James L. Paris's Blog, page 204

Donald Trump Questions John McCain's War Record

Jim comments on the recent incident in Jacksonville, FL involving 50 teens attacking a small group of police officers. Also Donald Trump raises questions about John McCain's status as a war hero, how to start a home based gun dealership, will the Iran deal bring with it low gas prices, Christian bakery forced to close after refusing to provide wedding cake to gay couple raises $350,000 in crowdfunding support, and rapper 50 Cent filing for bankruptcy.

Tax Return Identity Theft

IRS problem solver Dan Pilla joins Jim to discuss the growing problem of tax refund theft and so called tax identity theft. Also discussed - innocent spouse relief, when married individuals should file separate returns, bankruptcy and taxes, foreclosure and taxes, what to do if you have not filed a tax return in recent years, and more. Dan Pilla is a tax ligitation specialist admitted to practice in U.S. Tax Court. He has authored numerous books on tax related issues focusing on resolving IRS problems.

Good News For Profitable Sunrise Investors?

By Staff Writers Of ChristianMoney.com

ChristianMoney.com has learned from U.S. Federal Court filings that the government case against Inter Reef, LTD (AKA Profitable Sunrise), may finally be yielding a financial recovery. James Paris, Editor In Chief of ChristianMoney.com, personally contacted the Securities And Exchange Commission inquiring about why there has been no public update in more then two years. Erin Stattel, Press Officer for the SEC, would only provide a link to the March 2013 press release. 

In deference to the SEC, ChristianMoney.com has waited 79 days from that inquiry, and has still received no update. Now that all the defendants in the case have defaulted, and money is being repatriated to the United States, it seems highly irregular that the SEC would not update the victims. 

Honestly, I have no idea what they are waiting for to update the victims, and it should have happened long before now. The truth is that the longer the government waits to reach out to those that lost money, the harder it will be to accurately assemble a list of victims and process claims. As with many cases like this, the SEC shows a great amount of vigor in the beginning and then puts the whole matter on a slow boat to China. I also think there are a lot of tough questions to be answered here about how the worldwide sale of illegal and unregistered securities could go on for so long (more than a year and a half), without the SEC stepping in sooner. This scam could not have been operating with any higher of a profile. They had hundreds of websites, webinars, YouTube videos, the only thing they didn't do was to land a gyrocopter on the lawn of the SEC's headquarters in D.C. 

Frankly, I could not be more disappointed in how the SEC has handled this case. As it is, victims may only be getting pennies on the dollar - this is truly adding insult to injury. I may be a little old school, but my view is that the government works for us. The smug response I received when I was simply looking for an update is par for the course with today's government officials. Investors should also know that there has not been one single criminal prosecution of any of the individuals involved in this scam. 

James Paris, Editor In Chief

 

The standard procedure would be to appoint a receiver and establish a website for victims to register a claim - none of that has happened.  

What Can You Do?

ChristianMoney.com is suggesting that victims contact their representatives in Congress and the Senate to ask for assistance. By their actions, one can only conclude that the SEC has assigned this case, and its associated victims, a very low priority. A further tragedy here is that it appears that the individual state securities regulators have all deferred to the SEC as well. As a result, we also suggest that victims contact their state securities regulator to share their opinion about how this case is being handled. We may be the only organization still following this case or that has any interest. Nonetheless, we believe that the victims deserve answers. 

We welcome the SEC to provide a response and we will gladly post it to our blog.

Trump Continues To Surge

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

Despite the onslaught of media attacks, Donald Trump remains atop the field of contenders seeking to represent the GOP in its quest to retake the White House in 2016. As a matter of fact, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll published just two days ago, Trump is actually crushing his competition ��� the poll has Trump doing the best, with 24% support, while his next-closest challenger, Scott Walker, has just 13% support.

This race is obviously a long way from being decided, but it���s worth noting that Trump���s very direct way of speaking���something that has often proved problematic for politicians in the past���seems to be working very well for him. Even his recent, roundly-criticized knock on John McCain���s war record does not appear to have harmed Trump in the eyes of a great many Americans who feel disenfranchised from the country presently, and who seem very welcoming of the broad message expressed by the billionaire entrepreneur: Make America great again. Time for other Republican candidates to take note? We���ll see.

 

41 Companies Supporting The Sale Of Baby Body Parts

If there was ever a time for Christians to band together for a boycott, this is it. I am even considering picketing some of these businesses. These people selling baby parts should be prosecuted for crimes against humanity. This is one of the most outrageous things I have seen in my lifetime.

Meet the 41 Companies That Donate to Planned Parenthood - Click Here

In the wake of two videos allegedly showing Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of aborted fetal body parts, Republicans in Congress are working to ensure that Planned Parenthood is stripped of its federal funding. However, it���s not only the government that fills Planned Parenthood���s coffers. According to 2nd Vote, a website and app that tracks the flow of money from consumers to political causes, more than 25 percent of Planned Parenthood���s $1.3-billion annual revenue comes from private donations, which includes corporate contributions.

Helping you make the most of God���s money!  

James L. Paris 
Editor-In-Chief ChristianMoney.com 
Follow Me on Twitter Twitter.com/jameslparis
Christian Financial Advice 
Jim Paris 24 Hour Radio

5 Hacks For Finding Incredibly Cheap Flights

If you want to become a financial rock star, learn how to find cheap flights. After I share how little I pay for plane tickets, many people think I have some kind of special software or an 'in' with the airlines or a travel agency. For example, I just posted a deal on my Facebook page for a roundtrip flight from Chicago to Orlando for $96. You don't have to stay online 24/7 to find these deals, it is much easier than you would ever imagine, and after reading this article you will know my cheap airfare secrets.

Being Flexible Is The Key To Cheap Airfare

The biggest mistake that people make when searching for airfare is getting locked into their travel dates before beginning their search. I understand that sometimes this can not be avoided, but most of the time it is simply a matter of habit (an expensive habit and you will see why). For example, rather than choosing your vacation travel dates first and then searching for the best available deals, do it in reverse. By scheduling your travel to coincide with the best airfare deals, you will save big.

1. Sign up For Alerts

You can set up a 24/7 airfare deal alert at a wide variety of travel sites. Many of the airlines even have e mail alerts you can subscribe to as well. My favorite is Airfare Watchdog. The site allows you to pick an itinerary (for example Orlando to Boston) and you will receive notifications of deals in real time 24/7. Not only will you receive alerts of legitimate sales and deals, you may also cash in big with a 'mistake fare.' On occasion, the airlines will make a mistake and post something like a $270 flight for $27. It happens more frequently than you would expect. A site like Airfare Watchdog will keep you updated 24/7 by e mail when fares dip in price. The key to cashing in on deal alerts is to act quickly - many of these deals last only hours (sometimes just minutes). 

2. Choose Your Destination Based On The Cost Of Airfare

Here we go again, back to the theme of this article - make your travel plans in reverse. One tool that I love for this is Kayak Explore. Simply set your departure city and select a timeframe (which can be a few days or even several months). Within a few seconds you will see a world map with the best deals for roundtrip airfare from your city. The map below shows my city of departure (Orlando), with deals several months into the future. Right away, I can see Chicago for $97, Boston for $200, Cincinnati for $78, and Houston for $167 (all roundtrip fares). Of course, the next step is to click through to see the dates of these deals. 

 3. When Shopping For A Specific Destination, Use A Flight Calendar To Pick The Cheapest Days To Travel

Another tool that I absolutely love is the fare calender at Fly.com. This is appropriate when your destination is not flexible, but your schedule can be. How it works is that input your departure and destination cities and then select an approximate date. The tool will show you two to three months of fares at a time. When I first started using this tool a few weeks back, I was shocked at the price difference on the same airline, same itinerary, just slightly different dates. While you may accidentally discover these deals while doing multiple searches on a price comparison engine, the airfare calendar takes the guesswork completely out of it. 

4. Travel For Cheap Or Free With Rewards Points

The game of getting free airline tickets has never been more rewarding, if you know how to play. I don't claim to be an expert on how all of this works, but ChristianMoney.com just posted an article recommending an online course from two of the best-known airfare rewards experts. The article titled, Travel Hackers Share Secret Of Free Travel, provides and overview of the course and even a coupon for a 65% discount. 

5.  Use Social Media To Find Cheap Airfare

Follow the hashtag #cheapflights on Twitter for a 24/7 wave of deals and great information. Use the phrase Cheap Airfare in a Facebook search for pages to like and breaking news on airfare sales.

Helping you make the most of God���s money!  

James L. Paris 
Editor-In-Chief ChristianMoney.com 
Follow Me on Twitter Twitter.com/jameslparis
Christian Financial Advice 
Jim Paris 24 Hour Radio

Travel Hackers Share Secret Of Free Travel

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

Special Notice: Use Coupon Code DreamBig65 To Save 65% On This Udemy Course

What is the greatest impediment to meaningful, recreational travel? Is there really any doubt that it���s money? Unfortunately, because of the significant financial constraints that typically serve as the constant companion of any worthwhile trip, so many of us���too many of us���simply opt to vacation at home, or take otherwise uninspiring breaks from the work routine.

"I love this course on travel hacking. You always hear the stories of people taking trips around the world for next to nothing using strategies like this, but I have not found a training program that actually teaches others how to do it. If you love to travel, don't miss out on this online training program - it is invaluable." Jim Paris

The good news is that it no longer has to be that way. There has developed a class of person out there who has become very proficient at traveling���even to exotic locations���on the cheap, and a couple of those guys, Jonathan Levi and Travis Sherry, teach a course on one way to do that very thing so that non-experts like you and I can come to take advantage of incredible opportunities to fly for less than you would have ever previously imagined. This course, available at the wonderful Udemy platform, is called Become a Travel Wizard: Learn to Game the System & Fly Free, and, if you are serious about wanting to really travel, it will likely revolutionize your life in that regard.

The theme of the course is learning to fly for free on the basis of the frequent flyer miles that you can accumulate through your use of credit cards; the origin of frequent flyer programs was in the air travel industry itself, where passengers can accumulate these reward miles by way of travel, but, as the marketing appeal of frequent flyer programs has expanded, more miles are now actually being awarded to consumers through their use of credit and debit cards than through actual air travel.

The information is presented in bite-sized nuggets. The course is comprised of 23 lectures, most of which are between four and eight minutes in length; the total time of video instruction runs about two hours. Not only does this style of presentation make the information easier to process, but it also means that you can stop and start your training easily, without doing so at awkward times or places in the presentation. Also, the instructors are very informative upbeat, while maintaining a professional demeanor. As an aside, it should be noted that co-instructor Travis Sherry runs the popular travel website Extra Pack of Peanuts (ExtraPackOfPeanuts.com), and hosts an associated podcast by the same name that���s one of the most popular travel podcasts on iTunes.

The bottom line is that that you���re going to learn a lot here, assuming you are not already an expert on frequent flyer miles-based travel. As with any good course like this, the presentation is long on specific guidance. Let���s face it���a lot of the time, when ���niche��� consumer information is presented, it is often by someone who wants to write an article on a topic but who does not possess much (any?) direct experience with the area; what���s offered up to the consumer is frequently very general, and not very helpful. What anyone interested in this kind of information is truly seeking���is actionable, very-useful stuff that can be immediately applied. The instructors here start with the basics of frequent flyer miles���what they are, etc���.and quickly move on to the utility of airline alliances to people accumulating frequent flyer miles, the ins and outs of accumulating miles from credit cards, and what you need to know when it comes to redeeming miles, which can be a bit of a science in and of itself. There���s also a great bonus lecture in the course devoted to how to save bunches of money on accommodations.

What I particularly like about this course is how detail-oriented it is in the presentation; there are specific trainings on how to avoid airline fuel surcharges when using your miles, how to transfer Chase credit card points to United Airlines, how to land free one-way tickets on United and American using your frequent flyer miles, and how to use route maps when booking more complex itineraries. In the interest of time and space, I���m leaving out a bunch, but you get the picture: This course represents a near-perfect mix of high-quality, actionable information���with no useless, filler ���information.���

Earn literally hundreds of thousands of miles a year without ever leaving your house
Choose the right credit card offers and programs for your unique travel aspirations
Protect your credit score so that you can keep earning miles
Find hidden partner flights the airlines don't want you to find, so you can get the most travel for your miles
Use the right miles for the right trips to avoid surcharges, taxes, and fees
Get bonus free one-way flights (without spending any extra miles) through loopholes in the system
Make the most of your travel time with cheap (or free) hotel options

Oh, and another of the great features of the course I especially like is the forum, which allows course members to communicate with one another publicly regarding subject-related issues and questions. The great thing about Udemy courses in that regard is because those who enroll are clearly serious students of the given topic, the information revealed through the forum setting is itself very helpful.

Become a Travel Wizard is another in the long-line of high-quality instructional presentations available from the Udemy platform, and this one is a true winner for the person who is serious about mastering the whole area of traveling well and for little cost on the back of frequent flyer miles. Click Here To Find Out More And Get A Free Preview Of The Course

Are You Using EASY TO GUESS Passwords Online?

One of the most important steps you can take to protect your privacy is to ensure that the passwords you select for the various sensitive online applications you utilize are as immune as reasonably possible to capture by a hacker. It is stunning that so many people still use names of children, spouses, and parents as the ���core��� of their passwords, and then think they���re being tricky by following the name up with a simple combination of numerals ��� Thomas123, for example. That���s just terrible. The biggest problem with using not just names, but whole words, in general, as passwords, is that they are extremely vulnerable to ���brute force��� attacks from hackers; brute force attacks, also known as ���dictionary��� attacks, involve the use of a special hacking program that recombines dictionary words with all kinds of various combinations until the password is cracked. If you���re using simple words as the centerpiece of your password, you���re particularly vulnerable to being compromised by such an attack.

The Patriot Privacy Kit, about which I���ve written previously, contains a simple, straightforward, but very useful section on how to choose the most secure passwords possible. This ebook is jam-packed with all kinds of information about how to secure your information in both online and offline settings, with its information on password selection and security making up just one small���but valuable���part of the information contained therein. Big picture: If you���re ready to get serious about protecting your privacy and finally putting the odds of Internet security back in your favor, then don���t delay ��� pick up a copy of The Patriot Privacy Kit today.

Home Based Gun Dealerships Growing In Popularity

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

One of the misconceptions about becoming a federally-licensed firearms dealer is that it���s not possible to do so unless you have a storefront from which to run your business. This was a popular rumor some years ago that has managed to persist, and it���s easy to understand why: With the efforts on the part of the current presidential administration to do what it can to limit access to guns, rumors like that have fertile ground in which to live and grow.

It is not true, however; you do not need a storefront to have a gun business, which means you are perfectly fine in applying for a FFL if you intend to run the business from home.

With the average markup on guns running about 30 percent, becoming a home-based firearms dealer means you have a leg up on the local, storefront, retail competition because of your lower overhead. Processing just a few gun transactions in the lower-dollar range ($300 to $500, these days) could see you earn several hundred additional dollars per week, even while undercutting the competition.

If you are interested in picking up your FFL, it���s a good idea to get some solid guidance on completing the application ��� when applications are kicked back by the ATF, it���s typically because they���re incomplete or were otherwise filled out incorrectly. There���s no reason to make that mistake; for just a relative few dollars, you can grab this comprehensive course on establishing your own, home-based gun dealer business that includes, among so much other great stuff, step-by-step instructions on how to complete the government paperwork and other requirements that unnecessarily trip up so many.  Click Here for a course that Jim Paris has purchased and is recommending on how to get started.

The Insanity Of Gun Free Military Zones

by Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large

Gun-free zones of any kind are a bad idea, but the inclusion of military installations and facilities as gun-free zones is a particularly misguided policy, particularly in this day and age. With attacks against U.S. military personnel serving in even non-combat roles regularly encouraged by radical Islamist groups around the world, it is perhaps more important than ever that our service members be allowed to carry firearms with little restriction.

Thankfully, U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais (R-TN-4th) is introducing legislation on July 20 to repeal the ban that has been in place for decades now; called the ���Enhancing Safety at Military Installations Act,��� the bill is particularly focused on the matter of lifting bans on handguns, the regular carry of which by military personnel on behalf of their own safety would make too much sense.

It���s difficult to describe the near-insanity of U.S. military installations as gun-free zones, to begin with; the segment of our society, outside of law enforcement, most naturally suited for the regular, ongoing carry of firearms is our military personnel, is it not? I am not clear of the reasoning behind the establishment of military bases as gun-free zones to begin with (military police and other, specialized units have been exempt from the prohibition), but it is high time to bring the madness to an end, and good to see the legislative effort being made.