RANT: How much is too much to write off?

Sunday, April 9, 2017

I have to laugh when I get checks or bills for less than a threshold amount.

Today I paid a bill for $2.84. I once received a check for $0.03!

Now considering that it probably cost them guesstimate 25¢ in supplies, 50¢ in postage, 50¢ in return labor, and who knows how much in setting the whole thing up.

I figure they lost money and so did I.

Because the Gooferment and Big Insurance is involved, there’s probably no way to automate the whole thing.

Argh!

So at what trivial amount do you write things off?

Argh!

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GOVEROTRAGEOUS: What the Gooferment did once, it can do again

Saturday, April 8, 2017

http://www.offthegridnews.com/extreme-survival/that-time-the-u-s-govt-rationed-food-and-threatened-jail-for-those-who-didnt/

That Time The U.S. Gov’t Rationed Food – And Threatened Jail For Those Who Didn’t
Written by: Tricia Drevets  Extreme Survival

*** begin quote *** 

If you were asked to picture people lined up at a grocery store with ration books in their hands, you would probably imagine people in war-torn Europe. However, during World War II, government-issued ration books were a very real part of American life.To distribute food and other items that could be in short supply due to the war effort and also to create a sense of unity, the federal Office of Price Administration (OPA) established a rationing system for the nation’s citizens.That Time The U.S. Gov’t Rationed Food – And Threatened Jail For Those Who Didn’t The government then launched a promotional campaign for the ration books that included widespread radio ads, posters and pamphlets. The campaign appealed to Americans’ patriotic sense of duty, and it warned that non-compliance could be met with stiff fines and even jail time.

*** and ***

To save on ration points, for instance, many families switched from butter to Oleomargarine. To save on meat consumption, shoppers bought the new Kraft Macaroni and Cheese packaged product. Sales of cottage cheese skyrocketed from 110 million pounds in 1930 to 500 million pounds during the rationing program, as people used cottage cheese as a meat substitute in meals.

Although World War II ended in 1945, the rationing program continued until 1946. Gradually, life – and grocery shopping – returned to normal and the average American’s consumption of meat, butter and sugar rose to pre-rationing levels.

*** end quote ***

I had three thoughts on reading this:

(1) Imagine the corruption that went on. I can’t believe that the rich and connected suffered the indignity of “rationing” like “We, The Sheeple”.

(2) I wager that the big objective was to appeal to “to Americans’ patriotic sense of duty”. Have to get the Sheeple to want to go to the slaughter house.

(3) We know that margarine, a trans fat, makes for heart disease. As does the now “standard american diet”. And as far as “mac and cheese”, that made Kraft rich, we know that they’d be better off eating the box. So, what were the health effects and mortality / morbidity impacts of the “rationed diet”. Wonder how many were killed or crippled at home versus casualties on the battlefield. That would be an interesting number to know.

Argh!

The Gooferment is ALWAYS immoral, ineffective, and inefficient. As well as untrustworthy.

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GOVEROTRAGEOUS: The “City” ignores its residents’ complaints; surprised?

Friday, April 7, 2017

http://www.riverdalepress.com/stories/riverdale-underpass-falls-under-radar,62141

Riverdale underpass falls under radar
Posted March 30, 2017
By Lisa Herndon 

*** begin quote ***

The underpass located at the Henry Hudson Parkway East and Manhattan College Parkway is a ‘no man’s land’ and receives limited city services. The area has debris and broken tree limbs. After the March 14 snowstorm, the sidewalk at the underpass was not shoveled.

The underpass located at the Henry Hudson Parkway East and Manhattan College Parkway is a ‘no man’s land’ and receives limited city services. The area has debris and broken tree limbs. After the March 14 snowstorm, the sidewalk at the underpass was not shoveled.

Flooding and streets caked with mud after a heaving rain or snowfall. Broken tree limbs laying around.

Litter scattered along the hilly portion of the wooded area.

Those are some of the concerns residents shared about the underpass and overpass at the Henry Hudson Parkway East and Manhattan College Parkway near West 242nd Street.

“Welcome to ‘no man’s land,’” said David Sondheim, who lives near the underpass and attends the nearby Young Israel of Riverdale synagogue one block away. “You come back here on days where we have rain, andthis whole sidewalk is covered in mud. The puddle goes at least to the middle of the road.

“From the sidewalk, 15 to 20 feet out … it gets pretty deep. It doesn’t drain anywhere. I think the mud and the leaves block the sewer.”

When the sidewalk gets muddy, icy or snowy, it’s not cleaned up, Sondheim said, making it difficult for people to walk there.

“This is an Orthodox synagogue. People are Sabbath observant,” he said. “They don’t drive, but people walk over here to get there. It just makes it difficult,” said Sondheim.

Sondheim contacted 311 — a number used to report non-emergency issues in order for the city to make repairs — but it did him no good. Without a specific street address, 311’s computer system could not register the complaint.

*** end quote ***

Maybe the “City” should adopt what3words?

https://map.what3words.com/decent.eagles.beams

The what3words label “decent.eagles.beams” identifies EXACTLY where the problem is!

Yeah, I know the folks in Mongolia can use Dominos to delver pizza to the nomadic tribesman, who have no fixed address, but it takes real skill to be so stupid as to not know where the problem is.

Maybe I should apply to be the “City’s” IT manager for 311?

Now I know readers of my blog are used to me just lambasting the Federal Gooferment, but it’s Gooferment at all levels that deserve our scorn.

For those tin foil hats who think there is a vast “jewish conspiracy”, please take note. If there was one, it surely would have addressed this complaint toot’s sweet. Argh!

I especially like the “helpful” 311 operator referring the caller to Sanitation, Parks, and who knows what other departments of the “City” to get them to do their jobs. Laugh! Somehow, non-governmental entities don’t seem to have this problem. Go to McD’s a gripe about the restroom and the manager will be on it in heartbeat. Someone will be in deep too do. 

Argh!

Remember this story when someone tells you how the Gooferment is “your friend” and only seeks to serve you.

Argh!

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ECONOMICS: $78 trillion pension shortfall

Thursday, April 6, 2017

https://www.lewrockwell.com/2017/03/no_author/worlds-first-pension-crisis/

The World’s First Pension Crisis
By Simon Black Sovereign Man
March 31, 2017

*** begin quote ***

In the late in the 5th century BC, the government of ancient Rome came up with a new idea that has lasted for thousands of years.

I’m not talking about their roads, republican form of government, or water sanitation.

Their bold idea was to start paying retirement benefits to Roman soldiers.

*** and ***

So just as the ancient Romans invented the first pensions, they also invented the first pension crisis. It wouldn’t be the last.

Most major governments find themselves in a similar position today.

According to a 2016 report from Citibank entitled “The Coming Pension Crisis,” the 35 developed nations which comprise the OECD (including the US, Canada, Japan, most of Europe, etc.) have pension shortfalls totaling $78 TRILLION.

To put this in context, $78 trillion is more than the size of the entire world economy.

*** end quote ***

Nothing like being a Gloomy Gus on a nice sunny day, but the nice thing about being a retired fat old white guy injineer who is a poor old senior citizen on a fixed income, I have the perspective to look back and forward. Past is prologue. 

I used to counsel my fat old white guys in job search. Part of that advice was to conduct the Sunday morning “board meeting”. Humorously, the jobseeker has to wear many hats. When I was one, I learned the trick at the DBM “turkey farm” of “wearing many hats”. So I, as the CEO, would turn to myself, as the CFO, and say: “How are revenue and expenses?”. Then the CFO would report. SO to with the CIO role, HR role, Sales Manager, Marketing Manager, etc. etc. At one time I think I had six or seven distinct “roles” in my job search.

One of my turkeys was so dense, I had to have him make paper hats with titles on them.

All that being said, there is a “retirement crisis” ahead. Probably not for me, but the younger you are the more positive I’m that you will hit it. “Pension shortfalls” equal to the world’s economy?

I can hear you say, but I don’t have a pension. But as taxpayers, you have to pay for public pensions, social security, and other “entitlements”. That’s even worse.

I hope that all you youngsters have a plan for when you’re my age.

Good luck.

p.s., sorry my generation has left you a mess to clean up.

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WEBSITE: MEOWGOROUND is broken

Wednesday, April 5, 2017

https://www.meowgoround.com

Tried to order a dumb cat toy.

Guess what?

The website didn’t work.

It kept asking for shipping country.

… … but there was no drop down box for it.

Argh!

Does anyone test? Does anyone do use cases? Does anyone care?

Of course, there was no way to contact the seller except by phone.

So there’s one lost sale.

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HEALTH: Nutritions role in reducing suffering and needless death

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

https://nutritionfacts.org/video/physicians-may-be-missing-their-most-important-tool

Physicians May Be Missing their Most Important Tool
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM June 1st, 2015 Volume 24

*** begin quote ***

Yes, there’s still much to learn about the optimal diet, but we don’t need a single study more to take nutrition education seriously—immediately. It is the low-hanging fruit of health care. We have had the knowledge we need for some time; what we need now is the will to put it into practice. By emphasizing the powerful role of nutrition, we could dramatically reduce suffering and needless death.

*** end quote ***

All by eating a plant-based diet?

Seems too simple but you can’t argue with the evidence.

Yeah, it requires retraining our tastes and our brain (i.e., memes), but look at what it avoids: heart attack, strokes, and type 2 diabetes. 

I’m “trying”. Oh, how I hate that word. “NO! … Try not! … Do or do not… there is no try.” (To do it justice, you must say the word try with all the revulsion and disgust you can put on it. Like you were talking about a rapist, a child murderer, or a politician!) — Yoda (Fictional character from George Lucas’s “Star Wars” movie)

“Try” to save your own life and extend your useful years.

But, like smoking, it’s hard to change the paradigms and memes of a lifetime.

But you and I have to “try”.

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CLOUD: Google is “blind” to what3words addressing

Monday, April 3, 2017

https://what3words.com/ 

When I search for “where is what3words shed.varieties.menu”, I get send to the what3words website.

Doesn’t Google understand that shed.varieties.menu is a location using this universal addressing scheme.

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I guess not!

So much for google being the all-seeing all-knowing tool.

Argh!

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INOVATION: Exact locations with what3words

Sunday, April 2, 2017

https://youtu.be/rRKtxFXsgc8

Published on Mar 14, 2017

Hundreds of thousands of people in South Africa live in informal settlements which lack reliable addressing. Gateway Health has begun piloting the use of 3 word addresses in KwaNdengezi, a poor informal settlement on the outskirts of Durban. It will help to build a detailed community map, so that residents, businesses and organisations can continue to use 3 word addresses to greatly improve their standard of living.

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I really like this idea. Better than zip codes. 

And not just for pizza delivery in Mongolia. 

Pretty good for here in the USA.

Here at my NH location, I am set back off the street and it’s hard to find if you don’t know where it is.

Imagine if the USA adopted this as a national standard.

https://map.what3words.com/

From shed.varieties.menu.

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LEXICON: The Self-Crashing Car

Saturday, April 1, 2017

https://survivalblog.com/odds-n-sods-1067/

JWR Says: I’d like to introduce a new term into the American Lexicon: The Self-Crashing Car.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/uber-self-driving-car-crash-detailed-in-police-report-1490841322

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An excellent addition to the American language.

And I’m posting  it on April Fools’ Day, no joke here.

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WEBSITE: I guess Hilton doesn’t program a calendar?

Saturday, April 1, 2017

2017-Apr-01 0459 

NewImage

I guess programming a “drop dead” date in their webpage is too difficult.

Unless this was intended as an April Fools’ joke. Which I doubt.

Sigh!

# – # – # – # – #  2017-Apr-01 @ 05:01  


GOVEROTRAGEOUS: Venezuela is a textbook example

Friday, March 31, 2017

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/30/world/americas/venezuelas-supreme-court-takes-power-from-legislature.html?_r=0

AMERICAS
Venezuela Muzzles Legislature, Moving Closer to One-Man Rule
By NICHOLAS CASEY and PATRICIA TORRES
MARCH 30, 2017

*** begin quote ***

QUITOS, Peru — Venezuela took its strongest step yet toward one-man rule under the leftist President Nicolás Maduro as his loyalists on the Supreme Court seized power from the National Assembly in a ruling late Wednesday night.

*** end quote ***

Here’s a textbook example of how Gooferment goes to dictatorship. Socialism leads to disaster. 

The money is destroyed by the Gooferment policies and the people starve.

We don’t have to go back to the German Weirmar Republic any more.

Just look at Venezuela!

Argh!

“We, The Sheeple” are so stupid. The FED — The Federal Reserve Bank is a misnomer. IT ain’t “federal”. It reserves nothing. And, it ain’t a “bank”. It is a private cartel of the elite banks run for their benefit and that of the entrenched politicians. — is very simply inflating the value of the dollar away. 

Soon the USA will be in the same shape, or worse, as Venezuela. It took a long time — 100 years — but the result is the same!

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RANT: The human civilization is dying out

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

https://twitter.com/dennisandjudi?lang=en

Coming back from the dentist, I was listening to Dennis Malloy about childlessness and millennials not marrying or having children.

Interesting.

I tweeted the show: 

Ferdinand Reinke‏ @reinkefj:

@DennisandJudi Childness does cost society. Japan? Social Security? IA contra survival trait, eliminates the human race eventually.

By our “education system” and parental guidance / example, we are “eliminating” future generations. Never mind the impact of “free” and encouraged abortions, gay marriage, and heavy Gooferment taxation.

Look at Japan, where their posterity will depopulate the island in the next decades.

Look at Europe, where the “Muslim refugees” have a deliberate strategy of out reproducing the local indigenous population.

Look at the USA’s Social Security Ponzi scheme that absolutely REQUIRES new suckers, I mean taxpaying youngsters, to pay off the oldsters whose wealth has been stolen by the politicians and bureaucrats of the past and present.

So, in essence, it all comes down to humanity breaking the “be fruitful and multiply” commandment.

“If you’re green, you’re growing; brown, dying.”

The human civilization is dying out. Like the dodo, or any other extinct species.

So sad.

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https://twitter.com/dennisandjudi?lang=en


HEALTH: Science moves from 10K to 15K; some say 21k?

Monday, March 27, 2017

https://lifehacker.com/15-000-steps-is-the-new-10-000-1793576452

15,000 Steps Is the New 10,000
Patrick Allan
Thursday 1:00pm
Filed to: HEALTH

*** begin quote ***

We’ve all heard the “walk 10,000 steps a day to be healthy” pitch, but new research says that, while 10,000 is better than nothing, it might not quite be enough.

The study, published in the International Journal of Obesity, looked at postal workers in Glasgow, Scotland, including office workers and carriers who primarily deliver mail by foot. Each participant wore an activity tracker and had their body mass index, waist size, blood sugar level, and cholesterol profile measured throughout the study. All of which, of course, are risk factors for heart disease.

Unsurprisingly, those who sat most of the day had higher BMIs, larger waistlines, poor blood sugar control, and less than ideal cholesterol profiles when compared to those who moved around more. In fact, for every hour of sitting during the day beyond five hours, participants had a .2% increased likelihood of developing heart disease in their lifetime based on the researchers’ model.

But those who walked a lot throughout each day were the picture of health. Workers who walked 15,000 steps or more each day (which is roughly seven miles), or were standing upright for seven hours or more, had normal BMIs, average waistlines, and had no features of metabolic syndrome. Overall, their risk of heart disease was very low when compared to those who walked fewer than 15,000 steps, assuming they weren’t already at high risk for hereditary reasons. This research suggests that our current estimate of 10,000 steps per day may be too conservative, and that 15,000 steps is the mark we should be aiming for if we want to stave off life-threatening cardiac conditions.

*** end quote ***

Argh!

I haven’t gotten to 10k on any kind of consistent basis. Let alone 15 or 21!

Argh!

Argh!

So I guess I have to rethink my commitment to steal back all my social security losses due to their Ponzi theft. By my rough calculation, I probably have to life to 120 to steal it back. 240, if you add in the Time Value Of Money. Argh!

So I better get moving.

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GUNS: Personal Defense Plan

Sunday, March 26, 2017

https://www.shootingillustrated.com/articles/2017/3/14/why-you-need-a-personal-defense-plan/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=insider&utm_campaign=0317

Why You Need a Personal-Defense Plan
by Sheriff Jim Wilson – Tuesday, March 14, 2017

*** begin quote ***

A strong personal-defense plan may be all the difference in the world between your saying, “They told me this could happen and I know just what to do about it,” as opposed to, “Good grief! What the hell do I do now?”  Which will it be when the time comes?

*** end quote ***

“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”
— Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Fail to plan; plan to fail.”

Have to do this asap.

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FINANCIAL: Get a big mortgage BEFORE you retire

Saturday, March 25, 2017
AN EMAIL TO A FRIEND
 
 
*** begin quote ***
 
Please permit me to “pontificate” since I feel strongly about this bit of “whizdom”.
 
The desire to pay off the mortgage before retiring is based (imho) on a false paradigm and a obsolete meme.
 
The false paradigm (perception of reality) is that it’s “safe” not to have a payment in retirement when your earnings are reduced. While it’s not “safe” to have any “bad” debt ever (i.e., Macy’s at 21%; etc.), a mortgage is “good debt” (i.e., your living in an asset that will probably appreciate). Isn’t it safer to have a big chunk of cash, “safely” invested, that you can use when needed?
 
The obsolete meme (framework of thinking) is based on the pre-1940-ish mortgage where the bank could demand payment in full of the whole mortgage at anytime. That’s why depression era folks lost their homes or farms to foreclosure. After the New Deal (I believe) mortgages were not subject to the bank’s demand, so you can never lose the house due to foreclosure — as long as you make the payments.
 
The argument FOR a big long mortgage going into retirement is that you will have the cash, the house, and a very low tax deductible interest rate (i.e., 4%).
 
The argument for doing it BEFORE you retire is that you CAN NOT do it after you retire. So if you were to need money, then you’ll have to sell the house to get the cash or take a Home Equity Loan at a higher and variable interest rate.
 
I invite you to talk to my “finance guy” to get the scoop. He loves to chat with all my friends and relatives who are all broke and don’t have two nickels to rub together. Laugh! The Edelman Group’s philosophy is they to help everyone get rich.
 
Now I don’t have to rant next time I see you. 
 
Laugh!

 
 
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GOVEROTRAGEOUS: Social Security IS now a Ponzi scheme (and it always was)

Friday, March 24, 2017

2017-Mar-23

AN EMAIL FROM MY LUDDITE “OLD” FRIEND

*** begin quote ***

Alan Simpson, the Senator from Wyoming calls senior citizens the Greediest Generation as he compared
“Social Security ” to a Milk Cow with 310 million teats. Here’s a response in a letter from PATTY MYERS in Montana …

I think she is a little ticked off! She also tells it like it is!…….

*** end quote ***

I’D AGREE BECAUSE I’M <past tense synonym for urine output> off too!

*** begin quote ***

“Hey …Alan, let’s get a few things straight!!!

1. As a career politician, you have been on the public dole (tit) for FIFTY YEARS.

2. I have been paying Social Security taxes for 48 YEARS (since I was 15 years old. I am now 63).

3. My Social Security payments, and those of millions of other Americans, were safely tucked away in an interest bearing account for decades until you political pukes decided to raid the account and give OUR money to a bunch of zero losers in return for votes, thus bankrupting the system and turning Social Security into a Ponzi scheme that would make Bernie Madoff proud.

4. Recently, just like Lucy & Charlie Brown, you and “your ilk” pulled the proverbial football away from millions of American seniors nearing retirement and moved the goalposts for full retirement from age 65 to age 67. NOW, you and your “shill commission” are proposing to move the goalposts YET AGAIN.

5. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying into Medicare from Day One, and now “you morons” propose to change the rules of the game. Why? Because “you idiots” mismanaged other parts of the economy to such an extent that you need to steal our money from Medicare to pay the bills.

6. I, and millions of other Americans, have been paying income taxes our entire lives, and now you propose to increase our taxes yet again. Why? Because you “incompetent bastards” spent our money so
profligately that you just kept on spending even after you ran out of money. Now, you come to the American taxpayers and say you need more to pay off YOUR debt.

To add insult to injury, you label us “greedy” for calling “bullshit” to your incompetence. Well, Captain Bullshit, I have a few questions for YOU:

1. How much money have you earned from the American taxpayers during your pathetic 50-year political career?

2. At what age did you retire from your pathetic political career, and how much are you receiving in annual retirement benefits from the American taxpayers?

3. How much do you pay for YOUR government provided health insurance?

4. What cuts in YOUR retirement and healthcare benefits are you proposing in your disgusting deficit reduction proposal, or as usual, have you exempted yourself and your political cronies?

It is you, Captain Bullshit, and your political co-conspirators called Congress who are the “greedy” ones. It is you and your fellow nutcase thieves who have bankrupted America and stolen the American dream from millions of loyal, patriotic taxpayers.

And for what? Votes and your job and retirement security at our expense, you lunk-headed, leech. That’s right, sir. You and yours have bankrupted America for the sole purpose of advancing your pathetic, political careers. You know it, we know it, and you know that we know it. And you can take that to the bank, you miserable son of a bitch.

P.S. And stop calling Social Security benefits “entitlements”. WHAT AN INSULT!!!!

I have been paying in to the SS system for 45 years “It’s my money” – give it back to me the way the system was designed and stop patting yourself on the back like you are being generous by doling out these monthly checks .

*** end quote ***

You were robbed. And, the politicians and bureaucrats escaped scott free. 

So sad that “We, The Sheeple” don’t recognize it.

If an insurance exec did it, they’d be in jail.

Argh!

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GOVERNACIDE: SEVENTY people would have died by following the FDA’s diktats

Thursday, March 23, 2017

https://youtu.be/iVByXXQjB3w

Right to Try Act: Doctor Saves Lives by Ignoring FDA Restrictions
Tenth Amendment Center

*** begin quote ***

When the FDA told a Texas Doctor to stop treating terminal patients, he continued under the Right To Try Act. Instead of death they now have hope for life.

*** end quote ***

This is why the FDA MUST be made an “advisory only” function.

More than SEVENTY people would have died by following the FDA’s diktats. For something that’s been in use in Europe for 15 years?

That’s murder by Gooferment!

Argh!

I am a proud supporter of the Tenth Amendment Center

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HEALTH: Eat your veggies and ONLY veggies

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

http://nutritionfacts.org/video/dont-wait-until-your-doctor-kicks-the-habit

Don’t Wait Until Your Doctor Kicks the Habit | NutritionFacts.org

*** begin quote ***

Just like most doctors smoked in the 1950s, most physicians today continue to consume foods that are contributing to our epidemics of dietary disease.

*** end quote ***

Strong words for good advice.

But it does require all us autodydactics to reprogram our eating habits.

As hard as that is, we should take that doc’s quote: “I don’t mind dying, I just don’t want it to be my fault.”  — Michael Greger M.D. FACLM  March 10th, 2017 

Many a true word is said in a joke.

So sad that patients have to die because of their doctors’ stupidity, ignorance, and (I hope not) avarice.

Of course, the Gooferment has a big role in this continuing stupidity.

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” — attributed to Einstein

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RANT: Gooferment cuts! “Effective Compassion” will emerge (imho)

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

<A real friend stated on Facebook>

*** begin quote ***

John, I would like to think the world is full of caring People. However, that is not the case. I choose to believe that we live in a nation, the United States, that has the capacity to care about the needs of all citizens. The evidence is that our corporate world, through Citizens United, is able to suppress our best human instincts.

*** end quote ***

OF COURSE, I REPLIED:

*** begin quote ***

Unfortunately, I think your paradigm or perception is wrong.

The USA is a very charitable nation. Even with the high taxation, Americans donate a lot to charity. (Not the politicians and bureaucrats, but real people.) Look at how they respond to international disasters or 911.

AND, if we stop Gooferment funding, then people will not think “oh the Gooferment is taking care of it”.  

When real people and private charities get involved, charity is more efficient and effective. Example, the Salvation Army. Or the myriad of stories about individuals stepping up. The USA has a tradition of neighbors helping neighbors.

It’s only when Gooferment takes over “the problem” does it become a “real problem”.

*** end quote ***

Or course, I forgot to cite that “Effective Compassion” article. http://www.acton.org/public-policy/effective-compassion/seven-principles-century-ago

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GOVERNACIDE: “Federal cyanide trap”?

Monday, March 20, 2017

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/03/17/federal-cyanide-trap-injures-eastern-idaho-boy-kills-dog.html

IDAHO
Federal cyanide trap injures eastern Idaho boy, kills dog
Published March 17, 2017  Associated Press

*** begin quote ***

POCATELLO, Idaho –  An eastern Idaho sheriff says he’s investigating after a cyanide trap placed by federal authorities to kill coyotes injured a 14-year-old boy and killed his dog.

*** end quote ***

While there are a lot of questions still outstanding:

  • was it an accident
  • was the boy tresspassing on private land
  • was it posted
  • were there warning signs

The point remains!

Where in the Constitution does the Federal Gooferment have any authorization to kill anything outside of a declared war?

At best, coyotes are a state level problem. At worst, this is the Federal over-reach and even maybe </tin foil hat> an ‘experiment’ (Yeah, like you never heard of  the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male<tin foil hat/>.

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TECHNOLOGY: Small developers get “Sherlocked”; that’s one word for it.

Sunday, March 19, 2017

https://www.howtogeek.com/297651/what-does-it-mean-when-a-company-sherlocks-an-app/

What Does It Mean When Apple “Sherlocks” an App?

*** begin quote ***

Perhaps you’ve read that F.lux, which reduces eye strain and helps you sleep, is being “Sherlocked” later this month. What does that mean? In short, “Sherlocked” means that macOS will soon offer features that make installing the popular third-party tool F.lux unnecessary. When macOS 10.11.4—the latest update for Sierra—comes out, the “Displays” panel in System Preferences will offer the Night Shift feature that debuted on iPhones last year. For lifelong Apple fans, this term barely needs explanation, but recent converts might feel confused. So, let’s take a look at where the term “Sherlocked” comes from.

*** and ***

In a blog post, Wood said Steve Jobs told him Apple can and will do this to developers on the platform. Here’s Wood paraphrasing a phone call from Jobs himself:

“You know those handcars, the little machines that people stand on and pump to move along on the train tracks? That’s Karelia. Apple is the steam train that owns the tracks.”

*** end quote ***

Well, it’s better to be quick and nimble than slow and stiff.

That’s Apple “slow and swift”. Independent developers aren’t the only one getting <synonym for the past tense of the procreation act.> by Apple. Look at their planned obsolesce strategy and no thought of the Customer when pulling products. (I was particularly “frosted” when they pulled iWeb!)

So be warned and don’t trust anyone (i.e., MicroSloth; RottenApple; even Google) long term.

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WEBSITE: NCAA “bracket challenge” looks like it has a bug to me

Saturday, March 18, 2017

https://bracketchallenge.ncaa.com/?cid=BCG2017_Dedicated_Picks_Offers_031217#bracket?entry_id=1051065&controller=bracket

 
No, I had ark. I was looking a frenchy’s bracket. 
 
Whew.
 
But the brackets say I’m 25\160 and he’s 23\96. The summary has him leading 33 to 26?
 
Looks like a bug to me.
 
And, it’s really annoying me.
 
 
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TECHNOLOGY: Why don’t all devices “phone home” or … …

Saturday, March 18, 2017

Why don’t all devices “phone home” or … …

… … record somewhere in the cloud their last know location. 

It would save me a lot of prayers to Saint Anthony!

Argh!

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FINANCIAL: What is the defined-benefit pension plan alternative?

Friday, March 17, 2017

FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL “The 10-Point”

*** begin quote ***

Jerome Schmid of South Carolina commented: “Sad to see defined-benefit plans slip away into history. But employers no longer care about employee welfare (despite volumes of acclamations in various mission statements), as once-paternalistic corporations have been reduced to financial schemes, manipulated like exotic derivative securities. It is probably a very good idea to turn over the plans to insurance companies who are staffed with people who are (thought to be) competent risk managers, and who are far more likely be around 10 years from now.”

*** end quote ***

Well, I’m no Ric Edelman, but here’s my suggestion.

Remember the history of defined-benefit plans and take action accordingly.

Remember “benefits” — that is employer supplied and paid for “entitlements” — is a vestige of the World War II wage and price controls. Prior to that, the employer just paid you what you had earned. What you did with it was up to you. To get around the WW2 wage and price control, employers offered “benefits” which were found to not be wages — probably due to Crony Capitalist bribing the politicians. Of course, as an expense to the company they were tax deductible. Unfortunately, if the employee bought the very same “benefits”, then they paid with “after tax dollars”. (That’s how the whole “pre existing conditions” and “health insurance tied to the job” disaster got started! Thanks to the Gooferment.)

So, the defined-benefit pension plan is a fiction. Some companies like AT&T were rigorous in their financial planning for it. To the extent of setting up a completely separate corporate entity, with its own Board of Directors, to manage the funds. (And, to insist that all liabilities be 100% funded.) Other, like Enron forced their pension and 401k plans to hold only Enron stock in the plans. (We all know how that worked out.) Also, look at Dallas where the city my have to file for bankruptcy because of the unfunded liabilitiesOther horror stories exist. Like CalPers underfunded by many trillions of dollars. Like some Union pension funds underfunded by 75%. And other pension making risky investments, like Puerto Rican junk bonds, to try and catch up.

My suggestion?

Easy. Take responsibility for yourself and your own future. The Gooferment is NOT your friend. Your employer is NOT your friend. Your insurance agent, your broker, and your banker are NOT your friends. So you have to treat them and their promises like a used car salesman’s as you driving off the lot. (At least, the salesman is “honestly” lying to you.)

You have to hire a “team” — lawyer, accountant, and registered financial advisor — that you WILL pay for out of your own pocket — to help you. Then, you figure out how much you will need in retirement to NOT be eating dog food and choosing between medicine or heat. How much you “discount” the promises of Social Security, Pensions, and Retirement savings is an important calculation. And, finally, you build your own “defined-benefit pension plan” with a well diversified investment portfolio that you save into. 

Hard, not really. Essential, absolutely.

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This is entertainment; not investment advice. Call Ric for help. 1-800-call-ric anytime.

Remember the sources of my education! I’m just a fat old white guy retired injineer who’d now a poor old senior citizen on a fixed income with:
* Law “degree” from watching Judge Judy;
* Medical “degree” from watching Doctor Phil;
* Building “degree” from watching “Holmes on Homes”;
* Investing “degree” from reading about Bernie Made-off;
* Finance “degree”from listening to Ric Edelman;
* sensitively managing Human Resources from watching Chef Ramsey; and
* creating loving / caring human relationships from studying the movie roles of Gunny Ronald Lee Ermey

http://www.recedelman.com

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INTERESTING: The Ingenious Design of the Aluminum Beverage Can

Thursday, March 16, 2017

https://youtu.be/hUhisi2FBuw


The Ingenious Design of the Aluminum Beverage Can

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Published on Apr 14, 2015

Bill details the engineering choices underlying the design of a beverage can He explains why it is cylindrical, outlines the manufacturing steps needed to created the can, notes why the can narrows near it lid, show close ups of the double-seam that hold the lid on, and details the complex operation of the tab that opens the can. 
☛ Links to additional videos:
Rexam: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dK1VV…
How It’s Made: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7Y0zA…
Anim1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU_iS…
Anim2:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcsDx…
Drawing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF4v-…
Redrawing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUAijp…

<>
 

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Absolutely stunning to this fat old white guy injineer.

(I knew a lot of this but never saw it so well explained. 

Reminds me of the great economics text “I, pencil” and the various adaptions of it.

How much we stand on the shoulders of our predecessors and their intellectual discoveries and capital investments.

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FINANCIAL: LC$

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

A menagerie of fallacies
http://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog/statistical-fallacies/

 — via my feedly newsfeed

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Pretty funny stuff.
 
I have seen a lot of “hippos” in my career and completely agree about the coin flip risk — although in my case it’d be 10k$ to 10k$+100 before I’d puke. (I wouldn’t take such a risk unless it was for “life changing money” aka LC$). Hence my play of the lotto when it’s over 400M$. Then, I wouldn’t mind the 50% tax bite.
 
Less than that, shrug! It’s not LC$. Remember 85% of winners of more than 1M$ go bankrupt in 3 years.
 
1M$ at 5% is 50k$ per year forever.
 
Hmmm, maybe I need to lower my definition of LC$? I think I’ll move the selctor dial down to 8M$ — half for taxes, and that 200k$ per year. Have to check with Dan the Finance Man, but that would make different life.
 
Maybe I could afford another additional gal pal, better car, or even a plane.
 
Yup, that’s how folks go broke. Laugh!
 
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