James L. Paris's Blog, page 207
July 7, 2015
Amazon To Have Summer 'Black Friday' Sale On July 15
Well, call it Christmas in July or whatever you like, but it sounds like some great deals are coming in just one week. As a promotion for their popular Amazon Prime Membership, the online retailer says it will be having a sale with bigger deals than a Black Friday. There is one catch - you have to be an Amazon Prime Member. I have been a member of the program for several years and I have saved an untold fortune with the free two day shipping. There are some other very nice side benefits, including access to thousands of free movies, the E-Book lending library, online unlimited picture storage, and more.
The deals will start at midnight Pacific Time and include products across the board, but the word is that video games and electronics will play a big part in the event. Maybe the time to grab a Prime Membership? If you are in need of any big ticket items, one purchase during this sale could potentially pay for it.
ChristianMoney.com will, of course, be following the deals closely and tweeting and posting them to our Facebook page.
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
How To Legally Become A Home Based Gun Dealer
His name is Jason Hanson, and he is a former CIA agent. He has also put together an online training program on how to obtain a Federal Firearms License (FFL). One aspect of this that really caught my attention was that this is a business that can be operated from a home. I also loved the idea of being able to buy firearms and ammunition wholesale for myself.
Another segment of the training that was also very interesting is what Hanson calls 'multiple streams of gun income.' This is where he outlines several different profit opportunities associated with having an FFL. One of the income streams was especially fascinating. As he explains it, when someone purchases a firearm online or through an out of state dealer by way of a mail order transaction, it must be sent to an FFL for pick up. He suggests that a fee of $25 to $50 is standard for simply receiving the firearm and doing the paperwork for the buyer to take possession. He points out that doing just a few of these a week would make it a nice part time income.
There is a lot to know , which is why I am glad that a course like this is available (for example, you must keep copies of all of your documentation for quite a few years). Additionally, if you are operating out of your home, you have to allow inspections by government agencies that want to check up on your business operations.
Overall, this is a very interesting program. With everything going on in the world right now, firearm ownership is skyrocketing, and this looks like a potentially very profitable niche. I bought the course myself and am going through it right now.
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
July 6, 2015
More Evidence of the ���Earthly Kingdom��� of Hillary Clinton
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr., Editor-at-Large
Who in his���or her���right mind thought this was a good idea?
In a stunning display of bad judgment in the realm of public relations and perception, the Clinton campaign orchestrated a ���moving rope line��� designed to keep reporters at a distance as she walked through Gorham, NH on the Fourth of July. That looked bad enough, but what made the visual worse was seeing reporters who weren���t moving fast enough���actually being caught and dragged along by the rope and its carriers. The pictures of reporters awkwardly wrestling with being caught in the rope have made the rounds on social media, and, once again, launched Mrs. Clinton straight into the center of a another firestorm of bad publicity.
Even if one is of a mind to vote for someone of the political persuasion of a Hillary Clinton, there are plenty of other things that matter in life besides ideology, are there not? What about basic decency? Sincerity? Genuine regard for the citizens to be served? The issues revealed by Hillary Clinton���s missteps in these ways are not those related to political differences, but are, rather, about how too many of our elected officials, including folks who compete for the office of president, see the electorate; is there really any question at this point that Hillary Clinton views herself as royalty, and the ���regular��� citizens of the United States as peasants?
I���m reminded of a quote from 16th-century theologian Martin Luther: ���An earthly kingdom cannot exist without inequality of persons.��� Watching the (ostensibly) free press dragged along by a rope as Her Highness walked about in public seems about as perfect (and perfectly sad) a representation of that idea as you���ll find here in 2015 America.
Former VP Candidate - Are Republican Leaders Being Blackmailed?
Former Libertarian vice presidential candidate, Wayne Allyn Root, has just published an an editorial asking the explosive question, are Republican leaders being blackmailed?
From the Root Townhall.com article -
Because what���s happening just isn���t normal. Please tell me how it���s possible that President Obama and his socialist cabal suffered the most massive and historic defeat in modern political history only 9 months ago- and since then they���ve gotten everything they���ve ever wanted handed to them on a silver platter. Does that make sense to you?
How���s it possible that the GOP- the party that won in a massive historic landslide gained nothing and won nothing? Not one victory. Zero. Zilch. Or in a language Democrats understand ���Nada.���
Root uses former Speaker Of The House Dennis Hastert as exhibit A in his argument. Hastert, the longest to ever serve as Speaker (12 years), is now facing federal charges for lying to the FBI and structuring cash withdrawals from his bank account. The withdrawals were being made to pay extortion money to cover up alleged sexual contact with underage boys (when he was a school teacher in the Chicago area in the 1970's). Was Hastert being blackmailed during his years while serving as speaker?
Well, what Root is suggesting makes sense to me. In fact, it seems like the only logical conclusion one can draw at this point.
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
Chinese Stock Market In Total Free Fall
by Robert G. Yetman, Jr., Editor At Large
While you���ve been trying to navigate through the stormy economic waters characterizing these United States���you may have missed the turmoil plaguing the stock markets of China in recent weeks. The choppiness we���ve seen in stateside markets recently is nothing compared to what the Chinese have had to endure lately; just Friday, China���s single largest stock exchange, the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), lost just under 6% in value. To put this in terms easier for a U.S. investor to understand, if the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 6% in a single day from its present level, that would translate into roughly a 1000-point drop in the course of a single trading session (although the DJIA has seen one-day drops of over 6 percent several times throughout its history).
While the swings in China���s markets lately have been so great that they practically redefine volatility, the core reason for the anxiety-inducing activity is the same as it is whenever we see these kinds of sell-offs everywhere in otherwise (relatively) stable economies: overvalued markets giving back ground so as to get back in line with fundamentals. Nevertheless, despite the ���usual suspect��� reasons for this volatility, Chinese investors could see a lot more trouble ahead ; Oxford Economics, considered the world leader in global forecasting and quantitative analysis, has declared that prices of China���s markets may have to drop another 35% in order for the long-term fundamentals numbers to make sense again.
In response to the disquieting activity, China���s central bank has slashed interest rates to an all-time low, and now word comes that China���s largest stock brokerages will collectively spend almost $20 billion to buy stock funds, in an effort to shore up the markets and essentially say to investors, ���Don���t worry ��� the time to buy even more vigorously is during steep corrections, and to prove that, watch US do it.��� Will it work? It���s a bold move, to be sure, but given the immutable truth that market valuations remain far out of line with where things really should be, it seems as though additional, steep drops in the short term are inevitable.
July 5, 2015
Greeks To Begin Running Out Of Food On Monday
Staff Writers Of ChristianMoney.com
Many Greeks spent the day celebrating in the streets after the country voted down a referendum for additional financial aid. The referendum would have required the country to take further so called 'austerity measures.' The Greeks may now see their country devolve into a third world state. Financial analysts say that the banks cannot reopen on Monday as planned, and that the country will be out of food within a matter of hours.
Other basic necessities like gasoline and medicine are also expected to dry up in days. Experts say that Greek politicians are making a very dangerous bet that world leaders will consider it 'too big to fail' and blink at the eleventh hour.
Programming Note: The Greek vote will be discussed on tonight's broadcast of Jim Paris Live at 9 pm Eastern.
Greeks Say No To Bailout In Landslide Referendum
Staff Writers Of ChristianMoney.com
For those not following the soap opera of the Greek financial collapse, today was a very eventful day. In a shocking move, Greeks said no thanks to more financial cuts in exchange for additional aid. Reports are that more than 60 percent of Greeks voted no.
The country's banks were scheduled to open on Monday after a week long bank holiday. There is no word now as to how the failed referendum will affect the banks plans to reopen their doors.
As Greece runs out of cash, financial analysts continue to repeat the mantra that we are 'in uncharted territory.' The financial collapse of Greece is seen as historic since no developed country has ever been through a collapse of this magnitude. For now, Greeks seem to be thrilled with their decision, as reports of celebrations in the streets are crossing the European newswires. Full Associated Press report here.
Programming Note: The Greek vote will be discussed on tonight's broadcast of Jim Paris Live at 9 pm Eastern.
Ron Paul Has Concerns About Donald Trump
By Staff Writers Of ChristianMoney.com
Ron Paul is not a conservative, but is a sort of ���populist-libertarian,��� which is a position from which, at times, conservative sounds can be heard. However, Dr. Paul was making no such conservative noises when he recently voiced his own concerns to fast-rising (reasonably) conservative Republican star���and renowned businessman���Donald Trump during an interview on Newsmax TV���s ���The Hard Line.��� Among his comments, Dr. Paul objected to the idea of anyone ���running��� the economy in the way Trump apparently would if elected, and takes issue, more broadly, with Trump���s planned ���take charge��� approach to the presidency.
To be honest, some of what Dr. Paul said seems a little silly ��� he objects to Trump���s ���aggressive personality,��� which, on its face, seems a little curious, given that most Republicans���and Republican sympathizers (including many libertarians)���agree on the dire situation facing the country, at present. Curiously, Dr. Paul objects to Trump���s notion that he will create jobs, and does so on the odd basis that jobs can���t really be created. The fact is that they can be created, but not in the way that most have tried in recent years, which is to expand the size of government; cutting taxes, to include an elimination of the corporate tax���something which Trump has gone on the record to support���would be an effort to create jobs unlike any the country has seen in any recent history.
This is by no means an endorsement of Trump, and there are meaningful objections to his candidacy that fall outside the scope of this particular article. That said, Dr. Paul did not really cite any of those in his recent interview; the vague, even silly, criticisms of Trump voiced by Dr. Paul prompt one to consider that he was simply tossing out some random notions off the top of his head, and doing so principally in a half-hearted attempt to preserve the interests of his son, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who is, himself, a declared candidate for the Republican nomination for president.
All of this said, it seems that the upcoming presidential election cycle may well be the most interesting one we���ve seen in a long time. Stay tuned!
July 4, 2015
Gay Divorce Law Firm Opens In Philadelphia
Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor-At-Large
Well, it was just a matter of time, I suppose���
A lawyer from Philadelphia, Conor Corcoran, has opened what he says is the nation���s first gay divorce firm, on the heels of the Supreme Court���s recent decision that had the effect of legalizing same-sex marriage throughout the United States.
Corcoran represents himself as one who has long been a staunch proponent of so-called marriage equality, and says that his decision to move in this professional direction is in keeping with his beliefs, that a law firm that specializes in the handling of marital distresses within same-sex relationships is another way of recognizing their equality with opposite-sex relationships.
Maybe Mr. Corcoran is sincere in his interests to assist in the matter of same-sex marital divorces, or maybe he���s just another opportunistic lawyer. Either way, the evolution of the field of ���gay divorce law,��� or whatever it will come to be called, serves as one more piece of evidence that whatever the twists and turns on the landscape of America, lawyers will always seem to find a way to capitalize on them.
Former CNN Anchor Survives Shootout
Staff Writers Of ChristianMoney.com Reporting
Former CNN anchor Lynne Russell became quite the news item herself earlier this week when she and her husband, former special forces operative Chuck de Caro, found themselves embroiled in a gun battle with an intruder who clearly had bad intentions. The bad guy managed to enter the couple���s Albuquerque, NM motel room when Ms. Russell was leaving it to retrieve something from the car ��� as she opened the door, he was in her face, pushing her back into the room and shutting the door.
De Caro happened to be in the shower, and came out when he heard the commotion. Shortly thereafter, he and the intruder exchanged gunfire, while Russell hid behind some furniture; de Caro was wounded in the leg and abdomen, while he managed to mortally wound the intruder with the .35-caliber handgun he had on him (thank goodness) at the time.
As an aside, it���s worth noting the ���teachable��� moments that arise from this incident, in terms of motel security: First, it���s important, whenever possible, to try to get the ���lay of the land��� outside your room before exiting ��� as motel rooms are typically characterized by exterior (meaning outside) room doors, it���s always smart to studiously look out the window before exiting, even if you���re leaving for just a moment. However, even at that, it���s not always possible to spot the trouble that may be hiding right around the corner, which brings up the other teachable moment: be prepared appropriately to defend yourself when traveling, particularly while on an extended car trip. Speaking for myself, I will no longer even take car trips through states that do not have a reciprocal relationship with Florida���s CCW license.
All of this said, we at Christian Money.com are glad to hear that Ms. Russell and her hero hubby are going to be OK!
