Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as IRS chaos, we were all wrong about Putin, how to handle headline anxiety, Russia economic blackout, Capital One cards exciting offers expiring today, amazing sports venues around the world, meet cruiser Super Mario, amazing maps, big financial questions where math does not provide the answer, a super tragic story of a man in Ukraine who found out his family died on Twitter, we learn about another virus we all get and a lot more! I realize there is a LOT here so maybe you should bookmark it and come back throughout the week, just a suggestion.
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TRAVEL
I first wrote about this guy back in 2018. And wondered what happened to him when cruising shut down after the pandemic hit. Meet ‘Super Mario’, the happiest guy in the world. Cruising non stop for 20 years…Hey, we are all different. I went on a cruise once, fully paid by Capital One points, many years ago and it’s just not my thing…
Amazing! The world’s 50 most beautiful sports venues — a thread
Continue with amazing…35 Informative Maps That Might Change Your Perspective On Things.
PERSONAL FINANCE
It’s rough over at the IRS. Years of getting pummeled in its budget and behind on the tech front. Decades of Neglect Leave I.R.S. in Tax Season ‘Chaos’. On top of the pandemic, being directed by Congress to expand to send money directly to taxpayers (stimulus and advance child tax credit payments) while…barely trying to catch up. 20 million tax returns from a year ago still need to be processed…the cascading effects of this are just awful. For crying out loud, stop filing your tax returns on paper!
The agency’s work force of about 75,000 is the same size as it was in 1970. Its enforcement staff has fallen by over 30 percent since 2010, and audits of millionaires have declined by more than 70 percent. And its budget has declined by nearly 20 percent, when accounting for inflation, during the last decade.
The days of just throwing money at the market buying pretty much anything to watch it go up are clearly over. Sanity has returned and we are undergoing a market correction. Which of course should not be something that shocks us. Of course, there are a lot of newbies out there who have never experienced something like that and are finding out how completely opposite it is seeing their money go down instead of the euphoria they enjoyed getting richer every day for a long stretch. And of course you get truly alarming headlines to make things truly scary. It is always different this time…but, truly, is not because every correction and bear market is “different”. Ok, Here are Ten Ways to Handle Headline Anxiety. And seriously, stop bitching and think of what the Ukrainians are going through!
Another great personal finance piece. This industry is a lot more personal than finance! Big Financial Questions? Step Away from the Spreadsheet.
That’s why I’ve written that when making decisions that involve your finances, it’s important to remember that not everything can be weighed and measured. Your personal preferences, appetite for risk (or peace of mind) and simplicity, and good old common sense are just as important to arriving at the right answer as is crunching the numbers.
UKRAINE WAR
Many were wrong. Including me. I Was Wrong About Putin.
Arsenyev put down his beer and said (in Russian, of course): “This man, Putin, will bring this country to hell. I know this for sure. It is the worst thing that could ever happen to us.”
“Why?” I asked.
“He is a Chekist,” he said, meaning an agent of the secret police. “Once a Chekist, always a Chekist. He is pure evil.”
One of the most tragic events from the war is about this guy who saw his family dead on Twitter, I mean, it boggles the mind! So, please stop bitching about how expensive the gas is or how your freedom is violated for having to wear a mask, come on! They Died by a Bridge in Ukraine. This Is Their Story.
This is very true: Russia’s Economic Blackout Will Change the World. Like all novel experiments, the group punishment of Russia is a leap into the unknown. Don’t say that Putin was not warned about the sanctions. But even in his scariest nightmare he would have suspected that they would be so deep and far reaching.
In a matter of days, the United States, Europe, and others have excommunicated Russia from the world stage, isolating the 11th-largest economy financially, commercially, and culturally. The U.S. and Europe have frozen foreign assets held by Russia’s central bank, hurting its ability to stabilize its currency. Private companies, including Apple, Netflix, Adidas, and BP, have cut off the Russian market, and the U.S. has moved to ban Russian oil imports. Sports leagues, film festivals, and other cultural institutions have banished Russian competitors. McDonald’s is closing its Russian franchises. Many of these measures are unprecedented for a country of Russia’s stature. Collectively, they amount to a radical worldwide experiment in moral retribution. If Vladimir Putin sought to expand the Russian empire by hard power, he has achieved the very opposite: the diminishment of Russia through an unprecedented display of global soft power.
Here are three ways that Russia’s economic blackout could change the world.
1) The Green-Energy Revolution Goes Into Warp Speed [How ironic that Putin will cause this huh?]
2) A New Chinese Empire [Will see…]
3) A Global Food Fight [My biggest fear if the war lasts..by far!]
This thread, wow! Lavrov is the Russian Foreign Affairs Minister. In the same post since…2004. Must read. On Lavrov’s mysteriously loaded mistress, and her daughter.
This picture from the Kharkiv train station is so depressing.
COVID-19
One consequence of the pandemic is that we all became epidemiologists learned a lot about viruses. The Puzzling Virus That Infects Almost Everyone. Statistically speaking, the virus known as Epstein-Barr is inside you right now. It is inside 95 percent of us. [Wow! TBB educates!]
For many people, Epstein-Barr virus causes mild initial infection, but it is also linked to cancers and multiple sclerosis. What do we do about it?
Where we stand today, must read! Dr. Sanjay Gupta: Is America ready to take the next step in its Covid-19 recovery?
ODDZ & ENDZ
You have never seen this type of Jellyfish, I guarantee it!
The Most Common Dreams in Every Country. Click to enlarge. For the record, I never had any dreams about teeth, what is wrong with so many people lol! For the Japanese is “Ex Relationship”. Shocked to see only Nigerians dream about sex. While the Saudis dream about marriage woohoo!
I posted about this family years ago. With Russia back in the news I thought it is okay to bring it back because it is still shocking! For 40 Years, This Russian Family Was Cut Off From All Human Contact, Unaware of World War II.
In 1978, Soviet geologists prospecting in the wilds of Siberia discovered a family of six, lost in the taiga.
Another wild story. I believe it is up to us to change. Like this guy did: Rodney Stotts Used to Hustle Drugs in Southeast DC. Now He’s One of the Few Black Master Falconers in America.
In an excerpt from his new memoir, “Bird Brother,” Stotts recounts his transformation from drug dealer to environmentalist, and the restorative power he discovered in wildlife.
MILES & POINTS
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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: The name of this game is earning big travel rewards credit card signup bonuses. The game is not for everyone! You must be responsible and ALWAYS pay the statement balance in full. NO EXCEPTIONS. You can often earn a lot more than what the annual fee of the credit card is (if it is not waived or a no annual fee card). Don’t go crazy. If it becomes too much handling one or two or thirty…it is NOT worth the loss of peace of mind, okay? Just realize that a bunch of supposedly expert blogs out there that you happen to see every day solely exist to SELL these credit cards to earn a lot OF money from affiliate commissions, do not fall for their sales pitches because they definitely do not look out for your best interests!
It has been a while since I applied for a travel rewards credit card (actually, it has been the longest time lapse in my thirty year career!). Last week I finally applied and was instantly approved for the Capital One Venture X Card. TODAY is the last day to apply for the great 100,000 points signup bonus (and $200 Airbnb credit). You add it to the $300 statement travel credit, four authorized user cards for free, Priority Pass lounge access, 10,000 points on each anniversary date and 2x earning on every dollar, it more than pays for itself for sure. Yes, you can help the blog if you appreciate the content here by using my Credit Card links, thank you! UPDATE: 100K OFFER IS DEAD! Here is another post to go a bit deeper on this card offer:
Why We Think the Venture X is the New #1 Card for Travelers
I remember the days when we could stay for five nights at a Hilton resort in Hawaii for 100,000 points TOTAL. These days Hilton credit card signup bonuses will allow you to stay there 1.5 nights at best. Until even that just got devalued even more, sad! Hilton Honors Major Point Devaluation. And this is why I am not going to renew my premium AmexHilton Aspire card and I am moving on to Capital One instead…
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.
Another Capital One card offer that is ending today is the Capital One Spark Cash Plus card. Check out the incredible headline below selling it. This card has a ridiculous $50,000 minimum spend to earn the ridiculously high $3,000 signup bonus. Again, supporting this blog to keep blogging on by using my Credit Card links is much appreciated!
Earn Up To $3,000 Cash Back Bonus Or 300,000 Bonus Miles On The Capital One Spark Cash Plus Card!
If you got the Brex card, you should know: Brex Closing Out Dormant Accounts, Use Up Your Rewards.
It looks like the bloggers finally killed this deal too…Caesars Stopping ‘Unearned’ Status Matches Between Wyndham.
Looks like the Frugal Travel Guy website is no longer online sitting there like a corpse. It is gone. When you type the URL it sends you to, please sit down, Flyertalk. I bet it sold for less than one credit card conversion, zing! I am not selling so early you guys. 🙂
Marathon training is going great, today is rest day after a 16 mile run yesterday in a snowstorm! As soon as I finished, the sun came up, story of my life lol.
Let me leave you with this…
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TBB
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“The green energy revolution goes into warp speed” – No. There never even was a revolution–the solar and wind gains of the past decade were greatly helped by lower fossil fuel costs, ironically enough. I encourage anyone with an interest in the topic to read the latest from Goehring & Rozencwajg (link below). Until we go all-out for nuclear and get a quantum leap in battery technology, there will be no green energy revolution.
https://info.gorozen.com/q4-2021-market-commentary-the-distortions-of-cheap-energy
Never let a crisis go to waste! Billions of € will be spent of all forms of non-liquid energy in Europe and there’s suddenly a debate to build nuclear power plants. It will take some time, but the time line to become carbon neutral within the EU has been accelerated.
The China/Russia relationship may have a great impact on the world economy. I can not imagine that the Chinese leaderships would risk its role in the world economy. Especially now that lock downs are more common AND the real estate bubble has popped.
7 hour meeting yesterday in Rome between US and China reps…some serious diplomacy going on between them. I think there is an underlying push by the West to just bury Putin and let him collapse…maybe getting too late for an exit ramp for him…Sadly, a lot more civilians will die as he is really getting desperate recruiting Syrian fighters and begging China for help. I see three European Prime Ministers to visit Kyiv tomorrow and….what happens if they are met with a Russian missile? We are in Day 19 now…and counting and the Ukrainians are kicking some Russian ass. Never underestimate morale!
Why wouldn’t they even maintain the FTG site? Surely there’s some residual SEO value there? Puzzling.
I kind of miss the Ingy vs George duels.
Thanks for the links!
I’d bet the German response to the invasion of the Ukraine indicates
how energy policy will develop.
Blew 2 Hilton certs on the Berlin Waldorf Astoria following the Berlin Marathon (adding to the 4 nights in a suite in the Berlin Grand Hyatt).
Burned United miles to get there flying coach because. well, 33k vs 295k miles one way LOL. That is going to hurt a little bit.
Still need to book the way back…
Time will tell about the green revolution.
All the FTG stuff was just wiped out. Vanished. I am going to keep mine up here for my gandkids to see what legend their grandpa was woohoo.
I miss Ingy too…a lot!
Germans still buying and paying for oil every day, 700 mil per day….it’s like you are on meth….can’t quit cold turkey I guess…not like I have ever done meth! 🙂
I am starting to think Putin is getting really desperate here…
Also, I am sensing Mondays are way too busy for everyone. Maybe I do the Buzz posts on Fridays and a much lighter Best of Web type post on Mondays.
If I were Gurdeep Singh, I would NOT have asked for a correction. He must have been swamped with offers. He could have been THE MAN.
Who still spends $$ on hotel CCs? Wyndham’s CC may still have a place if you’re not banned from Barclays.
IB still owns the FTG domain.
Gurdeep is every man’s idol lol.
Well, Gary VFTW still found 14 reasons he loves the Hyatt Visa card….and none of them is the sales commission!!!
Still sad not to see my friend Ingy out there blogging to tell friends and family how to travel for free 🙂
Buzz, thanks for the great links. Incredible photos, tough and sad the train station. Hard to believe in this day and age that we still have to put up with assholes.
I can’t even count the number of threatening notices I have received from the IRS in the last two years…it’s over 20…and yes all of them are incorrect.
I’ve been dealing with long Covid for 22 months now, and I’m just getting over a respiratory infection, a sinus infection, and whooping cough. Been a helluva year already, can hardly wait to get to Italy in May…assuming it’s still there.
Great to hear about your training, good luck and best to the family
Stay strong and beat the crap out of Covid. And the Ukrainians are doing their best to beat the crap out of Putin with his spectacularly colossal mistake, wow!
Italy should be there in May…I think.
Thanks for the kind words and the support, always much appreciated.
Do you have a referral link for the AmEX plat restaurant offer?
There are so many AmexPlat offers out there is hard to keep track of!
There is a referral link in son’s account:
Your friend can earn:
100,000
Membership Rewards® points after they use their new Card to make $6,000 in purchases within their first 6 months of Card Membership. Plus, for a limited time if they apply for this Card by 06/08/2022, they can earn 10x points at restaurants worldwide on up to $25,000 in eligible purchases during the first 6 months of Card Membership. Your friend will also be able to choose from other available American Express Personal and Business Card offers. You can receive your referral bonus no matter what Card your friend is approved for. Terms Apply.
I think the best offer out there is 150,000 MR points and the 10x on restaurants, no? If not…..and the offer above is the best one, please let me know so I can provide the referral link! Thank you