FREEMAN-SPICER FINANCIAL SERVICES
Finance • Leasing • Accounting • Premium
316 South Eddy Street South Bend, IN 46617 / 574.234.0069 (V) • 574.234.6414 (F) • surekey@aol.com
Vol. 28, No. 12 • December, 2010 / www.Freeman-Spicer.com
Sing “Happy Birthday,” Pay Up . . . . . . . . In a new American Cancer Society ad, Justin Bieber enters an empty stadium, grabs the mike, and sings . . . the birthday song. Girls swoon, Bieber croons, and the ad charms even grownups with the text: “Here’s to more birthdays.” Bieber wasn’t the only one paid for the ad. The four-line ditty is owned by Warner/Chappell Music. Anyone using the words and melody for profit (humming the song is free) must pay. Yet Bob Brauneis, a law professor at George Washington University, thinks companies needn’t bother. “Warner has no claim to copyright,” he says, asserting that past owners didn’t follow proper copyright procedure. He also cites lack of proof that the alleged authors, the Hill sisters, actually wrote it. “If it went to court, I’m pretty certain they would lose,” he says. “The amount a user pays is the same as it costs for a lawyer to sneeze. So they just pay.” And pay big - some $2 million a year, according to tax reports. Warner/Chappell wouldn’t comment. (Daniel Roberts in Fortune Mag.)
December Factoid Lists:
• A duck’s quack doesn’t echo. No one knows why.
• 40% percent of McDonald’s profits come from the sales of Happy Meals.
• 315 entries in Webster’s 1996 Dictionary were misspelled.
• Ketchup was sold in the 1830's as a medicine.
• Leonardo da Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other at the same time.
• The original name for the butterfly was flutterby.
• Mosquito repellents don’t repel, they hide you. The spray blocks the mosquito’s sensors so they don’t know you’re there.
• The sentence “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” uses every letter in the English language. (L. Smith)
The Penny . . . . . . . “The penny is completely inefficient,” says former congressman Jim Kolbe, who twice introduced legislation to abolish the one-cent piece. “It seems such an obvious no-brainer to get rid of it.” In 2008, the U.S. spent $134 million to produce $80 million worth of pennies - about 1.7 cents/coin. And studies estimate that we lose as much as $1 billion annually from time wasted exchanging pennies. Thanks to Lincoln lovers and zinc lobbyists, though, the penny’s luck has yet to run out, and the U.S. will ship 5.9 billion of them in 2011, most of which will likely disappear into piggy banks and couch cushions. (Fast Company)
“If there is a 50 - 50 chance that something can go wrong, then nine times out of ten it will.” Paul Harvey
Michelle, Laura, Rachael and I would like to wish you a very happy holiday season and a healthy and successful New Year. We hope that the Freeman-Spicer Newsletter was able to put a smile on your face during the year. We also hope that we are successful of producing that same smile during
2011. Remember, if there’s an article you wish to share, you can find our newsletters at: www.Freeman-Spicer.com.
The Things We Buy . . . . . . The average American
household earns $63,857 before taxes and spends close to 80 percent of that figure. Here’s the breakdown:
□ $6,372 for Food or 12.99%
□ $16,895 for Housing or 34.43%
□ $1,725 for Apparel and Services or 3.52%
□ $7,658 for Transportation or 15.61%
□ $3,126 for Health Care or 6.37%
□ $2,693 for Entertainment or 5.49%
□ $5,471 for Insurance Premium or 11.15%
□ $5,127 for Miscellaneous or 10.45%
The Average U.S. Household: Age = 49.4 / 66% owns home / 1.3 = Number of Earners. (Newsweek)
Puns Intended . . . . . . . . .
♦ Two antennas met on a roof, fell in love and got married. The ceremony wasn’t much, but the reception was excellent.
♦ A jumper cable walks into a bar. The bartender says, “I’ll serve you but don’t start anything.
♦ Two peanuts walk into a bar, and one was a salted.
♦ A dyslexic man walks into a bra . . . . . .
♦ Two cannibals are eating a clown. One says to the other, “Does this taste funny to you?”
♦ Patient: “Doc, I can’t stop singing “The Green, Green Grass of Home?” Doc: “That sounds like Tom Jones Syndrome.” Patient: “Is it common?” Doc: “It’s not unusual...”
♦ Two cows are standing next to each other in a field. Daisy says to Dolly, “I was artificially inseminated this morning.” “I don’t believe you,” says Dolly. “It’s true; no bull,” exclaims Daisy.
♦ Two fish swim into a concrete wall. One turns to the other and says “Dam!”
♦ A woman has twins, and gives them up for adoption. One of them goes to a family in Egypt, and is named “Ahmal.” The other goes to a family in Spain; they name him “Juan.” Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself to his birth mother. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she wishes she also had a picture of Ahmal. Her husband responds, “They’re twins! If you’ve seen Juan, you’ve see Ahmal.” (P. Brown)
A Primer On Pain Relief . . . . . .
• Aspirin: - Anacin / Bayer / Bufferin / Ecotrin - Acetylsalicylic acid treats headaches and minor aches and pains, reduces fever, and lessens inflammation.
• Naproxen: - Aleve - Like aspirin, naproxen is very effective in lessening inflammation. Naproxen might have a slight edge over aspirin and ibuprofen: It’s usually taken every 8 to 12 hours instead of 4 to 6.
• Ibuprofen: - Advil / Motrin IB - Dosage differs, since 200 milligrams of ibuprofen is equal to 650 mg or aspirin or acetaminophen. Ibuprofen can be helpful for treating soft-tissue injuries such as strains and sprains, and it’s gentler on the stomach than aspirin.
• Acetaminophen: - Anacin Aspirin-Free / Tylenol - Because acetaminophen has almost no adverse effects on the stomach, it’s a good option for people who suffer from acid reflux or ulcers. It might be safer than other pain relievers for children and people with bleeding disorders or those on drug thinners. But acetaminophen does little or nothing to reduce inflamation, and taking even slightly more than the maximum recommended doses for a few days can be toxic. Combine with large or moderate amounts of alcohol and it can cause liver failure. (ConsumerReports.org)
Lesson Number 1 . . . . . . A man is getting into the shower just as his wife is finishing up her shower, when the doorbell rights. The wife quickly wraps herself in a towel and runs downstairs. When she opens the door, there stands Bob, the next-door neighbor. Before she says a word, Bob says, “I’ll give you $800 to drop that towel.” After thinking for a moment, the woman drops her towel and stands naked in front of Bob, after a few seconds, Bob hands her $800 and leaves. The woman wraps back up in the towel and goes back upstairs. When she get to the bathroom, her husband asks, “Who was that?” “It was Bob the next door neighbor,” she replies. “Great,” the husband says, “did he say anything about the $800 he owes me?” Moral of the story: If you share critical information pertaining to credit and risk with your shareholders in time, you may be in a position to prevent avoidable exposure. (Fournier)
Say We Just Want To Stay Home . . . . . . . How long will life on Earth survive? No more than about 7 billion years - at the outside. The ultimate threat will come from the aging sun, which will broil Earth but could leave real estate in the outer solar system looking good as formerly ice-shrouded moons and dwarf planets defrost and turn balmy. Pluto, whether it’s a planet or not, could someday turn out to be a great place to live.
• Asteroid Strikes - ETA = anytime. An asteroid could strike the planet, hitting with enough force to produce a surface-charring pulse of heat followed by years of sun-blocking dust that could freeze or starve survivors.
• Supernova - ETA - anytime. If a nearby star decides to end it all and go supernova, it’s energy pulse could destroy the ozone layer and bathe Earth’s surface in sterilizing radiation. Blasts strong enough to cause a mass extinction may happen as often as every half-billion years.
• Super-Volcano - ETA - anytime. Even an earthly super-volcano could put a crimp in civilization: A blast from Yellowstone might bury half the US in debris and shroud the planet in dust for years.
• Sun Boils Earth - ETA - 1 billion years. Like all stars, the sun is getting righter and hotter. A billion years from now that heat will render Earth uninhabitable, literally boiling the oceans away.
• Sun = Red Giant - ETA: 7 billion years. By this time, the sun will have begun its death throes and expanded into a red giant. Its outer reaches will extend so far they will engulf Earth in a thin but searing charged gas that will melt its surface. (Popular Science)
An Atheist In The Woods . . . . . An atheist was walking through the woods. “What majestic trees, what powerful rivers, what beautiful animals,” he said to himself. As he was walking alongside the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. He turned to look. He saw a 7-foot grizzly bear charge towards him. He ran as fast as he could up the path. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the bear was closing in on him. He looked over his shoulder again, and the bear was even closer. He tripped and fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up but saw that the bear was right on top of him, reaching for him with his left paw and raising his right paw to strike him. At that instant moment, the Atheist cried out: “Oh my God!” Time stopped. The bear froze. The forest was silent. As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky. “You deny my existence for all these years, teach others I don’t exist and even credit creation to cosmic accident. Did you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer?” The Atheist looked directly into the light and said: “It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat me as a religious person now, but perhaps you could make the BEAR a religious being?” “Very well,” said the voice. The lights went out, the sounds of the forest resumed. And the bear dropped his right paw, brought both paws together, bowed his head and spoke. “Lord bless this food, which I am about to receive from Thy bounty through your Name, Amen” (Novachek)
Remember One-Touch Automation, Inc. for all your home automation needs!
Sincerely,
Edward C. Levy
President