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Wednesday, November 4, 2015

New Social Security Changes buried in Budget Act of 2015 kills "File and Suspend" Strategy for Retirees

The Congress, Senate, and President screwed future retirees and didn't tell you about it.

They cut our Social Security Benefits !!!
(from http://theliepolitic.com/2015/10/why-they-really-want-to-cut-social-security/)

On Monday November 2, 2015, President Obama signed into law the "Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015" which was proposed and passed by both the Republicans and Democrats in both Houses of Congress. As part of this Act, the section "TITLE VIII - SOCIAL SECURITY, Subtitle C - Protecting Social Security Benefits" essentially eliminates the ability for future retirees to collect spousal benefits while suspending their own at the same time.

The new Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 still allows individuals to:

"File and Suspend" their benefits once they reach full retirement age, allowing benefits to grow by 8% annually; or to
Collect the higher of spousal benefits or the benefits based on their own work record.

But, people cannot both "file and suspend" and "collect" at the same time unless they are already doing so. This means that nothing can be collected from a "suspended" account.

In the past, any person who reached full retirement age could "file and suspend" their benefits. Then, if married (or divorced), they could collect spousal benefits based on their partner's SSI work history. This meant that both a husband and wife could simultaneously suspend their benefits from age 66 to 70, and one of them could collect a spousal benefit at the same time (which is equal to 1/2 of a persons FRA benefit).

However, the new Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 prevents anyone from collecting benefits on "suspended" account, and after April 30 2016, nobody can "file and suspend" if they are collecting spousal benefits.

Congress provided very little time for both retirees and near-retirees to react and adjust their retirement strategies:

They prevent anyone who turns 62 after December 31 2015 from both collecting spousal benefits and suspending their benefits. Once they have received a benefit (either theirs or spousal), they have forfeited their right to suspend. However, if they do not collect, they may suspend.
Those who are 62 and above at the end of 2015 can collect spousal benefits and suspend at the same time.
But, to qualify for the above, their spouse has only 180 days to have either: begun collecting or have "filed and suspended" benefits. Since the Act was signed into law on November 2 2015, the 180 day grace period ends on April 30 2016. If a spouse has not filed before this date, the spousal benefit is forfeited.

What steps MUST you take?

There is very little wiggle room in this new law. However, the "small" group of people who are 66 or older can still protect most of their benefits.

First, if you are of Full Retirement Age (now or soon), either file for benefits or "file and suspend" before April 30 2016.
Second, if you have reached FRA and have not filed - do so immediately. If you do this after April 30 2016, you lose the ability for someone to collect your spousal benefits.
Third, if you can file, do so immediately. We anticipate that SSI will experience backlogs as the April 30th deadline nears, and many will be "out of luck" simply due to bureaucracy.
Fourth, those of you who are already collecting benefits are "grandfathered-in", meaning you will not lose their benefits. So, don't worry, you are not affected.

Examples

Situation 1:Tom 68 has filed for benefits 2 years ago and suspended his payments. His wife, Elaine 66, began collecting spousal benefits and suspended her payments as well. Action: Since they have both filed, above FRA, and already collecting, nothing will change.

Situation 2: Fred is 67, above FRA, but he did not file for benefits. By not filing, Fred's benefits are growing at 8% per year (just like suspending). His wife Alice is 65 and will turn 66 next October, and she expects to suspend her benefits then and begin collecting spousal benefits. Action: Fred must "File and Suspend" NOW. If he does not file before April 30 2016, Alice will not be able to both suspend her benefits and collect spousal benefits in October.

Assuming Fred does file in time, Fred and Alice must make more decisions. If Alice begins to collect spousal benefits, then Fred must "unsuspend" and beging receiving SSI as well. Alice can continue to defer her benefits until age 70 because she was older than 62 on December 31 2015.

Because Alice does is not of FRA before the April 30th deadline, Fred cannot collect spousal benefits on Alice's account.

Situation 3: Mike turns 66 in February. His wife Jean is 64. Action: Mike must file for SSI in February. He can either take benefits or defer. Because Jean is currently above 62, she retains the ability to collect spousal benefits and to defer her own SSI payments. If Mike files after April 30, Jean will lose her option to collect and defer.

Situation 4: Bobby is turning 66 in March 2016. His wife Rachel is 61, and turns 62 on January 1 2016. Action: Bobby should file in March and can defer or receive payments. Rachel cannot defer if she receives any SSI benefits at all whether they be her own or spousal. This is because she is under 62 on December 31 2015.

Why were these changes made?

Because only a small group of old people will be affected (those near retirement age)
Those already receiving benefits will not care
The younger people are too dumb to know what happened
The Congress and President want to increase their own retirement benefits
To save Social Security?
To close a loophole?
Because we want to spend more on Government and screw the American public

Notes and references:

H.R.1314 - Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015

TITLE VIII - SOCIAL SECURITY
Subtitle C - Protecting Social Security Benefits
Sec. 831. Closure of unintended loopholes.
Signed into law by President Obama on Monday November 2 2015
Senate Passed
Congress Passed

42 USC 402: Old-age and survivors insurance benefit payments

Existing SSI Law - prior to Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015

Neither of two articles below mentions the above changes.

This source helps to describe the changes.

Here's How Congress Just Cut Social Security For Baby Boomer Couples

Friday, April 10, 2015

Google changing mobile search listings April 21 !!!

Google is changing it's mobile search engine results listings.

Beginning April 21 2015, it will only display sites that are mobile friendly when searches are performed on mobile devices !!!

This means, if you have a website and have not prepared a mobile version of it, then your site will most likely not be listed on mobile phone or tablet searches.

Announcements of this change are only beginning to circulate, so many are not aware if this major change. To borrow a phrase from Dancing with the Stars:

Are you in Jeopardy?

You can quickly find out by taking Google's " Mobile-Friendly Test ". Simply click on this link and enter your URL.

If you receive an "Awsome! This page is mobile-friendly" banner, then you are all set.

But, if you get a "Not mobile-friendly" banner, you have work to do.

So what should you do now? First, test you generic webpage url and get that in order. Second, begin checking important pages within your site to make sure that they will appear. This will be a lot of work for most website owners but it needs to be done.

You can learn more by visiting these resources.

Best of luck - it sounds like it will be a long summer.

Thursday, July 3, 2014

Hamburgers or Hot Dogs? What's your 4th of July favorite?

As I was driving to work this morning, I was reminded on the radio that today is the Nathan's Famous Forth of July International Hot Dog-Eating Contest to be held at City Hall in New York City.

But, I'm not a huge hot dog fan (because they always repeat on me and have an after-taste).

Hamburgers or hot dogs? (from http://www.roadfood.com)

Instead, I would rather eat a good hamburger or cheeseburger. My favorites are fresh hand-pressed patties (1/3 to 1/2 pound), with a little salt & pepper seasoning and cooked medium rare on a barbecue grill. These seem to retain the juices much better than the store processed thin patties, and they do not burn or dry out. I like the 80% mixture, because there is enough fat to melt throughout and keep the meat moist.

Two of my best friends like hot dogs better. One of them will eat a dog wherever they are offered, on the street, in a fancy restaurant, or at home. Whenever we are entertained by these two, they always cook a dozen or more at a time. They don't mind that only half are eaten because they eat the rest as leftovers (even for breakfast).

With tomorrow being the 4th of July, we will be spending it with my brother-in-law, who also loves hot dogs. I'll eat a couple just to be polite.

That left me wondering whether other people preferred hamburgers or hot dogs.

If you get a chance, please drop a comment and let me know. I'd love to know what other bloggers and readers like better.

And with that,

I want to wish everyone a wonderful 4th of July !!!

Happy 4th of July (from http://www.4thofjulyimages.com)

JL .........

Friday, September 20, 2013

Recovering from an Unnatural Links Penalty - A Real Life Example

Many website and blog posts written as guides to help someone recover from an unnatural links penalty only describe generic actions that one may take. Unfortunately, as most have found, these articles rarely deal with specific actions, and leave the violators at a loss for resolving the underlying issue.

This post describes a real experience of how a fellow blogger removed an unnatural links penalty violation and restored his PageRank.

Background
In mid-August, I received a message from a blogging friend stating that he had received a notice from Google in Webmaster Tools indicating that his blog violated Google's quality quidelines. As a result, his blog may or may not appear in search results, or not place as highly in the results. In addition, Google provided him with a specific post.

This type of violation is commonly referred to as an:

"Unnatural Links Penalty".

His blog is hosted on Blogger, is 7 years old, has over 1,000 posts, and enjoyed a PageRank of 3. (Note that out of respect for his privacy, I will not list his name or blog URL).

Google gets tough on link sellers with PageRank penalty (from venturebeat.com)

At the time I was contacted, his PageRank had dropped to 0, but the blog was still appearing in search results. Prior to contacting me, the blogger attempted to fix this violation by searching the web and asking for help in the google forums. To that extent, he had received a couple of good suggestions which he followed. However, these actions did not resolve the problem.

Primarily, my friend's blog is a personal blog, consisting of a variety of stories, opinions, and observations. However, in his attempt to generate revenue, he enrolled in a few "Sponsored Pay per Review" programs and began writing sponsored posts. Thinking that these posts were causing the problem, he changed the included URL's to "nofollow" and asked for reconsideration. That did not help. Further, people told him that it appeared his site was "just selling links" and did not have a consistant theme. These comments were frustrating and disappointing to the blogger.

My Review
The first course of action that I took was to understand what steps had already been taken. After learning this, I realized that the penalty was "blog" related and not "post" specific.

So, I began looking at all the widgets and links he had on his sidebar and footings. There, I recommended that he remove all the "Sponsored Post" links and images. Next, I found a link to a gambling site that needed to be removed. Still, the penalty remained.

Finally, I followed the remaining widgets that he placed on the blog. At the bottom was a link to a "Book Review" site. When I visited that site, I saw 2 reviews. Both were reviews of individual posts on his blog with links back to the posts. I realized that this created a "circular" link from his blog, to that site, and back to his blog. Clearly, that was unnatural.

He then removed that advertising widget from his blog and he asked for reconsideration. Within days, he received a message from Google saying that the violation was removed and the penalty would be lifted. At last, the problem was discovered! By the end of the following day, the blog's page rank was restored back to 3 again and all is now well.

Lessons learned - Things to Avoid
Very often, unnatural links can be created out of ignorance. Many times, a blogger or webmaster is simply trying to take advantage of the tools available. This is particularily true for seasoned and experienced authors. However, some blogs and websites are created the with malicious intent to boost their PageRanks and earn a quick buck. While Google can distinguish between the age of the sites, it cannot always tell what the motivation is. Thus, play it safe and try to maintain a clean enviromnent.

From this experience and my previous encounters, my friend and I learned a few important lessons.

Try to avoid penalties by refraining from violating guidelines entirely. Always err on the side of caution.
Refrain from writing Sponsored Posts. However, if you do this, make sure that: you begin by saying that you are being paid for the content of the post; and be sure to set each link in that post as "no follow".
Do Not place links to your blog or website on other websites or blogs. This includes comments.
Do Not place links to gambling (i.e. those where you can actually gamble or practice gambling) or other prohibited site.
Enroll your blog or website on Google's Webmaster Tools. By doing this, you can be alerted to violations, rather that operating in the dark.
Do Not link sub-domains together or to your site. Sub-domains are considered to be unique URLs. When you use and reference sub-domains, you are effectively creating fake circular links.

Removing a violation
If you do receive an unnatural links penalty notice, first read and understand Google's content guidelines. Then, follow the advice of this post. You have to think back and remember at all your actions and question everything that you have done. For example: Did you leave your links in comments just to get a backlink?, Did you write Sponsored posts and not indicate it?, Are you using sub-domains?, etc.

An Exception
One exception to "circular" unnatural links are those you would list in a "Links to My Other Sites" section. These should only be links to other sites that you own, and the heading should be labeled clearly.

Summary
Whenever you question one of your links or widgets, flag them as "no follow" or remove them entirely. If you are hesitant to make these type of changes to restore your credibility, then perhaps the violation was intended rather than accidental; and thus, a penalty is warranted.

JL..........

Friday, July 26, 2013

How to add Mathematical Formulas to a Blog or Webpage

I've recently been working on a mathematical derivation of the Poisson Distribution and am nearing its completion. As I am planning to document this information, I realized that the simplest explanation is to illustrate the underlying formulas.

Through my browsing, I found a couple of webpages that include various formulas. By accident, I happened to "right click" on one of them and was presented with a pop-up menu from MathJax.

Following the links, I learned that MathJax is exactly what I need.

For example, the Poisson distribution formula is:

`P(X)=(e^-mu mu^x)/(x!)`

To get this to display correctly in Blogger or a webpage, two things must first be done.

First: The template must be edited and a CDN link to MathJax must be added. The line to be added is:

<script src="http://cdn.mathjax.org/mathjax/latest/MathJax.js?config=AM_HTMLorMML-full" type="text/javascript">

and it should be placed just before the </head> tag. Once you have added this line, make sure you save the blog template or webpage. This only has to be done once in each blog or webpage where you want to display formulas.

Second: Now that this is complete, you may now enter formulas. This should always be done in raw HTML mode (but this is not necessary in Blogger).

The syntax for MathJax is very similar to mathematical expressions when using ASCII Math notation. The html code for the above Poisson formula is:

`P(X)=(e^-mu mu^x)/(x!)`

The formula will remain in this format when you are editing the webpage or blog post. But, when you display it after it is published and viewed in a browser, the MathJax script will translate the HTML syntax into the corresponding mathematical formula.

Additional Helpful Links

Friday, May 3, 2013

One reason college graduates and the unemployed cannot find jobs

May and June are graduation months. During this period, between 1.5 and 2.2 million students will be graduating from college with associates, bachelors, masters, and doctorate degrees.

In addition, between 6 and 8 million college age students will be looking for summer employment.

At the same time, the politicians and news media are trying to paint a rosy picture of how the economy is improving. They cite that an average of 200,000 new jobs are being created monthly. This translates into 2.4 million new jobs per year.

But, when we compare the number of graduates who will be entering the workforce to the number of jobs being created, we find a net difference of only 200,000 to 900,000 new jobs over the year.

The problem facing young graduates is the pure size of those graduating all at once. Of the total 1.5 to 2.2 million looking for work, only 200,000 jobs will be available in any one month. That leaves a large number who will not be employed right away. A Townhall article cites that only 16% of those graduating from college this year have already landed a job. That translates into 240,000 to 352,000 with jobs, which represents between 1 and 2 months of employment gain.

Making matters worse for the new graduates, is the fact that there is approximately 8 times more people who are currently unemployed and competing for new jobs (i.e. 10 to 12 million people).

Thus, at a time when jobs are hard to find, the new graduates only compound the unemployment situation. Using the current economic growth rate, it will take more than 10 years before everyone is absorbed into the workforce.

But, there are certain things that college graduates and others can do to improve their chances of finding a job. First, and foremost, is to consider moving to a region of the country where jobs are available. Several states where unemployment is lower than the national average are: Iowa, Minnesota, Wyoming, Kansas, Hawaii, Vermont, New Hampshire, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Texas.

While many graduates and their parents want their sons and daughters to remain home, very often there are not too many jobs available for those with your education. However, if you are willing to move, you may find that your specialty is in need somewhere else.

Now is the time for young graduates to make the move. Think of it as travel, an adventure. As a young person, you may not be tied down with a spouse or children. Second, you have a chance to get away. Third, if it doesn't work out, you can always move back home again.

Everything’s Bigger in Texas…Except the Unemployment Rate

Best of luck and congratulations to all!

Sources:

Friday, March 8, 2013

2 Ravens (or Crows) attack a squirrel and carry it away

When I left work two weeks ago, I saw my first robin pecking at the ground. Ah, "Spring is here" I thought. The temperatures were warming up and most of the snow had melted.

The next morning, I was home, drinking a cup of coffee and looking out at the early Saturday morning sun.

A squirrel was in a tree building a nest in a nearby tree. Yes I thought, indeed "Spring is here".

The nest was quite large, about 2 feet in diameter (I guess) and was located in the crock of two branches about 20 feet above the ground. The squirrel would run and jump to adjacent branches, nibble off a twig, and then insert it into the nest. Every so often, the squirrel entered the nest and appeared to push everything into place.

After I watched the squirrel jump off to another branch, a big black bird landed about a foot away from the nest. It stood there, cocking its head, looking at the nest. At first I thought it was a crow, but it looked awfully large. So, I decided it must be a Raven.

As the squirrel returned to the nest, the raven hopped away. But when the squirrel ran off to get another twig, the raven boldly hopped over to the nest and looked into it. Then the squirrel returned and the raven backed away.

I thought it was odd that the squirrel ignored the bird, but it must not have felt threatened.

When the squirrel left the nest again, a second raven landed on an adjacent branch. "Two against one", I thought. But the both birds just stood on the branches, watching the busy squirrel.

When the squirrel returned one more time, and entered the nest, the two ravens attacked. With open wings, they hopped onto the nest. The first raven grabbed the squirrel by the neck, and the second raven took the tail. Then they flew off together with the squirrel trying to get free. I watched them fly until they disappeared over the trees.

"Wow" I thought! I didn't know that crows or ravens would attack a living squirrel. I knew they were scavengers and would eat a dead carcass, but I didn't know that they would hunt in pairs and kill their prey.

I told this story to my mother-in-law who is 85 years old. She grew up on a farm and told me "Oh yes, they do attack animals". She said that when she was young, her mother told her to watch the chickens and chase away any birds that would land. But, as she was watching, a big crow (or raven perhaps), swooped down from the sky, grabbed a small chicken, and flew away with it. Just like that!

So now when I look out my window and see that unfinished nest, I think about the poor squirrel who was just trying to make a summer home for itself and live in harmony with all the wild creatures. I guess "Spring is really here"!

Read more:
I found a very similar story titled: Wild Bird Wednesday

Friday, February 15, 2013

Why the U.S. economy will not improve under President Obama - Part I

People do what they know best. They also tend to stay away from topics (or subjects) about which they are least comfortable.

Thus, it is logical that President Obama promotes research and education, yet avoids economics and the mathematical fundamentals of stimulating the economy.

To best understand his positioning, one need only to listen to his campaign style speeches or read his past State of the Union addresses. In all, he continually promotes the need for more research and education for all. He repeatedly says that economic growth will be derived from an educated society and that research will lead to technological advances which will fuel future manufacturing demands.

This is all true. But unfortunately, the current state of the economy borders on another recession and GDP is at or below 0%. And since the benefits of education and research may not be realized for years, one may ask: Why does the President continue to promote these as cures to our faltering economy?

The answer to this question is found in Mr. Obama's own higher education. His undergraduate degree was a major in political science with an international relations focus. He then attended law school and earned a J.D. Neither of these degrees are mathematically oriented which is important in understanding the fundamentals of economics.

Most people learn early in their education careers that they are better in either mathematics or in English. Those who are good in math tend to study engineering, economics, math, the sciences, or medicine. Those who are good in English tend to study English, history, political science, law. Rarely do students excel in both math and English.

Mr. Obama was good in English, and therefore gravitated to law. He is an excellent speaker and reads the teleprompter flawlessly.

However, he does not seem to be very good at mathematics. Thus he stays away from hard economic issues of how business influences economic growth which then translates into increased taxable income. But, he does focus on broad social issues and simply relies on raising taxes as the means of government income.

Mr. Obama does comprehend the important need for more governmental revenue in order to pay for the social programs he promotes.

But, he is not mathematically smart enough nor creative enough to think about how to raise governmental income. This is why President Obama's only solution is to raise taxes.

As long as the President maintains this singular solution, the U.S. economy will continue to sputter because the real problem of stimulating business growth has not been addressed.

In our upcoming future posts, we will discuss:

Why it is wrong for the President to continually promote the "Middle Class",
How Mr. Obama's education policy affects the unemployment problem, and
Why Mr. Obama does not like the oil companies.

Sources:

Friday, January 25, 2013

My Dynamic View Experience using Google's Blogger

We've heard the politicians tell us that the U.S. economy is recovering and that a lot of jobs are being created. But, every time we read the newspapers, watch TV, or listen to the radio, we hear about a major layoffs in various companies.

So, last December, I decided to start a new blog recording the major layoffs occurring in the United States that I've read or heard about. I figured that by doing this, it would be easier to judge whether the politicians were right or wrong.

Thus, I launched the blog US Corporate Layoffs using Blogger's Dynamic View template as shown below.

When using Dynamic Views, the visitor is offered a choice of views by which they can see your site. However, the author must choose a default, or master, view. I chose the Classic view template because it is more like the other standard Blogger templates in that it simply presents all the blog posts in single scrollable format.

I had several reasons for using the Dynamic View template. First, I just think it looks "cool". Second, a user can change the display format by himself, and see just Thumbnails, or lists of posts at a glance. Third, because of the nature of the content, I thought that a simple, uncluttered, structure would be the most appropriate.

Lastly, I thought that because Dynamic Views were nearly 2 years old, Google would have most of the bugs corrected.

However, I was wrong about Google's performance and found a few frustrating features inherent in Dynamic Views.

Often, when the blog is initially loaded, the CSS heading and sidebar links fail to load. When this occurs, the selected color scheme is gone as well. The visitor is required to refresh the page 1 or more times in order to see the site properly.
When writing and pressing the Preview button 2 times or more time, the resulting Preview often displays the wrong post and loses the s resultse CSS formatting.
After the post Preview is shown, the overlay "Preview" banner in the upper left corner doesn't display. This leads to confusion as to whether the post has been published or not.
When adding and placing images in a post, the published image placement may not be placed exactly where it shows in the post editor or the preview window. This then results in other formatting problems that may be seen in the published post.
Embedded post images do not become Thumbnails display in the Flipcard, Magazine, Mosiac, Snapshot, or Timeslide views unless they (the images) were uploaded directly into the post. (They cannot be and not hosted by a 3rd party).
Changing the blog default color scheme doesn't work unless you use IE browser.
3rd Party widgets such as nRelate, Feedjit, will not display.

Below are samples of alternate layouts. The first is the Flipcard. As you will see, only one post has an image Thumbnail. The others only contain the post Title text. The reason for this is because I only embedded an image into the first post. All the others are links to other 3rd party locations.

The second layout shows the Timeslide format. Again, because only the first post image is embedded, it is the only Thumbnail shown in the display. While all the other posts contain graphic images, they do not display as Thumbnails.

In summary, although I find some of the Dynamic View features lacking, I think that the overall effect of using Dynamic Views for this blog is most appropriate. However, if you are considering using Blogger's Dynamic Views, be fully aware of its limitations before beginning to use these templates.

Friday, January 4, 2013

How to delete (or change) a Blogger label

This post describes how to delete a Blogger label using the new Blogger interface.

I recently wanted to change one of the Blogger labels that I assigned to my posts. To do this, I added the new replacement label which was rather easy. This was done by selecting the posts that I wanted, and selecting the "New label..." option from the labels pull down menu on my blog's Posts page.

But when I wanted to delete the old label, I could not find a "Delete label" choice.

I was lost. So I searched Blogger help and unfortunately could not find the correct answer. I found one answer that described how to do this with the old Blogger interface, so that was useless.

The second help answer described how to change the name of a label. Reading through that, I found that I was to select a "Remove label" choice from the label actions menu. But, that choice was not there.

So I experimented. I selected one of the posts that had the label I wanted to remove (by checking the box next to the blog post), and then, I selected the old label from the pull-down label action menu. I found that this action worked as a toggle. If the label was already there, it was removed. But, if the label was not there, then it was added to the post.

I also learned that my approach to changing a Blogger label was correct. From the Google Blogger help, changing a label is done by adding a new label and then deleting the old one.

In summary, if you are using Blogger and want to delete a label you must:

Go to your blog's Posts page in Blogger
Click the check boxes next to each post that contains the label you want to delete
Then, click on the label inside the "Label Pull-down menu"
If the label is already on that post, it will be deleted. (if it is not there it will be added)

Or, if you want to change a Label, you must

First add a new label to all the posts to be changed
And then, you must delete the old label using the method described above.

Hope this helps !!!

Friday, December 28, 2012

Your Taxes are going up in 2013 regardless of the Fiscal Cliff

At some point, the House of Cards will fall apart.

America has been operating without a budget since 2011. During that year, the Congress, Senate, and President tried to negotiate a budget, but continually failed because President Obama and the Treasury Department wanted to raise the debt ceiling (Fear Not: the Federal Government has shutdown before and Social Security checks kept flowing). By August 2011, an agreement was reached. The debt ceiling was allowed to be raised to $16.3 trillion, and a "Super Committee" was formed to to address fiscal reform. In the event that the committee failed to agree on a solution, mandatory budget cuts in 2013 would take effect as a safeguard to our economy.

The Super Committee talks collapsed after a short while, and the economy has been running on auto pilot since then.

Now we are approaching the beginning of 2013 and the 2011 budget cuts, now called the Fiscal Cliff, are scheduled to go into effect. Although Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, and other economists were concerned that these cuts would trigger a new recession, our elected lawmakers have again failed to resolve this critical issue. President Obama's solution is to raise taxes on those individuals earning more than $200,000 per year and has requested the authority to increase the debt ceiling at his discretion, with an unlimited topside amount. Republicans in the House of Representatives do not want to raise taxes on anyone. And, conservatives want to limit entitlement spending.

In an attempt to bully the Republican Congressmen, the Democratic leadership has led a campaign against the Republicans, convincing the American public that it is the Republican Party who is responsible for failing to resolve the budget issue.

To complicate matters, the Secretary of the Treasury, Timothy Geithner, warned that the U.S. budget ceiling would be reached on December 30th, 2012, just two days before the mandatory budget cuts are implemented.

Needless to say, the Democrats are beginning to panic at the thought of being constrained by the required budget. This is why President Obama cut his Hawaiian Vacation short and returned to Washington DC yesterday.

Mr. Obama had campaigned on raising the taxes on the rich. He carefully avoided informing the public that new ObamaCare taxes on all income earning Americans, regardless of income level, would also become effective in the beginning of 2013.

This means that everyone who generates income will be paying more in taxes beginning 2013. The only question is how much more will be paid. If the legislature fails to avert the "fiscal cliff", the Obama give-away program begin to come to an end while all those who are still working will help to reduce the national debt.

If a new budget agreement is reached, current taxpayers will begin to pay these new taxes in 2013 due to ObamaCare:

Medical-device excise tax 2.3%, paid by elderly, sick, injured, needy
Limited Flexible Spending Accounts (30 million working Americans) tax deductions for health care costs will be capped at $2,500 rather than unlimited
Tax deduction for medical expenses exceeding 10% of annual income (up from 7.5 %)
Increase in Medicare tax from 1.45% to 2.35%
Tax increase of 3.8% on investment income for those earning $250,000 or more. Capital gains increase from 15% to 20%. Dividends tax rises from 15 to 39.6%. Plus, with ObamaCare, capital gains tax rate raised to 23.8% and dividends raised to 43.4%.
Employer Payroll tax increase

However, if we do go over the fiscal cliff, all working taxpayers will be subjected to these additional taxes as well (see What falling ...)

Income of $20,000 to $30,000: $1,064 average tax increase
Income of $40,000 to $50,000: $1,729 average tax increase
Income of $50,000 to $75,000: $2,399 average tax increase
Income of $75,000 to $100,000: $3,688 average tax increase
Income of $100,000 to $200,000: $6,662 average tax increase
Income of $200,000 to $500,000: $14,643 average tax increase
Income of $500,000 to $1 million: $38,969 average tax increase
Income of more than $1 million: $254,637 average tax increase

So, in summary, our legislative and executive body struck a budget agreement in 2011 which will now become effective in 2013. Taxes are going up on everyone whether we go over the fiscal cliff or not. This goes beyond a Republican verses Democrat debate. The budget ceiling is reached and now the future is here for our President and congressional leaders to begin spending in a rational and responsible manner. The House of Cards is about to fall apart, but the only question is when it will collapse: Now or Later?

Sources: ObamaCare Taxes

Sources: Fiscal Cliff

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Merry Christmas. Christ is Born!

Two thousand twelve years ago, our Savior, Jesus Christ, was born in a manger in Bethlehem. Since that time, we have celebrated his birth. Originally religiously, we now remember this miraculous event in grandiose fashion. Christmas! A day of giving! A day symbolized by Santa Clause, Christmas trees, outdoor lighting, caroling, and feasting.

It is also a day for us to remember our lost ones. Jesus was born to die for our sins.

Even in black times, our spirits turn back to this marvelous event. A child is born. A child who will change the world. A child who will later die for us. A child who will receive our souls and give us eternal life in a spiritual world.

With hope of life, this young innocent child protects our spirit, and oversees our daily lives. He's there for us whenever we need him. He is there when we are born. He is there when we die.

So as we celebrate this holiday season, preparing our gifts for Christmas day, its time to remember the meaning of Christmas.

This has been a difficult year for many Americans. Natural disasters and human carnage have tested our faith. Many have lost their physical possessions. And, many have lost their mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, friends and children.

But time marches on, and God is still with us. While we cannot understand the reasoning, our faith must remain strong.

We look to new life as the world will soon celebrate the birth of our Christ and renews our faith that God is still there.

Yes, Christ is born. Glorify him!

Merry Christmas to all!

Friday, December 14, 2012

Merry Christmas to Hostway, the best web hosting company in America

Everyone takes IT for granted. They expect their computers to be running 100% of the time. Rarely, if ever, does anyone contact their support staff just to say "Thanks".

So, as this Holiday Season draws to a close, it is time to for LotteryPowerPicks.com to wish its web hosting company, Hostway, and its staff: "a Very Merry Christmas" and to say "Thank-you" for your continuous services and your committment to excellence.

The Lottery Power Picks Story
Seven years ago, I was developing my website and I planned to launch it during the summer of 2006. Since most of the programming was done on my personal PC, I needed to select a web hosting company to bring this to life.

Although I am an experienced programmer, I had never developed a website. I did not have a budget and did not want to spend a lot of money on this venture. After all, I was not sure if my new site would be a success or not.

The choices of web hosting companies was daunting. My search efforts seemed to always produce the same list of providers. I found that I would need to spend $5 to $50 per month for hosting. The cheaper sites had limits on the number of pages or files I could create and the amount of disk space I could use. Many hosts had a promotional price structure during the first year which would then increase. As I continued my search, I learned that most of the references that ranked web hosting services were only promoting affiliate advertisers. They did not care which of the companies I selected because they would earn a commission on all of them.

I felt somewhat lost. But then I found Hostway!

Hostway was not listed on most of the websites, but it seemed to offer everything that I needed. At the time, they offered a "Super Power Plan". For approximately $150 per year, I could have 150 GB of disk space, email, 25,000 files, unlimited data transfer, PHP, MySQL, Perl, ftp and ssh access, and much more. If my site required more services in the future, I could incrementally purchase what I needed.

So in August 2006, it was time for me to make a final committment. I called Hostway and the person who helped me calmed all my fears. I'll never forget that when I selected my site name, they told me I was lucky, lotterypowerpicks.com was now mine!

Hostway set up the site and I uploaded all my files. Within a day, my site was on the web. They submitted my site's url to the various search engines and soon web surfers were able to find me.

During the past 6 1/2 years that the site has been live, the up-time has been nearly 100%. I have never run out of disk space and the site is always accessable. Increadibly, they have never raised their fees and I still pay the same $150 per year. In return, I have 24/7 support and the ability to grow my site at will.

Hostway Staff
I have only needed to contact Hostway a few times. What impresses me most is that whenever I have a question or problem, I speak to the same people. Their staff has relatively little turnover and is therefore highly skilled and experienced. They are familiar with the company and their services which makes it easy to resolve most problems within a very short time.

Personal Example
Last winter, two things happened almost at once. First, Mr. John Martis was named President of Hostway. One of the first things he did was to send all of the customers an email introducing himself and asking us for company feedback. He said that he was always available to answer our questions or provide us with help.

Second, I found that my site lost certain functionality within days after his email. Once I restored my website's functionality, I wrote to Mr. Martis and described the problem I experienced. The very next day, I received a telephone call from a second level support person who explained the cause of my problem and its resolution. I was also given his direct support number for future reference. Since that time, I have never had a problem again.

Testimonial Summary
What impresses me most about Hostway is their people. They are very friendly and are always available. They always follow through with all communication and they make their customers feel important. As I told Mr. Martis, I am only one of thousands of customers, and I only pay a relatively small amount for their services. But Mr. Martis's response to my problem and the follow through with his staff illustrated their commitment to their product and dedication to all of their customers.

In summary, Hostway has been an integral partner of LotteryPowerPicks.com. For the past 6.5 years, they have hosted my website and insured that it is available every single day, 24 hours per day. I could not imagine what I would do without them. Their equipment is up to date and their staff second to none. I consider myself lucky to have found them and hope they will continue to be there in all the years to come!

Thank-you Hostway!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

John Lottery

Friday, November 30, 2012

Why every blog should have a "Search Box" widget

A couple of months ago, I was deciding whether I should add a "You may also like - Related Posts" widget to my blogs. I remembered that several other blogs that I visited had added LinkWithin a year or more ago and had written blog posts about their experiences. So, I visited them and used their "Search" widget to look for posts about this topic.

However, I was quite surprised that a few did not have a search capability. I did not want to waste my time reading through their posts or traversing their blog archives, so I just gave up on those and went on to the next blogs.

The reason this surprised me was that the blogs that did not have this functionality were all Blogger blogs. Blogger make it really easy for us authors to add various widgets to our sidebars. One of the widgets offered is the "Search Box", which "Lets visitors search hour blog, blogroll, and everything else you've linked to".

While this functionality may not seem important to individual blog authors, it can be an extremely important tool for your visitors.

Think about it. If a reader returns to your blog with the intention of finding a previously published article, he can find it quickly with this tool.

If the Search functionality is not there, the reader will leave, almost immediately.

What this means to the author of a blog is that a valuable reader was lost. Rather than spending time on your blog, that person just went somewhere else for information. Further, that visitor may be less inclined to return to your blog in the future.

In order to grow your readership and followers, it is important for you to think about your visitors. You must organize your blog and offer those tools that a reader may use.

Remember, blogging is not only about writing your opinions and experiences, but it is also about building a set of followers who are eager to return to your site and use your information as reference.

If your blog is hosted on Blogger, you can add this widget easily. Just go to your blog, and click on the "Layout" choice. Then, press the "Add a Gadget" link. You will be presented with a list widgets to add. Just look for the one titled "Search Box" and press the plus button. That's it!

Friday, November 16, 2012

How We Celebrate Our Thanksgiving Dinner

Instead of just wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving this year, we thought that we would do something different and tell you about how we celebrate the holiday in our household.

Most of our family lives in Pennsylvania which means that someone has to travel. But having a family with children, we believe that it is important to enjoy at least one holiday at home. For us, it is Thanksgiving. There is nothing better than to start the holiday season by entertaining our family and treating them to a home cooked traditional turkey meal.

The day begins around 6 AM when we awake and prepare a fresh pot of coffee. After drinking our first cup, we begin the preparation. First on our agenda is to prepare the turkey. This is quite simple. We take the turkey out of the refrigerator, remove the packing inside of it, and wash it thoroughly in lukewarm water. Then, we pat it down and dry it with paper towels. While the oven is preheating, we melt some butter and place the turkey inside a large roasting pan with the breast side up. We baste it with butter and add a few pats under the wings and thighs. It is salted and peppered, then loosely covered with aluminum foil. By 7 AM it is in the oven.

Next, we peel a bag of white potatoes, sweet potatoes, and rutabagas which are boiled separately on the stove.

Onions and celery are diced and mixed into a stuffing mix along with butter and eggs. The stuffing is formed into individual serving sized round balls and placed in its own baking dish. This too is covered with foil.

We will then fry some bacon until it is very crisp. We remove the grease and let it cool on paper towels. Later, it is mixed in with Brussels sprouts and cooked on the stove.

Now, we perform our first round of clean up. All the pots, pans, dishes, and knives are washed, dried, and put away.

When all the potatoes and rutabagas are done, they are mashed and placed into 3 heat resistant serving bowls. These set aside in the refrigerator until an hour before serving.

A fresh garden salad it tossed and placed in a bowl. Just before serving we add the dressing (usually oil and vinegar).

By now, it is 10 AM or so, and most of the meal is ready. We once again clean up the dishes and then tend to ourselves. Each of us takes a shower and get dressed for our company. While we are waiting, we will set the dining room table.

At 11 AM our family will arrive from their 2 hour journey. My Mother and Father in Law, my wife's sister and brother will be there. Altogether, we will host 7 more adults, bringing the dinner total to 10 hungry people. Along with them will be desert, a home baked pumpkin pie and an apple pie.

The turkey will be cooked by 1:30 PM, so we will have time to relax and visit. Since the house will be consumed with the aroma of a fresh baking turkey, everyone will be in a festive mood.We will drink a round of Bloody Mary's, and then some wine and beer.

When the turkey is done cooking, the ladies will heat the potatoes, stuffing, and vegetables; and I will carve the turkey.

Champagne will be served as we sit at the table. We start the meal by saying a prayer and by remembering all those who have passed away. A toast will be given and we will begin to eat our salad. By 2:30, all the dishes will be heated and placed on the table. The main feast will begin.

Since everyone will be staying overnight, we will be in no hurry. We will take our time and some will eat seconds. We will be at the table for at least two hours. When we are finished, the men will go downstairs and watch football (or take a nap). The women will clean up.

Sometime after 6 PM, we will meet at the table again to eat our desert. We'll have some coffee and tea, and perhaps a little Sambuca.

After that, we'll just sit around until we fall asleep for the night! We'll all be too full to eat anymore.

So, from our house to yours,

we hope that your Thanksgiving Day

is as enjoyable as ours

and

We Wish You All

A Very Happy Thanksgiving!

Friday, November 9, 2012

Changing (or Fixing) Publish Date of Blogger Posts to put posts in right order in both Blogger and Feedburner

Are your blog posts out of order because you edited an old post? If so, this article explains how to reset the publish time so that your posts will be displayed in the correct chronological order.

Background
I often edit previous Blogger posts in order to add more information or fix spelling and grammatical errors. Usually, this is not a problem. I simply select the blog post that I wish to alter, make the changes and then press the orange "Update" button at the top of the page. The post is immediately updated in both Blogger and Feedburner.

However, when I edited a 4 day old post yesterday, it was published with the current time and became the first (most recent) entry in my blog. This was quite a surprise for me because the post title contained the date 11/03/12 and it appeared in the blog before 11/07/12. For me, having posts displayed in a chronological order is important.

Usually when a post is edited, the original post date is maintained but the edit date is updated. Since this information is contained in the Feedburner XML Source, I looked to see what dates were included. For the post in question, I noticed that the published, updated and edited times were all changed to yesterday's date, thus making it the most recently published.

I did not know if this was a Blogger or Feedburner bug because my action began in Blogger and was visible in Feedburner.

After doing a few Google searches, I found that others experienced this same problem as far back as 2009. This surprised me because I had never experienced it.

Luckily, I discovered a thread in the Google Product Forums for Blogger which described how to fix this problem.

The Solution
The remedy for changing a post's publish date is relatively easy. Simply:

edit the post which is out of order,
click the "Published on" link in the Post settings toolbar on the right of the Blogger screen (#1)
make sure the "Set date and time" toggle is checked
click on the calendar day that you wish to be set
enter the time that you want the post published
press the "Done" button (#2)
press the "Update" button next to the post's title. (#3)

Once this is completed, the post will be republished with the date you want and the post will be automatically positioned in the correct chronological order in both Blogger and Feedburner!

Friday, November 2, 2012

Why I chose nRelate instead of Outbrain or LinkWithin

Providing internal links to you blog's other postings helps to engage readership by directing visitors to related content within your blog. This articles explains why I chose nRelate to increase page views and visitor duration time on my blogs.

Background
Early last month (October), I was reading Dave Lucas's blog article EntreCard Effect and noticed that he had mentioned that his traffic tripled since EntreCard closed. Dave attributed this growth to LinkWithin and Outbrain. As I was not familiar with either of these, I performed a Google search and found another post by Dave (Righthaven DMCA LinkWithin) where he welcomed LinkWithin back on his blog.

At this point, I visited both the Outbrain and LinkWithin websites and learned that these were 3rd party widgets that can be added to your blog and will display the pretty "You might also like" references the bottom of each post. I then remembered reading about this topic a while ago on Sharkbytes's My Quality Day. So I checked her blog and Dickster's Random Thoughts and found that both of these were displaying the related articles as well.

So, in my haste, I registered with Outbrain and added the widget to my 4 blogs. Within a short time, these were displaying my own related links. However, many of my early blog posts did not contain pictures, so Outbrain often presented this content simply as a list of links.

When I compared this to the blogs above, I saw that the also had nice little pictures along with the title of the blog post. Then, I realized that everyone else was using LinkWithin and not Outbrain.

Outbrain & LinkWithin
Unsure which was better, I decided to remove Outbrain from 2 blogs and replace it with LinkWithin. At first, I was happy with the results, but I wanted to display 4 links on one blog rather than 3. In order to do this, I had to re-install the widget again. However, after I did this, I found that both blogs now had 4 related article links. This meant that all would have either 3 or 4 articles. I settled on the four of them.

I waited 1 month and then checked my Webmaster and Analytics statistics. Neither of these showed an increase in traffic. While the actual visitor traffic remained constant, the appearance in Google Search results decreased substantially.

Further, I found that Outbrain had less images than LinkWithin, so I liked LinkWithin better. But, LinkWithin was redirecting my traffic back to their site, which I did not like.

nRelate
Thus, I decided to see if there was an alternative to these two, and found the blog article: Switch from LinkWithin to nRelate which described the pros and cons of LinkWithin and nRelate.

Figuring that I was still experimenting, I decided to remove the Outbrain and LinkWithin widgets and replace them with nRelate.

Almost immediately, I found that nRelate was a better solution for my 4 blogs.

First, I was able to custom tailor the layout of each widget according to the space available on my blogs (3 blogs display 4 results, and 1 blog displays 5).
Second, I was able to change the size of the graphic images being displayed.
Third, nRelate displays "stock" icons on those posts that do not contain their own graphics (so there is always an image).
Fourth, I have the ability to display paid ads to generate income payable to Paypal (however, Outbrain also lets you display paid ads).
And fifth, the "related posts" being displayed were relevant to the current post. This means that if someone is reading an Entrecard post, they will see other related Entrecard articles of mine as well. However, the drawback here is that the initial indexing of the blog can take up to 2 hours before the "You may also like -" results appear.

It is still too early for me to see if the nRelate widget is actually boosting my traffic, but I can already see an increase in page views and visitor duration time now that I am using nRelate.

Lastly, I like the fact that I can choose to display paid ads in these widgets. This provides an opportunity to increase income without having to do any more work.

Friday, September 28, 2012

A Cure for Entrecard Withdrawl

Who said: "There ain't no cure for the Entrecard Blues"?

Two days ago, I was visiting a few of my favorite blogs and catching up with the authors. As I read Some Assembly Required's Day 1015 post, I was surprised to learn that Entrecard has decided to call it quits. The site is gone.

Wanting to learn more, I did a quick Google seach and found 4 posts confirming this:

I was surprised that there were not more posts.

My Entrecard Experience
Like other neophyte bloggers, I was trying to attract traffic. I discovered Entrecard and joined the network around the summer of 2008. For nearly two years, I tried to remain active. I dropped on many blogs, trying to hit the 300 a day level. I posted articles about my top droppers and worte posts about Entrecard. I participated in the Entrecard Market and sold "Blog Roll entries" for EC credits.

However, my tenure with Entrecard was shortlived. When I learned that Entrecard began promoting EC currency Online Blackjack, I realized that remaining part of the network could jeopordize my struggling blogging career. Fearing that Google would remove my Blogger blogs and ban me from Adsense, I quickly removed all Entrecard widgets and ceased being a member. That was in March 2010.

At the time, I was lucky because other networks were available. I quickly became more involved in Adgitize and CMF Ads and enjoyed the interaction with the site owners and many of the fellow blogging members there.

Unfortunately, both of those networks closed by the end of 2011.

Growing My Blogs
Since I was not going back to Entrecard, I decided to devote my efforts to the growth of my website and my blogs. Now after 9 months, I believe that I have acheived some modest success.

Site	Daily Visitors (last month)	Highest Daily Visitor Count	Repeat Visitors
Ask the Blogster	7-16	209	10.2%
Lottery Power Picks News	23-728	728	7.78%
John Lottery's Bimonthly	22-47	2,470	12.37%
The Traveling Fundraiser	0-62	62	25.75%
Lottery Power Picks Website	1,601-2,101	8,137	93.0%

What I learned is that timely content drives the visitors. For example,

although my lottery blogs and website do not generate large numbers of daily visitors, when the Mega Millions jackpot reached the $600 million level, everyone was interested in searching for information about Mega Millions. Having previously written a variety of blog posts and creating analytic tools, my sites provided the people with the information they were looking for.
The Traveling Fundraiser provides a summary of President Obama's weekly schedule. Since this information is available on most of the large blogs, few people visit my site. But, when I wrote about the Jay-Z champagne tower last week, I was only one of the few with pictures of this. My traffic shot up to 209 visitors in one day.
Similarily, certain Ask the Blogster posts increased bursts of short term traffic (Steve Jobs, the Government shutdown for two).

While much of my visitor count is relatively low, I am thrilled with their performances because all traffic is organic, and none of it is derived from paid search or clicking networks.

My Advice - Stay Focused and Timely
Regardless of the type of blog you write, my advice for maintaining and growing your visitor base is to write posts that deal with current topics. For example, popular posts on Dave Lucas blog include: Kate Middleton Topless, Beyonce, Wang Jiayun, etc. These receive a large number of pageviews.

Many of you write personal diary type blogs. On the surface, these may not attract a broad range of visitors. However, if you can tie in current topics (sports, spring flowers, politics) that are in top searchs, you will occasionally receive a boost in traffic. When that happens, your exposure will be broadened and your visitor base will expand.

Don't Give Up
Although not having consistant daily visitor counts, do not give up. Writing on a regular schedule without a large visitor base can be frustrating, but you will eventually succeed. It takes time to find the right formula that works for your blog, but when a post attracts a large number of readers, you will feel overjoyed and your enthusium will be envigorated.

Lastly
Keep visiting the blogs that you have enjoyed. Although I do not visit on a daily basis, I love to read:

John Sealander Some Assembly Required
Dickster's Random Thoughts
My Quality Day
Dave Lucas
Orient Lodge
Ben Barden - Quick Blot Tips

Unfortunately, I rarely leave comments, so the authors do not know that I visit. And likewise, I do not know if those authors visit any of my sites. However, I visit because I enjoy their articles and not because I expect their return traffic. As I become more comfortable in the blogging world, I realize that daily traffic is not as important as having valuable content.

Cheers,

JL .............

Friday, September 7, 2012

Aldon Hynes is running for the 114th Assembly District of the Connecticut General Assembly

I was thrilled to read that our friend and blogging associate, Aldon Hynes, has decided to seek public office and has accepted the Democratic nomination to run for the 114th District seat of the Connecticut General Assembly.

Most of us know Aldon through our blogging networks as the author of the Orient Lodge, a blog about politics, technology, social issues, and family. During the past 3 or more years, I have enjoyed visiting his site and reading of his life experiences and beliefs.

While I do not always agree with his political viewpoint, I respect Aldon's thoughts and truthfulness. I know his opinions are honorable and well meaning. He is compassionate and is a dedicated family man. Plus, Aldon is a long time Connecticut resident who cares about his community.

Aldon is an intelligent individual with a broad range of skills and experiences. He has worked on Wall Street and is very analytical. He has also worked as a professional blogger covering important stories in Connecticut. During the past year or two, he has been the Social Media Manager of the Community Health Center in Woodbridge CT. He is one of the few people who possess both the literary and quantitative skills that would be important in performing the duties of a Connecticut Legislator.

For these reasons, I strongly endorse Aldon Hynes's candidacy and would recommend that he receives your vote.

Although Aldon is a Democrat, I would cross party lines and and cast my vote for him in this coming election. Unfortunately, I do not live in his state or district, but I am wishing him well. If you watch the his nomination in the video below, you will understand why Aldon is running and why he would be perfect for the job.

Aldon believes that:

"If you don’t like something,

don’t just try to block everyone else,

come up with better ideas".

Becoming a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives is not easy. The candidates must campaign endlessly throughout their district, meeting the voters and listening to their opinions. Since I know that Aldon is sincere in representing his community and dedicated to the improvement of his State's government, he will campaign tirelessly.

Aldon Hynes is challenging a seven-term Republican incumbent. Since the State leans toward the Democratic side, and because the House is composed of 99 Democrats and 52 Republicans, Aldon may have a good chance of winning this November. But, he needs your vote.

Once elected, the members of the House of Representatives do not receive much compensation. However, they must work tirelessly, meeting amongst themselves and their constituency. They must give thought to proposed legislation and cast their votes in an unbiased manner.

I believe that Aldon would be a superb addition to the political landscape. He would make a terrific legislator and he will not let you down.

So, if you live in his Connecticut district, I would urge you to vote for Aldon Hynes and give him a chance. He will proudly represent you.

You can learn more about Aldon Hynes and the Connecticut Legislature by reading:

Orient Lodge
Hynes 2012 (the primary source for the above quote, video, and campaign image)
Democrats Select Aldon Hynes For 114th Assembly District Run
THIS IS YOUR GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Good Luck my Friend - I Hope You Win!
Note: This is not a political ad, just an endorsement of a friend.

JL ............

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