Oh, How the 'Net is Changing Things!

If you’ve ever been part of a charitable group or start-up company, you’ll know one of the first items of business is a name, a mission statement, and a logo design. They can all burn up hours-upon-hours of time, which some may even call a waste. Yet, they’re important to differentiate, communicate, and position in the marketplace.

While I can’t help you today with name or mission, I can suggest a very useful website to help you with the logo: http://logotournament.com/

As the name suggests, it is a tournament in which you submit a little bit of information and freelancers will submit entries. Contests start out for as little as $250 for the winning design. And once you pay for the logo, it’s complete and totally yours to use. They even allow the prize money can be paid through credit card, bank account, or PayPal for ease of use.

What if you don’t get any submissions? If you don’t receive at least 30 submissions, they’ll refund your money, the site purports.

All I can think now is: why didn't I think of this?!

Wisdom of the 1800's

According to Wiki, this quote is attributed to Alexis-Charles-Henri Clérel de Tocqueville (July 29, 1805 – April 16, 1859), who was a French political thinker and historian:

"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public's money."

Very interesting.

Mexico is Angry!

Mexican politicians are angry that Mexicans are coming back over the border into Mexico. They blame new laws in Arizona, which penalize employers of illegals, which is forcing Mexican citizens back to their own country. One representative is quoted as saying that they don't know what they're going to do with this influx of people.

I'm sorry, but this is just plain funny. Mexico sees no problem with the U.S. supporting illegals, but they complain when their own people come back to Mexico!

Read more here: http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/family/74193

Household Dangers

This post is off-topic from the usual here, but there's quite a horrific story out of nearby Evansville, which you can read here:
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/feb/25/teenagerburnedtryingto-kill-lice/

Picking up the phone to report a gas leak in your house isn’t smart either. A small spark is created in many phones, which can ignite the gas in your home.

People who put bleach in their toilet to soak is probably a bad idea, too, given ammonia in urine causes a poisonous gas to be formed. You may want to watch mixing cleaners in general due to this and other chemical reactions possible. For example, Windex has ammonia in it.

One Dollar is Enough

She’s not the first to try something like this recently, but it’s a very interesting project nonetheless: http://lessisenough.wordpress.com/

If a person did this longer than 30 days, they’d probably come up with some pretty good recipes.

Cloning Man's Best Friend

It’s no secret that ethics and law have been playing catch-up with science, but now South Korean scientists are putting business in the mix by cloning man’s best friend for a fee.

I really don’t see the direction of this being pretty.

Read more here: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4724

Smithville Digital Will Connect WestGate

Smithville Digital has signed contracts to provide companies scheduled to locate in the WestGate @ Crane Technology Park with high-speed fiber optic broadband. Companies include EG&G, RAYDAR, Crane Federal Credit Union, TSC, SAIC, NAVMAR, and Novonics, according to the press release.

The full press release can be found here: http://www.smithvilledigital.net/press/02252009.html

The Greater Fool + We Want That Back

Amex is bribing bad customers to ‘just go away’ by giving them $300 if they pay off their cards by a certain deadline. Obviously, they’re just using money from another lender to pay these balances off, so I wonder who the greater fool will be? (Perhaps Citi?!)

(Maybe it's actually a good business model for other businesses too? Who knows!)

Read more here in the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/23/AR2009022302673.html?wprss=rss_business

Oh, and also in that article, what do you think about MSFT wanting part of those payouts back?

Good luck with that.

Thought of the Day

Here's a thought for the day:

'You can tell how big a person is by what it takes to discourage him.' - Unknown

What Are We Going To Do With That?!

As a follow-up to a post from the other day, as seen here http://magiccoalcity.blogspot.com/2009/02/boral-brick-too-big.html , here's more support that Boral bricks built way too big of a facility:

WIN Energy certainly rolled out the red carpet for them, while the story denotes use of methane gas from a nearby landfill & shale from a local coal mine:
http://www.hoosiersites.biz/Boral_Brick_Case-Study.aspx

As did the Vigo County Council with a 10-year abatement:
www.vigocounty.org/egov/docs/1155233409_288146.doc

With incentives and breaks like this, surely they’ll keep the place open, yet I did find this article about another brick maker, which is not so optimistic about the plant there:
http://www.seguingazette.com/story.lasso?ewcd=63d77032c4c8f49c

If they do completely shut-down Boral in Vigo forever, what does the community do with a facility as humongous & single-purpose as that?

Very, Very Little Local Auction Action

The local auction scene has been barren for months and months. I’ve finally come to the conclusion that about the only time something comes up for sale, it’s due to someone’s death. So, maybe the auctioneers should start advertising on the obits page of the newspaper.

Check it out for yourself to see how little there is going on right now:

Jeff Boston Auctions:
http://www.bostoncentury.com/bostonauction/index.shtml

J. Yagle Auctions:
http://www.jyagleauctions.com/

Jimmie Dean Coffey Group:
http://www.coffeyauctions.com/

Johnny Swalls Auction:
http://www.jswalls.com/

Monty McKim Auctions:
http://www.auctionzip.com/IN-Auctioneers/1693.html

Wells Auction Company:
http://www.wellsauctioncompany.com/auctions

Auction by RJ:
http://www.auctionbyrj.com/new_style/?page_id=5

Schrader Auctions:
http://www.schraderauction.com/

How To Fund Our Police Force After Budget Cuts

While new tax legislation here in Indiana will affect us all at the local government level, I have found a way to retain our local police force. Here’s my idea, which will surely fund at least one full-time position with benefits:

Place one – only one – red light detention device, which will automatically ticket violators at the traffic light by Wendy’s in Linton (4th St NE, & SR54). I’m confident that this one device will fund at least one officer to stay on the force, while completely funded with this ‘user tax’ of sorts a/k/a the violator’s tax.

Legislation is being passed currently to finally allow local towns & cities to do this: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-in-xgr-redlightcamer,0,3547233.story

I’m thinking there’s a good chance that outside funds would be brought in from out-of-towner violators too. Or, is it just the locals who blow throw this light?

For some entertainment, or if you don’t believe me, sit inside Wendy's atrium next time you're there, and afterward tell me this is not the single-most ran traffic light in town.

Duck & Cover, Kids!

This little video shown in schools circa 1950 kind of makes you wonder what stupid things we hold as true today, but will be painfully obvious 50 years from now? For example, similar to how we all know cigarettes are bad for your health now, but reportedly didn't know then, will we find current use of cell phones cause brain cancer later?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixy5FBLnh7o

158 Jobs To Be Available in Greene County

Passing this tidbit of info on to everyone, which I received recently:

"The 2010 Census is gearing up and there are 158 positions available in Greene County for census workers. There are several levels of employment, both full and part-time. Positions pay between $10-14 an hour. Contact Misty McIntosh, Recruiting Assistant, she will be at the Eastern Greene Library on Friday afternoons through the end of March. Check out www.2010censusjobs.gov to find out about the positions."

My $1,000 Challenge

I was thinking lately:

If a person read a book a week for the next year, it would be a total investment of roughly $1,000 -- say, $20 (or less) per book x’s 50 weeks (even taking a two week vacation during the year). And if that same person could derive one – only one -- good idea from each book, how could this NOT be the single-biggest return on a $1,000 investment? One idea alone could be life-changing, let alone 50!

Now, let’s make it even better, shall we? To add networking opportunities to the otherwise introverted activity of reading, why not pass on the best-of-the-best books that you find to other people, who you think could most benefit from reading them?

(Too aggressive? OK, one book a month, $240 investment, 12 great ideas!)

It’s something to consider. I can’t see how you could not have a phenomenal return on this…

Kimball Cuts Salaries, Slashes Dividend

Yesterday afternoon, Kimball International (KBALB) of Jasper, Indiana announced an across-the-board salary cut. Part of the announcement was as follows:

“Approved by the Committee was a reduction in compensation for Kimball CEO Jim Thyen, who will receive a 10% cut in annual base pay. The Company will also reduce base pay compensation for all Officers by 5%, as well as a 3% reduction for all other salaried personnel. It is estimated the pay reductions will total approximately $3 million in annual savings. The reductions will go into effect with pay periods beginning February 23, 2009 for Mr. Thyen and the Officers, and with pay periods beginning March 23, 2009 for all other personnel.”

In a separate press release, it announced the slashing of its dividend -- horrendously slashing. Here's an excerpt:

"This dividend represents a reduction of 11 cents per share, or approximately 70%, from the quarterly dividend rate paid in 2009’s first quarter. "

As Easy As 1, 2, 3...

OK, the obvious in this is going to hurt a little, but stay with me…

One, it’s no secret that foreclosure rates are increasing and real estate values are decreasing.

Two, we all know that property tax caps are fully-integrated in 2010.

Three, property taxes are determined by multiplying ‘tax value’ by ‘tax rate’.

With that said, my first question is: see where I’m going with this? If you multiply less by less, you get even less.

Next, the BIG question is: what, if anything, are Greene County officials doing now about this tax revenue cut of tsunami proportions?

Finally, the BIGGEST questions: what (or who) is going to be cut from the budget? Or, what alternative tax will be levied?

Stay tuned.

Bring Back the Mug Shots!

The Greene County Prosecutor’s Office has made its website more functional lately, and they’ve posted some lists. One is the Criminal Warrant list, which can be found here: http://www.co.greene.in.us/prosecutor/one1_files/page0031.htm The other is a dead-beat dad (and mom) list found here: http://www.co.greene.in.us/prosecutor/one1_files/page0030.htm It would be nice to see photos of the people, too, as they have had on the website in the past. Most of us do not know these people personally, but could possibly spot them at Wally World, the gas station, or otherwise around town.

Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor…

This op-ed piece really makes a person think:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/opinion/11friedman.html?em

Where Will The Billions Go?

Just how is the government planning to spend the billions in stimulus recently passed?

Well, there’s a nice little run-down of things in this New York Times article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/your-money/13money.html?8mon&emc=yma1

Another good resource for more in-depth discussion of the stimulus:
http://taxpolicycenter.org/taxtopics/conference_stimulus.cfm

Linton-Stockton Schools Performance Figures

Some interesting school performance figures out for Linton-Stockton Schools:

http://dew4.doe.state.in.us/SCHLSTATS/APRPT/2008/f2950.pdf

THE ONLY Long-Term Solution

Mandatory financial education in the schools is the ONLY way out of this credit meltdown long-term. Sure, stimulus this and stimulus that may get us out of the doldrums for a while, but until people know what they’re doing, financially-speaking, we as Americans will be set on yet another collision course – perhaps even worse next time!

After all, Lord helps us all if we actually teach something so practical in school! With all due respect to those other courses, what is more practical than personal finance for a student? Writing checks, using a credit card, and taking out a home or car loan will probably be in 100% of all of the students' lives at some point in their life.

One teacher is teaching a course in personal finance and the article can be found here:
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090214/NEWS02/902140456/

I was glad to see this article. And yes, it’ll be a slow process, but financial education is the only long-term solution. So, we better get started now!

Prior Reservations Only

Well, I was going to do a little restaurant review last night, but I couldn’t do it. Without prior reservations, the Old Bank was turning people away.

Since they’ll be open with limited hours each week now – on Friday & Saturday evenings – it’ll be interesting to see if they continue this reservation-only policy. It’ll also be interesting to see if Lintonians catch on, too, or if they just go somewhere else instead.

As you’ll recall, when the restaurant first opened after the real bank, Peoples Trust Company, vacated the building, a dress code was enforced. Later, this was changed to ‘where business suits and blue jeans meet’ printed on the menus and in their advertising.

If this wasn’t a one time deal on the reservations, it should be an interesting experiment.

$400 Million Burning Hole in Citi's Pocket

OK, I've been on a little bit of a Citi kick lately ( http://magiccoalcity.blogspot.com/2009/01/citi-responds-to-my-disgust.html ), but with good reason... They canceled the $50 million corporate playtime jet, now this...

----------

Let’s see here, our stock has tumbled to about 10% of what it was just a year ago, and now we have all of this government money given to us… let’s go put our name on the new Met’s stadium.

Great idea! *heavy sarcasm*

Stupendous idea! *heavier sarcasm*

Here’s a reply from Citi concerning their $400 million expenditure to slap their name on the new Met’s stadium in Queens (they're beginning to hate me):

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Thanks for your email regarding Citi’s advertising and marketing. We appreciate hearing from you again.

Citi's business partnership with the Mets was forged well before the current global financial crisis. We remain committed to this legally binding agreement that is an important marketing priority for the company.

As we work to continue to strengthen our business, Citi Field provides a positive way for Citi to support our community and to connect with present and future customers. Our partnership with the New York Mets establishes a powerful platform to promote our brand, enhance our relationship with current clients, and attract new customers. The partnership expands our considerable community, educational and civic efforts in the region, which is one of the largest business and sports markets in the world.

The partnership has accelerated Citi's significant commitment to the community and education with new resources to develop and launch outreach platforms and programs in and beyond New York City , including extensive support of educational programs such as the Jackie Robinson Foundation and Jackie Robinson Museum .

The scope of the sponsorship will also provide extensive brand visibility throughout a new state-of-the-art ballpark, as well as integration into television-, print-, radio- and on-line media advertising.

No TARP capital will be used for Citi Field or for marketing purposes. For a complete report of Citi’s deployment of TARP funds, please visit http://www.citigroup.com/citi/press/2009/090203a.htm.

We appreciate your feedback and thank you for your continued support.

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If they wanted to support baseball (or softball), receive great marketing, and become ‘good corporate citizens’ again, why didn’t they make available up to, say, 40 grants of $10,000 per youth baseball / softball league in each of the 50 states throughout the United States for the next 20 years in lieu of this deal? Citi could have made a great contest out of it, such as having the teams submit photos with the Citi logo somewhere in it. The press would have been all over that.

That, my friends, would have done a whole lot more good for Citi, small-town America, local merchants, & most importantly America’s youth…

It’s Tax Time, Where Is Your Money?

I see numerous people trying to make ends meet during the year, and then they get a huge $3,000 or $4,000 refund check. Of course, to add insult to injury, this money is burning such a hole in their pocket that they need to get a tax anticipation loan on top of it, paying loan sharking interest rates to get their fingers on the cash two weeks earlier.

WHY?

If you’re getting a decent-sized refund this year, WHY?

Why are you giving Uncle Sam an interest-free loan through the year, while you struggle to pay your own bills?

WHY?!

Consider changing you W-4 form at work. Here’s a link to a post from 2007 I wrote to tell you more about how to do it:
http://magiccoalcity.blogspot.com/2007/09/are-you-making-0-interest-loans-to.html

Ellsworth To Be in Bloomfield

For whatever it's worth to you...

"Congressman Brad Ellsworth is bringing his 3rd Annual Open Door Listening Tour to your community."

When: Monday, February 16 @ 11:00 AM ET

Where: Bloomfield Fire Station @ 75 W Mill Street, Bloomfield, IN

What: Meet Congressman Ellsworth, voice your opinions, and ask questions. Staff will also be available to assist you with federal agencies.

An Early Rebate, Not FREE Money

By now, perhaps some of you have figured it out. Yes, the tax rebate checks that you received – if you qualified – earlier in 2008 were not free money, as you may have falsely assumed.

They were just early tax refunds. These refunds were for as much as $600 for an individual or $1,200 for married couples filing jointly (plus $300 for each eligible child under age 17). But now your refund is less this rebated amount, or perhaps you even owe now because you received these early monies.

Others may be reading this and asking, “What rebate check?” Well, many didn’t qualify and didn’t receive them. If you did not pay in any taxes, you did not get one. Conversely, if your income in 2007 exceeded certain limits, you may have not gotten one – or a reduced amount from that stated above.

But for all those that did get one, it wasn’t free money after all. Surprise!

Boral Brick: Too BIG?

Tuesday afternoon of this week, the TribStar broke a story about a temporary shut-down at Boral Brick on the south side of Vigo County (huge new facility across from the school on US41).

As you may recall, less than a year ago, Boral opened its largest brick facility ever – and reportedly the biggest of any manufacturer in the nation – and now is ‘temporarily’ shutting down for an indefinite period of time to reduce inventory. The most alarming piece of this story is that they never got to a point where they ran a second shift and ran at half-speed, according to one man at the company:

“We never got to go to two shifts,” Camp said. “We have run half-speed because of what we have seen in the economy. I could not put the other personnel on. We filled the yard running half-speed and never stretched our legs to run at 120 million bricks a year,” Camp said.

Despite the weak economy, these facts beg the question if the facility was built too big in the first place. If you can build a smaller facility and run two or three shifts with the same equipment, especially when kilns have to be fired 24/7 to maintain the temperatures needed, it’s a much more efficient use of capital. Reportedly, the kilns are ran on methane from a nearby Republic landfill; however, nothing could be found if this is indeed *free* or if the company does pay some fee to Republic for the gas (the more likely scenario).

Read the full story here: http://www.tribstar.com/news/local_story_041153131.html

The New Madoff Search Engine

This is one classified under funny, but very sad too:

http://www.madoffsearch.com/

Yes, the ‘Bernard Madoff Search Engine’ promises to supply ‘information on all investors at individual and institutional levels’. Hopefully, your name isn’t on the list!

I cannot believe this man is not in prison yet.

Mixed Emotions: ITT & WestGate

An announcement the other day about ITT Corporation opening in WestGate is met with mixed emotions. Greene County certainly needs the 220 jobs, which will be supposedly created; however, after doing just a little research on the Internet, ITT has a blemished past to say the least.

For example, they sold military secrets, resulting in the largest penalty ever assessed by the Department of Justice (DOJ). Strangely, the DOJ allowed them to use half of the fined amount to develop new technology and subsequently provide the rights to the government in lieu. Read more on the whole situation here:

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/March/07_nsd_192.html

Skipping to environmental issues, ITT apparently has a checkered past in that realm too. In their last annual report filed with the SEC, they disclosed the following (all amounts are in millions, unless otherwise stated):

“As of December 31, 2007, the Company is responsible, or is alleged to be responsible, for approximately 90 ongoing environmental investigation and remediation sites in various countries… The low range estimate for its environmental liabilities is $94.6 and the high range estimate for those liabilities is $213.2."

I realize ITT is a large corporation, and admittedly I need to do some further research to see how other large companies compare; however, these figures seem huge even for a larger company.

Deja Vu?

In the midst of the Greene County Courthouse lawsuit saga, an eerily familar case found its way to the Indiana Appeals Court, and its decision was handed down on February 6th.

See the court's decision here:
http://www.in.gov/judiciary/opinions/pdf/02060901jgb.pdf

After reading, I'll let you make your own judgment(s) about Greene County's suit.

Global Financial Crisis Doesn’t Apply in Jasper

The question, ‘What global financial crisis?’ is what you’ll hear in the halls of one bank located in Jasper, Indiana.

The other day, German-American Bancorp (ticker: GABC) reported RECORD financial performance for 2008: http://biz.yahoo.com/pz/090127/158405.html

Maybe Citigroup can take some lessons…

UNEMPLOYMENT 101

We’ve all seen the nightly news, and we’ve also heard the current ‘unemployment figure’ in the nation. But do we really know what’s behind that figure?

With a little research, we find that the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the group in charge of publishing this figure, actually publishes SIX different figures, not just one. The most oft-quoted number is referred to as the ‘U-3’. This is the figure we hear on the nightly news, as it’s dubbed the ‘official unemployment rate’. The U-3 number is the total unemployed, as a percentage of the civilian labor force. But we need to be careful about what we assume is ‘unemployed’. Does this include someone who:

1. is neither working nor looking for work, but indicate that they want and are available for a job and have looked for work sometime in the recent past (example: just 'retired,' but still want to 'do something');

2. has given a job-market related reason for not currently looking for a job (example: laid off from factory, but expecting to be called back in three months); or,

3. is employed part-time for economic reasons are those who want and are available for full-time work but have had to settle for a part-time schedule (example: person who needs to make the rent this month)?

No, no, and no.

To include those, we need to look at the U-6 number. And when we pull these figures historically, we see something else:

In January 1999, the seasonally-adjusted 'U-3' (official unemployment) was 4.3%
Ten years later in January 2009, the seasonally-adjusted 'U-3' was 7.6%

In January 1999, the seasonally-adjusted 'U-6' was 7.7%
Ten years later in January 2009, the seasonally-adjusted 'U-6' was 13.9%

This tells me that not only is unemployment rising by all definitions, many who do not fit the official definition of ‘unemployed’ in the U-3 are on the rise at even a greater upward trend. Moreover, if someone took a part-time job to try to make ends meets, then they are still actually unemployed even though they may not ‘fit’ the U-3 definition that is quoted in the news.

The short of it is this: things are worse than is being reported. Unemployment is not 7.6%, it’s really 13.9%. Reportedly, over time, the ‘unemployment figure’ has evolved to the current U-3 vs. the U-6. So, comparing rates from years back to today is supposedly not accurate. I’ve seen some figures of 25% unemployment thrown around for the Great Depression, so by comparison to the U-6 figure of today of over 13%, we’re more than half-way there!

Dugger Does It Again!

Area communities could learn a thing or two from the small town of Dugger. The town has made huge strides in getting grant monies to build some great projects, such as their community center. Here are two others, but I know they're at least a couple more:

http://www.in.gov/ifa/files/101906DuggerPRGI.pdf

http://lugar.senate.gov/press/record.cfm?id=305703

According to an Indiana Finance Authority news release yesterday, Dugger is on the forefront with 11 other communities within the State of Indiana, as it is slated to receive a 0% interest loan for a $320,000 waste water treatment plant in Dugger, if the federal stimulus package is approved. True, not as good as a grant, but 0% is hard to beat!

Lucas Oil Stadium: Show Me The Money!

Reportedly, Lucas Oil Stadium has an almost $45 million operational shortfall. Now the question: who’s going to pay?

Interestingly enough, the original proposal would have financed the operational costs into the stadium’s long-term financing. That idea is about as crazy as an individual figuring what s/he will overspend over the next 30 years and getting a 120-year mortgage to make up the difference.

Some smarter politicians are saying that they’ll vote against any broad-based tax because the general public has paid enough for the facility. They are endorsing a user fee or 'ticket tax' of sorts, while also stating they need to have another look at whether other stakeholders, such as the Colts, are paying their fair share too.

I’m reminded of a story I read sometime back in the Indy Star, entitled "Financial terms of team's pact with Indy are among the most lucrative in NFL". Although the title pretty much sums it up, here’s the link: http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080824/NEWS05/808240397

WARNING: Your Blood Pressure May Raise After Reading

There’s a good number of Americans who think the government bailouts are a waste of taxpayer money, a reverse Darwinism of sorts. A website purporting to give more transparency to this whole saga can be found here: http://bailoutsleuth.com/

You may want to read this after you take your blood pressure meds though…

Former 'Happy Greek' Property SOLD!

A recent property transfer in the GCDW of property in Yeoman's First Addition to the City of Linton caught my eye the other day, one from Regions to APPLES ANGEL, LLC. This appears to be the former Happy Greek property, a nicely-located parcel on the highway through Linton.

Apples Angel, LLC was recently registered with the Indiana Secretary of State as a domestic, Limited Liability Company on 12/17/08. The registered agent for the company is Donna Apple with a mailing address of Sandborn, Indiana, according to their Articles of Organization.

As you may recall, Apple opened & now co-owns The Watering Can Flower Shop in Linton with Gina White, according to past stories in the GCDW.

Stoll's Country Inn - FOR SALE?

You never know what you’ll find on the ‘net. Today was no exception. To my surprise, I found that there’s a sales sheet for Stoll’s Country Inn in Linton.

With a price tag over a million dollars, I’m not sure how serious of an offer this is. At first blush, the price appears steep for the Linton market; however, I have no idea what type of revenues they do, so it could be a steal too.

Here’s the listing: http://www.commercialiq.com/listing/1876411

Handy-Dandy Tax Guide

State Farm puts out these nifty little tax references each year. After the first of the year, I kept checking their website and 2009’s finally appeared. Here it is:

http://www.statefarm.com/_pdf/2009guide.pdf

Of course, you can find previous years simply by changing the year in the web address. Duplex print the reference, and you have a nice little one-pager, front-and-back reference.