I have a company with more than 50 employees, but am considered a small business. We receive preferential treatment from state governments because we are under $16 Million in revenue – but still  have over 50 employees.

President Obama, along with the overwhelming majority of Representatives with a D after their names will put us out of business as soon as the taxes start. If you work for a company of over 50 people, be aware of this.

Hidden within the bill is a provision allowing the IRS to penalize companies who have at least 50 employees but do not provide health care insurance. The penalty is $2,000 per employee per year. Paying the penalty is surely much cheaper than paying for insurance, so I’m sure that is the better option. $100,000 per year will wipe out most small businesses of this size…

By looking at the state of the economy and the leading indicators (massive layoffs still happening), I believe you will see at least 10% of small businesses with at least 50 employees go under in the first year. At least they’ll have government-provided health insurance!

What does an economy with massive unemployment, a business hostile atmosphere with rapidly expanding government power look like? Has anyone been to Cuba, Venezuela or Russia lately?

Change is right.

The first American duel was at Plymouth Rock back in the 1620’s. Over the centuries, the duel has played an important role in the manly idiot’s view of personal disrespect. We are all bigger men than that – we you never know….

The modern day duel is probably the guy in the bar who asks you to step outside. Perhaps in other places in the world, there are still more gentlemanly ways to duel – methods with traditional.

David and Goliath’s fight with weapons of choice was probably the most well known duel of history. As you should know, Goliath fitted himself with over 100 pounds of weaponry and armor. David, the undersized boy, came at Goliath with a sling shot and some rocks. Well all know who won.

Duels have been fought with a variety of weapons throughout history. A few that I have heard about include muskets, swords, hot-air balloons, rocks and even billiard balls. It seems like the best thing to do is to figure out if both parties will be using the same weaponry. Since the challenged sets the terms of the duel, you may have the option.

If both parties will indeed be using the same weaponry, your decision will be how committed you are to your duel. Do you want to die or just be maimed? I’d prefer to be the one doing the killing or maiming – but it’s probably a 50/50 kind of deal here.

It is more respectful to stick with traditional tools – don’t use a Glock handgun or a machete – at least get some black powder muskets. After all, it could be your last purchase, so you should have a little class here. Obviously, if you think you will have the upper-hand with a bow and arrow, you will probably want to use that.

From the Art of Manliness: A duel had to be conducted calmly and coolly to be dignified, and the preliminaries could take weeks or months; a letter requesting an apology would be sent, more letters would be exchanged, and if peaceful resolution could not be reached, plans for the duel would commence.

It was tradition to do a duel properly and with procedure. Stepping outside and playing chicken with your cars are not the gentlemanly ways to duel. If you are serious about settling something, I recommend doing a test duel somewhere like a paint-ball course first – then go for the more serious duel weapons.

Portfolio compiled a list of the 67 most important and happening places for young people to live. They define young people as those in their mid 20’s to mid 30’s. They only looked at cities with populations over 750,000. High tech cities who were winners included: Austin, San Jose, San Francisco & Houston.

Factors including the following:

Opportunity Score

Rate of Population Growth

Rate of Employment Growth

Share of Population (this age group VS others)

% of Households with incomes over $100K

% of Households with bachelors degrees

Considering all these items weighted equally, here are the results:

To get the full list, visit Portfolio here.

I hate using a phone. First, when I started my main business about 10 years ago, I went with a cell phone instead of a land line. Four offices and hundreds of employees later, I just got rid of it. I forwarded it to my Google Voice number and will convert my incoming calls to emails….and reply to them via email.

My wife wouldn’t let me totally be free of a phone. I have a cell that I gave the number to my wife and both of our parents for emergencies. Everyone else gets the Google Voice number (a different one than above) and many will just get sent to voicemail. Friends’ calls get routed to my cell during some hours.

Returning calls via email lets people get the hint. I have told $250,000+year clients that I don’t do phones and they have to email me to reach me. I have told my staff that very same thing. It has worked very well – except that 1 emergency phone call that I get every 90 days.

Here’s why I hate phones and love email:

Phones require both parties to have free time to speak at the same time.

Phone calls can’t be outsourced – email can.

Phones require you to be available to people at a specific point in time.

If you travel internationally, email is so much for convenient.

Exchanging pleasantries is a waste of time.

Phone calls can’t be outsourced.

Pauses are awkward.

Lectures via email are easier to delete than listening through their phone speech.

Did I mention phone calls can’t be outsourced?

The Oatmeal put together a comedic presentation of these and several other reasons why Phones suck. http://su.pr/8lw8VR