Just in time.......

Since we can't afford to retire anyways, might as well come up with a justification. right? If we become welfare recipients who's going to pay for all those government handouts. After all we have millions of deadbeats depending on us. Hell, the government has millions getting ready to draw "guaranteed "payoffs.



BBC NEWS | Health | Complete retirement 'bad for you'

Giving up work completely on retirement could be bad for your health, US research suggests.

The study of 12,189 people found retirees who take on temporary or part-time work have fewer major diseases, and function better day to day.

The findings were significant even after considering people's physical and mental health before retirement.

The University of Maryland study appears in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology.

The researchers examined data on 12,189 people, who were aged 51-61 at the beginning of the study.

All the evidence suggests that if your mental wellbeing is depleted it will affect you physically
Professor Cary Cooper
University of Lancaster

The participants were interviewed every two years over a six-year period beginning in 1992 about their health, finances, employment history and work or retirement life.

The researchers registered only medical conditions which had been clinically diagnosed, and took account of factors such as sex, education level and financial wealth

Ta da.....

Broke dicks don't need loans. They need to clear the decks and start over. Many of us have done it and have done just fine. House expense, as I and anyone who has sold real estate will tell you, is very easy to formulate:

3 times your yearly salary with payments totaling about 25 % of your monthly gross for your mortgage payment. Such as if you make 4000 a month you can afford 1000 a month.

Which means you can afford a house for around 150,000-175,000. Same with everyone else in the market. If average household income is 50,000 then the average family can afford a new home built for 150,000.

Not 300,000, 500,000, or 2222 million for God's sake. This is econ 101 in every college that I know of.

Since speculation generated by "free" money handed out by the Fed leads to "gambling" which leads to bankruptcy which leads to enormous poverty which leads to desperate solutions which always leads to ...

Guns!


The Warning Shot Fired Yesterday - The Market Ticker

Yes, this means interest rates will rise to a market rate.

We have spent more than two years trying to avoid recognition of fundamental mathematical facts - average home prices cannot exceed 3x average incomes, and on balance home prices cannot rise faster than income over long periods of time.

Mean-reversion isn't a suggestion, it is a mathematical reality. As a homeowner with a fully-paid-off house, bought with cash, I certainly would prefer my home to have a value closer to 2005's price than 1995's.

But what I prefer has nothing to do with what is mathematically sustainable or what can be supported by the broader economy, and my personal desire to be able to "flip" my house or use phantom "wealth" to extract a lifestyle I cannot afford does not and cannot change the reality of what stability in the economy, on balance, requires over the intermediate and longer term.

Property prices must contract to sustainable values. If this causes banks to fail, so be it. If this causes consumer bankruptcies for those who used their homes as ATM machines, so be it. If this causes me to lose half of the "value" in my home, so be it.

I believe The Fed sent a message to Congress yesterday in recognition that the wall is fast approaching at 120mph: do the right thing and do it now - or else.

Pretty obvious to me.....

As I ave beeen saying for years, Big foot, UFO's, Gnomes, Fairies, et al don't make "sense." Thousands of sightings suggests that we are over run with literally thousands of bizarre entities.

Which means everybody is lying, drugged, nuts, or a practical joker .

Or telling the truth as they see it. I'm betting many are only reporting the facts as they see them. They just don't make sense. Maybe this guy is on to something.

The Heavy Stuff » Blog Archive » Gnomes - A Sustainable Population?

Gnomes - A Sustainable Population?

One of the purposes of my posts on The Heavy Stuff (THS) is to provoke thought and critical thinking on any number of `issues’ of esoterica. And, in that regard, today’s post beckons the examination of the ludicrous - to be applied to what others would say is an `explanation’ of a viable sustainable `Bigfoot’ population out there `in the American Woodland’.

Yes, I know I’m already making enemies with a certain segment of my regular `heavy stuff’ readership by being a curmudgeon by doubting `first person’ accounts by `credible’ folks of all persuasions. BUT, I’m not doubting those accounts for one second - let me explain. You see, I think `Bigfoots’ in nearly all or perhaps all situations - are `temporary entities’.

To me, one must favor the overwhelming evidence that not one creature has ever been found dead or brought fourth alive - EVER. Nor have any `artifacts’ of this creature. Not even scat. Not in the last 10 years, not in the last 50 years, not in the last 500 years - not EVER. Never ever.

It’s something that those who have seen the creatures with their own two eyes will have to live with

Got my first credit card offer in over 6 months.......

 $39 yearly fee and variable rate, of course. So I threw it in the garbage and went to the credit union and borrowed two thousand on my free and clear car.
4.4 %.

On a 9 year old car as collateral. I also Have a free and clear truck  if I need more money.


Took 10 minutes and had the money in my savings account to tide us over while Patti is on leave for her surgery. If I ever get desperate I can borrow on my free and clear mobile home.

Maybe 20 grand at 200 a month.  Might be able to buy another and resell on contract like my landlord does.

Beats working for Walmart. Having a credit union on your side means:

 FUCK THESE BANK GANGSTERS.



The Coming Economic Depression: Insiders, Banks, Credit Card Companies Do Not Believe in a Recovery

Direct mail credit card offers peaked in Q3 of 2006 with approximately 2.1 billion being sent out. In Q3 of 2009 only 391 million have been sent out. In other words, credit card companies definitely don’t believe in the recovery and they certainly don’t believe in the American consumer. On top of this drop, credit card companies are now jacking up fees on good standing customers, adding annual fees for inactivity, and basically acting like your local loan shark. At times they are even charging 79.99 percent interest rates that would make Tony Soprano blush. If we really look at the data, the economy is doing anything but recovering. Actually, it is recovering but for those on Wall Street and the banks. The average American is merely subsidizing their party. By the way, the banks are largely the reason for the decade long housing bubble.
If you really want to see how much insiders believe in this rally, let us look at some details from last week. Insiders for the week with data from Thomson Reuters bought 8.2 million dollars worth of stock during last week. How much was sold? 184 million dollars. This pattern has been occurring the entire rally. Now wouldn’t you think insiders would have a better sense of the true nature of this economic recovery?

O.k the fat guy wins....

William Shatner on Gun Control - It's How Well You Aim the Gun

In other words........

We are broke. You and me. Us. And broke dicks can't buy anything until we are no longer broke dicks. Giving us credit at below or at par with inflation only prolongs the coming misery. Printing money does not generate any real wealth. Only making stuff and selling it to others who are not broke will change things around.

Scrap Nafta and start building shit again that the world wants.


The recession is over but the depression has just begun « naked capitalism

So, what does this mean for the American and global economy?

1. The private sector (particularly households) is overly indebted. The level of debt households now carry cannot be supported by income at the present levels of consumption. The natural tendency, therefore, is toward more saving and less spending in the private sector (although asset price appreciation can attenuate this through the Wealth Effect). That necessarily means the public sector must run a deficit or the import-export sector must run a surplus.
2. Most countries are in a state of economic weakness. That means consumption demand is constrained globally. There is no chance that the U.S. can export its way out of recession without a collapse in the value of the U.S. dollar. That leaves the government as the sole way to pick up the slack.
3. Since state and local governments are constrained by falling tax revenue (see WSJ article) and the inability to print money, only the Federal Government can run large deficits.
4. Deficit spending on this scale is politically unacceptable and will come to an end as soon as the economy shows any signs of life (say 2 to 3% growth for one year). Therefore, at the first sign of economic strength, the Federal Government will raise taxes and/or cut spending. The result will be a deep recession with higher unemployment and lower stock prices.
5. Meanwhile, all countries which issue the vast majority of debt in their own currency (U.S, Eurozone, U.K., Switzerland, Japan) will inflate. They will print as much money as they can reasonably get away with. While the economy is in an upswing, this will create a false boom, predicated on asset price increases. This will be a huge bonus for hard assets like gold, platinum or silver. However, when the prop of government spending is taken away, the global economy will relapse into recession.
6. As a result there will be a Scylla and Charybdis of inflationary and deflationary forces, which will force the hands of central bankers in adding and withdrawing liquidity. Add in the likely volatility in government spending and taxation and you have the makings of a depression shaped like a series of W’s consisting of short and uneven business cycles. The secular force is the D-process and the deleveraging, so I expect deflation to be the resulting secular trend more than inflation.
7. Needless to say, this kind of volatility will induce a wave of populist sentiment, leading to an unpredictable and violent geopolitical climate and the likelihood of more muscular forms of government.
8. From an investing standpoint, consider this a secular bear market for stocks then. Play the rallies, but be cognizant that the secular trend for the time being is down. The Japanese example which we are now tracking is a best case scenario.

Not particularly uplifting, but hopefully well-documented. Your comments are very greatly appreciate

Only the government could dream this up....

Some reason we have to fuck with the clock twice a year.

Wht?



Unhealthy time change | Ron Paul 2012 | Campaign for Liberty at the Daily Paul

Although daylight-saving time was sold politically as an energy-conservation measure, it does no such thing. Studies conducted in Indiana prior to 2006, when that state operated under three different time regimes, show either no difference in energy consumption or a small increase in power usage during the months after clocks were moved one hour ahead.

The annual ritual of springing forward and falling back thus possibly produces no energy savings and may be counterproductive. It also requires those who live in places where daylight-saving time is observed to waste time twice a year adjusting their clocks and watches.

Yet the costs of switching between daylight-saving and standard time go far beyond the hassles of "losing" an hour in the springtime and "gaining" it back in the fall.

I am not a doctor and I do not play one on TV, but the medical profession as Dr. Osvaldo Bustos of George Washington University's School of Medicine pointed out to me recently has known for years that shifting time forward or backward has negative, and possibly deadly, health consequences.

A Swedish study published in The New England Journal of Medicine on Oct. 30, 2008, reports increases in the incidence of myocardial infarction (heart attack) after the beginning of daylight-saving time and the subsequent return to standard time. Depending on whether the shift occurred in the fall or spring, men and women were found to vary in the extent to which their heart attack risks were increased, but the study's authors concluded from the clinical evidence that time change triggered more myocardial infarctions in the two groups overall than they would have suffered otherwise.

Continue

My best guess.....

The future is not that complicated. Expect the depression to continue. Government will keep killing interest rates and force banks to trickle out their foreclosures. Which, by the way,  will accelerate starting next year as the more credit worthy buyers from the boom get clobbered with huge interest rate increases.

Eventually we hit massive sales in the 401k sector as the geezers sell out to save their asses and their kids homes  bringing down the printing press money fiasco.

Of course, the government then has to give everybody a check. To stay elected this is guaranteed.

Those of us living debt free and with good credit  and sufficient cash will be able to buy this stuff for pennies on the dollar

20012 maybe?

The recession is over but the depression has just begun « naked capitalism

So what’s next? A lot of the economic cycle is self-reinforcing (the change in inventories is one example). So it is not completely out of the question that we see a multi-year economic boom. Higher asset prices, lower inventories, fewer writedowns all lead to higher lending capacity, higher cyclical output, more employment opportunities and greater business and consumer confidence. If employment turns up appreciably before these cyclical agents lose steam, you have the makings of a multi-year recovery. This is how every economic cycle develops. This one is no different in this regard.

However, longer-term things depend entirely on government because we are in a balance sheet recession. Ray Dalio and David Rosenberg make this case well in the previous quotes I supplied, but it was a recent post about Richard Koo from Prieur du Plessis which got me to write this post. His post, “Koo: Government fulfilling necessary function” reads as follows:

According to Koo, American consumers are suffering from a balance sheet problem and will not increase consumption until their personal finances are back in order. The banks are not lending mainly because nobody wants to borrow and, furthermore, the banks want to build their own balance sheets (raise cash) and get rid of toxic garbage…

Again, when asked what would happen if the government cuts back on its fiscal stimulus, Koo replies: “Until the private sector is finished repairing its balance sheets, if the government tries to cut its spending, we’re going to fall into the same trap Franklin Roosevelt fell into in 1937 (a crushing bear market) and Prime Minister Hashimoto fell into in 1997, exactly 70 years later.

“The economy will collapse again and the second collapse is usually far worse than the first. And the reason is that, after the first collapse, people tend to blame themselves. They say, ‘I shouldn’t have played the bubble. I shouldn’t have borrowed money to invest – to speculate on these things.’

This view of a second, more serious downturn mirrors the one I wrote of when I wrote about high structural unemployment last week. And, again, it is predicated on what government does. I wrote last November that if government stops the support, recession is going to happen.

The U.S. economy cannot possibly work itself out of the greatest financial crisis in some 70-odd years in a mere 4 years and then expect to raise taxes on the middle class without a major recessionary relapse.

More welfare for the middle class will save us.....

Yea, what ever.
After a few years the governments going to have everyone "working" for them or at least getting a check, and I can't help wondering how long that can last. Just the idea that milions of people have been drawing unemployment checks and living in their government guaranteed mortgaged houses tells us  that it's planned.

Think the politicians want you scared and dependent on their" rescue plans"?

Congress fears risk of economic relapse - Washington Times

Fear that the economy might fall back into recession is compelling Congress to extend unemployment benefits and incentives for homebuying that lawmakers hope will help sustain growth.

The threat of a relapse in housing has prompted Senate leaders to start negotiating an extension of the first-time homebuyers' tax credit, now set to expire Nov. 30. They hope to attach the measure to legislation extending soon-to-expire unemployment benefits and then pass both by the end of the week.

Economists are telling lawmakers that, with unemployment approaching 10 percent, an extension of benefits for the long-term unemployed would help prevent a collapse in consumer spending. In addition, the housing market is seen as a key ingredient of the economic revival.

"Unemployment and housing conditions could face further deterioration" without further actions by Congress, said Frank Lee, an economic analyst with CreditSights Inc.

Texting?........

Or sexing.

Mighty powerful computers on board if it takes that long to realize they were past there destination. I think they were "busy", alright. Heh heh.

Pilots caught computing while flying - Washington Times

down on texting while driving, it now faces the question of how to handle two airline pilots who admit to computing while flying.

The National Transportation Safety Board said Monday that the pilots of a Northwest Airlines flight that overshot its destination airport by 150 miles last week say they did not fall asleep at the wheel but were distracted while reading their laptop computers, in violation of airline rules.

"This may be the ultimate case of distracted driving, only this time it was distracted flying," said Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota Democrat and a member of the Commerce, Science and Transportation subcommittee on aviation operations, safety and security. "The pilots should have been focused on safely steering Flight 188 home, instead of checking crew schedules.

NY Times is Pissed…

Kind of like… no it’s exactly the same, as any religious belief, we know that climate change is bad because…
Well, because…. all these government paid scientists say so. And by the Goddess, Gaia, we need to do something about it.

Like close down the oil industry.

These fuckers are nuts!!


Op-Ed Contributors - Yes We Can (Pass Climate Change Legislation) - NYTimes.com

CONVENTIONAL wisdom suggests that the prospect of Congress passing a comprehensive climate change bill soon is rapidly approaching zero. The divisions in our country on how to deal with climate change are deep. Many Democrats insist on tough new standards for curtailing the carbon emissions that cause global warming. Many Republicans remain concerned about the cost to Americans relative to the environmental benefit and are adamant about breaking our addiction to foreign sources of oil.

However, we refuse to accept the argument that the United States cannot lead the world in addressing global climate change. We are also convinced that we have found both a framework for climate legislation to pass Congress and the blueprint for a clean-energy future that will revitalize our economy, protect current jobs and create new ones, safeguard our national security and reduce pollution.

Our partnership represents a fresh attempt to find consensus that adheres to our core principles and leads to both a climate change solution and energy independence. It begins now, not months from now — with a road to 60 votes in the Senate.

Florida just got better.....

One less gangster. Need a few thousand more and we can start a new Republic and get rid of the fascist in charge of our money.

Change we can believe in.

The Associated Press: Palm Beach police: Jeffry Picower has died

PALM BEACH, Fla. — Authorities say Jeffry Picower, a Florida philanthropist and a friend of Bernard Madoff for decades, has died. He was 67.

Picower was the former New York lawyer and accountant alleged to have extracted billions of dollars from the Bernard Madoff investment scheme.

Authorities say he was found at the bottom of his Palm Beach home's pool Sunday afternoon by his wife and could not be revived by Palm Beach fire rescue workers. Picower was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital where he was pronounced dead at about 1:30 p.m.

Inflation was a whopping 4.5%......

Old Nixon pulled the plug on the Bretton Woods Agreement  bringing on the necessity of fiat money diplomacy in order to keep our military intact and in place everywhere on the planet. Unfortunately this requires a lot of money. More than we can generate with a tax base that consists mostly of working stiffs slaving away to buy "consumable" junk with little intrinsic value.

After the political left completely took over the Dem's party big business began to defend themselves by shipping manufactoring overseas. No taxes,  no "liveable" wages, no polution controls,no  unions, no nosy government regulators that don't stay bought, and you get tax free trips abroad.

Of course this requires big time "defense"spending.

Which leads to the Republicans and many old time Dem's scaring everyone to death that little brown men in sampans or, now days, clutching the Koran driving stolen airplanes, will invade and make everyone quit paying for  all this bullshit.

We know who has won the arguement so far. As long as the politicians play by the rules they stay in those cushy jobs . We must have a huge military based all over the globe to save western capitalism. The guys calling the shots have all the money.

Until the Commies take over through debt collecting, that is, heh heh.


Nixon Killed America « LewRockwell.com Blog

Nixon Killed America
Posted by Lew Rockwell on October 24, 2009 06:23 AM

Hans Hoppe makes the point in Salamanca that historians will look back on August 15, 1971, as the beginning of the end for the US empire. That was the day when Dick Nixon—by dictatorial fiat—severed the final tie between the dollar and gold. Nixon thus inaugurated a world monetary system that was unprecedented in the annals of mankind: pure fiat money, with central banks unconstrained in their money printing. It has lasted 38 years, but is clearly in its death throes, just like the US empire

You really have to root for this guy......

Finally a candidate who's quiet, unassuming, obviously not on the take.

What's not to like?


Finally, a Political Candidate Who Will Get My Vote « LewRockwell.com Blog

October 21, 2009
Finally, a Political Candidate Who Will Get My Vote
Posted by David Kramer on October 21, 2009 08:30 AM

BRIDGEPORT MAN TO STAY ON BALLOT DESPITE DEATH

The name of Jerry A. Nicola will remain on Bridgeport’s Nov. 3 ballot as the Republican candidate for mayor despite his death on Sunday of cancer, Montgomery County Voter Services Director Joseph Passarella said yesterday. The last day for withdrawing the name of a candidate was Sept. 17, the last day for naming a substitute was Sept. 21, and absentee ballots were sent out weeks ago, Passarella said. “We’ve already printed the ballots and programmed the machines – it’s too late in the game” for any change, he said.

Talk about the perfect political candidate for a voluntaryist.

[Thanks to Jonathan Pearson]

The World is awash in oil......

No incentive to get it. Politics. Global warming is in. Defending Israel is essential. Price drops too low and the big shots lose their ass.

What ever.

Your going to pay. If you survive Obamama economics.

An Update on Peak Oil from ASPO

Marcio Mello, the former explorationist from Petrobras (PBR: NYSE) and now independent petroleum consultant, electrified the Denver meeting of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas (ASPO).

In a riveting talk that lasted well over an hour, Marcio detailed the immense petroleum potential of offshore Brazil, as well as the Amazon Basin. If Marcio’s estimates are correct, Brazil may be the location of near 200 billion barrels of additional petroleum resources. That’s well within the range of current resource estimates for Saudi Arabia.

For good measure, Marcio described the petroleum potential of offshore West Africa — another 130 billion barrels — as well as the Congo region, with 50 billion barrels or more.

Finally, Marcio described the “unknown potential of the US back yard, the Gulf of Mexico (GOM).” Marcio offered remarkable insight into the deep regions of the GOM, 100 miles and more offshore Texas and Louisiana. He showed early work he performed on a number of GOM areas, including the site of BP’s (BP: NYSE) recent billion-plus barrel find at the Tiber site.

Eventually the elites are wiped out......

Guillotines come to mind. Anyone remember what happened to Mussolini?  That guy in Romania? Yea, could get interesting. I'm glad I have a ring side seat.

Maybe you should grab a gun and join me, heh heh.

charles hugh smith-Survival+ : Chapter One

As they watch the Plutocrats in action, they learn the most effective ways to increase one's share of the income/wealth are looting ("gaming the system" of pensions, benefits, State entitlements, etc.), deception, fraud and embezzlement (accounting trickery, collusion, sweetheart contracts, etc.) and influence-peddling, known in the Third World as corruption, baksheesh, etc.

As the middle class increasingly runs afoul of the byzantine, Kafkesque regulations imposed by an ever-expanding State, they find that financial leverage and legerdemain is far more lucrative than actually producing goods and services.

(Unsurprisingly, the Plutocracy finds ways to gain exemptions, loopholes and special dispensations which greatly reduce the reach of troublesome regulations and taxes.)

As the middle class abandons thrift and production for financial speculation and highly leveraged debt (following the example of their Plutocratic overlords), tax revenues soar as leveraged speculation pyramids into bubbles, enabling vast expansions of a State which is inherently seeking constant expansion of its income and powers.

When these financial bubbles eventually deflate, then tax revenues plummet, as productive work and investment have declined. Why bother working hard when the big, easy money is made via leveraged speculation? Only fools would tolerate all the regulatory costs and high taxes imposed on producing goods and services; far easier to speculate in bubbling assets like housing, stocks, energy, etc.

What makes everyone assume that Obamama is not doing this on purpose....

Doesn't he have college boys with economic and historian backgrounds. Maybe he doesn't want the economy to recover. After all corporatism doesn't like Marxism either.

CV1

If you’d like a taste of what it feels like to be a libertarian, try telling people that the incoming Obama Administration is advocating precisely those aspects of FDR’s New Deal that prolonged the great depression for a decade; that propping up failed and failing ventures with government money in order to save jobs in the present merely shifts resources from relatively more to relatively less productive uses, impedes the corrective process, undermines the economic growth necessary for recovery, and increases unemployment in the long term; and that any "economic" stimulus package will inexorably be made to serve political rather than economic ends, and see what kind of reaction you get. And trust me, it won’t feel any better five or ten years from now when everything you have just said has been proven true and Obama, like FDR, is nonetheless revered as the savior of the country.

Everyone has to have a government...

Sure.

I Love My Country

This is called "Letting you money ride"........

In inflationary times you borrow to the hilt and pay back with cheaper dollars. Today is "not " inflationary, yet. Now you save and payoff debt. Maximize your credit score by paying small debts on time. Get ready to borrow big and often to stay ahead of the tidal wave of inflation. We ain't seen nothing yet.

 Every inflationary boom has it's bust. Every deflationary period has it's boom. Then inflation again. No government with a printing press can resist. Especially ours.

 We vote. We have guns,

Any questions?

The American Conservative -- No Easy Money

This “free money” phenomenon is also dangerous for homebuyers. Now that the loose lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been throttled by insolvency, the central planners are expanding operations at the two remaining state lenders: FHA and Ginnie Mae. Get your guaranteed mortgage with 3.5 percent down right here! While that is marginally better than zero, it sure isn’t 20 percent. In other words, the same old game of low downpayments and easy mortgage money is being played, sweetened by an $8,000 credit for new homebuyers. No wonder housing is “recovering.”

Is risk being properly priced when money is cheap and new loans are practically given away? Of course it isn’t. Eventually, the global bond market will become uneasy about the government game of printing money to buy its own debt and the purposeful injection of nearly free money.

Supply and demand still matter. According to analysts, global governments are borrowing $5 trillion this year to fund their vast stimulus packages. Then there’s private-sector demand for business loans, mortgages, consumer credit, local government bond issues, and so on. Considering that some $35 trillion in global wealth has vanished in the past two years and corporate profitability has plummeted, it’s fair to ask what happens if there’s not enough global surplus capital to fund the explosion of public demand for borrowing.

Multiply by 50 states and the Feds....

Every pension plan is going bankrupt thanks to promises for the future based on results of the past. Basing retirement payouts on "bubble" returns has caught these programs with their pants down. Promising, in writing, benefits that can't be funded is all it takes to bring down the system.

We just have to watch over the next 7-10 years as all these millions of people  hit retirement age. That's government employees who vote. Give big bribes to the politicians. Hell, many are married or related to the politicians. Where do you think they will find the money to pay for all this , Hmm?

Not from me. I won't have shit left to tax. Social Security checks will barely pay the "green electric " bill. Foreigners? Think they'll have any money left?

Right now the rich are buying gold to "perserve" their wealth. Since their paper assets  pretty much melted away. Throw in the housing losses and most are technically bankrupt. So these people will be chasing any "safe" investment. Even if that "investment" is the government inflating their losses into the future.

Wait! We've been doing that. Probably why the 25 ct beer is no longer with us. Or a McDonald's combo for less than a dollar. 10 cent Pepsi? Or my favorite the 25 cent pack of cigarettes.

Of course, it will all work out with Oba mama in charge over the next decade.  Right?

Read the whole piece below and see what you think.

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Five Major Pension Problems - One Simple Solution

Unsolvable Problems

* Expecting 8% returns in a 4% world. When 30 year treasury bonds are yielding 4%, the dividend yield of the S&P 500 is 2%, and the S&P 500 PE is 140 (26 if you use operating earnings), 8% returns are from Fantasyland.

* Pension benefits start too early. People are living longer.

* Private employees do not receive these kind of benefits. Public employees should not either, especially at taxpayer expense.

* Indeed, continuing to chase high-yield in a low-yield world is a guarantee those plans will blow up again down the road.

* Pension plans are so underfunded that it is virtually impossible to catch up, no matter what risks the plan managers undertake. When asked how long it would now take for its investments to put the fund back on track, Ohio officials simply said: "Infinity."

Little early in the process........

Empires rot from within. Everybody is in on the take. Once people realize they can get free money or power over their neighbors by voting for it then it only becomes a self-fulfilling act.  Soon in order to survive we all have to get in on the action. We need to have government rob our fellow citizens just to survive our old age, educate our kids, protect us from bad guys, fix the roads, etc..

But the biggest problem is Social Security money is taken from people who work. Same with military and other government checks. Our workers  don't produce  much any more to earn enough to support all the dependents on government largess. It seems to me that robbing our children is a sure fire loser.

Right now we are depending on borrowing from foreigners to pay all these trillions of handouts, promises and wild schemes. How long will that last? Maybe 2013? By your next birthday?

Who do we riot against? Will we be shot down in the streets begging for bread? Will the next generation decide to take over another small oil producing country?

Stay tuned!

Gerald Celente explains ‘Obamageddon’ forecast amid call for The Great American Renaissance

Well, Gerald, you can gladly add Barello to the aforementioned list. As a fellow paesano I am going to join you – and break the absurd rules of politic correctness – by asserting that Wall Street and Washington D.C. are being run by psychopathic serial criminals. For those that feel this declaration is overzealous, please read the recent commentary of Jim Kouri, vice president and public information officer at the National Association of Chiefs of Police, wherein he likens the personality traits of politicians to serial killers.

The mortgage market collapsed due to massive, unprecedented frauds. More people would realize this if mainstream media outlets properly exposed such crimes; granted, investigative journalism has been pushed aside, and in its place, we find an array of pseudo-celebrity, nonentity imbeciles like John and Kate Gosselin, desperate for their 15 minutes of shame. Either way, most mortgage frauds were facilitated by both lenders and borrowers – many of whom knowingly agreed to terms they could not afford. Through the process of securitization, these bad loans have been turned into hot potatoes for tossing, often with the help of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae; this has allowed lenders to deceitfully transfer risky loans to unsuspecting counterparties. Ratings agencies aided and abetted the racket by claiming these junk assets are safe; accordingly, corporations, municipalities, and a plethora of worldwide investment vehicles have purchased toxic garbage, and many risk collapsing under the weight of such. As this has happened, unregulated, over-the-counter derivatives have allowed the same criminals to secretly hedge bets against portfolios – knowing full well that many of them would indeed go sour – and when credit events occur, they collect truly absurd bounties. Accordingly, Gerald is no fan of derivatives. “They are ponzi schemes,” he said, before quipping that the term should really be “Madoffs” from now on. “Ponzi was a piker compared to Madoff, [which] is more appropriate, because they make off with all your money.”

My favorite theory about "Paranormal"

The Blogsquatcher: LIVING ANOMALY excerpt continues..

For a good portion of the populace -- well, that is, of those who are even aware of bigfoot at all -- the creature in question must either be a large primate, fully flesh and blood, or it doesn’t exist. But there are as many different explanations for bigfoot as there are people willing to explain it. I have gathered a few theories for our perusal here, each considering the question from a different point of view, and only one of which requires bigfoot to be a simple animal.
These different viewpoints are largely philosophical, and to really examine them would send us down a rabbit hole from which we might never emerge, and even if we did, we’d not be much wiser than we are now -- indeed, we’d be much more puzzled. Such is the nature of philosophy. But, speaking broadly, the four categories of explanation for bigfoot in which I am interested are psychological, flesh and blood, paranormal, and trans-dimensional.
The psychological explanation is most often offered in passing, usually in skeptical articles and publications, but it does not seem to be a well developed theory within bigfoot research. It certainly does not seem to have a champion. Note that the psychological explanation does not posit that bigfoot experiencers are crazy, only that the experience is not what it seems to be.
Briefly outlined, the psychological theory holds that humans have a need to believe in large hairy primates, and that this need will cause them to, in some cases, misinterpret encounters with ordinary animals, and in other cases, imagine the encounters entirely. This explanation has the advantage of explaining just why bigfoot-like creatures are seen the world over. Wherever people are found, there is bigfoot too. But it does not deal very well with physical evidence, nor with certain other features in bigfoot accounts. If it’s all in the head, then why do we find footprints, hair, scat, and other physical signs? The usual rebuttal is that such evidence as is found, and admittedly it is not much, is faked. I do not think this rebuttal is very persuasive. But it’s a serious objection and it must be met. In meeting it, I think of researchers like Peter Byrne (I had him playing the villain earlier so I’ll have him as hero here), who tells the story of going, on a whim, up high in a mountain range and finding footprints there. Since he had not planned to go, and no one could have guessed that he would go there, if they were faked, the footprints cannot have been faked for his benefit. Someone would have had to have gone there, very far in the wilderness and very high up, and planted the prints, without leaving any other evidence of their fakery, and without being sure that anyone would ever find them. This is but one example of many I could use.
It would seem the existence of physical evidence would be pretty much fatal to the psychological theory. This is true for the sense in which the psychological explanation is usually offered. I can imagine a line of reasoning that descends from Jungian archetypes that would dispose of the “evidence” objection, because the namesake of that theory, famed psychologist Carl Jung, proposed that archetypes are real things that can actually interact with our reality.
There is some evidence that something like Jung's system of archetypes really does exist somewhere in our minds, and that we all share similar symbols, even in the forms of animals, or half man, half animal beings. I'm talking about the effect brought on by certain drugs and substances, such as DMT or Ayahuasca, as has been described in books like Rick Strassman's DMT: The Spirit Molecule, or Graham Hancock's Supernatural. Since the experience with these drugs also includes encounters with strange creatures, it is not a stretch to suppose, or at least speculate, that bigfoot experiences, which often have markers of "high strangeness" anyway, might be a result of altered states of consciousness, where our minds call forth an archetypal image, in much the way that fortean researcher John Keel used to theorize. They are here for fleeting moments, and then gone, called forth somehow by our own minds, and having their reality mostly inside it, but somehow also participating in the physical, however briefly.
This is an interesting diversion, but I really see this as little different, in a practical sense, from the trans-dimensional theory, so I will not include any of this Jungian business in my designation of the psychological explanation. And it must be said that the people who usually offer the psychological explanation would not have any traffic with Jungian theories anyway. Without something akin to Jung’s collective unconscious, however, I see little hope for the psychological theory in the face of physical evidence. Proponents will no doubt see the fact that such physical evidence as is found is remarkably weak as enough to keep their theory alive.
The most popular theory among enthusiasts for bigfoot’s existence would be, of course, that bigfoot is a living, flesh and blood creature with quite ordinary characteristics. An animal like any other animal. There are difficulties with this theory too. It does nothing to explain some of the odder characteristics of bigfoot encounters. Recently bigfoot researchers have found that adding a capacity for bigfoot to use infrasound can cover many of these. (We will discuss this in more detail in just a moment.) But infrasound will not help in all cases. For one thing, it probably does not account for the self-luminous eyes that bigfoot is commonly reported to have, and it has no answer for how a bigfoot can leave a line of footprints that stop in the middle of nowhere, with no sign of how the creature progressed from that spot, and many other anomalous features of many bigfoot reports. The theory likewise has no easy explanation for why we should not have convincing evidence of bigfoot’s existence by now. As was noted, we have had more than fifty years of searching and have very little to show for our pains. So that is our second category, and in drawing it up please note that I have been silent on whether bigfoot would be an ape or more closely related to humans. That's an interesting question, but we're not close to being able to answer it yet.
A small but not insignificant number of bigfoot researchers believe that bigfoot is a paranormal creature. They hold that bigfoot has magical properties that allow it to appear and disappear at will, to read our thoughts and speak to us telepathically, and to change physical form. This belief descends from folk beliefs the world over, but is particularly reflected in Native American beliefs about bigfoot. If the paranormal theory is true, this would suggest to me that the universe is not actual, but simulated, like a vast video game. As crazy as that sounds, there are theories in physics that postulate that this could indeed be the case. But those who hold to the paranormal theory do not, in general, go so far as to construct a theory of how the world could allow such things. They simply believe there are creatures with god-like magical abilities, without attempting to explain how that would be possible.
Those who hold that bigfoot is a trans-dimensional creature have slightly firmer theoretical grounds to stand on, at least in terms of accepted science. This is not surprising, as the trans-dimensional theory is essentially the paranormal theory with the added benefit of a scientific explanation. As Clarke’s third law postulates, “Any sufficiently advanced technology would be indistinguishable from magic.” I find that Michio Kaku's book Parallel Worlds has a concise illustration of the "extra dimensional" theory and it's implications. (Before we get to Dr. Kaku’s elucidation of the theory, we should recall that the current form of string theory, called "M Theory," posits that reality must have 10 or 11 dimensions, not just the 3 plus time that we experience right now. String theory may not be correct at all, but I think at least it shows that scientists take multidimensionality seriously.)
Kaku begins his discussion by recalling the famous HG Wells novel, The Invisible Man. In it, Wells shows that having access to the 4th dimension would allow one to become invisible. And Kaku goes on to say: MORE

"Wartime president" wins the Nobel.....

Why not? the moron carter got it for going to Israel. Look what a success that is.

Obama Accepts Nobel Peace Prize as 'Call to Action' - WSJ.com

President Barack Obama said Friday that he is honored to win the Nobel Peace Prize and will accept it as a "call to action" to work with other nations to solve the world's most pressing problems.

Appearing in the Rose Garden, Mr. Obama acknowledged he was "both surprised and deeply humbled" to win the award. In a surprise pick, the Norwegian Nobel Committee cited the president's creation of a "new climate in international politics" and his work on nuclear disarmament.

Mr. Obama said he doesn't view the award "as a recognition of my own accomplishments," but rather as a recognition of goals he has set for the U.S. and the world. Mr. Obama said, "I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many transformative figures that have been honored by this prize."

But, he said, "I will accept this award as a call to action, a call for all nations to confront the challenges of the 21st century.''

The Nobel decision makes Mr. Obama, 48 years old, the third U.S. president to win the prize while in office, after Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. Mr. Obama's win comes 45 years after the prize was awarded to Martin Luther King Jr., the last African-American to win it

This is for my brother Al.....

And you thought the Depression was bad!

'2012' Trailer HD

Told you so.....

It's not much of a danger of stealing your money but your id. Most people can't live without their credit.

Of course if you have lousy credit use any browser you want, heh heh.

Paypal SSL Certificate Hole | Technibble

Paypal SSL Certificate Hole
Your Blogmaster is:

Lee

Lee is a computer enthusiast and technology writer.

Paypal users are being advised to switch browsers if they are using either Internet Explorer, Chrome, or Safari. They should use Mozilla’s Firefox instead to protect themselves from an SSL Certificate vulnerability.

The bug was reported nine weeks ago but Microsoft has not fixed the problem yet. The hole exists in CryptoAPI. The article at The Register notes that a tool called SSLSniff can cause all of the three browsers to display spoofed pages.

“We’re working to see if there are any technical workarounds on the PayPal side which can be put into place,” said a Paypal spokeswoman.

I'm using Windows seven today.....

Kind of weird after using Linux Mint for so long. But since i found a free download to try, I couldn't resist. I'm still trying to figure out why anyone with a internet connection or a library card would ever waste money on this junk. Plenty of operating systems out there for free. Linux being the most well known.

Other than new people in computing, most people realize they can do anything on the computer for free. It used to be that you couldn't play games without Windows but now it's cheaper and easier to buy a PlayStation and go at it. Everything else (play music, browse the web, office stuff, printing, etc.) is available.

Maybe they just need viruses and spy ware to keep computer techs busy? I haven't had this problem in quite a while since I prefer to use non window systems to use on the internet. In other words, to browse websites , especially banks, is asking for it.

Something called Identity theft, if I remember correctly.

But in order to run Magic Jack for our home phone I need to leave windows running on Patti's computer until they port it to Linux.

Oh well,  how's the Oba mama's recovery working for you?

No!!! Didn't I tell you so?..

Heh heh.

Putting the car industry on welfare sure is working. Next thing you know our insurance industry will get it.In the Roman world this was usually referred to as  "Cui Bono", who benefits. 

In other words, who gets the payback for bailing out these political favorites. Why else would the gang who runs our Empire go through all this bullshit.

In order to keep their cushy jobs (and cradle to grave insurance coverage) and a guaranteed position in life for their children they sell you and me down the river.

Of course we need to make continuous war and have constant crisis to keep it going. Eventually the rot sets in and they get murdered and a new gang takes over.

Nothing new here. Just politics as usual.



No Cash for American Clunkers « LewRockwell.com Blog

No Cash for American Clunkers
Posted by Karen De Coster on October 1, 2009 08:20 PM

Apropos my article on Cash for Clunkers from yesterday, here’s some follow-up to support my points. September sales for GM were down 45% and for Chrysler the number was 42%. When the government stopped subsidizing the purchase of cars, people stopped purchasing them—a point made very clear in my article. I also pointed out the distortion in the used car market. Yesterday the Wall Street Journal reported on the rise in prices of used automobiles—that is, the ones left over that weren’t destroyed by government decree:

One widely followed measure of used-car prices, the 14-year-old Manheim Used Vehicle Value Index, will likely hit a record when data for September are released in early October, says Thomas Webb, chief economist for Manheim Consulting, a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises Inc.

Best investment for the working stiff?.......

Still is a cupboard full of food. Only a dozen or so corporations control the worlds food. They are controlled by various governments like Chavez in Venezuela, the U.S., Russia, China, Australia, Canada and the OPEC gang. And who do you think owns them?

Make you feel more secure?

Most people are unaware of how thin the food supply chain is. Archer Daniel Midland,Walmart , Food lion and a few others control most of the distribution in the U.S. A hand full of trucking companies and two railroads own the rest.

Ever get the idea that you have very little control over our lives? Not that these guys are particularly evil, but that every time they don't get their way, you and I have to pay.

Health care cost for these companies , for instance, is in the billions. Yep, a hand full of companies control that too. And who controls them? The politicians who take their "campaign contributions", of course. Do you really think that a government that has trillions to spend  really gives a rats ass about  me or you and our problems?

How much money did you give these assholes?

Until we can compete with the money we don't have a voice. After all what major difference do you see between Bush's policy and Obamama's ?

Any?

Of course! Abortion! Deficits! National Security!

Bullshit!!!

Check this out and see what you think.

oftwominds: "Peak Food": Agriculture Cartels, Oil, and Seed Patents

Further to your work on the proportion of our spending that goes to the big corporations (cartels):

I just did a quick analysis of the corporate take in my area of expertise: Farming.

Wheat in a 'high rainfall' area of Australia costs on average $323 per hectare to produce. (This makes a benchmark yield of 3.5 ton of grain) Of that cost of production:

$111 goes to fertilizer. We have a choice of 2 companies.

$66 goes to chemicals. We have a choice of 8 companies but only 4 would hold most of the patents for most of the chemicals. (bayer, syngenta, Dow, dupont)

$65 goes to fuels. We have a choice of 4 companies.

$9 goes to insurance. We have a choice of about 4.

$8 goes to machinery. We have a choice of about 4.

$23 goes to seed (which could be bought from one of about 4 companies producing new varieties and holding plant breeder rights, or it could be on-farm seed from a free variety that is still produced using 80% corporate inputs)

Monsanto and syngenta are getting scary in this field. They are the leaders in plant breeder rights and see the infinite profit potential in owning the bulk of the world's food genome. Scarier than Peak Oil in my opinion. If they are able to saturate the market with their crop varieties you can be sure there will be built in 'self destruct sequence' that means you MUST buy their seed or have a crop that reverts to weedy grass.

This is the case with many hybrid vegetable varieties already. The seed they produce will not produce good marketable produce the following year ... it throws back to a highly variable plant of different sizes, grades and maturation times, making it difficult to manage and market.

So $259 to $282 or 80% to 87% of costs of wheat production go to multinational companies! The other 13% to 20% goes to small service providers who could probably break their costs down in the same way.

When you consider that chemicals and fertilizers use huge amounts of fuels to produce you can sense that the share of total money flowing in the agricultural sector that stays within the major corporations is very, very high indeed.

Thank you, Bart, for a very enlightening peek into agricultural cartels.

Just think about what the last 40 years have done......

You can't support a family on the average wage. Even at 16$ an hour. Of course I don't know many people making this much by themselves I can still make the case that it takes both people in the household to make it.

Which by itself is pitiful. back in the 70's 4$ an hour seemed like real money. Wtf it was!

Now that at least one person is unemployed in most households what's going to happen to the rest of the economy? How many cars can we buy? Houses? TV's.

 Be awhile for a real recovery, don't you think.

oftwominds: "Safe" Investments Can Still Lose Purchasing Power

For example: many analysts have noted that the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) has returned to its September 1999 level in nominal terms. The standard commentary notes "we've gone nowhere in 10 years."

Not true: owners of the Dow have lost 23% in the past 10 years as the dollar--the currency the Dow is priced in--has declined by 23% in the past 10 years of "low inflation." Priced in gold, the Dow has lost 3/4 of its value.

WTF???.......

I guess we need this to run over ALqaeda or something. This is what makes me proud to support the nitwits that run our government . Next thing you know they'll take over the health care system!

Hey wait a minute!!!

Hey, Children, Want Some Candy? « LewRockwell.com Blog

Posted by Lew Rockwell on September 21, 2009 07:24 PM

Writes a teacher:

Here is a notice from our high school bulletin for today. I don’t know about you, but I will sleep better knowing the Air Force has this in their arsenal.

Attention Students: Thursday during lunch, the Orange County Choppers and the US Air Force will be showing off the custom motorcycle $150,000 “Air Force Bike.” The motorcycle is ten feet long and is modeled after the F-22 Raptor, complete with Air Force symbol rims, riveted gas tank, Raptor exhausts and rear-view mirrors in the shape of jets. To see the motorcycle and learn more about the Air Force, please come to the Career Center.

This is going to get ugly in about 10 years......

Government is only good for stealing from the working stiffs and giving to anyone who bribes the politicians. Just wait until the lawyers get done with the Dem's over suggesting that maybe some restrictions should be placed on the greedy bastards.

Guy at work had his wife involved in a discrimination lawsuit agains Walmart. She won. Lawyers got 3 million, she got $25 .

Got a start buying some Dem's, I guess.

Anyways, over the next ten years we have a lot of shit coming down. Such as Charles Smith has been saying over at"Oftwominds".

The housing crash is just beginning!

Why not?

As for "health insurance". Think any politicians, let alone any media owners, are going to stick to the insurance companies?

Look at all those commercials and lobbying money. Good luck on "reform".

And we think UFO's are incredible, Heh heh.

Yet Another Washington Flop in the Making by Deroy Murdock on National Review Online

Social Security, the New Deal’s cornerstone, is as cutting edge as a 78 RPM record. In 2016, barely six years away, it will begin paying more in pension checks than it collects in payroll taxes. Congress then will be unable to use Social Security’s surplus like a ShamWow to absorb red ink. Social Security’s unfunded obligations equal $17.5 trillion — again not financed by anything but congressional speeches.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: These two government options in the home-mortgage arena are widely considered the twin jet engines that flew the economy into a hillside. These were supposed to be money-making, quasi-private companies, with no federal involvement beyond an implicit guarantee that government would cover their losses. Emboldened by this cozy federal safety net, these enterprises embarked upon financial acrobatics they otherwise might have avoided. Rather than generate profits between 2009 and 2019, the Congressional Budget Office estimates, Fannie and Freddie will cost taxpayers $389 billion.

The Hope for Homeowners program began last October 1. Congress gave it a hefty $300 billion to help some 400,000 homeowners avoid foreclosure. According to an August 10 Newsday editorial, “It has produced exactly one refinanced loan.” One down, 399,999 to go.

“UPS and FedEx are doing just fine, right?” Obama asked in August. “It’s the Post Office that’s always having problems.” Yes, indeed. Its two-year fiscal deficit approaches $8 billion. It has pried some 60,000 mailboxes off of America’s streets, the Lexington Institute reports. It also is weighing the cancellation of Saturday services. Even as e-mail, digitally attached documents, and online banking decrease demand for first-class snail mail, the Post Office keeps hiking the cost of stamps. What sort of business actually raises prices while customers walk away?

The Internal Revenue Code is like John Donne’s poetry: It means something different to everyone. Perhaps flummoxed by its 67,000 pages, even IRS advisers offer conflicting answers to identical questions. But today’s U.S. Tax Code will be a triumph of window-like clarity compared with the U.S. Health Code that Obamacare would trigger. Just wait until every medical lobby — from the American Stethoscope Council to the National Tongue Depressor League — hikes up Capitol Hill to demand exemptions, loopholes, and subsidies.

Ok......

Maybe a hoax. Like the guy owns a lowland mountain gorilla.
That's what I think it is.

Latest speculation is that it's a crow taking off caught on camera.

Not that it matters
Some wonder if mysterious image in picture is Big Foot - WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY |

Bigfoot Kentucky Backyard Strange Creatures Sasquatch SkunkApes 2012 Nibiru Aliens Creepy Videos

On vacation......

Laid around and played with my computer. Going fishing for bass. Can't beat it. Of course, the lakes get stocked next week while I'm working, but what do you expect from the government.

I got magic jack working. Can't beat home phone service for $20 bucks a year. Just have to buy a wireless phone that doesn't use 2.5 mH, as it interfers with your conversations. Works fine though. Even has call forwarding.

Looks like Obamama has his hands full firing a few weirdos like Van Jones , and bankrupting the wealthy class, (somebody has to pay for all his wild schemes) that not much else will get done.

The economy is running on borrowed money and borrowed time. Could get interesting when Washington puts everyone on welfare. No one has ever seen trillion dollar deficits stack up year after year.

Until we run out of suckers to borrow from. Still the best investment. Patti's Ira is making money because she invested it in government bonds. Didn't lose a dime.

Ought to tell you something. Right?

Anyone for National Healthcare?...........

Just ask a vet. Got to love those VA hospitals. After all they are one version of National Health care we have. Even the one in Washington was a major scandal!

Peter Roskam on Walter Reed Scandal

Check out one guys experience with it........

National Medical Malpractice -- The Government's Plan to Socialize Medicine

Ever have a Charlie Brown moment? Aggggggh! That perfectly describes my reaction to the arrogant, elitist, political response to the Town Hall forums currently being held throughout the country to discuss the proposed National Health Care program. “How dare you question OUR decisions?” The TV coverage shows politicians caught as though they were deer in headlights. They don’t know what to make of the resistance, so they once-again blame right-wing extremists.

Aren’t we the folks who at a ratio of 90 to 10 told our so-called Representatives to vote against the Bail-Out Bill? Aren’t we the folks who have responded on an 85 to 14 basis telling our Representatives we want “In God We Trust” to remain on our currency? Aren’t we the folks who said we didn’t want the likes of Chrysler, GM, AIG, Fannie and Freddie rescued? Notice how well they listen?

National Health Care as proposed by the Government will be an absolute disaster. I can make that statement from personal experience. While traveling throughout Europe in 1974, I broke my ankle. I then had the “pleasure” of partaking in the English version of Socialized Health Care. You might find the following helpful in your understanding what is being proposed.

About three hours after arriving at the hospital in Newcastle, England. a doctor looked at my foot (from behind his desk mind you, and not up close and personal as you would expect) and said he didn’t think it was broken but that I should still get an X-ray. I would have to come back the next day for the X-ray, however, because the Radiologists were on strike that day. That is when I began to learn about socialized medicine first hand. In the meantime, a nurse gave me a temporary strap-on splint to support my ankle.

The next day, I sat in the waiting room at the hospital from 8 AM until five minutes after twelve Noon. The Radiologists were still on strike and at least 100 patients had now gathered along with me waiting for something to happen. Finally, the hospital brought in one technician on an “emergency” basis. She reviewed the files of the 100 or so people all of whom were waiting for an X-ray and then called five names. I was name number five. The rest were sent home and told to try again the next day. I actually felt guilty as an outsider having displaced someone local getting proper medical treatment.

My X-ray showed that I had indeed broken my ankle, and the doctor said I’d need a “plaster” on my foot. However, I would have to come back tomorrow because the plaster technicians were also out on strike. Swell. I then checked with a few private doctors but they all told me they could only refer me back to the hospital. That is when I began to think of the hospital as the end-result of my grand tour.

I did, indeed, get my plaster the next day, and so to make amends, they added the walking heel pivot at the same time. Highly unusual, I was told. However, I now had to stay off the plaster cast for a minimum of three days to let the plaster cure. I had hoped for a small plaster cast but wound-up with one that extended from my toes to just below my knee. Then the pressing matter was to learn to ride a pair of crutches.

I did learn to use the crutches and I did keep my weight off the plaster for the three days as stipulated before resuming my tour. Within the first day back on the road, the plaster started to crack and I was again experiencing severe pain.

I thought I’d better have my ankle re-checked. By that time plaster was badly cracked on the bottom, and I was experiencing sharp pains shooting up my right leg every 15 to 20 seconds. I went to a Hospital in London and told them what had happened and what was now happening to my ankle. They acknowledged that I should have my ankle re-examined but the Radiologists were still on strike. When I did finally get to see a Radiologist, the tech had to take at least 5 separate X-rays due to her incorrect settings during the first four tries. Surprise, my ankle was still broken.

The doctors at St. Thomas Hospital in London elected to remove the original plaster and replace it with a new design. However the plaster technicians were still on strike. When I finally did get to see a plaster tech, he cut-off the old plaster and replaced it with a new one. Instead of a heel walking pivot, he simply reinforced the bottom of the new plaster cast and then gave me an oversized boot to wear over the plaster. The boot had a curved bottom and I found I could walk almost normally. The boot also served to camouflage the more obvious plaster. Now, I simply looked like I had a deformed right foot. However, the new plaster meant that I’d have to spend a couple more days waiting for the plaster to cure. In the meantime, I had become a pro with the crutches.

I was supposed to keep the plaster cast on my leg for at least six weeks. By the fifth week, the plaster was again disintegrating and was now cutting into my Achilles tendon. Rather than chance blood poisoning or permanent injury, I got out my handy Swiss Army pocket knife and removed the plaster. Thus ended my personal socialized medicine experience.

I was a relatively young man and a broken ankle was not exactly a life-threatening situation. What if it had been life-threatening? Care to guess how many folks I’ve spoken with over the years that have had much more harrowing experiences with socialized medicine? Their stories are really frightening. Yet that is exactly what we have to look forward to if this nonsense is put into law in the United States. Can you say “rationing?” Can you accept “No” when you believe you need an operation and a government bureaucrat refuses to authorize your procedure? Can you accept the fact that you will be forbidden from seeking medical assistance elsewhere?

This is just another case of the “Government Do Something” mentality instead of truly correcting the problem. If the problem is correctly identified – that health care costs are too high – then why not simply correct the way health care providers are paid? How, you ask, might we do that? I’m glad you asked.

If you consider how health care professionals are currently paid, you’ll quickly realize that the sicker you become, the more they make. Doesn’t sound like a win-win to me. How about you? Wouldn’t we all be better-off if the medicos were paid more on the basis of keeping us healthy rather than keeping us sick? I for one would gladly pay more to remain healthy than to be treated for sickness. Of course the “designer” drug companies wouldn’t be very happy. Their full page ads for the latest drug they’re pushing would probably disappear making the newspapers and magazines unhappy, too. But when you walked into a doctor’s office, you wouldn’t have to wait that extra half-hour while the doctor schmoozed with the drug company representative in the back office. Some win, some loose. I prefer that the patient win. By the way, I consider my self to be a customer; not a patient. I’m not patient and I don’t like the thought of being a guinea pig. I want professional treatment based on proven methodologies.

One way to accomplish this turn-around would be for every individual to take control of his/her medical costs and treatments. Instead of an HMO deciding what costs they will pay, you would decide directly. This system already exists in the form of Medical Savings Plans, MSPs. You get immediate treatment and the doctor gets immediate payment. No forms to send to the HMO or Medicare nor a wait for months to then get reimbursed. Cash and carry works.

But wait, you say. “I don’t know enough about medicine to be able to make my own decisions.” Then I suggest you learn. And the very, very sad fact is that very few in the medical profession “know” either, but that’s a topic for another article. Suffice it to say that when competence is demanded by the customer, the medicos that survive the scrutiny will become the best choices for medical services. No one is instant-smart and there will be a learning curve, but the effort will be well worth time allocated.

Recently, I read an in-depth article describing the treatments and costs-of-treatments between the cities of McAllen, TX and El Paso. The McAllen costs were virtually double those of El Paso yet the patient (read customer) results were almost identical. If the results were comparable, why spend twice the money for the same results? Again I submit that government mandated single-payer programs will double the costs even though they initially claim they will reduce costs. Can you say Post Office? Can you say Medicare? Can you say any government program in competition with a privately-run program?

Every article I write seems to be based on having to refute the claim that capitalism has failed. Private medicine has “failed” so now big government has to step-in and make it work is the basic message now being promoted. Nothing could be further from the truth. As I continue to maintain, we’ve never even had pure capitalism so how would we know whether or not it’s failed? Big government has had their sticky hands in every facet of our lives with rules upon restrictions upon laws upon mandates that contradict common sense. I would argue that no one has a higher interest in your health and well-being than you, no matter how sincerely others try. That being the case, why don’t you just trust your instincts and take charge of your health?

Regards,
Tex Norton

September 8, 2009

Kennedy dead?

Ok

How can you tell?

Early yet.....And he sounds excited all ready.......

What are these guys going to say in a year or so when the stimulus generates so much debt we have to start taxing anything that moves?

Need to hunker down and wait and see, I guess.

Obama's Spending Spree Budget Numbers "Have All Gone Mad" Analyst Says: Tech Ticker, Yahoo! Finance

When retail expert and all-around economy watcher Howard Davidowitz appeared on Tech Ticker in February declaring the worst was yet to come for the U.S. economy and that Americans' standard of living has changed permanently, our comment boards lit up.

But surely with the latest rally off the March lows, bearish Davidowitz is more bullish, right? Not a chance. Look at your financial history books.

Two of the biggest rallies of more than 40 percent occurred during the Great Depression, says Davidowitz of Davidowitz & Associates,a retail consulting and investment banking firm. "People were sucked in and ultimately were destroyed," he says. It's a warning to today's investors, who are hoping to extend the rally.

Don't get Davidowitz started on the economy or fundamentals. "Barack Obama's numbers have all gone mad," Davidowitz says. The Obama administration recently announced the U.S. budget deficit will be $9 trillion during the next decade; $2 trillion higher than the original forecast.

And, the proposed price tag for health-care reform? "Minimum $3 trillion," Davidowitz says. "One trillion? Are you kidding?"

Stimulus binges? Roller coaster equity performance over years? Stubborn consumers holding out for sales as deflationary pressures loom over the recovery? Sounds like the U.S. economy is turning Japanese, Davidowitz says.

Back on the net full time.......

I bought a new computer for Patti and Finally hooked it up Verizon dsl. Don't need a phone to use it. But I did I hook up magicjack which works like a champ.

So, for 30 bucks a month I have a home phone  and Hi speed Internet running.

Oh, yea, free long distance is included.

I still need a new hd tv to use on it to record and play. I figure a 26" will  work for what room I have.

Even though Obamama will probably put everyone on the unemployment line I'm still hoping for a "cash for old appliances " program. Heh heh.

The world turns....

Got a new computer yesterday and now need a new tv to hook it up to since I didn't buy a new monitor. Still need to find an internet service that doesn't cost a fortune. I can get on at my son's house or the library for free but I would still like a hook up at home.

Still think the governments lying about the recovery. People still losing jobs even with government handouts. Bail outs seem to be a joke

And what about gas going nuts again. Watch out for food prices this winter. I'm still stocking up for the mess we are in for after all this debt and handouts reach full bore.

Stay tuned.

How's the recovery working for you?.....

The collapse is only beginning. We run out of foreigners to borrow from and poof. But it will be awhile.

We have to retire all the broke dicks in my generation first.

Another day........

I'm waiting for Oba mama to throw in the towel on health care ala Canada. He should have gradually reformed Medicare and stuck all non-vets into it. Let's say every year reduce the age of eligibility by 5 year, (60, then 55, then 50 etc.)

Something wrong when you have Congress and the Presidency and can't do jack shit.

Heh ehe.

Recovery?

Tear down all these houses and start over.. Great for jobs. I'm sure we'll find enough foreigners to lend us the money.

After all, we now have a black president and they all think he's cool. Whoops! My bad! Not supposed to say that, sorry. (NOT.)

I made 20 bucks on my retirement this year. Walmart, though, gave me $400. I'm going whoring. (Heh heh)  At this rate we'll be gardening and fishing to eat.

Along with a million or so other broke dicks.

In July, Tampa officials bought the home from Bay Holdings Inc. for $28,800, roughly $110,000 less than the previous owner paid for it three years ago, and sent in the bulldozers.

The demolition marked the beginning of Tampa's new program to buy foreclosed and abandoned homes in neighborhoods hardest hit by the nationwide mortgage crisis.

Eventually, a single-family home will be built on the property.

Money to buy the properties is coming from Tampa's $13.6 million share of funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's $3.92 billion Neighborhood Stabilization Program, an emergency response to escalating foreclosures nationwide.

Mayor Pam Iorio's plan calls for buying about 80 foreclosed homes to fix up to be sold or torn down. An additional 30 foreclosed properties will be bought and rehabilitated as rental properties. Both of these steps are requirements of the federal program.

Sulfur Springs, North Tampa and West Tampa have been identified as target areas, based on the high rates of subprime mortgages, mortgage defaults and delinquencies.

The city plans to work with local nonprofit groups and charities to find eligible buyers. The money will not be available to homeowners currently facing foreclosure.

Reinstalled windows....

Computers are a pain in the ass. Had my fair share of crashes last week. Lost my cd drive. Couldn't get on the net and lost all my settings for my blog editor, Scribefire.

I think we need a "cash for clunkers program" for shitty windows.

Anyways the economical crash has slowed down. In anticipation of all the stimulus money yet to come, is my best guess. Gas goes up because the gangs running the oil companies need the money so they can buy our National Debt. We used to blame it on the"big oil companies" but they have very little to do with compared to Governments like Saudi, Russia, America, etc.

This happened in the early 70's when Nixon sold these clowns all those weapons to protect them from those touchy Jews. So, in order to buy all this protection (Jews got it free) these gangsters simply Jacked up the oil prices and  gave us our money back.

Welcome to the plan!

P.s we still are floating in oil. Not politically correct to get it and it lowers prices. But what else is news. We're still a few years, probably 10, from the collapse of the world economies. But who's counting?

Where's my check?

Need any more proof that the fix is in just check out oil busting 70$ A BARREL.

Who can afford to drive other than the gangsters in power?

The 10% (officially) unemployed. Wait a couple of months and we'll need to get that bike tuned.

Hey! How about cash for junk Chinese bikes?

Welfare for car dealers.....

Cash for clunkers is off to a roaring start. Anyone with good credit, job, and an old piece of shit for a car can trade it in for a new one and get a big welfare check.

What happens when we run out of junkers and customers that qualify?

Why just make everybody and their junkers qualify. Then give everyone a check to buy two cars.

Hell why not? Welfare works to keep the cigarette and beer guys in business doesn't it?

And don't forget the farmers. Where would they be with out handouts, hmm?

Walmart had a bad quarter....

Sales down about 10%. Company had to cut everybody's hours next week to make the quarter look better for Wall Street.

Wouldn't want the suckers to see even Wally World is startint to hurt.

Wait til unemployment hits 12 %, heh heh.

Wait til you see the bill for this baby.....

We'll be paying through the nose for this little Dem fraud. Can't wait. First tax "the rich" who'll take it out of our ass. Then soak us because the rich will be able to buy their way out. Then pass the buck to the Government anyways because we'll all be unemployed.

Call it "soak the foreigners". After all they have our money.

Almost Daily Rant: Cap and Trade - Another Fraud

The Waxman-Markley American Clean Air and Security Act of 2009 (ACES), cleverly paraded as an earth-saving, energy independence bill that lowers pollution, is a draconian measure of taxation and government control.



The sad irony for me is that this bill will make it more difficult for the average person to transition to a lifestyle less dependent on centralized systems in order to deal with the converging crisis of our times – many of which, such as energy, food and fresh water shortages are environmental. In years to come, we face enough scarcity as it is, and the current subsidies that keep prices artificially low are unsustainable.



For decades government manipulation, from tax incentives to military interventions to irresponsible monetary policy has destroyed real market signals resulting in years of privatized gains and socialized costs at the expense of the average person and the environment.



Now we are believe that the solution is to give the EPA czar-like authority and a pollution permit allocation scheme that will continue to socialize costs through trickle down taxation.



Once again, in great haste the House of Representatives has scrambled to pass a bill with huge implications without having the chance to digest, analyze and summarize the 1200-page proposal, which was being revised up until the final minutes before the July 4th break.



It happened with the Patriot Act, then TARP and now ACES.



If bills were actually good for the population, then there would be no rush to push them onto the floor. But, since an informed electorate is the worst enemy of proponents of this type of legislation, they had to act fast before Americans had a chance to absorb the huge implications under cover of a constant deluge of Michael Jackson tributes in the media.



I usually avoid the global warming debate because even if humans do contribute to global warming, a combination of slowing population growth in the developed world and peaking out of easily accessible oil, natural gas and coal will offset the effects. If you do want to debate the science a growing number of scientists and Americans in general dispute the impacts of manmade warming. Even if you are are an advocate of global warming, then you know that the impacts of the bill on climate in the best case are negligible.

I'm sticking with Japanese junk.....

Can you believe it? In the 70's no one bought "Jap Junk."

You think selling these companies to foreigners will do any good?

Heh heh.

Of course we can always buy a car from Oba mama at GM.

Substandard Chrysler « LewRockwell.com Blog

The “New” Chrysler will be every bit as bad - no worse! - than the “Old” Chrysler. I’m still looking and thinking about that new vehicle, when the time is right, and none of my first 5, 10, … or 100 choices are an American-made car. Now, that door of possibility - if there was one - is slammed forever. I’ve been driving a 2003 PT Cruiser lately, to get from here to there, and, as usual, it’s been nothing but problems. Two issues in particular show me how unbelievably incompetent this company is. When I first bought the car (used) in magnificent condition, I bought new Pirelli tires and I noticed they kept getting low on air, and eventually, I could no longer keep the left front tire from going flat. Problem? I took it to two tire dealers, and both guys I talked to knew exactly what it was when they saw the PT with the factory chrome wheels. The PT Limitied Edition has a long, sordid history of the chrome wheels being defective in that the clear coat chips off the inside of the wheel, causing big, rusty, cracked flakes to gather between the wheel and tire, flattening the tire. I’ve been told it’s a massively common problem, even with PTs newer than mine. It happens to almost anyone with the PT and factory chrome wheels. They kept shaving the wheels until finally I had to go out and buy new ones.

How's Ob's economy coming along?.......

See any green shoots at your house? Unemployment at official 9.5%. 7 more banks bite the dust. Banks holding foreclosure moratoriums. (Not enough manpower to do them anyways.)
Walmart cutting hours as sales slide.



At this rate we'll all be in the poor house by Christmas. Next thing you know they'll have to send us another check.

Make mine a million, please.

Bankruptcy has it's attractions....

Screw them all. Next thing you know they'll be taxing themselves out of existence.

Not a bad thought.

By the way having internet problems right now. Need new company.

oftwominds: Devolution: 20 Predictions

As cities, counties and states default on their obligations and unemployment insurance runs out, devolution sets in.


While some see a collapse of society in our future, right now I see devolution, not revolution. Devolution is both the process of degeneration and the surrender of governmental powers from central authorities to local authorities.

Devolution will take many forms. The key driver behind devolution is simple: there's not enough money to fund the status quo, so something has to be cut, axed, trimmed or devolved. Examples already abound: the number of school days in the year are reduced to shave expenses, two-times-a-week trash pickup is cut to once a week, etc.

The key constraint on devolution is also simple: the status quo power structure must be left intact. Nobody will willingly surrender their power, so devolution means services and front-end expenses will be cut in order to protect back-end administrative powers.

Thus public union bosses won't be suffering any big cuts in pay or benefits, and neither will their municipal and state administration counterparts. (Of course there will be symbolic cuts for PR purposes, but nothing deep.) What will be cut is part-time librarians, custodians, county park staff, etc.--the powerless people who actually serve the public.

As the states run out of money, they will surrender some limited powers to local authorities as a mechanism for ridding their budgets of certain costs. As cities and counties go broke, then they will devolve some modest authority to non-profit groups or volunteers.