You all remember Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Arizona , who painted the jail cells pink and made the inmates wear pink prison garb. Well………

SHERIFF JOE IS AT IT AGAIN!

Oh, there’s MUCH more to know about Sheriff Joe!

Maricopa   County  was spending approx. $18 million dollars a year on stray animals, like cats and dogs. Sheriff Joe offered to take the department over, and the County Supervisors said okay.

The animal shelters are now all staffed and operated by prisoners. They feed and care for the strays. Every animal in his care is taken out and walked twice daily. He now has prisoners who are experts in animal nutrition and behavior. They give great classes for anyone who’d like to adopt an animal. He has literally taken stray dogs off the street, given them to the care of prisoners, and had them place in dog shows.

The best part? His budget for the entire department is now under $3 million. Teresa and I adopted a Weimaraner from a Maricopa County shelter two years ago. He was neutered, and current on all shots, in great health, and even had a microchip inserted the day we got him. Cost us $78.

The prisoners get the benefit of about $0.28 an hour for working, but most would work for free, just to be out of their cells for the day. Most of his budget is for utilities, building maintenance, etc. He pays the prisoners out of the fees collected for adopted animals.

I have long wondered when the rest of the country would take a look at the way he runs the jail system, and copy some of his ideas. He has a huge farm, donated to the county years ago, where inmates can work, and they grow most of their own fresh vegetables and food, doing all the work and harvesting by hand.

He has a pretty good sized hog farm, which provides meat, and fertilizer. It fertilizes the Christmas tree nursery, where prisoners work, and you can buy a living Christmas tree for $6 – $8 for the Holidays, and plant it later. We have six trees in our yard from the Prison.

Yup, he was reelected last year with 83% of the vote.
Now he’s in trouble with the ACLU again. He painted all his buses and vehicles with a mural, that has a special hotline phone number painted on it, where you can call and report suspected illegal aliens. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement wasn’t doing enough in his eyes, so he had 40 deputies trained specifically for enforcing immigration laws, started up his hotline, and bought 4 new buses just for hauling folks back to the border He’s kind of a ‘Git-R Dun’ kind of Sheriff.

TO THOSE OF YOU NOT FAMILIAR WITH JOE ARPAIO

HE IS THE MARICOPA ARIZONA COUNTY SHERIFF

AND HE KEEPS GETTING ELECTED OVER AND OVER
THIS IS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY:

Sheriff Joe Arpaio (In Arizona ) who created the ‘ Tent City Jail’:
He has jail meals down to 40 cents a serving and charges the inmates for them.

He stopped smoking and porno magazines in the jails. Took away their weights Cut off all but ‘G’ movies.

He started chain gangs so the inmates could do free work on county and city projects.

Then He Started Chain Gangs For Women So He Wouldn’t Get
Sued For Discrimination.

He took away cable TV Until he found out there was A Federal Court Order that Required Cable TV For Jails So He Hooked Up The Cable TV Again Only Let In The Disney Channel And The Weather Channel.

When asked why the weather channel He Replied, So They Will Know How Hot It’s Gonna Be While They Are Working
ON My Chain Gangs.

He Cut Off Coffee Since It Has Zero Nutritional Value.

When the inmates complained, he told them, ‘This Isn’t The Ritz/Carlton……If You Don’t Like It, Don’t Come Back.’

More On The Arizona Sheriff:

With Temperatures Being Even Hotter Than Usual In Phoenix (116 Degrees Just Set A New Record), the Associated Press Reports:
About 2,000 Inmates Living In A Barbed-Wire-Surrounded Tent Encampment At The Maricopa County Jail Have Been Given Permission To Strip Down To Their Government-Issued
Pink Boxer Shorts.

On Wednesday, hundreds of men wearing boxers were either curled up on their bunk beds or chatted in the tents, which reached
138 Degrees Inside The Week Before.

Many Were Also Swathed In Wet, Pink Towels As Sweat Collected On Their Chests And Dripped Down To Their PINK SOCKS.

‘It Feels Like We Are In A Furnace,’ Said James Zanzot, An Inmate Who Has Lived In The TENTS for 1 year. ‘It’s Inhumane.’

Joe Arpaio, the tough-guy sheriff who created the tent city and long ago started making his prisoners wear pink, and eat bologna sandwiches, is not one bit sympathetic. He said Wednesday that he told all of the inmates: ‘It’s 120 Degrees In Iraq And Our Soldiers Are Living In Tents Too, And They Have To Wear Full Battle Gear, But They Didn’t Commit Any Crimes,So Shut Your Mouths!’

Way To Go, Sheriff!

Maybe if all prisons were like this one there would be a lot less crime and/or repeat offenders. Criminals should be punished for their crimes – not live in luxury until it’s time for their parole, only to go out and commit another crime so they can get back in to live on taxpayers money and enjoy things taxpayers can’t afford to have for themselves.

As the late Adrian Rogers said, “you cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.”

Professor is a Genius

An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before,
but had once failed an entire class.

——————————————–

That class had insisted that Obama’s socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, “OK,
we will have an experiment in this class on Obama’s plan”.

All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B.
The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.

As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.
The second test average was a D!
No one was happy.

When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

The scores never increased as bickering,
blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

Could not be any simpler than that.

seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/realestate/2009492247_googlelist.html

Alex Veiga

Blackjack (21) is a game played against the casino by 1 or more player’s at a time. The goal is to get a hand scoring as close to 21 without going over that point total (going bust). If your hand is closer to 21 then the dealer’s hand you win. And if you tie then it’s a push meaning you neither lose or win.

It’s a fun game made even more entertaining as players egg on each other about which is the right move. Everyone can win so there is no competition among players at a table. However, many players feel there is a way to know what the next card is and that your play (wrong or right) is going to shape what the dealer’s hand is. If you make the wrong play, in their mind, then your bad play is the reason the dealer just got a good card and won the hand taking away their money.

In the end, Blackjack boils down to simple math and the best players quickly learn that other player’s actions have no bearing on the game. Amazingly a majority of players use their gut to play a game which is built on math. They have no system. Sometimes they hit on 14 and other times they make the unbelievable decision and sit on the hand. These are the kinds of players who fuel the new buildings in Las Vegas and who pay for your free drinks – its great!

In the mean time then a simple system does exist for playing proper Blackjack. The funny thing is that even the casino is willing to acknowledge a “system” exists. The system only gets you to within % points of getting even with the house. That means even by mastering a system the casino still has a mathematical advantage against you and in time is going to take away your money.

For this reason then Casino’s have gone as far as handing out free playing cards giving players the best rules for how to play each situation. Amazingly many players with the cards still go “with their gut”. Hurray for the casinos for having such a great business.

Still a more sophisticated system exists which the casino not only endorses but players using such a system have been banned from ever playing in the casino again. This more sophisticated system is referred to as card counting. The reason casinos are so against gamblers playing with such a system is that blackjack is the ONLY game in existence where the mathematical edge turns to the player if the player is using card counting strategies.

In card counting then you are keeping a running tally of the high and low cards played from the deck(s). The fewer decks the house plays with then the more powerful card counting becomes. As the cards become more favorable (more high cards left in the deck) then card counter’s increase their bets. As the cards become less favorable (fewer high cards left in the deck) then player’s lower their bets. When the deck is neutral then the player’s bets are of an average amount as well. A player can further their advantage by keeping a side count of how many Ace’s have been played from the deck. Furthermore, the basic strategy used to play against the house is also adjusted according to how positive (more face cards/aces left) or negative (fewer facer cards/aces are left).

Many card counting systems exist and with enough practice then average people can quickly pick it up. I spent a summer teaching myself a system developed and endorsed by Bryce Carlson of Blackjack for Blood. The title of that book alone says it all.

In the movies then card counters are shown placin $50,000 bets and winning hundreds of thousands a night. From my experience from card counting you simply cannot play or win like this. The key to being a good card counter is to maintain a low profile. Betting $50,000 on a hand is not keeping a low profile

With Blackjack being the only game where you can actually play with an edge against the house then casinos are always on the lookout for players utilizing a card counting system. The casinos have every right to ban anyone they want from their property. Therefore players even suspected of card counting can be banned. Furthermore, the casinos keep databases of players they suspect or know as card counters. Once your in this database then don’t expect to get out. And to make things worse then casinos can share with each other who they suspect as card counters.

Cameras linking to sophisticated software are now analyzing face profiles and matching to the databases. Casinos have a quick way of identifying and black balling players using card count systems.

Software will eventually be developed which tracks player’s plays/bets and matches that against the count. When this happens the casinos will have a super quick and easy way to identify card counters.

In the mean time casino “pit bosses” and hired security are watching player’s plays from a distance.

From my experience anyone thinking they can learn how to count cards and go into a casino using a perfect system to beat the house will quickly be caught. To use a perfect system then your play is going to be obvious to the casino that you are counting cards. They will likely start messing with you to test how you react. This might include changing dealers quickly, speeding up the pace of the game to see if you can keep up or if it forces you into mistakes. Or if you believe the movies they might invite you to their basement where they kick the crap out of you and eventually toss you out asking you to never come back J

So unfortunately to make money with blackjack, in the long run, we have to throw out our perfect system in an attempt to play an unrecognized game against the house. What this means is that you can’t always make the best mathematical decisions. Every once in a while you need to make a play which is obviously the wrong play. And when you do then try to make sure all the pit bosses, dealer, and security sees it. Play and act like a gambler and occasionally make a bad decision and you will buy yourself many hours at the table. The downside is that one bad decision takes a lot of plays to make up for to bringing the %’s back to your side.

From my experience then making real money at blackjack means playing long hours at the table not minutes. It becomes a profession in the real sense that you will be working it as a full time job including practice sessions away from the casino to keep your system working perfectly. After all mistakes in your count will cost you money!

To be a professional blackjack player then you have to bring a system to the table which you can play without mistakes. The good news is that this is fairly easy to simulate.

Many blackjack training programs are available where you can simulate card counting play. You know when your game is ready to play against the casino when you can reliably beat the computer.

Still a computer simulation does little to prepare you for the real situation. Inside the casino then distractions are everywhere. Beautiful women are walking around barely clothed, other gamblers are filling the room with screams of delight and disappointment, people are asking you questions, your real money is being lost or won, and on and on.

After learning how to count cards I made about 10 trips to Nevada over a couple of years. I made money on 8 of those trips. Each time I pushed it enough that I could feel the casino’s eyes but never enough that anyone took me aside. One time an old time dealer at Binion’s Horseshoe Hotel, Las Vegas was speaking to me, in code, about how he liked watching card counters take down the casinos. I was tipping him big and we enjoyed a long session of profits for us both. It made me feel good to have an old timer’s acknowledgement that a person who could learn how to do it should be allowed to play and beat the house. But after this session then I also realized my play was too obvious.

In the end, to make money at blackjack then you can’t bet too high and you cant play perfectly. It means long hours at the table for mediocre profits. And even then eventually you are probably going to get caught.

For the few capable of making money at blackjack I have a better idea – put your intelligence to use in other ways. There is potential to make a career at blackjack. But the big winnings the movies portray are not possible. You will get caught way before. And once you are caught then you are blackballed. Not the ideal career choice when anyone with the same intelligence can take their math skills and make much more money investing in stocks or a similar career based upon mathematical decisions.

Still there is another reason to learn how to count cards. And this is a great one: if you only want to become a recreational player making the occasional trip to Vegas or other casino area. That’s the decision I decided to take. And knowing I can play the game better then 99.9% of the other players is reward enough.

Jeremiah Thompson

Ten years ago I burnt myself out working 100 hour work weeks. I was living in a two story home overlooking the strand at Manhattan Beach, California. It was any guy’s dream place. I had a flashy red sports car that went 160 mph. I had everything. But all I did was work. Surrounded by women and some of the best nightlife to be found and I just worked, worked, worked. Well eventually I burned out and just gave it all up.

Since then I have learned to value my time more than anything else. I managed to quickly rebound and found myself earning a six figure income as a first year real estate agent. But working real estate still meant I was doing the bulk of the work myself. I wanted to get back to my entrepreneur roots. And I promised myself that with my next business I would hire people to do the work and build systems so it ran flawlessly.

About 8 years ago I had an idea that I thought could work. I started a group of websites which real estate agents could use for marketing to customers in their areas. The sites found a small amount of success right away. And as soon as I could see a glimmer of hope for the business succeeding for real then I started hiring.

My first hire is still with me to this day. I started the company on a shoestring budget. I had already blown through all my savings from previous years (I have a habit of living all the way to my means . Anyways, I got this guy working for me and almost immediately went on a vacation with my girlfriend to Whistler, Canada for some snowboarding. He had no idea what he was doing, the business was brand new, and it was great. I told him it would all work out. And it did.

That business is a multi-million dollar company today and doing better than ever.

But the business did not work only because of an idea.

And it did not work because of the people I hired.

And it did not work because I over managed the company to make sure everything was always running great.

It DID work because the business was built to run successfully when I was away – which was almost always.

This means I had to put systems in place so that the people who really ran the company knew how to handle business. If I didn’t do this then I had to be on hand to solve problems. Being away is what made me systemize my business. And since I did it from the start then I was able to do it easily. Had I already become intimately involved in the day to day stuff then I know it would have been a lot harder to let go.

There really is not a whole lot more I can say about the “how to” part. But let me tell you it will be worth the effort to systemize. Since starting this business I have been on an almost endless vacation. Of course I work while travelling but leading this lifestyle has kept my businesses running smoothly.

Another big upside is that you are away from the day to day drama that employees bring to employers. You also get to see things from a different perspective. I think it gives a clearer picture of your business and the people you have working for you in it.

If you have a business that is tying you down then leave it. Fix the problems from the road. That is the best way to fix them. And start enjoying the fruits of your business because that is supposed to be what it is about anyways!

Jeremiah Thompson