Happy Holidays and Enjoy the Great Early Savings,

Michael Li & Pure Adapt

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Not only did we make a donation, we also had the pleasure to attend the 19th Annual Auction to benefit the Regional Food Bank on November 5th where we all had the chance to contribute some more to the cause through raffles and auctions. This event was for a great cause and it was a great experience.  Check out the picture of the team  at the event below.

The Regional Food Bank makes a world of difference in times like this especially during the holidays.  Learn how you can help out the Regional Food Bank at www.RegionalFoodBank.net.

We all work hard to grow the business but we also look forward to growing Commerce with a Conscience to make our contribution to our community.

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October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and fittingly my charity for October 2008 will be the Susan G. Komen for the Cure charity for the fight against breast cancer.  The Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization was started by Nancy G. Brinker as a promise to her sister to do everything in her power to end breast cancer.  Founded in 1982 Komen for the Cure has become the world’s largest grassroots network of breast cancer survivors, activist and source of nonprofit funds to fight breast cancer worldwide.

“As Susan G. Komen for the Cure, we’ll continue to be the world’s largest, boldest and most progressive grassroots network of survivors and activists, the only organization fighting to cure breast cancer at every stage. To date, we’ve invested $1 billion in research, education and health services. And because so many millions of people are counting on us to fulfill our promise, we will invest an additional $2 billion over the next decade to do just that.” - http://cms.komen.org/komen/AboutUs/index.htm

Just this year in 2008 there is going to be an estimated 182,460 new cases of invasive breast cancer in women with approximately 40,480 deaths and 1,990 in men with 450 deaths (Statistics from the American Cancer Society Cancer Facts & Figures 2008).

Breast cancer has affected me personally and I’m extremely happy to say that my Mom is a breast cancer survivor.  This is not only My Monthly Charity October 2008 it is also a honor to my Mom as a survivor.  Join the fight against breast cancer and make a donation to Komen for the Cure.

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The Itinerary
Friday
5:35am Leaving Albany to Cleveland by plane
9:05am Arrive in Cleveland and spend half the day with my brother Sam.
3:30pm Leaving Cleveland to Fort Wayne by car
7:45pm Arrive in Fort Wayne Indiana for James’s Wedding
Saturday
6:45am  Leaving Fort Wayne for Chicago
9:00am Central time arrive in Chicago
Sunday
8:15pm Leaving Chicago for home sweet home
11:05pm Eastern time arrive home in Albany

That was the plan with a lot in between.  Check out some of the pictures of my trip.

Cleveland

Lebron James larger than life.

My Brother and I.

Chameleon at the Cleveland Institute of Art Botanical Gardens.

Botanical Gardens

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Massive wind turbines on my way to Fort Wayne.

Me and James at his wedding.  Congratulations James and Stephanie.  I also want to thank James for his service to our country in the US Army and work as a NYPD Police Officer.

James and Stephanie eating the cake.

Chicago, Illinois

Arriving in Chicago under the El just like “The Dark Knight” chases.

The shiny Cloud Gate piece of art by British artist Anish Kapoor.

Me taking a picture  of me taking a picture of the Cloud Gate

Awesome statue at the Chicago Museum of Art.

The ferris wheel at the Chicago Navy Pier.

View from the ferris wheel of the Navy Pier.

Our walk to the Chicago Field Museum happened to be the same time everyone was going to the Bears vs. Vikings game at Soldier Field right near there.

Sue the Tyrannosaurus Rex at Chicago Field Museum is the most complete set of bones in the world of a  Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Clown Fish just like Nemo at the John Shed Aquarium.

View from the Sears Tower at sunset.

View from the Sears Tower at sunset #2.

The view from the Sears Tower was was amazing.  The elevator was crazy as you fly up and down 103 floors in about a minute.

My trips are always go, go, go but I’m glad I got to jam pack my trip and do all the things I got to do.  It was a great trip and I’m sure I’ll be back out to the Midwest again since my Brother is out there.

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Most of my life, politics hasn’t been a priority for me but as the economy craps the bed and America looks to be losing it’s competitive edge, I’m looking for change.  America needs change and taxes will be an important part of my presidential vote.  The October ‘08 issue of Inc. Magazine had a great article breaking down each candidates tax proposals, Tax This; Tax That.   Below are the key proposals for both candidates that Inc. Magazine has highlighted:

McCain
Key Proposals:

• Extend the Bush tax cuts
• Dramatically scale back the estate tax
• Make permanent the Economic Stimulus Act’s more generous limits for expensing
• Lower the corporate tax rate

Obama
Key Proposals:

• Cut taxes for all but the richest 1 percent
• Eliminate capital gains taxes for start-ups
• Cut taxes for firms that add jobs in the U.S.
• Close corporate loopholes and eliminate tax shelters

Both candidates are definitely looking to cut taxes, especially under the current conditions as the US faces a recession along with a worldwide economic slowdown.

Analyzing the proposals of both candidates, I feel that Obama’s plan would fare better for the middle class and America.  Obama’s proposals includes a variety of tax credits like a $4,000 refundable credit against college tuition, extending the Earned Income Tax Credit to more low-income Americans and expanding the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit.  One proposal that really stood out to me was getting rid of income tax for seniors making less than $50,000 along with the other credits really looks like it will help the people that need it the most.  With McCain’s proposal many American’s will also enjoy a cut in taxes but nothing really stood out to me.

Now down to business. How are these candidates going affect me and Pure Adapt, Inc.  Here is a what Inc. Magazine highlighted for each candidate on business:

McCain
“As for the candidate’s business tax agenda, McCain would lower the top corporate income tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent; he has also proposed, without offering specifics, measures that would expand the corporate income tax base. He has pledged to end preferential treatment for oil and gas companies and would establish a permanent research and development tax credit of 10 percent of wages spent on R&D. And for five years, businesses would be able to expense certain equipment purchases immediately. He also would make permanent the more generous limits for Section 179 expensing that were included in the recent stimulus package — a move that could be especially helpful for small businesses. On the other hand, he would repeal the Section 199 deduction for “domestic production activities,” a deduction meant to encourage businesses to keep jobs on U.S. soil. The deduction will reach 9 percent in 2010.”

Obama
“For businesses, Obama is proposing incentives to invest in small businesses and tax credits for small businesses that purchase health insurance for their employees. He would eliminate capital gains taxes for investors in start-ups and small businesses (terms that remain undefined by the campaign) and permanently resurrect the R&D credit for all companies.”

Both set of proposals will help businesses in America but I like the cut of Obama’s jib a little more.  I feel that Obama is focusing on small businesses slightly more than McCain.  I am part of a small business of many in America which makes their tax proposals on business so important to me.  I feel strongly that small business is a major make up of America and promoting small businesses will help America flourish again and push innovation to keep America strong.

Whether it’s Obama or McCain their proposals will surely help Americans financially. Either way both candidates need to cut government spending and live up their proposals.  I am personally favoring the Obama and Biden ticket with their tax proposals that look to focus more on the middle and lower class and small business.

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The thing I hate the most about what is currently going on is that everyone keeps calling it a “Bailout Package”.   This is not a “Bailout”.  There is something fundamentally wrong with our financial system that needs to be fixed. This is an Investment in America!  Using the taxpayers money the government will be buying troubled assets that will make a return, that doesn’t sound like a bailout.  Bill Gross from Pimco has even done the numbers which came out to 7-8% return for these assets, watch this video of Bill Gross on CNBC.

I’m all for free markets, but under the circumstances that we’re in from a plethora of actions taken in the past, intervention is absolutely necessary.   I think it’s healthy to have contraction during an economic slow down when businesses fail or get bought out. This is survival of the fittest, but when you have only 2 investment banks left that may go under is a red flag that there is something wrong and action needs to be taken.

The “Investment in America Bill” did not pass the first time around in the House of Representatives and Dow Industrial Index spiraled down 770pts.  It took a drop like that for people to think twice as the markets dwindled down through the rest of the week.  Maybe if the media didn’t call it a bailout for Wall Street more people would understand that there was a problem that needed to be fixed.

The problem is that the credit markets are frozen right now.  Financial institutions need the capital to start making money again.  If we don’t do anything with the credit markets, things will only get worse.  Banks can’t afford to lend money, then they can’t make money.  No lending means people can’t borrow money for housing or cars.  That means the housing market will continue it’s downward trend along with other industries.  The economy will come to a halt and we’ll head into a recession, unemployment will increase and consumer confidence will be shattered.  We’ve been in bad times in the recent past but we’ve always had credit to keep things going.  Without credit you can see the chain of events that will lead us into a depression.

This really does suck.  I’ve lost money myself along with many others, but how about those they are nearing retirement. They may have lost a good percentage of their funds as it looks like there weren’t many safe havens in the market, even in checking or savings accounts.   Failure to act under the circumstances has probably cut the wealth of many individuals.

We can’t be playing the blame game cause it’s a combination of greedy lenders and overly optimistic borrowers taking on debt that doesn’t make sense with other factors that have gotten us into this mess.  We can’t be harping on how we got to this point but instigate a solution to get out of it and learn from our mistakes.   I hope it isn’t too late but there is an upside to the delay of the bill.  There is probably more benefits to the taxpayers and they deserve it and I agree that there needs to be oversight of this government entity, CEO compensation regulation, and the taxpayer has to make out.

IT’S NOT A BAILOUT
IT’S AN INVESTMENT IN AMERICA

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For this month’s charity I got something really cool.  Recently I’ve had the pleasure to be part of developing a website for a children’s book by Eleanor Bartlett & Kathy Pautler, so this month I’ll be writing about the authors of “Friday a Dog’s Tale“.

BooksByEBKP.com is a the website for authors Eleanor Bartlett & Kathy Pautler featuring their newly published book “Friday a Dog’s Tale“.  Books by Eleanor Bartlett & Kathy Pautler is out to promote reading to children by reading at local area schools and giving free copies of the book away. BookByEBKP.com is not for profit and all sales proceeds will be put towards ordering more books.

I am planning to read this book, but I haven’t had the chance to yet.  Excuses, excuses I know.  I will get around to it and I will write a blog post and review it.

Find out more about “Friday a Dog’s Tale” at BooksbyEBKP.com.

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Here are my 2 cents on what’s going on:

• I really hope we’re not covering up these problems and expect the government to step in every time there’s a crisis.  There’s a problem with the system that needs to be fixed.
• There’s going to be good and bad times but this may signal a great time to buy stocks.   There are great stocks that have been beaten down for no reason other than fear that rules the market, like some tech stocks that don’t even work off credit for example.(aapl - 134.90, rimm - 98.18, msft -25.26)
• The world markets look to be slowing and I think the US market was ahead in the slow down so the US should be the first to come out of the slump.  If world markets slow I can also see money flow into the US markets.
• There are great stocks out there and if you’re in it for the long term with a good company I think it will be ok.
• If the recent dramatic drops show anything it may be a sign of a possible bottom.  I’m not picking a bottom, but I personally think if you pick some good companies and buy in small portions there may be some very nice returns.
• Energy prices have a gone down significantly that will help company expenses.
• It sucks if you recently pulled your money out earlier this week cause you’re probably going to lose a lot of missing the rally that’s going on now. It was bad this week after Lehman Bros. filed bankruptcy and AIG announced it needed restructuring. It was really bad this week and I didn’t know what to do and really thought my portfolio had a chance to go to 0, but I thought I had to wait for pop before I get out.(DOW - 11,019.69 | Nasdaq - 2199.10 | S&P 500 - 1206.51)

These are my personal opinions and I’m in no way giving advice to anyone.  If I’m right and buying stocks now may be very rewarding, but there are still many problems looming from the housing market and finding the future of energy. At some point the housing market has to turn around, banks will  be lending money again, and our economy will be flourishing again.  I really trust that the government needed to step in to prevent a catastrophe, as much as I don’t agree with it because there were obviously problems that were just overlooked that brought us to this crisis.  When we see people taking out 50 year mortgages when they’re like 40 years old, why didn’t we see this crisis coming?  Let’s not get into a the cycle of letting problems get out of control then beg for a government bailout.

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“Poker has exploded in past few years since they started to air some big tournaments on TV and I won’t deny the hype of it because I’ve played a fair amount myself with friends and online. It’s been a while since the last time I’ve played and I was an average player at best, so I’ve decided to step my game up. More specifically I will be focusing on Texas Hold’em. I’m going to do some research to become a better poker player and share it here on the Tastefully Driven Blog. For all you beginners or those interested in getting started with Texas Hold’em poker I hope you will join me to become better poker players. “ read more…

Check out the post and the video that I cut and narrated (it’s always funny to hear yourself talk in my opinion. Do I really sound like that?).  Stay tuned for the rest of my post on Texas Hold’em Poker.

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My Monthly Charity for August 2008 will be Prevent Child Abuse New York. Prevent Child Abuse New York is a state wide non-profit organization out to stop child abuse and neglect.

“Prevent Child Abuse New York wants to prevent the pain of child abuse from ever happening. We believe that:

• All children have the right to have their basic needs met.
• Prevention is the best way to keep children from harm.
• Child abuse prevention means strengthening families.
• Prevention is the responsibility of the individual, the family and the community.

Our vision is that all children live in families that love, nurture and protect them.”

Founded in 1980 Prevent Child Abuse New York focuses on education, support, and progressively improving programs and policies to achieve their mission of preventing child abuse.

A cool thing about this non-profit organization is that there are many ways  you can help out.  Some ways you can help prevent child abuse include selling on eBay, buying sauce from The Villa Valenti Sauce Company in New York (I’ve been there before that’s pretty cool), buying flowers from FTD.com, purchasing Plushland Bears, and many more.  See all the ways you can give.

Like in My Monthly Charity July 2008 - Fight Crime Invest in Kids, kids are the future and preventing child abuse is important to the growth of children to become productive adults in society.

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