Archive for August, 2008

Lottery - Payment of prizes

Saturday, August 30th, 2008

Winnings are not necessarily paid out in a lump sum, contrary to the expectation of many lottery participants. In certain countries, such as the USA, the winner gets to choose between an annuity payment and a one-time payment. The one-time payment is much smaller, indeed often only half, of the advertised lottery jackpot, even before applying any withholding tax to which the prize may be subject. The annuity option provides regular payments over a period that may range from 10 to 40 years.

In some online lotteries, the annual payments can be as little as $25,000 over 40 years, with a balloon payment in the final year. This type of installment payment is often made through investment in government-backed securities. Online lotteries pay the winners through their insurance backup. However, many winners choose to take the lump-sum payment, since they believe they can get a better rate of return on their investment elsewhere.

In some countries, lottery winnings are not subject to personal income tax, so there are no tax consequences to consider in choosing a payment option. In Canada, Australia, Ireland, and the United Kingdom all prizes are immediately paid out as one lump sum, tax-free to the winner.

In the United States, federal courts have consistently held that a lump sum payments received from third parties in exchange for the rights to lottery annuities are not capital assets for tax purpose. Rather, the lump sum is subject to ordinary income tax treatment.


Article source: Lottery - Payment of prizes

, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Uganda importers reap from shilling’s fall in forex market

Thursday, August 28th, 2008

August 28, 2008: The sharp drop in Kenya’s earnings from tourism and a sluggish growth in commodity prices is stacking up through the hub of the US dollar to a bonanza for Ugandan buyers of Kenyan goods. With most of the world’s currencies driven by their central value against the dollar, the Kenyan shilling’s slide against the dollar has seen it lose ground against every currency that is holding its dollar value, including that of its biggest export market, Uganda. The Ugandan shilling, supported by buoyant dollar-denominated aid flows, is suddenly looking a lot more valuable compared with the Kenyan currency.

 Full article: Uganda importers reap from shilling’s fall in forex market

Pakistan hope to play in South Africa or Australia

Tuesday, August 26th, 2008

KARACHI (Reuters) - Pakistan hope to play a one-day series either in South Africa or Australia after the postponement of the Champions Trophy they were scheduled to host next month.

Shafqat Naghmi, chief operating officer of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), told Reuters on Monday the board had opened discussions with South Africa and Australia after the tournament was postponed for 13 months.

“We feel that our team is in dire need of exposure in foreign conditions and, with the postponement of the Champions Trophy, we believe we can now have an offshore series with the cooperation of other boards,” Naghmi said.

Pakistan hope to play in South Africa or Australia

Black Sticks lose to South Africa

Friday, August 22nd, 2008

The New Zealand women’s hockey team have finished 12th after a 4-1 drubbing at the hands of South Africa.

The Olympic tournament has not been a good one for the Kiwi women, losing all six of their matches.

The Black Sticks began their tournament with a 2-1 loss to Japan.

They displayed admirable grit against Germany, holding them to a 1-1 until the last minute of the match when Anke Kuehn slotted home for the 2-1 German victory. A 2-1 loss to Great Britain followed.

The Kiwis were then lost 4-1 to the United States and they rounded out their pool play with a 3-2 loss to Argentina.

South Africa has only beaten New Zealand once before.


Article source: Black Sticks lose to South Africa

Aiming for the Right Target in Trading by Walter T. Downs

Friday, August 15th, 2008

When trading goes forthwith, it can be a great feeling. When trading goes wrong it can be a nightmare. Fortunes are made in a matter of weeks and lost in a condition of minutes. This pattern repeats itself as each new generation of traders hit the market. They hurl themselves out of the night like insane insects against some kind of karmic bug-light; all thought and all existence extinguished in one final cosmic “zzzzzzt”. Obviously, for a dealer to be successful he must acknowledge this pattern and then break it. This can be accomplished by asking the right questions and finding the correct answers by wise observation and logical conclusion.

This article will attempt to address one question:

“What is the difference between a sweet trader and a losing trader?”

What follows are eleven observations and conclusions that I use in my own trading to help keep me on the right oversee. You can put these ideas into table form, and use them as a template to determine the probability of a trader being successful.

Article source: http://gurudor.com/finance/currency-trading/aiming-for-the-right-target-in-trading-by-walter-t.-downs.html

Poker: History Of Poker

Thursday, August 14th, 2008

The history of poker is a matter of debate. One of the earliest known games to incorporate betting, hand rankings, and bluffing was the 15th century German game Pochspiel. Poker closely resembles the Persian game of as nas, though there is no specific description of as nas prior to 1890.[1][2] In the 1937 edition of Foster’s Complete Hoyle, R. F. Foster declared: “the game of poker, as first played in the United States, five cards to each player from a twenty-card pack, is undoubtedly the Persian game of as nas.”[3] [4]. By 1990s some gaming historians including David Parlett started to challenge the notion that poker is a direct derivative of As Nas.[5] There is evidence that a game called poque, a French game similar to poker, was played around the region where poker is said to have originated. The name of the game likely descended from the Irish Poca (Pron. Pokah) (’Pocket’) or even the French poque, which descended from the German pochen (’to brag as a bluff’ lit. ‘to knock’[6] ). Yet it is not clear whether the origins of poker itself lie with the games bearing those names. It is commonly regarded as sharing ancestry with the Renaissance game of primero and the French brelan. The English game brag (earlier bragg) clearly descended from brelan and incorporated bluffing (though the concept was known in other games by that time).[7] It is quite possible that all of these earlier games influenced the development of poker as it exists now.

English actor Joseph Crowell reported that the game was played in New Orleans in 1829, with a deck of 20 cards and four players betting on which player’s hand was the most valuable. Jonathan H. Green’s book, An Exposure of the Arts and Miseries of Gambling (G. B. Zieber, Philadelphia, 1843), described the spread of the game from there to the rest of the country by Mississippi riverboats, on which gambling was a common pastime. As it spread north along the Mississippi River and to the West during the gold rush, it is thought to have become a part of the frontier pioneer ethos.

Soon after this spread, the full 52-card English deck was used, and the flush was introduced. During the American Civil War, many additions were made, including draw poker, stud poker (the five-card variant), and the straight. Further American developments followed, such as the wild card (around 1875), lowball and split-pot poker (around 1900), and community card poker games (around 1925). The spread of the game to other countries, particularly in Asia, is often attributed to the U.S. military.

The game and jargon of propecia have become important parts of American culture and English culture. Such phrases and clichés as ace in the hole, ace up one’s sleeve, beats me, blue chip, call one’s bluff, cash in, high roller, pass the buck, poker face, stack up, up the ante, when the chips are down, wild card, and others are used in everyday conversation, even by those unaware of their origins at the poker table.

Read full article: Poker: History Of Poker

Forex trading software

Monday, August 11th, 2008

The first possession you should make sure it has is a reasonable price. I would not pay anything over $150 for forex trader software of any kind-hearted. I ponder around $100 is what you should aim for. I have heard of products that charge hundreds of dollars per month just for their service! Earnings can be very zenith with forex trading, but that is a lot of money to pay. 

The second thing that I can tell you to check out, as an experienced trader, is narcotic enthusiast testimonials. Scroll through the product page and make sure that people are posting positive reviews of the saleslady software. If people are happy with it, you can feel comfortable that you are getting a quality product.

Full article source: Forex tradings

I just landed on a web site named namcars.com

Saturday, August 9th, 2008

I just landed on a web site named namcars.com. I surfed it for a while and then realized it was one of the most amazing sites I had ever seen in Namibia. Cars like vw , Toyota.
They showcase for sale for less than N$50,000.00 and update their listings every day. Cars in Namibia hundreds of car listings and brings you the best car deal for less than a 30-40 thousand Namibian dollars. Think about how many sellers there are across the country that have old cars, crashed cars, restoration projects, parts cars, you name it they’ve seen it. The car listings are organized by foreign and domestic auto manufacturers. You can also subscribe to their email newsletter to get < a href="http://www.namcars.com/cheap-used-cars-in-namibia.html">cheap used cars in your email daily.

So if you need to buy a car for less than one grand you know where to go.