Category Archives: Bits & Pieces

Bits & Pieces

Amazon Taxed By State of California, Amazon Cancels All California Associates Program

You may have noticed that I had an Amazon.com advertisement on the right side of my website. Governor Brown has signed into law a bill that taxes sales of items bought on the internet from Amazon.   Because of the new law, my Amazon ad is no longer there, because it specifically imposes the collection of taxes from consumers on sales by online retailers – including but not limited to those referred by California-based marketing affiliates  even if those retailers have no physical presence in the state.

I was part of what Amazon.com calls Amazon Associates which allowed me to place their ad on my website. Whenever anyone clicked on my ad and bought something I received a small percentage of the sale.

As of June 29, 2011, Amazon has cancelled all affiliations with any Amazon Associates in California. I don’t think this bill is going to help, since the attitude of Amazon is: “Similar legislation in other states has led to job and income losses, and little, if any, new tax revenue. We deeply regret that we must take this action.”

The aforementioned “other states” include New York, Illinois, Rhode Island, and North Carolina, most of which have seen their own Amazon affiliate programs killed for exactly the same reason. (Edit: New York managed to keep its Amazon affiliate program, presumably because it’s such a huge market.) And, as noted by The Tax Foundation, there are a handful of others—Arizona, Hawaii, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Tennessee, Texas, and Vermont—that are considering passing similar “Amazon Tax” measures.

Not that the measures are necessarily helping much in terms of states collecting more tax revenue—Rhode Island General Treasurer Frank T. Caprio was recently quoted, saying, “The affiliate tax has hurt Rhode Island businesses and stifled their growth, as they’ve been shut out of some of the world’s largest marketplaces, and should be repealed immediately.” FatWallet, which itself acts as a giant affiliate to Amazon and Overstock, ended up moving from Illinois to Wisconsin over the Illinois “Amazon Tax.”

So we’ll have to see how this works out. What do you think.

Can’t make your house payments? Have you considered a short sale?

John J. O’Dell Realtor® GRI
O’Dell Realty
(530) 263-1091
jodell@nevadacounty.com

Bits & Pieces

Flight 1549 Landing In Hudson River Reconstruction

httpv://youtu.be/tE_5eiYn0D0

This is am amazing simulation of US Airways Flight 1549 crash landing in the Hudson River. It’s almost like you are there.

US Airways Flight 1549 was US Airways’ scheduled domestic commercial passenger flight from LaGuardia Airport in New York City to Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, Charlotte, North Carolina. On January 15, 2009, the aircraft flying this route, an Airbus A320-214, was successfully ditched in the Hudson River adjacent to midtown Manhattan six minutes after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport after being disabled by striking a flock of Canada Geese during its initial climb out. The incident became known as the “Miracle On The Hudson”.

The bird strike, which occurred just northeast of the George Washington Bridge about three minutes into the flight, resulted in an immediate and complete loss of thrust from both engines. When the aircrew of the Airbus 320 determined that they would be unable to reliably reach any airfield, they turned southbound and glided over the Hudson, finally ditching the airliner near the USS Intrepid museum about three minutes after losing power. All 155 occupants safely evacuated the airliner, which was still virtually intact though partially submerged and slowly sinking, and were quickly rescued by nearby watercraft.

The entire crew of Flight 1549 was later awarded the Master’s Medal of the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators. The award citation read, “This emergency ditching and evacuation, with the loss of no lives, is a heroic and unique aviation achievement.”[9] It has been described as “the most successful ditching in aviation history.”

The captain was Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, 57, a former fighter pilot who had been an airline pilot since leaving the United States Air Force in 1980. He is also a safety expert and a glider pilot. The first officer was Jeffrey B. Skiles, 49, who was on the last leg of his first assignment in the Airbus A320 since passing the training course to fly the type. The flight attendants were Donna Dent, Doreen Welsh and Sheila Dail

Source Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For all your real estate needs, call or email:

John J. O”Dell Realtor® GRI
Real Estate Broker
O’Dell Realty
(530) 263-1091
jodell@nevadacounty.com

Bits & Pieces

Swimming: Cools You Off, But Does It Shape You Up?

Photo courtesy of www.g2phps.blogspot.com
Photo courtesy of www.g2phps.blogspot.com

by Lisa J. Lehr

It’s been a long, cool spring, but it’s bound to get hot one of these days. And when it does, human bodies will be heading for water bodies in droves.

There’s no question that swimming cools you off, provided the water temperature is lower than your body temperature—which it is, unless we’re talking about a hot tub or a hot spring. But is swimming the equivalent of a glass of lemonade: cools you off, but has no real health benefits? Or is it really good for you?

Well…it depends.

First, the pluses of swimming as exercise:

1.      It uses all your major muscle groups.
2.      It can provide a good workout for your heart and lungs.
3.      It’s easy on your joints.
4.      The buoyancy factor (you weigh about one-tenth as much in water as you do on land) makes it a good exercise for people who are pregnant, have injuries, or need to avoid high-impact types of exercise.
5.      It’s appropriate for people of all ages and ability levels.

Now the minuses:

1.      In order to count swimming as exercise, you’ll need to swim a good number of brisk laps (floating and splashing won’t do it), and some people find that monotonous.

2.      Swimming puts no stress on your bones, and weight-bearing exercise is essential for maintaining bone mass and strength.

3.      Swimming makes you hungry, so the calories you consume after a swim may exceed those you burned during the swim.

4.      Unlike with other types of exercise, your body does not continue burning calories at an increased rate after your workout. This is because you don’t heat up as much exercising in water as on land; you lose body heat faster to water than to air because water is denser, so your body doesn’t have to work to cool you down post-workout.

5.      Finally, if swimming is to be your workout of choice, you need convenient access to a pool. The “inconvenience factor” may become a convenient excuse not to exercise.

So if you like swimming, find that it meets your exercise needs, and is convenient and not too boring, go for it. But if you’ve been swimming for a while and wondering why you’re not seeing the results you expected, now you know why! You may want to explore some other type of  exercise.

And if you’re heading for a natural water body, especially the fast-moving, snowmelt-fed rivers of Nevada County, remember that humans (and other land creatures) and cold, white water are a dangerous and often deadly combination. Especially when alcohol is involved.

Lisa J. Lehr is a writer, copywriter, and fitness fan living in Grass Valley. She can help you promote your business with a full range of online and offline marketing pieces. A member of Empire Toastmasters, she’s available to speak to your business or professional group. Visit her website www.justrightcopy.com for more information, opt in for a message series, and receive a free Marketing Guide.

—
Lisa J. Lehr
I write words that make you money–just ask me how.
www.justrightcopy.com
Visit my website and sign up for my fr~ee marketing tips.
New! No~cost Marketing Guide now available at my website.

Bits & Pieces

Stay Hydrated Without Putting Yourself in Danger

by Lisa J. Lehr

The weather is warming up, people are heading outside to exercise, and we’ve been told our entire lives to drink “plenty of water.” Not everyone realizes, however, that it’s possible to drink TOO much. How much is enough, and how much is too much?

You may remember back in January 2007, when Jennifer Strange, 28, a Sacramento-area mom of three, was found dead in her home of water intoxication. Jennifer had competed in a radio station’s “Hold Your Wee for a Wii” contest. The contest winner would be whoever drank the most water without going to the bathroom; the prize, a Nintendo Wii video game system. Jennifer wanted to win it for her kids.

“Holding it” against nature’s urging to get rid of it is intuitively a bad idea, and putting yourself in danger in order to gain some material thing is just foolish. The bulk of the blame lies with the radio station, however; station officials had been advised that someone had previously died of the same cause in a hazing incident, and they reportedly didn’t take Jennifer seriously when she complained of feeling ill. Still, this story should be a warning to everyone who might think that if drinking plenty of water is good for us, then there’s no such thing as “too much.”

Wrong. Continue reading Stay Hydrated Without Putting Yourself in Danger →

Bits & Pieces

The Making of Parmigiano Cheese in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy

Photo courtesy of Gastronomical Products of Parma

By Judy J. Pinegar

No cheese is as famous and essential to Italian cuisine as Parmigiano, therefore, no visit to the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy is complete without exploring  the making of Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese . Parmigiano is the Italian adjective for Parma, while Reggiano is the adjective for Reggio Emelia, both cities and providences of the same name in the Emilia-Romagna administrative region.

Parmigiano-Reggiano is made from raw cow’s milk, 16 liters (4.2 gallons) of milk per kilo (2.2 pounds) of cheese, and the cows must be fed only on grass or hay. Adding a partly skimmed milk to whole milk, and using copper lined vats for heating and cooling, with additions of natural whey culture (starter), and calf rennet (enzymes from the stomach), the milk coagulates. It then separates into solids (curds) and liquid (whey). The compacted curd is collected in muslin for cheese making, and the remaining whey is fed to the pigs from which Parma Ham will be produced! In many farms in Emilia-Romagna, the barns for the pigs are just yards from the cheese producing rooms.

The cheese is put into a stainless steel round form, pulled tight by a buckle so the cheese retains a wheel shape, and then imprinted several times with the words Parmigiano-Reggiano, the plant number, month and year of production. After brining in salt water the approximate salinity of the Mediterranean Sea, for 25 days, the wheels are then aged for at least 12 months. At this point each and every cheese is inspected and graded by the Consorzio (Consortium) Parmigiano-Reggiano. The cheese is tested by a master grader whose only tools are a hammer and his ear. By tapping the wheel at various points, he can identify undesirable voids and cracks within the wheel. Those that pass the test get the Consorzio’s logo branded on their rinds while cheeses that do not make the grade are stripped of all markings.

More aging follows and some people think Parmigiano-Reggiano is best at 24 to 30 months when it is still soft and crumby, with tiny crunchy areas from the salt, yet rich and complex. The cheese has a sharp, complex fruity/nutty taste and a slightly gritty texture. Inferior cheeses can impart a bitter taste. The name is trademarked, and in Italy there is legal exclusive control exercised over the production and sale of Parmigiano-Reggiano, under a governmental decree.

The average Parmigiano-Reggiano wheel is about 18–24 centimeters (7.1–9.4 in) high, 40–45 centimeters (16–18 in) in diameter, and weighs 38 kilograms (84 lb).

Uses for Parmigiano-Reggiano include being grated over pasta, stirred into soup and risotto, and eaten in chunks with balsamic vinegar. It is also a key ingredient in Alfredo sauce and pesto. In Emilia-Romagna it is often paired with pears and walnuts and enjoyed as a dessert at the end of a meal.

Outside Europe, most notably in the United States, commercially produced imitator cheeses may be legally sold under the generic name “Parmesan.” Parmesan is the French-language name and also is the informal term for the cheese in the English language. The name Parmesan is also used for cheeses which imitate Parmigiano-Reggiano, with statements such as “Italian hard cheese” to skirt legal constraints. In North America parmesan cheese is only aged  for 20 months, and the milk used is pasteurized, Parmigiano-Reggiano on average contains two-thirds less salt than the average Parmesan so be sure you get the real thing if you are a true Italiano!

Written by Judy J. Pinegar
World Traveler & Writer
Need articles written?  You may contact Judy through me

 

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
O’Dell Realty
(530) 263-1091
Email John jodell@nevadacounty.com

DRE #00669941

Bits & Pieces

So, Where Are The Blueberries? Some Are Just Faked in Cereals

The blueberries found in blueberry bagels, cereals, breads and muffins are REAL blueberries right? Wrong! Award-winning investigative journalist Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, exposes the deceptive chemical ingredients and dishonest marketing of “blueberry” products from big-name food and cereal companies. The blueberries, it turns out, are made from artificial colors, hydrogenated oils and liquid sugars.

Source Food Investigations

See my blog on Captain Crunch Berries Not a Fruit

For all your real estate needs, call or email:

John J. O’Dell
Real Estate Broker
O’Dell Realty
(530) 263-1091
Email John jodell@nevadacounty.com

Bits & Pieces

Donald Trump Claims He Screwed Gadhafi

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIfSb0EFCf4

 

Donald Trump says his business experience trumps many presidential wannabes – in the realm of foreign policy.

In an appearance on Fox News Monday morning, the bombastic money man said he’s already negotiated with world leaders – including Libyan madman Moammar Gadhafi, whom he rented a piece of land for an exorbitant price.

“I think I probably have more experience than anybody — whether I sell them real estate for tremendous amounts of money,” Trump said.

“I mean, I’ve dealt with everybody,” he added. “And by the way, I can tell you something else: I dealt with Gadhafi. I rented him a piece of land. He paid me more for one night than the land was worth for two years – and then I didn’t let him use the land.”
Trump was referring to his allowing Gahafi to pitch a tent on his property when the Libyan leader was in New York for an appearance at the United Nations in 2009.

The leader refuses to stay on high floors in hotels and insists on staying in similar structures when he travels. Gadhafi never ended up staying on Trump’s property amid a public relations flap.

Trump, at the time, claimed he didn’t know to whom he was renting the property until the controversy exploded.

Yet on Monday, Trump made it sound like he knew he was playing the Libyan strongman from the start. (Sounds like he’ll make a great politician)

“I don’t want to use the world ‘screwed’, but I screwed him,” he said. “That’s what we should be doing.”

Trump said Thursday that he would shell out $600 million of his own dough to become President – and dismissed claims that his bid for higher office was just a stunt.

“I have never been so serious as I am now,” he said.

 

Read more: Source  NYDailyNews.com

 

For all your real estate needs, call or email

John J. O’Dell
Real estate broker
O’Dell Realty
(530) 263-1091
Email John at jodell@nevadacounty.com