Taxpayer Fraud

Are you surprised to find out that people are cheating on the taxes? How about the first time buyer tax credit? What I thought would be a snoozer hearing in a House Ways and Means subcommittee this morning has incensed and amazed me. Testimony from the Hon. J. Russell George, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, reports hundreds of millions of dollars, yep, your and my tax dollars, have been paid out to scam artists and just plain cheater buyers through the housing tax credit.

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Is Gold Money?

On the subject of metals, the CME announced that it would allow gold to be used as collateral for trades on the exchange. While this is not going to impact the price of gold in any direct way in the short run, it's another sign of gold being re-recognized as money, as having been traded as "just another commodity" for 25 years or so.

Fishing the Lower Sacramento River

Off for two days of fly fishing on the lower Sacramento River, that's between Redding and Anderson. The upper Sacramento is above Shasta Lake.

Juan Rodrguez Cabrillo was the first reporter - in 1540

In 1540, an earthquake destroyed the city of Santiago, Guatemala where Cabrillo was living. Cabrillo's report to the Spanish crown on the earthquake's destruction is the first known piece of secular journalism written in the New World.

Dominic DiMaggio

Say what you will about the DiMaggios but they were a tour de force in major league baseball but my favorite was Dominic, who played with Ted Williams with the Boston Red Sox. During the season of '41 he said he had the bird's eye view of 4 amazing events : Joe's 56 game hitting streak, Ted William's dramatic homerun to drive in Joe Dimaggio and win the '41 All Star game (Dom was on deck) and be apart of Lefty Gomez's 300th pitching win (Dom caught the final out). Everyone remembers Joe (and a little about Vince) but Dom had an incredible career and wrote a great book about the season of '41 called "Real Grass, Real Heroes". Learn more about Dominic here

8" of rain during the storm

I couldn't believe my eyes as I looked at the bucket full of water outside yesterday morning after the skies cleared. I took my measuring tape and pulled out 12" or so and stuck it into the bucket and yep, 8" of rain had accumulated in the bucket. Now, the skeptic in me says that this isn't the way to measure rainfall but how else could this be explained? The bucket was not under a tree or an eve, the only way the bucket could have filled was by random raindrops. Then, this morning the paper revealed the confirmation . . . . San Luis Obispo did indeed receive 7.9" of rain during the storm. The real confirmation is that our lake rose about 4' . . . yes FOUR FEET. Last week the gangway to the dock was at a 45 degree angle and today it's around 20 degrees!

2010 Census Cautions

With the U.S. Census process beginning, the Better Business Bureau (BBB) advises people to be cooperative, but cautious, so as not to become a victim of fraud or identity theft. The first phase of the 2010 U.S. Census is under way as workers have begun verifying the addresses of households across the country. Eventually, more than 140,000 U.S. Census workers will count every person in the United States and will gather information about every person living at each address including name, age, gender, race, and other data. The big question is - how do you tell the difference between a U.S. Census worker and a con artist? BBB offers the following advice:

** If a U.S. Census worker knocks on your door, they will have a badge, a handheld device, a Census Bureau canvas bag, and a confidentiality notice. Ask to see their identification and their badge before answering their questions. However, you should never invite anyone you don't know into your home.

** Census workers are currently only knocking on doors to verify address information. Do not give your Social Security number, credit card or banking information to anyone, even if they claim they need it for the U.S. Census. While the Census Bureau might ask for basic financial information, such as a salary range, it will not ask for Social Security, bank account, or credit card numbers, nor will employees solicit donations.

Eventually, Census workers may contact you by telephone, mail, or in person at home. However, they will not contact you by Email, so be on the lookout for Email scams impersonating the Census.

Never click on a link or open any attachments in an Email that are supposedly from the U.S. Census Bureau.

For more advice on avoiding identity theft and fraud, visit www.bbb.org

High Frequency Trading - is it bad for you?

Once again, our favorite John Stewart has settled the issue with this in depth report. The link to the video is through the Ritholz.com blog which is one of my favorites for understanding what's going on in the economy, markets and good investigative journalism . . . click here