Today I have articles about global wealth, world beer prices, breakthrough technologies, Ted Cruz loses all Marriott points, travel to Netherlands and hike all eleven national scenic trails, the best Covid-19 coverage I first did a separate post about on March 4th 2020 and started a separate section on it on March 9th 2020 when all other bloggers were busy blogging selling credit cards, the IRS is very behind, learn about how different groups spend money and lots of other unique eclectic stuff. Enjoy your weekend and go out help people, be grateful for what you have now!
TBB Blog Mission: To Educate. Entertain. Inspire. In That Order!
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Changing things up a little bit as this blog evolves. The MILES & POINTS section has now moved toward the end to widen the appeal of the blog and hopefully not turn off first time visitors. The eclectic variety of content has absolutely NOT changed!
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TOP PICKS
Top picks are for truly exceptional quality content.
This is a stunning read. About mental illness. I hope it does not happen to you or any of your loved ones. If you are dealing with it in any shape or form I send my loving thoughts to you and your family and please get help.
The Final Descent of Dean Cummings
Watch this and…watch out for that bigly China yellow one!
How Global Health and Wealth Has Changed Over Two Centuries
“This is like the flu”…Is it? Found here.
TRAVEL
Excuse me, we need to talk! Poll: 38% of Americans would give up sex for a year to be able to travel again immediately. But wait…The Brits are worse, sad lol!
For Brits, the number was even higher: 40%.
Some of you may be interested as I am a red wine kind of guy. Like two glasses per month woohoo! This map shows the price of beer in more than 50 countries.
Imagine watching this after doing mushrooms. Not that I have ever done mushrooms #true. This Aerial View of the Veluwemeer Aqueduct in the Netherlands is Surreal.
Here are all 11 of the National Scenic Trails.
COVID-19
Hooray to science, let’s get them vaccines out there people! New analyses show Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose vaccine works well.
We used to listen to the In the Bubble podcast with Andy Slavitt, we now get to listen to it with him being interviewed on it! Andy Slavitt From Inside the White House.
Amazing, just look at the two charts in this article! Nursing Homes, Once Hotspots, Far Outpace U.S. in Covid Declines.
PERSONAL FINANCE
I find this fascinating! How Spending Changed for Different Income Groups. Maybe as a society we should try to reverse the “Housing” and “Education” categories a bit? Before the true socialists take over! I just threw a bomb here, you throw yours in the comments, increase blog engagement, BOOM! More money for me from more ad revenue, brilliant! Oh wait…what ad revenue? I don’t submit your beautiful eyes to look at ads here!
As I have warned recently, IRS is at a breaking point, don’t get caught in its wheels, pray! IRS still hasn’t processed millions of 2019 tax returns.
If you are an asshole, this only makes you a rich asshole, that’s all, it is just a metric 🙂 Stay humble and shut up! How Much Wealth Do You Need To Join The World’s Richest 1%? And remember, you will most likely be always poor in Monaco lol!
CURRENT EVENTS/POLITICS
Do you want proof how hot the real estate market is? How about buying a home online and missing the holes in the wall that somehow did not show up while touring it online? In the Pandemic, Online Home-Buying Picks Up Speed.
Our world is getting greener: The Greenest Countries in the World.
The honeymoon with the new administration is over, it is time to stop blaming the previous guys and the weather! It is time for RESULTS! Not looking good as far as new cases (going up), deaths (going up), tests (have collapsed) and vaccinations (not going up nowhere nearly as they need to be) are concerned, come on!
ODDZ & ENDZ
This is very cool! The Typewriter. In movies, must click!
Good read, all hail them Messenger RNA vaccines! 10 Breakthrough Technologies 2021 by the editors of MIT Technology Review.
In the previous post I brought you a bird that is half male half female. In this one I bring you an Ultra Rare, Canary Yellow Penguin Spotted on Remote Island in the Atlantic.
MILES & POINTS
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If you do not see a credit card with my affiliate links, perhaps I could refer you? Contact me!
This section is about my hobby addiction of collecting frequent flyer miles and hotel points since the early 1990’s! Feel free to skip this section and parts of the next one if this is not for you.
Newbies: You need a credit card these days. So, if you are going to use it why not get some rewards for it? If all this airline miles and hotel points world is just too much for you, well, it is perfectly okay, we are all different. Maybe you are best served with a 2% cash back no annual fee card. Just use it, get 2% cash back and skip these last two sections. Keep it simple and focus on the areas of your life you value the most. You will never see this advice at The Points Guy where they have a travel rewards (only the ones that pay them) several times every single day for you!
Alaska Airlines, for a limited time, will match your status on Delta, Southwest, or United Airlines for the rest of 2021 – no qualification requirements, no gimmicks. Just register by April 15, 2021.
Sweet! Ted Cruz Loses All Of His Marriott Award Points.
My daughter’s new Chase Southwest card is still not in our hands. Next week, it will be a whole month gone…we are going to have to get creative for the minimum spend in nine eight months with just a $2,000 credit line. Goal is to get to 100,000 points to get her the Southwest Companion Pass…#developing.
Today I am checking out of a Hyatt Place in Ann Arbor after four nights. And I decided to book another two nights (for four elite night credits) in a Category 1 property nearby using Hyatt Points for a net 2,500 points. Can you figure out how I did this? Hint: At the end of this two night stay I will be at 51 elite nights for the year!
BLOG BUZZ
We are now entering BLOG BUZZ, a section for advanced hobbyists and veterans of this fast imploding hobby and also a section where I go on and on about some stuff that happens in my life because it helps me feel better about myself.
So much buzz about a court case…Judge Rules Some Credit Card Rewards-Earning Activity Is Taxable. And everybody pretending to be a tax attorney just like so many recently have become epidemiologists! Maybe this is where I start the premium content for subscribers only? 🙂 So, let me just say I am going to comment on it if the case goes to Appeals lol.
I have become a paying supporter of Jodi at Legal Nomads and looking forward to whatever she creates after her life changing health setback. Life Updates: a Patreon, a New Newsletter, and a Site Redesign. It is hard to find authentic people online these days, there are so many clickbait tabloid sycophant whores posing as experts always selling something wasting our time. Please support quality people who add value to your life. Before they quit! It is up to YOU to improve the world you know. At least sign up for her free newsletter which she calls “Curious About Everything”…which I totally love as I have been curious about everything since birth!
I loved the new movie “The Mauritanian”.
And I leave you with this…
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Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.
Full Disclosure: The Ted Cruz article was parody in case you wondered.
And…First!
Happy Friday.
Sadly, Cruz getting Bonvoyed is satire.
Thanks for the links.
Big story in the Wall Street Journal about the age
race distribution of attitude toward the vaccines.
Yet more to worry about.
Thanks for the conversion, you know who. The $15 will go towards Jodi’s site 🙂 Together, we can fight back to improve the internet away from the tabloid clickbait pumping whores!
George, I laughed so hard when I read this today. I shuold make a t-shirt – “not a clickbait tabloid sycophant whore” haha.
Thank you for supporting my work over the years, and in this new project. It’s been really nice to feel creative again, even if my physical situation is the same. Adds a lot of joy – as do all the birds! Thanks again.
Hi Jodi:
Thanks for taking the time to comment here and an honor to be a supporter. And, you know, now that you mention my little rant…it is not bad at all and it was so spontaneous and authentic. Maybe one day I get the person who designed your birds to do a Tshirt design or logo for me 🙂
Sending healing thoughts.
George
The best kind of ranting. Happy to connect you to her if needed! Have a good rest of the weekend,
Jodi
Just thought I’d pop in to say there has been SO much hysteria about a Tax Court case with plenty of bad or misguided analysis.
And that’s coming from someone who IS a tax attorney. I’ve finally resigned to hide in the corner and stopped trying to correct the “sky is falling-ers”
There very little, if anything to worry about in this case.
The consequences were severe. Capped spending at $50k AND you can’t get the card anymore.
MEGA SAD
I think both arguments were kind of warped and maybe they were laid out under the influence of substances…
Far out cases like this are always good for the bloggers to pump some alarming content to get some clicks.
I think nothing will come off of it…
but what do I know, I am just a failed blogger who does not do tabloid clickbait…
Spring fever in Michigan today!
ABC – you couldn’t be more right! SUPER SAD!
TBB – The arguments on both sides were interested. I’ve read one writer who reached out to Eric Green (the partner of the attorney who represented the taxpayer, and founding partner at Green & Sklarz, check them out they are awesome) and Eric claimed that one potential theory as to why the IRS didn’t pursue the rebate argument was, in part, to avoid those of us in the hobby from claiming Hobby Losses on gift cards under IRC 182.
One piece that gets overlooked often is just how long and how much effort it takes to end up in Tax court. I mean that there are a lot of steps, and opportunities to resolve/negotiated with IRS BEFORE you even file a petition with the tax court. First there is an audit, then you can appeal the audit to negotiated with a 3rd party arbitrator, and THEN you petition the court. Even after you petition the court, you then have multiple opportunities to negotiate with IRS counsel before the case makes it to trial. Not to mention that even IF the court had penalized the taxpayers, they would never end up paying the full tax liability because there is a whole process of negotiating down the tax debt once its been assessed by the tax court.
In short, this is all to say, that there is a lot more to be worried about than the IRS coming for our rewards HA.
I do apologize for the mini-rant, as I hope is clear, I am only moderately passionate about this specific topic.
My goal in life is to not let my clients become Tax Court cases 🙂
Interesting to see if any changes happen after this case…
Thanks for the legal insight Josh.
Wow…that article about Dean Cummings was intense.A must read.
I reserve Top Picks for exceptional articles. And this was one of them! That twist…expecting the dude to die only to….well, to all, you just gotta read it.