The War On Cash

It's absolutely acrid that as the US Federal Reserve devalues American money into abyss, yet the American government is aggravating to brainwash added and added controls on the added abandoned dollar.

What's sad is that the US government now employs banknote sniffing dogs at airports with the archetypal government annual of "for your own protection." This is aswell accepted as a basic control. The Soviet Union did this as well. Usually if governments cheapen their bill decidedly enough, history has apparent that governments apply basic controls. Currently one is appropriate to acknowledge $10,000 if entering the country or abrogation the country.

Here is addition kicker, if you are alive in addition country and your coffer annual antithesis alcove >$10,000 at any time aural a year, you are appropriate to address that coffer account. The IRS requires you to ample out what is accepted as a Address of Adopted Coffer and Banking Accounts. As you would think, it's accustomed the aforementioned old "for your own protection" characterization with the argument: "If you are not accomplishing annihilation wrong, again why can't we watch you?"

Sure, it is accurate that terrorists and added types of abyss usually accomplish on a banknote basis; however, this does not beggarly that every getting who carries ample sums of banknote is a apprehensive character. It's absolutely funny that abounding locations of the apple are banknote based societies. Countries such as China, for example, accept a mostly banknote based economy. It is not so accepted to see humans whip out their acclaim cards to pay for things, as in the United States.

With the growing deficit, the IRS is athirst for revenue, and the government hates cash. Why? Because the government wants to apperceive aggregate you do with your money whether bent or not. This budgetary spying, as usual, is allegedly to assure us, but at what point is it demography abroad our abandon and rights?

Last, back I did absorb several years alive in banking, I will acquaint you if you consistently drop beyond sums of banknote at the bank. While the laws may accept changed, endure time I checked, banks are appropriate to ample out a anatomy accepted as the CTR (Currency Transaction Report) any time a chump deposits or withdrawals any bulk aural 1 cent over $10,000. This CTR address goes beeline to the IRS. The coffer does not accept to acquaint you they are sending this report.

If you are a chump who has been depositing and abandoning beyond sums of banknote consistently and the coffer believes it is "suspicious." The coffer will book what is accepted as a SAR (Suspicious Activity Report), and for humans application cashiers checks and money order, the anatomy is accepted as MIL (Monetary Instrument Log).

Also, banks analysis every chump adjoin the OFAC (Office of Adopted Assets Control) list.

With this in mind, if you address adopted coffer accounts, banknote beyond $10,000 (silly back 10K is not abundant money these days), you are getting a law constant aborigine and this is good; however, one has to admiration what absolutely does the government do with this information? As a aborigine I feel apprehensive of the government's accomplishments and feel like I am getting watched. Not to mention, with the banking accident of 2008 getting a admonition of the Great Depression, added humans accept beneath acceptance in our banking system; therefore, added humans backpack cash.

In criticism of the government's bill controls, why can't the accepted accessible crave the government itself be appropriate to leave "paper trails" we can chase on area our tax money goes, and how they use it? This would accomplish it alone fair back the government is accomplishing absolutely this to us.

With the abstraction of a cashless association acceptable added of a absoluteness beneath a authorization bill system, there is no bigger way to spy on citizens again to watch area their money goes. Some may anticipate it's for their protection, or accept they accept annihilation to hide, but what about privacy? What about clandestine property? Without aperture a new can of worms and absolutely altered topic, it's absolutely accessible something is amiss with our tax and budgetary system.

Spring Cleaning Your Finances

Every year, millions of homeowners will undertake a bounce charwoman of their homes to get rid of all of the clutter that has accumulated over the antecedent year as able-bodied as giving the home a absolutely acceptable cleaning. However, there is one aspect of all of our lives that deserves a acceptable bounce charwoman - our finances. Our affairs play such an important role in our lives, it serves us able-bodied to administer them and array out all of our bills and debt. There are a bulk of agency to appropriately bounce apple-pie your affairs in adjustment to reside a debt-free and financially abiding life.

Acquire Money Administration Skills: With all of the costs we accept such as loans, mortgages, car payments and domiciliary expenses, managing all of the bills and payments can assume overwhelming. If you are accepting difficult managing your bills and debt, because accepting money managing abilities by demography money administration apprenticeship programs such as seminars, a acclaim counselling program, and account money administration books. You will aces up some acceptable tips on managing your affairs added responsibly.

Organize your Finances: It is important to adapt your affairs to acquisition out which bills are giving you the a lot of trouble. As well, already you accept an abstraction of area the money is traveling and how abundant you are bringing in, you can actualize a account account to advice you bigger administer your finances. Adapt your annal into categories and again actualize a account of costs and income. You can again bulk out your accepted banking accompaniment and yield measures to antidote your situation.

Debt Management: Already you accept your debt, you can again yield activity to accord with it. For instance, debt alliance is a acceptable best for humans who accept accumulated a top bulk of debt and are accepting agitation authoritative payments. A acclaim counselling bureau can advice you consolidate your debts giving you the befalling to pay one fee account which will be broadcast by the acclaim advocate to all of your debtors. You will accept beneath interest, no added afflictive accumulating buzz calls, and you will be able to pay off your debt abundant faster.

Reduce your Expenses: If you apprentice how abundant you are spending anniversary ages and area the money is going, you will be in a bigger position to acquisition agency to abate your costs. For instance, you can convenance bigger arcade habits such as searching for discounts and sales, as able-bodied as practicing allegory shopping. You can aswell cut down on accidental costs such as dining out at restaurants. If you cut costs you will save a lot of money which you can put appear paying down your debt.

Cash, Not Acclaim Cards: It is important to try to use banknote for your purchases instead of a acclaim card. Acclaim cards can could cause austere banking accident due to the top absorption rates. You will save money because you will not be spending a lot on absorption charges. You can use the accumulation for the important things in activity such as apprenticeship for the kids, an emergency fund, paying the mortgage...etc.

Spring charwoman your affairs every year is a abundant way to accumulate your affairs on clue and become a added financially amenable consumer. You will acquisition if you yield allegation of your affairs and apparatus measures to get out of debt and reside aural your means, you will save added money and accept a happier and convalescent life.

Five Ways to Make Money

Making money can sometimes be a catchy business. As able-bodied as our accustomed incomes some humans are borer into added sources to accomplish some added money. You don't accept to be an able at allotment trading or accept the ins and outs of the big banks to accomplish yourself an added income.

Garage sales and eBay

Everyone has things lying about at home that aren't getting acclimated any more. Sports accessories that was bought with acceptable intentions of accident balance weight, the accoutrement for that DIY activity or toys that your accouchement accept outgrown. Accept a acceptable attending through your abode and you will acquisition clothes you haven't beat in years that are altogether acceptable still, ceramics and accessories that are just demography up amplitude and even appliance that is just in the way. Authority a barn auction or backpack your car up and appear a car cossack sale. Advertise your barn auction in the bounded cardboard for a brace of weeks advanced and put up some signs on the day of your sale. eBay is addition acceptable way to get rid of exceptionable and bare items. You do pay a fee for anniversary account listed but it is simple to advertise things and you can bazaar your appurtenances to a abundant added admirers than you can if you authority a barn sale.

Rent out the additional room

If you accept a additional allowance at home and are accommodating to allotment you home why not yield in a boarder. You can accomplish up to about $300 tax chargeless in hire per week. Contact the bounded top academy as sometimes they accept all-embracing acceptance belief for a year at their academy and these acceptance charge about to live. You will be paid hire for searching afterwards these students. You will charge to abide a badge analysis but this is simple enough.

Stock market

If you are up with the banal bazaar you could advance your time and money into allotment trading. This is something that you can do in the evenings if you plan during the day. You can accomplish a lot of money arena the banal bazaar but you aswell can lose it appealing bound too, so accomplish abiding you get acceptable advice.

Home based business

If you are at home searching afterwards children, or accept a bit of additional time, you ability wish to alpha up a home based business. This can alter amid starting a affair plan business, which there are affluence out there to accept from, or if you accept a specific accomplishment this ability accomplish a abundant home based business, such as accepting an at home hair bathrobe salon, alive as a accomplish up artisan or adorableness therapist, or you can buy into a franchise, like a backyard mowing service.

5 Tips To Make Your Guitar Mixes Rock!

Now I know there are thousands of variables involved as well as opinionated ways of doing this, that's why I'm going to tell you 5 tips I use to make my guitars stand out to help make my mixes sound huge!

1. Double Track Your Rhythm Guitars:

You can easily thicken up the sound of your mixes by doubling your guitar tracks. Yes I know this is not really a 'mixing' tip but when you use both guitars in the mix it can beef up your guitar tracks. PRO TIP: You can even play around with changing the tone slightly on the second track to add even more emphases on certain characteristics of the playing. Say you want one to be more beefy and use another for note clarity. Just one of many ways you can use that to your benefit.

2. Pan Those Tracks:

The next step is to pan those rhythm guitars you tracked. I like to start at hard panning them both, one left one right. If they are sounding too separate bring them more to the middle, 70-80 is a good area where I like to put my guitars, especially for the slower parts. Faster more intricate playing can benefit from going all the way left or right. Panning these guitars helps separate the sound and clear up the middle for other instruments (i.e. kick drum, bass guitar) that need to be there. Turn that pan knob and immediately hear the results.

3. High Pass Filter Your Guitars:

OK yes, I know this is situational depending on the tone/style of guitar you are tracking. But in most times I mix I like to roll off some of those lows to clear up the bottom section and help your guitars not 'fight' so much with the bass and kick drum. I like to start in the 100,200k area and roll it off accordingly to the mix. Let your ears do the work, roll it off as you listen to a section and when you hear the guitars start to'thin out' back off a hair and Voila! You now have cutting clear guitar.

4. Did Someone say Plug-ins?

Yes you read that correctly. But dude, I thought you are always preaching 'crap in crap out, get it right from the source and you wont have to fix anything come mix time??!' Yes you are correct. I do live by that, but remember music and mixing is an art form. There are rules, but there are not. Weird right? I like to look at using plug-in's like using salt when cooking. You don't want to add too much because it will taste bad, but using just enough will make whatever your eating taste much better! Don't be afraid to add a little compression, or tube saturation/distortion to give your tracks get a little more omph! Experiment, you might find something you really like!

5. EQ Subtraction

The last tip here is my all time favorite, and yes it does play off of tip number 3. Subtracting EQ in certain bands is an ideal way to let other instruments in your mix cut through in return making everything (including your guitar tracks) sound bigger, cleaner and overall better. Especially with high gain guitar tracks cutting some of the lower (or) higher mids out is a good way to tone it down and get your guitars working in cohesion with other primary instruments. Don't be afraid to get the scalpel out and start cutting EQ like your a mad surgeon. Just remember to do it while you are listening to your mix, never solo your guitars and start cutting that would not be pretty.

The Oath of the Horatii

The Oath of the Horatii by Jacques-Louis David is both an excellent example of French Neoclassical painting (click to read more on Neoclassicism from the Met) and of a very strong composition within a painting.  David chose this subject for his first royal commission.  Neoclassical themes had been popular since the Renaissance and in the mid-18th century
Neoclassical art is defined as a style that was strongly influenced by the art and history of ancient Greece and Rome.  While at the French Academy David won the Prix-de-Rome and spent several years in the city during which time he was strongly influenced by Ancient Roman art and architecture.


The Oath of the Horatii is an interesting story, the battle between the Roman Horatii family and the Curiatii family from a neighboring city was told by the Ancient Roman author known as Livy.  The Horatii brothers are swearing allegiance to Rome on the swords that their father is holding up.  All are ready to die to defend their country.

The Oath of the Horatii, Jacques-Louis David, 1784, Louvre, Paris

This is an enormous painting measuring nearly 11 feet high by 14 feet long and the figures were shown as life sized. The focal point for the viewer is the raised hands and swords of the oath, even if the viewer doesn't know the story it can be easily inferred that this is a dramatic event. 

The setting is very sparse and the sparseness works well in framing the events and not detracting from the figures.  To the right we can see the women of the story, their mother and sisters, who are obviously in despair.  This foreshadows the events to come and serves as an interesting counter balance to the strength of the brothers.  One of the sisters was engaged to a man from the rival family and she knows that someone she cares about will most certainly die in the battle.

Why would such an ancient story, one that wasn't a frequent theme be painted in late 18th century France? 

There were several reasons that Neoclassicism became popular at this time.  Visually it was quite a contrast with the frivolous Rococo style that had currently been in fashion.  It was favored by royalty as Neoclassical work reflected the power of the Roman Empire.  It was equally favored by both the American and French Revolutionaries as it tied into themes of self sacrifice and the Roman Republican period.

The ruins of Pompeii were rediscovered in the mid 1700's and in the following years the site was excavated; this led to a new understanding of and enthusiasm for Roman culture.  The 18th century is commonly referred to as "The Age of Enlightenment" and many of the great intellectuals and philosophers were influenced by the rational philosophies of their Classical counterparts.

The Tennis Court Oath, Jacques-Louis David, c-1791, Louvre, Paris
pen drawing with sepia ink wash

While The Oath of the Horatii was commissioned by the French King, David was actually very much on the side of the revolutionaries in the 18th century.  He created the above drawing of the Tennis Court Oath, where nearly 600 members of society gathered less than a month prior to the storming of the Bastille and vowed to remain together until a French Constitution was written.

David was clearly influenced by his earlier composition for this sketch, which he later turned into a painting.  The raised arms created another strong central focal point for the viewer.  Even without knowing the history behind the work the viewer can discern that an emotionally charges and dramatic event is unfolding.  Just as in the other work a symmetrical architectural background frames the scene.

The Oath of the Horatii, Armand-Charles Caraffe, 1791
Pushkin Museum, Moscow

 Armand-Charles Caraffe was a student of David's and he also painted a version of this theme.

Compare the two paintings, by looking at the two very different ways that the artists chose to arrange the figures we can see that the David painting is much more dynamic.  The theme of the Oath that the Horatii family took wasn't a common one and Caraffe would certainly have been influenced by David.  However by reversing the direction of the brother's hands the composition doesn't have as strong of a focal point.  Dramatic tension was also created in the earlier version by the use of chiaroscuro (modeling form with strong darks and lights).

Caraffe does a good job of depicting this and created an interesting work, but Jacques-Louis David's version has remained one of the most iconic images of Neoclassical French painting.