"The depth of your compassion lies in your ability to forgive yourself."

Wanna know the secret of Sarah Ferguson's success?  (You've got to be kidding...right?)  She's coming to Fort Worth for the first time and the recurring theme in the stories leading up to her visit: "Sarah's going to share her secrets for success."  That's gotta be the silliest spin I've ever heard in my life.  Let's see, first step towards achieving worldwide fame and access?  Marry a prince.  Amazing...get yourself in a British mood: Grab a warm beer, forget brushing your teeth for a month, eat crappy food and read all about it. [And remember: God save the queen!]

Should Mom & Dad let their son use the family car to buy illegal drugs?  (C'mon...it's safer than taking the subway!) It's this week's question for Randy Cohen a/k/a "The Ethicist." I love this weekly feature in The New York Times' Sunday magazine; you'll chuckle when you read the entire question-and Randy's answer.....

Speaking of cars, are you finally in the market for a new set of wheels?  Do not be seduced by radio-commercial claims by car leasing companies that want to get you hooked, wear you down and beat the daylights out of you!  Check out Ben's free Smart Car Seminar automotive acquisition tips right here!

Here's the first and last automobile leasing company you'll ever need to deal with, no matter where you live...Ben's no-brainer choice is Manufacturers Auto Leasing: They have loyal clients across the entire state of Texas and around the nation.  Why?  Because they'll take care of you better than anyone else out there! 

What are you waiting for?  Now's the time to get off your butt and start making travel plans for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend! (You're on the clock and it's now 82 days away): Stretch your travel budget and get your Thanksgiving or Christmas-time travel planning handled now. Check out Ben's no-brainer choice for hotel room or condo deals: www.hotels.com.  

Where's Olin Mills when you need him? Re-defining a family photo shoot, check out the latest rage in fetal fotography...(and say cheese!) 

Add this name to your American heroes list: Charles McKinley is just like you and me. He misses his family, watching his pennies and tries to stretch his travel budget whenever possible.  Buying a last-minute ticket for a flight from New York to Dallas-Fort Worth can be prohibitively expensive, so why not get a friend to pack you up and ship you out in a cargo container? 

 

 

All joking aside, Charles McKinley really did do +/- 293 million Americans a favor.  He exposed obvious airborne security weaknesses to the light of day, before being jailed on some outstanding arrest warrants.  Note to the DAs office: Go easy on him...his stunt gives our pals at the Transportation Safety Administration something else to add to their safety checklist..... 

You could find yourself slapped with a $1 million plus judgment: The formula for this financial disaster? All it takes is a computer, a fast Internet connection, and an appetite for free music.  The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is this generation's brownshirts, and the parental shakedowns have officially put fear into the heart of millions of kids...(at least that's what they're hoping for).

Texas voters did themselves a favor last weekend; watch Wells Fargo move quickly to cash in: Incredible as this might seem, until a few years ago Texans couldn't borrow against the equity in their homes.  Thanks to a positive vote on Proposition 16 last Saturday, homeowners will soon be able to establish home equity lines of credit-instead of the current lump sum/cash out re-finances that are the most common liquidity vehicle.

 

Here's the good [interest rate-related] news.  Rates are still lower than they were a year ago! So what are you waitin' for?  Cash in and lock in the lowest rate in decades by re-financing your current mortgage and cut 10 to 15 years off your term!  And the best news of all?  Deal with the best, lay-it-on-the-line/no-games-played-here company in the country, W.R. Starkey Mortgage.

 

It's easy to get educated about the process first...and the price is right!  (Free!)  Everything you need to know can be found on-line; get your own copy of Bens' 2003 Home Buyer's Guide by clicking here.

 

There was also terrific, hanging chad-free news coming from Texas voting booths for senior homeowners: Those same home equity lines of credit can now be utilized (by mid-October, anyway) with the woefully under-utilized and widely under-appreciated reverse mortgages...thanks to a positive vote on Proposition 6.  Find out why a reverse mortgage is one of the greatest financial innovations for 62-plus Texas homeowners right here!

 

Now that you're motivated to buy a house, or trade-up from your current home...how would you like to get some cash back on your next home purchase (or sale)?  (I'll show you how.)  Click here.....

The "real" big question you've gotta ask yourself once you move? [Isn't it obvious?] Cable or satellite!  You may already know why Ben dropped his cable company in the grease after being a loyal customer for 16 years...but now The New York Times did a cable-versus-satellite comparison that's really worth the read..even if you have to buy it from their archive.

Ever lost a pet?  Ever found a stray?  Here's what you need to do to help our 4-legged pals: Pet Life magazine has some valuable tips that'll keep the family together...skip the Lassie reruns and read more about it here. 

 

Wish that obnoxious dog living next door would end up on a milk carton?  Here's what you can do to restore the peace!

 

Maybe it's not a barking dog, but a testosterone-loaded punk with a booming car stereo: Not to worry...gotcha covered on the Effective Complaining front.....

You can relax, now; Big Brother just took a hit in the courtroom: Hiding a global positioning device (GPS) on your vehicle is a no-no unless they've gotta court order.  Here's why. 

 

Of course you probably don't even realize this, but your cell phone can rat your true location out if anyone's motivated enough to get a court order and make their point.  But then again, so can toll tags...and don't forget all of those cameras popping up on just about every intersection, interstate, shopping center and ATM around the nation.  So be careful the next time you stick your finger in an embarrassing place.....

Do you love the amazing resources I compile every week in the Dose of Dover? Good! Then no whining about having to sign-up for free access: Like anything in life, there's always gonna be a trade-off on some level. I embed dozens of links in every edition of this newsletter, and my frequent sources, The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News, The Los Angeles Times, The Orange County Register and USA Today require varying levels of registration in order to access their websites for free...with one small caveat: If you try to hit an older story, there's a reasonable chance that the news organization has either moved the story to a new URL, or to their archives.  If it's archived, there's a high probability that they'll charge you for access to the story...usually under $3.  Don't whine about it...just pay 'em if you wanna read it--or not.  It's always your choice.

 

Wanna see our lawmakers do something really pro-active to protect us from one of the most insidious forms of white collar crime?  The death penalty might be a bit extreme, but these rat-bastards that are ripping us off to the tune of more than $53 billion annually have got to know they're gonna do mandatory jail time-no negotiating sentences of 20-years plus is a good start.  By the way: Victims of stolen identities frequently know the perpetrators of the crime...as outlined in my column about a member of our armed forces and her scumbag Mother. 

 

While we're at it, punitive damages against the credit reporting industry for ignoring our pleas for help after we've been victimized seems reasonable, too.  TransUnion got slapped with a $5.3 million judgment by a ticked-off consumer tired of having her credit file co-mingled with a deadbeat...a few more of those trips to the legal woodshed and I'll betcha the credit reporting industry will be a little more attentive to your cards and letters.

 

 

Let's cut off schools and insurance companies from using our Social Security Number as our personal identifier.  And let's create a mechanism for issuing new Social Security Numbers to victims of identity theft.  Whew...I'm feeling better now.

Still looking for a cool birthday (or other special occasion) gift that'll keep on giving, all year long?  Then give 'em a subscription to the Dose of Dover...the most reliable source of insight and no s*** ideas available on the planet.  (You can afford it...it's free!)  Time to share the wealth!  Sign-up for a subscription to the weekly Dose of Dover Newsletter right here!

 

Do you know what to do if you happen to miss your weekly Dose of Dover?  Aside from blaming your ISP for it, take the path of least resistance: Read the latest edition in the Dose of Dover archive right here!

Oh boy, marginal tax advice is coming to a Wal-Mart store near you!  Grab your W-2s and 1099s and read all about it.