Oakland saw 300 people arrested on Saturday Jan 28 2011. If 300 people are arrested in America, there is something terribly wrong with the society. Its a big thing for the US demonstrations compared to other countries. It does not happens every day or every decade. This kind of violence and mayhem is unseen and unfamiliar for most Americans in this country.
The very fiber of American society is broken up after 5 brutal years of a hard economic times and the policies that have failed, along with a rampant financial crisis solely created by a handful of people on Wall Street under the basic human elements of greed and avarice in a direct man made assault on our economic system.
Oakland , California is the epicenter of the West Coast economic hard times. An
30 Jan
Posted by Brian Anderson as Corporate Finance
In IRS Notice IR 2012-3 the IRS announced that innocent spouse defenses pursuant to IRC Section 6015(f) will become a little easier. Generally there are three different kinds of innocent spouse defenses, each with its own rules and exceptions. IRS Notice 2012-8, which somewhat confusingly was announced in IRS Notice IR 2012-3, sets out a proposed new Revenue Procedure which will supersede Revenue Procedure (Rev. Proc.) 2003-61. IRS Notice 20012-8 addresses the criteria used in making innocent spouse relief determinations under the equitable relief criteria of Internal Revenue Code Section 6015(f). The IRS Notice covers several topics. It provides for certain streamlined determinations; it creates new guidance on the potential impact of economic hardship, and the weight to be accorded to certain facts in determining equitable innocent spouse relief.
For the first time in three long years, the credit card market seemed to thrive. 2011 was just a fantastic year to be a credit card holder, or a potential credit card holder as some credit card issuers went above and beyond the usual to offer big bonuses and awesome promotions even I had never seen before.
Four credit cards in particular offered up front bonuses of $500 or more (one of which could be worth thousands of dollars depending on what you use it for).
Chase British Airways Signature Visa – This card only survived a few months, but the 100,000 bonus points one could earn was worth multiple domestic flights, or one very awesome first class round trip to select European destinations. Depending on where you fly from, this up-front bonus was worth up to $5,000; the largest bonus I’ve ever seen on a credit card, by a wide margin. Unfortunately, the Chase British Airways Signature Visa is now expired.
Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Plus Card – Southwest doesn’t charge you for your first two bags and they also provided the Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Plus Card which gave away two free round-trip domestic flights. Two flights on Southwest averaged about $800, so the bonus here was the second largest offered this year. The card comes with a reasonable $60 annual fee and a $50 Wanna Get Away flight bonus every year.
Citi ThankYou Premier Card – A brand new credit card in 2011, the Citi ThankYou Premier Card offers up points for every purchase and 50,000 bonus points were provided to new cardholders. That’s good enough for $500 in gift cards OR more than $600 in travel rewards but there’s a hefty $125 annual fee (not charged the first year).
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card – One final card on our list which offers a $500 cash bonus, the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card also includes a 7% point dividend bonus at the end of the year AND a dedicated live representative, 24/7/365. When you call into customer service, you automatically get a live agent, something no other credit card provides (without a big annual fee). The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card does have a $95 annual fee, waived in year one.
And if those cards weren’t enough, the return of the no fee balance transfer surely excited consumers, as both Chase and Discover launched a card offering a 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 12 months without a BT fee.
Now removed from 2011, I’m amazed at just how quickly a once devastated industry recovered to near full strength. Issuers were competing against each other for new cardholders, which is a win for everyone. Hopefully this strong trend will continue into 2012 and the ways Americans can save (or make) money by using their credit cards will continue to rise.
The news is full of stories of famous people behaving badly, especially in financial matters. How else would you have actors and former sports players filing for bankruptcy and putting their homes into foreclosure? Well, Zooey Deschanel can teach all those financially-free-wheeling stars a thing or two! The actress in “New Girl” and “500 Days of Summer” apparently revealed her earnings and spending patterns in a divorce filling – showing the world that she’s a responsible spender and saver.
According to information leaked to TMZ, Zooey makes $95,000 a month (or close to $1.2million a year). But her expenses only average $22,500 per month, less than 25% of her gross income. Some of the expenditures included in that figure are her clothing at $2,000 a month, eating out and groceries at $1,500 a month, and $600 in laundry and cleaning. Plus, Zooey also donates $1,500 a month to charity. Thanks to he
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