Coping: One Week to Christmas – Chit-Chat Checklist

(Back at the Ranch)  We are, as of this morning, almost exactly one week from Christmas Day.  And depending on your time zone, it’s about now that the turkey needs to go in.

People make a Very Big Deal about holidays.  And part of the act seems to be presentation of all kinds of checklists.

“Checklist for perfect gravy.”  “Checklist for perfect leftovers.”  “Checklist of 12 barf bag substitutes for this sickening season of commercialism.”

So this morning, in keeping with helping out, a couple of indispensible checklists.

Positions On Everything Checklist

The main purpose of any holiday gathering worth seconds is to be a decent human.  Communicate and gather intelligence.

To do this, we operate on the basis of seven major physical systems that support human life.  These are:  Food, Shelter, Communications, Energy, Transportation, Environment, and Finance.  It’s a short enough list to memorize, and shorter than a phone number.  An eighth topic is Conspiracies, but you might not want to go there, at least right off the bat.

Whenever people gather, once the social “Hi, how are you?” small-talk is out of the way, the main use of the Holiday gathering (as least from my perspective) has always been “fishing” for what people think.

Fishing, as noted in Delphi Method: Techniques and Applications is that the way the Oracle of Delphi worked (and seemed to have very good vision on future) was able to walk around and know the future.  Just listen.  Some people are idiots, but even idiots have a place in the herd.

I will lend you my categories of people system, but be sure to return it after the holidays:  Neanderthal, Average, Smart, and Smart-Trend-Setter.  I peg everyone into a box over time.

Often times after half a dozen words.

Rules of Engagement follow my classifications.  Neanderthals don’t  get much conversation from me.  I mean, what’s the point?  They wouldn’t know what to do with it, right?

On the other hand, Smart and Smart & Trend-Setters are honored with my rapt attention and hanging on every word.  I listen to everything they say uninterupted, unless it’s to ask a very short, pithy continuation question on the topic of interest.

In my family, we had a kind of tradition when we were young (mind you, this was back in the Old America, the one with two sexes, one-income households out of choice, and union-negotiated pay raises, uncrowded freeways, lower taxes, a balanced budget…) where we’d all do at least a bit of research before Christmas.

That’s because others would be putting us in the Neanderthal through Trend-Setter boxes, whether we like to play, or not.  Kind of like Shark Tank meets Martha Stewart with a side of Cramer.

You don’t go to Christmas in our family without research.  We haven’t had a big family dinner in years, as a result…

Food

1. The UK Telegraph (they’re gonna get a phone one of these days) figures this is the cheapest Christmas dinner since 2011.  However, the UK is much “bigger” on Christmas than Americans where we don’t place as much emphasis on meals together.
2. There are two reasons we don’t “meal up” together.  A) everyone is on their phone and texting.  B) We have turned it into a commercial holiday and in terms of food, the cheaper and faster, the sooner we can get to our presents.
3. Related:  The UK Heart Attack Rate is 60.1 per 100,000.  The U.S. rate in the same data series 77.97 per 100,000 which might mean having family dinners and Christmasing is a good health tactic.  Even better in Australia where the heart attack rate is about 55 per 100,000.  Or, skip Christmas meals and go to East Africa.  Somalia, Kenya, etc. (map here) don’t die so much from heart attack.  Starvation?  Different topic.

Shelter

1. As of yesterday, www.bankrate.com was quoting 3.87% on a 30-year fixed and 3.06% on  a  15-year fixed.
2. If the question about home ownership comes up, stall or weasel on your answer for a couple of years.  Pretend the presidential election matters.  Fake it, as needed.
3. While the Dow may sail above 25,000 in 2016, there is a chance we will have a presidential or national disaster in Q1 of 2017.
4. That said, once the government is done with deflation, remember, the national debt could be effectively cut in half by simple watering down the purchasing power of the U.S. Dollar.  Inflation isn’t bad if you are levered in real estate and have the income to cover it.  ‘Course the price of milk would be $10-bucks a gallon, but you’re always gonna whine about something, right?

Communications

1. Yes, we could kill internet traffic from Syria, Iraq, and Libya but it would cost money and would involve real work.  Unless there is major money involved, why do real work?
2. Internet control and licensing has always been baked in the cake any time a good idea comes along.  See what the FAA did on Drones this week?
   Our American foundations have a real problem with wide-open freedoms.  It was workable when there were 100,000 people in America, not 320-million,  You will still have freedom of inquiry, but freedom of speech will limited when comes to hate and inciting.  See my book Broken Web on Amazon.
3. The balance is that over-throwing the existing government is not a “protected right” except at the voting booth.  And that’s why the Second Amendment is there.  The fight over that line has been going on since humans went upright.  Still unresolved, too.

Energy

1. Energy is cheap with West Texas Crude in the $35 range.  See yesterday’s column for how this is Roaring Twenties, II.
2. There is still a depletion problem…but we have just been through an oil and gas development frenzy like never before.
3. The Middle East is helping to keep down prices so they can buy American resources and so they can remain major players.
4. As ME players roll out of the Dollar, we become hopelessly screwed.  Remember what happened when Iraq starting taking Yuan and such?  That was the REAL reason for that mess  in the sandbox and we still haven’t got it right.
5. The West does a terrible job of sharing and leaves behind millions of pissed-off people who came out on the short end.  Why is anyone surprised that they want to kill us? GMAFB
6. Is Obama and Congress stupid for bringing them here to work out their anger issues?
7. Here’s the thing about politics:  They only seem like they are bright when running.  As soon as the butt hits the chair of office, their brains fry.  (Ears stop working, too.)

Transportation

1. One of the biggest scams in world history is convincing people there is a relationship between the model year of their car and their value as a human being.
2. Second biggest scam is “annual model.”
3. If you are not getting 27 MPG highway, you are part of the problem, not the solution.  Exceptions:  Work trucks engaged, van pools, tradesmen,  and semis.
4. Manufacturers should be able to warrant their products for 300,000 miles (I believe the Checker Motor Company did that).
5. Transporting more people who hate us, into the US where they can acutally do something about it, was included in the Corporate Party Budget which was passed this week.  Anyone who voted for the budget needs to be thrown out which is why I have founded the Porcupine Party – get the pricks out.
6. Warren Buffett probably bought BN/SF to make money on oil.  Why else would the democratic saviors of all things green be against pipelines and risk derailments and all that CO2?  Do as we say, not as we do.

Environment:

1. ‘Global warming the greatest scam in history’ claims founder of Weather Channel.”
2. The REAL PURPOSE of the Climate Accord is to stampede the globalsheep into a globalgov which will then impose a globaltax and there goes the notion of statehood.
3. The Obama wing of the GOP passed funding this week for the climate scam come to America.
4. New York was supposed to be underwater by now.
5. Read “Why I am a Climate Change Skeptic “ and see how real science works.

Finance:

1. Money is “made up.”
2. Gold does not back the U.S., dollar and hasn’t for almost half a century.
3. The ONLY point of money is to buy food, things and time.
4. You can’t make REAL money, until you have people working for you.
5. You’re presumably bright enough not to overpay them.
6. Use the tax code.
7. Use the tax code.
8. Have a tax attorney or CPA, not just a quickie filing unless you have a degree in finance…
9. Never invest for tax benefits.  Invest for highest and surest returns – always.  Then, if there is a tax-angle, frosting.
10. Read UrbanSurvival daily.  No kidding, there are still people who have never heard of this site.  You could do someone a favor by telling everyone at dinner about this site.

Our Christmas Party Plans

On Christmas Day, for 2-hours, Elaine and I will be sitting in front of the computer screens in the (not quite palatial) UrbanSurvival Solar powered office.  We will do Skype video and chat with any Peoplenomics.com subscribers who call. us.  We’ll share more on these plans in the next Peoplenomics posting.

If no one calls, Elaine has her champagne…(We’re trying to figure out how to turn this into a regular Skypetail party hour now and then…Lower cost booze than out, no DWIs.. I mean is OK…)

We’re looking forward to that…never done such before, but why not?

A glass of wine, a subscriber fire-side chat (with no fire), a glass of bubbly, and a nice way to give the turkey its time to cook in peace and quiet.  Otherwise, I would be in the kitchen getting in the way.

But seriously:  Do some thinking about what’s going to “come up at dinner”  (I had that happen once….).

Then do a little bit of research and have a few facts.

As Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz dsemonstrated this week, even the wrong facts seem to weigh more than baldfaced lies and assertions.  Always pick the right “facts” with the proper “heft” to them

Oh, and if someone tells you democrats are honest?  Remember the Ocare sock-it-to-yah is delays for a year so the Crookocrats won’t face rebellion.  The big hikes went away for one year so Hillary could weasel-in before people figure out they’ve been screwed.  (Clinton’s have expertise, do they not?)

There…see why I don’t get invited to out to Christmas Dinner?

Write when you break-even,

Mr. Humbug  george@ure.net