (4) Avoid over-the-counter medications; (5) Quit computer and cellphone use at least ½ hour before shut-eye, and leave them off – since studies show that light emanating from electronic devices send signals which trigger our brains into erratic sleep cycles; (6) Keep bedtime as consistent as possible; (7) Do not ‘try’ to fall asleep, just try to relax.”  [DEVELOPMENTAL EXCELERATIONS – 4/21/20]
  • AS IF OUR UPCOMING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION WASN’T TROUBLED ENOUGH with internal political bickering and B.S., agendas of the foreign Usual Suspects are on full offense, hoping Trump will be gone in 2021, replaced by a more malleable president who can be bullied… Russia is reeling from crashing oil prices. North Korea is embargoed & broke. China is now an international outlaw facing a severe recession, industries returning to the U.S., and risk of collecting its Silk Road debts from now-bankrupt Asian & African countries. Iran, battered by sanctions, domestic unrest, serial government lying and an inept response to the epidemic, is harassing our warships, intending to goad America into getting bogged down in a standoff… The virus may burn out, but an even scarier world continues.” [NATIONAL REVIEW – 4/23/20]
  • “WHILE WE DEBATE LOCKDOWNS, we spend precious time & political capital focused on something limited in damage and duration. In this way, the debate is an argument about a short-term policy that is far less important than our long-term decadence… The corona virus has revealed an American economy built on consumption, reliant for production on regimes either indifferent or actively hostile to our national interest… An anti-globalization agenda has begun to take shape to tax the labor arbitrage so many ‘U.S. firms’ depend on, while subsidizing to move some of their manufacturing capacity back to the U.S… Meanwhile, we can take direct aim at the institutions standing at the nexus of elite credentialism and globalism, financially dependent on donations from overseas oligarchs (apparently hidden from U.S. Dep’t of Education), and penalize donations & endowments that have grown in their midst, and aggressively investigate & prosecute university professors – and their Chinese national graduate students – who conspire to steal our intellectual property.” [AMERICAN MIND – 4/21/20]
  • PAYROLL TAX DEPOSIT DEFERRAL REMINDER: One of the laws to help employers & self-employed conserve cash while retaining their workforce during the coronavirus crisis allows deferral of 6.2% FICA tax deposit during 2020, interest & penalty-free, with payment due half at 12/31/21 and the remainder at 12/31/22.
  • THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK: George Carlin on Saving the Planet: https://biggeekdad.com/2009/10/saving-the-planet/

      Surviving a wife’s diet; kale chips and rice cakes are neither chips nor cake:  https://biggeekdad.com/2020/04/the-wifes-diet/