James L. Paris's Blog, page 95
April 4, 2017
Bill O'Reilly Facing Harassment Allegations From Multiple Women
After Roger Ailes was forced to step down in July, new reports are that Fox News has settled claims from multiple women that were allegedly harassed by Bill O'Reilly. New York area losing population in record numbers, Jeb Bush warns of robot revolution, flat earth conspiracy theory gains traction and big name followers online, and does Rand Paul have the answer to repeal Obamacare?
April 3, 2017
Lawful Permitless Gun Carry Continues to Grow Across the United States
The number of states passing laws that allow for the ���constitutional carry��� of firearms continues to grow.
As reported by many news outlets, including Townhall.com, North Dakota became the most recent commonwealth to pass legislation that will allow gun-owning residents of the state to carry without a permit, when a measure to that effect was signed into law March 23 by Gov. Doug Burgum. The new law takes effect August 1.
North Dakota will be the 13th such state that allows permitless carry, and other states continue to move in the same direction. Texas has a similar bill under consideration, presently.
All of that said, not every state has constitutional, or permitless, carry for the benefit of its citizens, of course, and even if yours does, it won���t help you if you seek to travel outside of your home state and continue carrying your gun for protection.
Enter one of the best ways to secure an actual carry permit that affords you the ability to legally carry a firearm in over half the states in the union: The Concealed Carry Classroom Training product.
The Concealed Carry Classroom Training product takes advantage of a provision in Virginia state law that allows folks to complete their concealed carry training online, without having to attend a formal class. That���s right ��� everything you need to do in order to secure this license can be done from the privacy and comfort of your own home. What���s more, you need not be a resident of Virginia to enjoy this opportunity!
The course is taught by Jason Hanson, ex-CIA man and frequent guest on major television programs. As a matter of fact, you may have even seen Hanson on the popular ABC television show Shark Tank, where he successfully partnered with one of the ���sharks,��� Daymond John, on behalf of his very successful Spy Escape & Evasion course.
Anyway���the Concealed Carry Classroom Training course comes with everything you need to pass the 20-question test, complete the Virginia State Concealed Firearms Application process, and receive your permit in the mail!
As mentioned earlier, the permit is good in a majority of states - 28 of them!
In addition to the core training and materials, you will also pick up some terrific bonuses when you purchase the Concealed Carry Classroom Training product:
The Covert Guide to Concealed Carry
108-Point Home Security Checklist
Defensive Pistol Targets
30-Day Urban Survival Guide
7 Ways to Keep Your Family Safe this Year
Simple Home Defense Secrets that Could Save Your Life
There���s a lot of information here, to be sure. What���s more, your purchase comes with an ironclad, 60-day money-back guarantee; if you decide you���re not happy with the course, for any reason, inside of the first two months of purchase, you can get a full refund!
To learn more about the Concealed Carry Classroom Training course, or to pick up your copy directly, click here.
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
Successful Entrepreneurs Need to Start Their Engines Early, Every Day
When you work for yourself, you have to start early���every day���if you want to be successful.
If you linger in bed, or otherwise allow yourself to get a later start to your labors, thinking it���s OK because you���ll simply make up the lost time by working into the wee hours, you���ll find that it won���t work���at least, not as well as biting the bullet and kicking off your day as early as you can.
On that note, there is an article over at Entrepreneur.com by Serenity Gibbons that details seven things every entrepreneur should do before 7 a.m., and it is certainly worth a look.
We won���t run through all seven in this space ��� as noted, it���s a great article, and you should check it out for yourself ��� but we���ll make mention of a couple that are near and dear to our hearts.
One thing an entrepreneur should be sure to do while it���s still early is exercise. Whatever your specific pleasure - running, lifting weights, yoga, etc. - beginning the morning by getting the physical blood flowing rarely fails to get the mental juices flowing, as well (and this, of course, is besides the obvious health benefits associated with exercise). Exercise has been shown to also help with mental focus, something of particular importance to the person who has to rely on himself/herself to get the company moving forward.
Something else that is of particular utility to entrepreneurs is using the earliest hours to write down goals and priorities for both that day and the rest of the week, as appropriate. Speaking for myself, I keep a yellow pad at my desk that���s devoted to writing down and otherwise clarifying in the morning what I want to accomplish by the end of the day. As it is, the first step to achieving any goal is to write it down, making it extra-real by putting it in front of your face. That, however, applies not only to the loftier objectives one might have for themselves, but also to those ���must-do,��� task-oriented goals that are a daily part of reaching and maintaining your success.
These are just two of the seven ���things��� presented in the article; the other five are great, too.
Go check ���em out.
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
Make Money As An Online Juror
At Christian Money, we focus on making money, saving money, and avoiding scams. This week, I will be writing about a new and very interesting topic to me; how to make money being an online juror. If you are someone that enjoys following legal cases, and your favorite TV shows are The People���s Court and Judge Judy, this might be right up your alley.
The idea is straightforward enough; lawyers take the facts of a particular legal case and then test them out on a mock jury. This may set the strategy for a trial, or even lead to a pre-trial settlement between the parties. While mock juries have been around for a long time, online juries are a fairly new concept.
How it works:
1. Register as a prospective juror with an online juror service.
2. You will be assigned cases to review that are filed in your area. All of the services we looked at base case assignments on geographic location. This would make sense since locations of trials are a significant consideration in how a case may be decided. This is why lawyers make careful decisions about what county to file a lawsuit in when they have a choice of venues. If you live in a large city there will likely be plenty of cases in need of online jurors. On the other hand, if you live in a rural or small community the number of cases will likely be less.
3. You will be paid for your time. The amount of pay you will receive is based on the complexity of the case but usually ranges from $20 to $60 for about one hour of your time. Of course, this will vary from one service to the next.
Online Jury Services:
Don���t Pay To Become An Online Juror
There is no reason to pay anyone to become an online juror. Everything you need to get started is contained in this article as well as the above referenced websites. I am very curious to get your feedback on this. If you pursue this, please use the comment section below to tell me how it worked out for you.
Helping you make the most of God���s money!
James L. Paris
Editor-In-Chief ChristianMoney.com
Follow Me on Twitter Twitter.com/jameslparis
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April 2, 2017
House Republicans Propose Funding Border Wall with Tax on Monies Immigrants Send Home
Been wondering if the border wall is really going to be built, and, if so, if Mexico is really going to pay for it, as President Trump has promised?
Well, if some House Republicans have their way, the answers to those questions will be ���yes,��� and ���sort of.���
According to The Washington Times, the aforementioned politicians have introduced legislation that would assess a two percent tax against monies that undocumented immigrants in the U.S. ��� including those from Mexico ��� send back home.
More specifically, the Border Wall Funding Act would impose the two percent levy on wire transfers sent from those in the country illegally���to recipients in over 40 Latin American nations.
The bill was introduced by Rep. Mike Rogers, who represents Alabama���s Third Congressional District. Explaining the legislation on Thursday, Rogers said, ���In order to jumpstart the funding of the wall, I have introduced a bill to impose a 2 percent fee on remittances sent south of the border.
���This bill is simple ��� anyone who sends their money to countries that benefit from our porous borders and illegal immigration should be responsible for providing some of the funds needed to complete the wall. This bill keeps money in the American economy, and most importantly, it creates a funding stream to build the wall.���
Rogers says that wire transfers like those targeted by his proposed legislation are ���commonly used by illegal immigrants to move money from the U.S. to their home countries."
According to The Economist newspaper, Mexico saw remittances of nearly $25 billion in 2015, and 98 percent of that money originated in the U.S.
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
Marco Rubio: Russians Tried to Hack Me, Too
When it comes to hacking American politicians, the Russians have, apparently, been some awfully busy beavers.
Now, as reported by a wide variety of media outlets, including Western Journalism, U.S. Senator and former Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio is claiming that he was the victim of at least two different hacking attempts by Russia.
Speaking before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday, Rubio told the assembled that his campaign was the target of hacking efforts last summer, and that former members of his campaign staff were again subject to a Russian hacking attempt just last week.
���Former members of my presidential campaign team who had access to the internal information of my presidential campaign were targeted by IP addresses with an unknown location within Russia,��� said Rubio. ���That effort was unsuccessful.���
According to the senator, that effort came following his announcement last July that he would be running for re-election.
���I would also inform the committee within the last 24 hours, at 10:45 a.m. yesterday, a second attempt was made, again, against former members of my presidential campaign team who had access to our internal information ��� again targeted from an IP address from an unknown location in Russia,��� Rubio said. ���And that effort was also unsuccessful.���
For his part, the vice chair of the Intelligence Committee, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., described a large and comprehensive effort on the part of Russia to exert influence over last year���s U.S. presidential election.
���There were upwards of 1,000 paid Internet trolls working out of a facility in Russia, in effect, taking over series of computers, which is then called a ���botnet,������ Warner said.
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
March 31, 2017
Actor Tony Goldwyn: Planned Parenthood Performs ���Lifesaving Work���
Did you know that Planned Parenthood performed lifesaving work?
Neither did I.
However, according to Hollywood actor Tony Goldwyn, well known for a variety of roles over the years and presently a mainstay of the popular ABC television show Scandal (on which he actually plays the President of the United States), that���s precisely what they do.
According to a fair number of news outlets, including MRC NewsBusters, Goldwyn garnered a good bit of attention at the recent Paleyfest television festival where he was spotted wearing a Planned Parenthood pin. The actor subsequently gave an interview to Glamour, in which he elaborated on his allegiance to the controversial organization.
���There���s been a lot of disinformation about Planned Parenthood and the focus of the lifesaving work that they do for women���s health care,��� said Goldwyn.
Continuing, Goldwyn said, ���I saw a much-publicized image of all those white men sitting around in a room at the White House talking about what should be done about women���s health care, and I thought I would step up [by wearing this and speaking out]. If Planned Parenthood is defunded, millions of women, particularly women struggling economically, are going to be in serious trouble. And the truth is, there will be far more abortions performed���and unsafe ones as a result. The people that are antiabortion actually are sabotaging their own moral stance by taking this position.���
So, even those who are against abortion should still support Planned Parenthood because the abortions they perform are nice and clean.
How do you argue with that kind of logic?
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
Work is Changing���for the Worse
And the reason is money...or, rather, a lack thereof.
Not the company���s, mind you; yours.
Many people, young and old, are struggling to make ends meet, and if they���re not scratching and clawing to do that successfully, they���re struggling to set aside enough dough to be sure that they will make it through their later lives as seasoned citizens relatively unscathed.
The bottom-line effect is that people have to work longer and harder, which means that work culture for Joe Average is taking a hit.
An article that appears over at CNBC.com outlines six ways you will see work change in the coming years, if you haven���t seen any of the changes already.
At the top of the list are nootropics, or ���smart drugs.��� These are (principally) supplements designed to enhance cognitive function. The most common form are stimulants, like caffeine. It is expected their use in the workplace will become increasingly common during 2017.
Oh, but there���s more.
You���ve heard of side hustles? If not, those are jobs one does, in addition to their regular work obligation, that help bring in more dough. Side hustles, as opposed to traditional part-time work, are typically characterized by the fact that people do the labor as independent contractors, such as an Uber driver. Side hustles are becoming more common as people fight to get their hands on more money.
The CNBC piece also points out that the burden of having to continually reinvent oneself professionally will become more prevalent. As employment becomes less secure, overall, and technology continues to evolve, workers will have to burn the candle at both ends to ensure ongoing employability.
A decrease in the number of available perks at companies will also be a feature of the workplace, going forward. In addition to serving as a cost-cutting measure, firms are also scaling these back because they���re finding that the basic benefits many have known for so long - 401(k), useful health coverage, etc. ��� are proving to be enough to keep workers content in that part of their compensation.
A continued blurring of the line separating work time and play time will also be standard. The ���work all the time��� culture ushered in by technological evolution continues to be enthusiastically embraced by corporate America, and no employee will be spared.
Finally, there will be more crying in the workplace. One can only presume that the increase in the amount of crying is a direct result of the other five ways the workplace is changing.
Great.
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
March 30, 2017
Joint Chiefs Chairman: U.S. to Maintain Presence in Iraq ���for Years to Come���
The era of perpetual war is apparently upon us.
Last week, Secretary of Defense James Mattis and Gen. Joseph Dunford, USMC, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, basically said as much to members of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Defense, stating that even after the Islamic State is disposed of through ongoing operations in both Syria and Iraq, it will be necessary for U.S. troops to remain in the region for at least the immediate years that follow.
And that timeline begins only after ISIS is defeated.
Addressing the committee members, Mattis said, ���I believe it���s in our national interest that we keep Iraqi security forces in a position to keep our mutual enemies on their back foot.���
While many in America have viewed with disdain the ���re-populating��� of Iraq with U.S. troops, a large number of military and political leaders blame the imperative of the previous presidential administration to exit that country - without regard to whether the job was done ��� as the principal reason why the Islamic State has been able to flourish in the region in recent years. President Obama oversaw the entire removal of U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of 2011.
Referencing this, Mattis went on to directly tell the committee members that ���I don���t see any reason to pull out again and face the same lesson.���
Presently, the U.S. contingent in the region is comprised of both U.S. special operations forces and conventional troops representing both Army and Marine Corps units.
For his part, Gen. Dunford told committee members that ���the Iraqi security forces will need that kind of support for years to come.���
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown: Proposed Border Wall Is Not Christian
So, Gov. Jerry Brown, current overseer of a state that���s largely representative of political values about as far removed from those of devout Christianity as any���has decided to invoke said Christianity on behalf of trashing the idea of a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico.
As reported by a variety of news outlets, including The Washington Free Beacon, Brown joined host Chuck Todd on NBC���s Meet the Press this past Sunday to declare that building such a structure is not in keeping with Christian values.
���We are going to do the right, humane, and I would even say the Christian thing from my point of view [to oppose the wall],��� Brown said. ���You don't treat human beings like that. Trump's supposed to be Mr. Religious Fellow, and I thought we had to treat the least of these as we would treat the Lord.���
Continuing, Brown said, ���I hope he would reconnect with some of his conservative evangelicals, and they���ll tell him these are human beings, these are children of God, [and] they shouldn���t be treated that way.���
When Todd asked Brown if he was prepared to fight construction of the border wall, the governor responded that while his state would not be engineering any kind of effort rooted in lawsuits to stop the building effort, they would fight it in other ways, saying that ���we���re going to fight, and we���re going to fight very hard. But we're not going to bring stupid lawsuits or be running to the courthouse every day. We���re going to be careful. We���ll be strategic.���
By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large
