1 - 8 - 0 - 0 - H - A - R - T

The following News Release or Speech has just been posted on the Finance Canada Site

Ottawa, May 14, 2007
2007-041

The Honourable Jim Flaherty, Minister of Finance, today announced further details on the government’s Anti-Tax-Haven Initiative set out in Budget 2007. The initiative focuses on improving tax fairness in Canada by preventing the use of tax havens and other means to avoid paying tax. Canada’s current tax rules allow multinational corporations to avoid paying taxes by getting a double deduction for a single expense relating to a foreign investment.

“When multinational corporations use this tax loophole, Canadian taxpayers are indirectly subsidizing their international operations,” said Minister Flaherty. “Our goal is to improve the fairness of our tax system and further reduce taxes for hard-working Canadians while preserving Canada’s overall tax advantage for our globally successful companies.”

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I have been posting around the week of the 10th of each month a “THANK-YOU” post, like this one, to all the advertisers from the previous month listed as at month end. That’s a permanent link in this blog, under the category heading which I call .. ‘Sponsor Appreciation’. I know it’s hard out there trying to figure out where to spend your advertising dollars .. and well .. THANKS for considering 1-8-0-0-H-A-R-T.

I have compiled a new advertising page for the HART-Empire Network of sites for your perusal.

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I Can Watch TV On My Computer

For the past couple of months, as a beta tester for Joost (Note 1), formerly the Venice Project, I have been tossing my 5 invitations available to me into the pool with Tony Hung of Deep Jive Interests who had been randomly selecting email addresses out of his comments. For May, they practically have given everybody 999 new invites, so it’s pretty much unlimited now. Well, Cody Dean has pretty much taken care of all of Tony’s reader’s request so I thought I would just put it out here for anybody that is interested.

Note 1: By “beta tester” .. I mean that I just signed up quite early when it was a closed site and was one of the first people who actually HAD invites available to give away - when it was The Venice Project Beta Test (October 5, 2006). However, I didn’t really test it that much nor provide any meaningful contribution to the development of the software or site or anything - so, if you don’t like it .. don’t blame the messenger!

So .. who Wants a Joost Invite? Leave Your Name and Email in These Comments

I think that heading is pretty obvious. I need your FIRST NAME and LAST NAME and valid Email Address (you can enter it as .. blahblah (at) blahblahblah (dot) com .. if worried about scrapers) and I will automatically invite you, at my own leisure, but I will invite you! I mean .. I’ve got 999 invitations that I can send out .. you should try it! It’s kind of neat. I think it will be like YouTube some day .. so popular that it can ONLY GET BETTER and be the next generation of TV for us people who sit in front of a computer set most of the days. I mean .. why have a 2nd TV monitor in our Home Office? We can have a TV as a Monitor for our computer! Muhahahahah! “evil grin* … First ze TV programming and ze internet .. zen ze vorld!

update: I know your email already when you comment, only if you want a DIFFERENT email associated with Joost you should provide it below!

Um, ya. Well - here’s some background information on Joost!

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List found at: Bank Locater

My Favorites ..

3. Put tape over the mouse optics
7. Burn popcorn in the microwave
70. Gradually turn down the volume on someone’s phone
101. Talk loudly with your earphones on when someone comes to talk to you

Although they were all quite funny and I had a good laugh this morning!

The following News Release or Speech has just been posted on the Finance Canada Site

Release at 8:15 a.m. EDT
Ottawa, May 3, 2007
2007-040

The Department of Finance announced today that Canada’s official international reserves increased by an amount equivalent to US$874 million during April to US$40,183 million.

…..

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The pictures were FWD’ed to me in my email .. I took the liberty of adding all the text finding more about these pictures

Guoliang Tunnel is different from other road tunnels; it is quiet, secluded and mysterious, bright one minute and dim the next, full of twists and turns. The wall of the tunnel is uneven and there are more than 30 “windows” of different sizes and shapes. Some windows are round and some are square, and they range from dozens of metres long to standard-window-size. It is frightening to look down from the windows, where strange rocks hanging form the sheer cliff above and a seemingly bottomless pit lying below. A village, opposite the tunnel, appears to hang on the precipice. Walking through the twisted tunnel is like walking through a labyrinth as the window light mingles with the shadows inside the tunnel. As I walked, a beam of dazzling light would occasionally shoot into the corner and then the sound of a motor would come from behind.

Guoliang Village was almost cut off from its surrounding towns and villages before the construction of the tunnel. A ladder on a precipitous cliff, also known as the Heavenly Ladder, was the only route in and out of the village.

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Thanks For Your Patience! I’m Back!

* Now .. where do I begin?

April 30th has now come and gone, and there is still much to do. My last delivery to the drop slot at Canada Revenue Agency with an envelope, was at 11:22pm and there were 13 other cars there with people just like me delivering envelopes too!

I wouldn’t say that I am “well-rested”, but I did manage to sleep about 8 hours last night. That’s actually an accomplishment because, for the past 25 days I haven’t slept more than 4-5 hours a night, and for the past 11 days I have been averaging about 2-3 hours a night ‘power sleep’ with a 6-hour exhaustion sleep every 4 days or so to catch up. I literally have been up since Saturday Apri 28th after a 3-hour sleep in my bathtub until 2am this morning May 1st.

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