Too Good To Be True

The leader of the Pyramid scheme "Renaissance" was scheduled to be sentenced this week and that was put off until July for some reason. In case you weren't sucked into this scheme, it was supposed to be a multi level sales program but it had one major flaw. There wasn't a product to sell. It was based on advice and a false sense of just because you incorporate as a business you could deduct all manner and sorts of things. You were to compound this by selling your friends into the scheme to get your money back. Can you say Ponzi, boys and girls? If you wanted to get audited by the IRS, start a home office and deduct it to the limit. This was the first step in their guide of things to do. A boss I had back in the 90's actually hit on me to join this scheme and then got very mad when I asked the Attorney General what they thought. The Fraud Division guy told me that I should go with my instinct on it. If there was any justice in that, my boss lost his farm in a collection done by the IRS. He managed to suck in a bunch of people and deducted all the expenses he could.

Here is a couple of General rules that apply to anything:

• If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
• You don't have to taste the dog crap on the bottom of your shoe to know what it is. Smell will generally give it away.
• If you are in a cow pen and you look up as you are walking, you are sure to step in it. (Think green piles of it)
• You can search for hours, but just because there is horse manure and hay, there isn't always a pony nearby.
• It isn't always smart to bet on the fastest, the strongest or the most aggressive but that's a pretty good guide for most sports or war.
• If it is the easy way, it is probably an ambush (Murphy's Rules of War)
• Never pass up a chance to eat, sleep, drink or potty. This is especially true in little kids or old men.

The sad part about life today is that most parents are so involved in their children's lives that they don't get a chance to learn a lot of lessons the hard way. If you haven't had the chance to fall down doing something stupid as a kid, you might just do it as an adult and really get hurt. No, I'm not talking about forcing kids to try liver, it would not matter what it looks like, it still smelled like a mouth full of pennies. Even Vadallia Onions didn't hide that taste for me.

On the other hand, I am a compendium of things learned the hard way. I have scars, broken bones and medals for doing things that started with, "Hey watch this". I feel free, no compelled, to pass on this advice where ever I go. Almost daily someone asks me about the scars on my hands. I could go on for hours with stupid Denny stories and the lessons I learned the hard way. Hum, you would think I have learned the all by now... "Hey, Watch this! "

MUD