ICanSleepWhenI'mDead

So I'm in Costco yesterday and they're selling remote controlled 4 rotor camera-equipped drones for about $295. Guess I'm behind the curve. Googled the brand info when I got home and found this: http://www.engadget....80-feet-on-lte/ Wonder how much noise they make? And as food for thought: http://www.stanfordl...rivacy-catalyst

Dolphin: Know any good restaurants around here? Cabbie: What's your name and what kinda food do you like? Dolphin: Amaya jerk chicken Cabbie: Whaddaya mean are you a jerk chicken? You some kinda freak? Dolphin: Who you callin' a freak? Cue gagging sounds . . . .

Wait . . . . . there's a playoff goose? It must fly south around this time every year.

I have never heard that, but I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night so I may only know enough to be dangerous on this topic - - I tend to agree that it can get complex pretty quickly. Anybody have a link to answer the question about whether charitable giving to a foundation (or non-profit organization?) gets different treatment for gift/estate tax purposes than a gift to your own child?

Isn't there a limit on how much a person can give away each year for the purpose of getting money out of their estate to avoid future estate taxes? For an estate of over $800 million, can you really avoid anything but a small percentage of the future estate tax by gifting? This article is almost 2 years old, but it talks about a $10 million lifetime gift tax exemption, and an entirely separate $13,000/year limit on gifts to any one individual that don't count against the $10 million lifetime limit. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/business/yourtaxes/13estate.html I haven't looked for any recent changes not described in the article, but it seems like gifting strategy is not likely to be a big factor in Ralph's decision about whether to sell the team before he dies.

BBF, Isn't the same amount of federal estate tax due if Ralph's estate includes (1) a debt-free NFL team valued at $800 million, or (2) $800 million of cash? And isn't that true at either 2012 estate tax rates or presumably higher 2013 estate tax rates? If the answer to both questions is yes, I don't see how Ralph comes out ahead financially by selling the team in 2012 rather than 2013. Look at it this way. If Ralph passes in 2012, the government will let his estate keep say about 65% of whatever his net worth was on the day in 2012 that he died. Let's say that net worth is "X." You are reasonably suggesting that if Ralph passes in 2013, and estate tax rates have gone up by then, the government will let his estate keep less than 65% of X. Let's assume the coming increase in estate tax rates is huge, and the gov't only lets Ralph's estate keep 20% of X if he dies in 2013 or later. How does Ralph ever come out ahead by selling the team before he dies? In my example, if Ralph keeps the team and dies in 2013, his estate keeps 20% of X. OTOH, if Ralph sells the team in either 2012 or 2013 before he dies, his net worth at date of death will be less than X, because the sale triggered a capital gains tax (at whatever rate), that Ralph would not have been required to pay if he kept the team till he died. So if estate tax rates go up, Ralph keeps 20% of X if he keeps the team, but only 20% of [less than X] if he sells before he dies. Am I missing something?

BBF, I won't burden this thread with the details by repeating them all here, but since we seem to share an interest in trying to figure out how a businessman like Ralph would arrange his NFL affairs, you might want to check out reply #s 183 and 186 in this thread: http://forums.twobil...y/page__st__180 In particular, note the links to articles about how NFL owners in Baltimore and Miami transferred partial ownership in their franchises in conjunction with an option to buy the rest in the future. It seems possible to me that Ralph could avoid the requirement to seek current NFL approval of an ownership transfer by granting an investor (whether from Toronto or elsewhere) a right of first refusal. Some people here think that wouldn't work because the NFL might not approve the eventual sale to such an investor after Ralph passed. But it's no different than buying a house contingent upon it passing a future inspection. In both cases, you can structure the deal so that the potential buyer doesn't lose any money (if the house doesn't pass a future inspection or if the NFL doesn't approve the buyer in the future after Ralph passes). Just my 2 rupees.

Why does Stevie get a pass? Really? Dude, he's a wide receiver. What do you expect him to do - - punt? Ya gotta love the interweb.

Not really about cracking the code, but on the subject of WWII and pigeons, betcha didn't know: http://www.military.com/video/operations-and-strategy/second-world-war/project-orcon-pidgeon-guided-missile/897399315001/

That's the spirit!

http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/sports-betting2.htm

He shoulda made it alphanumeric so it was tougher to guess - - something like: mygirlfriendandibrokeupbutireallybelievewe'llgetbacktogethersomedaysountilthathappensi'mgoing2keepmyselfpureandnotbanganychicks

"Please send a new messenger pigeon. This one flies down chimneys."

Who shot J.R.?

Think again. Most people don't give much thought to on-line security. If you are in the minority who do, you owe it to yourself to read this article: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/11/ff-mat-honan-password-hacker/5/ The more I read Wired, the more impressed I am by it. Seems like I often learn interesting, relevant stuff that isn't covered much elsewhere. Anybody else read it?

Usually?

If anybody wants to make a celebratory "winning season still" it don't need to be a fantasy - - my youngest brother Darryl can get you the parts - - but he'll want some of the moonshine.

Too bad our taste expert can no longer tell us if they taste different.

Sometimes I wonder if there's a bit of a "chicken and egg" issue with the historical perspective. On game day, the QB generally gets too much blame when a team loses, and too much credit when a team wins. So if his TEAM wins several championships, there is a tendency to look back at a QB and put him on a pedestal. Sometimes the QB deserves the credit he gets, but sometimes it's just a media-caused distortion. I suspect the same sort of thing holds true for coaches. In short, does a winning QB/coach combo get praised because there was some synergy at work between them, or does a winning QB/coach combo automatically get praised just because they won? And if you won the 1st championship with a so-so QB/coach combo because of the other talent on the team, you know that QB/coach combo ain't gonna get fired right away. They may get another chance at a ring. Not saying I'm certain of this, but sometimes it makes me wonder.

They should have cut out the middle man.

If the Jets beat the Pats tomorrow, the Jets will already be guaranteed the tiebreak advantage in any two-team tie with the Bills, even if we beat the Jets in the last regular season game.

http://news.yahoo.co...-122242202.html

So he's part of Ralph's secret plan for keeping the Bills in Buffalo?

that if the Jets beat the Pats tomorrow, we cannot win a 2 team tiebreaker with the Jets at the end of the regular season, no matter what else happens in the remaining regular season games? It's true.

I disagree. The key is to make the Colts mistakenly believe that Chuck Pagano has already been cured: http://www.theonion.com/articles/cancerstricken-chuck-pagano-annoyed-colts-couldnt,29986/?ref=auto