My buddy Gaye (https://strategiclivingblog.com) interviewed me Wednesday for an upcoming article she’s working on about social media’s role in life. Gave me an opportunity to talk more about one of my favorite topics: Asset-stripping of America.
You see, thanks to “financial engineering” the world is changing – and not for the better. That’s because we are quickly moving into the Rent Your Life model. Yes, that’s where a good part of the present-day socialist bent is coming from. People with nothing will find all manner of excuses (wrapped up in some bullshit ‘greater good’ that doesn’t pass muster on inspection) to steal from people who actually work hard. SJW’s are just social con artists.
Once upon a time, people mostly owned their homes in America. When a home was sold, like during the Great Depression, a substantial down payment was involved (30-40%) and the seller would often take-back a first in order to keep banksters out of the mix.
This was a time when people held jobs and in their spare time, their “side hustle” would be to build a house. The process resulted in “sweat equity” – and lots of it. Plus when a home sold, the interest went to the builder not the bank. (The leech class must have hated it!)
Today? Houses are a fine example of “asset-stripping.” The average ownership fraction in a home is declining, however slowly, but the “equity portion” cited by the banking class goes up. Not because a great amount, and almost entirely due to effects of inflation.
Remember, we have continuously warned for more than 20-years here, Inflation is the Big Lie. Prices do not go up. The value of money is watered-down. So it takes more depreciated “money” to buy the same goods.
The intrinsic value of last night’s dinner (filet, cut into strips & sauteed with fresh mushrooms with a salad, thanks for asking) has never changed. Humans have been eating meat on a stick over fire with greens for how long?
We are being rolled (as in down a dark financial alley) into a purely transaction-based economy. Want a new car? More than 50% of new cars are leased. Reason? No one can afford rolling their equity around. We rent, not own.
In fact, so addicted to excessive consumption and thetransaction-addiction, that not only have we spawned a whole “self-storage industry” but at the secondary level, sniping bargains at impounded storage units then spawned an even greater “need” for consumption. Circular, vicious, and resource-depleting. See the TV shows about treasury hunting in storage unit auctions.
Which means what for the Markets?
This morning, the markets were down 230-odd points on the Dow futures. I know that I rail against the evil delusion of cryptocurrencies as a made-up pseudo-money that gobbles huge resources (energy) but compared to the Bitcoin scam (a totally EMP-exposed money) the stock market is nearly on par.
Used to be stocks had lots of Book Value. (See Buffett and Mungher’s work). That a-goner for the most part.
The pattern is simple: Financial Engineers want to find how to take your net worth and convert it to their net worth and they offer lots of do-dads to sucked you in. Reverse-mortgages, are one example lots of older people (who didn’t pay off their home) ware being forced into. Another is your “education” where you will be “schooled” by a Ben Dover in the financial aid office. Make the parents cosign for a student loan?> I told my kids “Hell no!”
Schools are not teaching core financial basics; return on investment, opportunity cost, and the real cost of interest. Not that the American Institute of CPA’s hasn’t been trying with their Feed the Pig campaign. But, really now, think about it: Look at the web search data for the following topics and tell me what it says about financial smarts. Ready? A-Googling-we-shall-go…
- Google results on the word “transgender” 146-million
- How a bout LBGT? (lower-case) 225-million
- Can we look at Facebook, then? 225.27-BILLION.
- On the word “socialism” 165-million.
- “Car lease”?. 754-million…
My point? Ah..the “grown-up” hard work and sweat of putting on “the grind” every day to chase the bag:
- “net worth” 109-million and that has been commonly used for more than a hundred years!
- And “feed the pig”? 582-thousand.
We don’t need a left field event to take down America. Just keep doing what we’re doing and keep the Digital Mob Rule coming. Aided and abetted by left-leaning social media. Already, we see how 15-states have movements afoot to toss the Electoral College. Popular Vote = Mob Rule by Big Cities, if you hadn’t figured it.
Stripped of assets (like home equity and owning your car) what’s left? Why DMR – Digital Mob Rule which is just what promoters of the direct popular vote are after. Because from there, it’s just a hop, skip, and a jump to bankrupting the country. After which, the new breed of socialist idiots (Ocsavio Cortez, et al) will have their hand at turning once Fortress America into the next Venezuela. I expect they will be successful, though hopefully, long after we depart for the tax haven called Hereafter.
Just effing dandy. (You starting to grok why the futures are down 240? When as much money as possible is finally “in the market” it will be “crashed” and on the other side of that, people with a little dough parked in paid-for real estate (fee simple and taxes current) ugly precious metals and TreasuryDirect accounts – along with a home garden – will be the only survivor episodes that will matter.)
Related: hot off Business Wire:
“The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association’s (ELFA) Monthly Leasing and Finance Index (MLFI-25), which reports economic activity from 25 companies representing a cross section of the $1 trillion equipment finance sector, showed their overall new business volume for April was $8.8 billion, up 11 percent year-over-year from new business volume in April 2018. Volume was up 7 percent month-to-month from $8.2 billion in March. Year to date, cumulative new business volume was down 5 percent compared to 2018….”
Um…Like the old Texas oil saying goes: “If it flies, floats, or fks, lease it…”
Immigration an IQ Downer?
Let’s face it: The rest of us don’t have time or choose not to afford kids. But very much on point is this NBC-Think piece: “IQ rates are dropping in many developed countries and that doesn’t bode well for humanity.” What they fail to zero-in on: The immigration rates of the victim (receiving) countries. Ah, the UN is running its own crooked world governance game, are they not?
Do notice how when I mention these socioeconomic realities I’m a right-wing nutjob in the woods. Yet when it shows up in the Mainstream…
And it IS like a change of programming may be evolving as the NY Post runs with “Smarter people listen to instrumental music: study.”
You mean like the great jazz (mostly Atlantic Blue Note, and Ahmad Jamal) and recently Bernie Williams (Example track: Ritmo de Otono) that we have been recommending almost forever? Why ‘magine that, would jah…
Useful Plagiarism
Futures tumble on fears of possible U.S.-China tech cold war.
Right there as a pop-up:
“In honor of the holiday, bond markets will close at 2pm ET on Friday, May 24, 2019. On Monday, May 27, 2019, US stock, bond, options markets, and the Federal Reserve Bank will be closed, and futures markets will close at 1pm ET..”
We may, or may not issue forth Monday…prolly-though…
A series of numbers during today’s session could drive things up, down of sideways” – PMI flash, New Home Sales, and the Fed money report this afternoon. Tomorrow’s pre-open hoopdy will be Durable Goods.
For now, -239 at the open for the Dow at click-time.
News Scanner Results
Nutty as ever out there:
Trump explodes after Pelosi’s “cover-up” claim, cuts off meeting with Democrats.
Fools on the Run file: Violent’ tornado strikes Jefferson City, Missouri, as storms kill 3 and cause extensive damage statewide. Like the dems haven’t stonewalled Trump appointments? GMAFB.
Following up to our Jakarta Bureau’s video Wednesday: Police say 7 died in Indonesia election rioting.
And a pun we can’t resist: “Exclusive: How cannabis industry CEO salaries compare with mainstream counterparts.” Could they be higher?
With the Memorial Day weekend at hand, we will spare you our usual rasher of “grab your wienies” lines…
Moron the ‘morrow..however…
The FUDster is back ! Oh happy days, George is spreading Fake News and Fear again regards Bitcoin – the anger towards BTC’s is telling.. AMO?
Bitcoin will be the only viable system of Exchange able to “gin up” in a reasonable amount of time following any devastating EMP events.
Why the hell do U think Blockchains and Cryptos are used in/for Inter-Stellar Commerce currently..
Oh by the by – Black and Decker stock been taking off since announcing new plant in US – to build Craftsman Tools.
On leasing a car…While I own my Tesla, to take advantage of the $7,500 tax credit, I mostly leased my cars in the past, mainly because technically, in real estate we are self employed.
I have an LLC, so to me this is where leasing makes sense. I hate paperwork, and itemizing is a pain, so I make it simple and am able to write off my entire lease payment and not have to track miles, service invoices and such. Plus, the payments on average are considerably lower on a lease..and there is no down payment…so if your car is a business asset, having lower out of pocket costs positively affects my bottom line.
For instance on a $40,000 car, a 6 year loan payment will be $565 and a 3 year lease payment will $325. On a car purchase with a $4,000 down payment, you would be out of pocket $6,880 more in the first year alone. And $2,880 more thereafter. But let’s take away the down payment…over the course of 6 years, a car owner has over $17,000 more in out of pocket costs…about the cost of the trade in, if he is lucky at that point. And, it’s about at 6 years that the cars service engine light seems to kick into gear and things start to stop working. So, there’s the additional maintenance costs that you have to start worrying about. .
Of course, you can trade that in and get a new car…but good luck getting that $17,000 back…at which point, you’ll be grumbling…I should have just leased.
As a lessor, during after 6 years, I would be looking at leasing my third new car at the same lease price I had 6 years prior.
If a car is part of your business reputation like it is in any sales or executive position, then getting a new car every 3 years is good business sense.
On Music and IQ….May I suggest Brain.FM. It’s an app that helps you focus, meditate, sleep, recharge or relax with different music tones and moods. It really works for me. Just plug in your AirPods and select “focus” music while you work or write and you will see a definitely see a difference.
Thanks Mark ,sounds like the LLC has lots of benefits
Mark, what about the limited mileage allowance with the lease. Do you buy additional miles upfront? Now that I am retired, I may drive 8,000 miles a year which would probably be good for a lease.
60 & 70’s rock & word games for “serenity now”.
No..I stay with it the 12,000 allotted. My area of influence is close to my home…I rarely travel more than 20 miles a day.
Why George its a hoot, this government and its agencies are so corrupt that there is no chance of saving them,oh yes we can always find someone one to blame except us of course, for after all those we vote for time after time are as white as the fresh driven snow, as the push for more and more Q.E,more cheaper money, deregulation (my electric bill has increased 41% from last year) less taxes for the 1% and all the rest,as they want their share and our share too.!!
“we can always find someone one to blame except us of course,”
Unfortunately Robert.. We are the only ones to blame….
we have elections.. we keep voting in the same group over and over.. they don’t even change the messages they give everyone…
we deserve everything they give us..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7fBwc803CI
We are NOT voting them in. They’ve hacked the voting machines for almost 30 good years now. Alex Jones gave a talk on this back in 1994 at The University of Texas about the Diabold Voting Machines and how easy they were to hack BACK THEN. It’s easy to see when a race has been hacked. Trump’s race was NOT hacked, though. They just couldn’t swing it for Hillary, and they tried, but there was too much PUBLIC support so they just had to let it go. And then turn on him for his whole Presidency.
NOPE.. you know you may be onto something there..
I was reading this book double crossed the sam giancana story.. and was watching exactly what was written in the book play out in the papers and on the news..
for a long time it was one of the scariest books I had ever read.. then came the book the creature from Jekyll island.. now my scariest book is Adolph Hitlers secret book two.. you can read it and watch it play out..
enjoy the book.. it is a super fast read one of the very few books I read from cover to cover… I think it took about an hour to get through but then at the time I would go back and re read portions as they were playing in the news.. just to compare.. so you might be able to read it in a half hour. ..
https://archive.org/details/doublecrossexplo00sam
* hands you ure vice grips and ure crack pipe! Ha ha ha
Mr Ure, sir can we bring back the “rim shot” and the rockin shamin?
I just called a co worker and my phone number came up on their phone as N.S.A.. United States of America. Im sure it was just an error on T mobile. ;)
I got switched 3 times to 3 different Jobs today. Good thing i was running a few min late drunk driver took out the telephone pole in front of me a few min before i got there. One of my “girlfriends” needed a few bucks for gas. So stopped to see her real quick.
Cost nothing to be kind.
Games on and a foot. ;).
I off by a few days. But the market is doing exactly what i said it would do on ure site back in November i beleive.
Hey been re-member-ing my dreams lately. Usually about 1 every 6 months. Im 5 for 5 now. :)
On to grab 18 gears. Be moving soon. Next couple weeks
Ya see, to make manifest (a manifest is alot like a journal) ya gotta get people to view what ya want, like “they” do in those Simpson’s cartoons or like that movie “knowing”. Works better when you get the “power” people view your stuff and unknowingly get all involved in making it happen.
Sure its annoying when they leave the lights on in your housr and aint paying the power bill. Or jacking your favorite Seahawks hat and leaving bibles and stuff that ya never seen before. Lol
But it is what it is.
I think it was steve miller. Lmao! Uhem that said some call me thw space cowboy, some call me the gansta of love.
Sciencerly,
IN IT TO WIN IT!
A long time rumor is that glp is a tavistock. I pondered that for a while. And thought, how can i use that to my advantage if it was true. I mean by all appearances im just an average guy, blue collar and hard worker.
I have never held a grudge though. Have absolutely no resentment and i think i went to bed twice mad about something and i prayed good stuff for that person every time before i slept. Cut the etherical cords and set them free. I dont play the karma game. Alot of which involves emotional attachment.
I found that,
Most people undo themselves anyway its just a matter of time.
If i be a co-creator with the Greatest Force? I best act the part and accordingly.
“There is no try. There is only do and do not”. Yoda.
Have a great weekend!
I got so much to do!
I know someone who had a dream BEFORE Knowing was released. She was in a space ship and she was shown that a planet was approaching earth and it collided with it causing all sorts of fires and destruction. She was above the earth in a ship, taken up by the Watchers. She was 9. You can bet when the Knowing movie was released, it got my attention. Millions of people have had a similar dream across the world. She will be lifted up and saved, and many others, that’s for sure.
George
“Violent’ tornado strikes Jefferson City, Missouri, as storms kill 3 and cause extensive damage statewide.”
So we are seeing some odd weather patterns across the country with rain and late season cold areas. What if weather engineering is being used to reduce farm output to be as low as possible. Now you get lots of hungry people who will follow anyone who promises food.
Say it can’t happen here but in the last hundred years we have seen two world wars, two nuked cities and thousands of missiles aimed at opposing countries.
Maybe a Deep State infiltrated by elites who want to run everything is not out of the question!
I might be a right-wing nutjob in the woods also.
Mark, the reason I voted for Trump in 2016 and will vote again for him in 2020 is because “level-headed and eloquent” responses (usually written by someone else) by previous presidents have done absolutely NOTHING for me. They didn’t improve my standard of living or reduce the amount of taxes I had to pay. Donald J. Trump has done both. Instead, one president actually forced me to buy healthcare or be penalized! The warm-fuzzy speeches directed to mesmerize the masses are not going to work any more.
Well said Nancy.. Amen I totally wish I had been the one to write that response as well as you did…. I personally don’t know why he would want to run again.. the nightmare attacks would continue.. those running our politicians will just continue the same old crapola on him.. but if he does.. HE DEFINATELY has my vote..
So short sighted Nancy. Wait a few months…So many people are already suffering from the stupidity of this President. When your food, essentials, gas, utilities, and just about every item you rely on to make it through the month goes up in price 10-15%…then tell me how that tax plan worked out for you. The tariffs are just another tax on you and me. Robbing Peter to pay Paul. That $15 billion for farmers aid to counter act the tariffs that’s your money an my money…the subsidies to oil companies..that’s our money too. The cost of auto’s and auto parts, discounted goods sourced in China, electronics etc all will increase in price. So that tax plan that made you a few bucks extra…say goodbye to it. But I am glad you had a good tax year…Everyone living in a large market that owns a home got killed…I owed 11% more in percentage costs this past year than last…,as did many of my friends.
You better hope Trump gets impeached…we need a new Republican with a Brain in charge. Unless of course you want another 8 years of a Democrat…which I don’t think you do. Trump may get 10% of the vote this time around. People have had enough of his childish and off the rails idiocy.
“So short sighted Nancy. Wait a few months…”
Really, Mark?
How’s your COL going to be when the Chinese have an absolute monopoly and treble the prices?
Just a thought — You might want to take up that 11% with Sacramento. Personally, I appreciated not having to subsidize your property taxes last year…
I’m okay with a Trump impeachment. It won’t be successful, it will establish the precedent that Congress can impeach simply because they don’t like somebody, and it will assure Mr. Trump a landslide victory in the 2020 Election — ‘Might even garner him California!
…Saw my first planted fields of the year, on Monday, 30 miles outside Lima, Ohio. ‘Just popping through the dirt so at 60mph I couldn’t tell what they were. Adjoining fields were winter wheat and barley, respectively, so I’m guessing — not corn. Upper Mississippi Valley is still under water and got snowed on a few days ago. Corn belt (Northern Missouri to Southern Minnesota thence eastward through the Ohio River Valley) is still under water from the almost daily storms. I need to make a trip from Vincennes to Knoxville just to see if there’ll be any good melons this year, but haven’t been dealt an excuse to do so, yet (Southwestern Indiana grows the best muskmelon on the planet, Central Kentucky and Tennessee, the finest watermelon.) Melons, like corn, like it hot and moist, but “wet” causes them to mold & die. You can sling ’em, to get them off the ground, but it’s a PITA and it has to be done before the ground contact spawns mold and rot.
Factoid of the day: Penicillin was not developed from bread mold. It was developed from muskmelon mold.
This alone should be reason enough for everyone to grow at least one…
I found this article on zerohedge.com.
“Floods & Drought Devastate Crops All Over The Planet; Is A Global Food Crisis Be Coming?”
Need I say any more on this topic?
I love your post Mike….
If you check past history on devastating financial collapses and the collapses of civilizations a pattern can be seen..
The really bad ones always revolve around food production and hunger..
What was it a couple years ago now that population out grew food production.. any devastating climatic event will more than likely trigger the big one nostradamus predicted.
A great time to check stu’s site to see what he’s unraveling there.
http://www.theageofdestruction.com...
Yeah…
I’ve got nothing in the ground yet. It’s still too cold, and my garden patch is still under water (and I live on top of a hill…)
‘Can’t remember exactly, but in Northern Ohio, between Toledo and Elyria is an organic farm which has many hundreds of acres under glass. I’m thinking the next time I’m in that neighborhood, I should stop in and ask where they bought their greenhouses…
As a response to another Donald Trump lie #gazillion, that wrongly claims Biden abandoned Pennsylvania, here is what I thought was a level headed and eloquent (we don’t get that from a leader anymore) response….
“Donald Trump tried to attack me at his campaign rally by saying I abandoned Pennsylvania,” the Democratic presidential candidate wrote in a fundraising e-mail Tuesday. “Well folks, I’ve never forgotten where I came from. My family did have to leave Pennsylvania when I was 10 — we moved to Delaware where my Dad found a job that could provide for our family.”
“Let’s be clear: this isn’t just about me. This is proof that Donald Trump doesn’t understand the struggles working folks go through,” Biden wrote. “He doesn’t understand what it’s like to worry you will lose the roof over your head. He doesn’t understand what it’s like to wonder if you’ll be able to put food on the table.”
“And he doesn’t understand that the longest walk a parent can make is up a short flight of stairs to their child’s bedroom to sit on the end of the bed and say, honey, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. We have to move. You can’t go back to your school. You won’t see your friends. You can’t play on that team. You can’t be in the choir because Daddy lost his job or Mommy lost her job,” Biden wrote. “My dad had to make that walk in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It wasn’t until I was older that I realized how hard it must have been for him.”
Oh boo-hoo poor Biden! Mark, this is the same guy who did the quid pro quo threatening to take away a $1 Billion loan guarantee if Ukraine didn’t fire a junkyard dog prosecutor who had serious questions why and how Biden’s kid Hunter was on the board of their state-owned gas company reaping bushel-basket size paydays of $50k a month. Did I mention he had no experience in either oil or finance? Don’t tell me you would actually VOTE for this sop!
I’m really curious how people of your political bent are going to function when your Dem political superheros are all under indictment. Better think hard about that, because it’s coming. Soon!
Trump is the worlds dumbest human being and you are actually ok with it? Why do you Trump zombies always have to flip the conversation? If Trump Flipped everyone off in front of millions on TV, you would flip the conversation and say that Biden had a slight twitch on his middle finger while it was in his pocket…so he must be doing it too.
Pathetic. I worry about all of you that can’t see the brain damaged monkey behind the bars of the White House posing as our President.
BTW…Big rumor mill exclusive…George and Kelly Ann Conway are reportedly in the middle of writing a screenplay about Kellyanne’s experience in the WH and how George, her own husband is venting what Kellyanne really wants to say…according to a another screenplay writer friend that’s in the movie biz.
If you don’t know what I am talking about go View the thousands of twitter rants from George Conway…Kellyannes husband, and tell me that he doesn’t have the inside scoop of what is really happening behind the cage.
Yep old flapper Joe, likes young girls one of most corrupt in Washington, and his kid didn’t fall far from the tree,now the press and media and polls will push old flapper Joe from can to can’t as he’s the chosen one.Now people just can’t resist voting for those who have one foot in the grave with a mentality locked into years ago,rather than a younger one who understands the problems and despair of the younger generation, and then they wonder why we keep on making the same old mistake over and over again.!!
NONE of them know the true struggles of the working class…
Your right.. the hardest thing to do is to tell a child why he can’t have milk during snack at school…or school lunch.. ( aka one fish stick, three chips, one pickle slice and a piece of bread)
https://townsquare.media/site/721/files/2015/04/loWMgbk-630×451.jpg?w=980&q=75
https://inhabitat.com/inhabitots/wp-content/blogs.dir/24/files/2014/11/bad-school-lunches-the-lone-hot-dog.jpg
Or to have to send you to the banquet to get a breakfast.. because you cannot afford the food to feed them..
I will never forget picking grain up behind farm equipment and then pounding it into a crude gruel.. to make a meal .. using an old coleman gas stove to cook on because the electricity and gas was turned off.. opening the door so that the heat from an unheated hallway would heat the apartment.. a christmas tree of a pine branch in an old coffee can…and to listen to the kids talk about the gifts they were going to get for christmas..
(short version of my most memorable xmas) I never forgot where I came from.. but hey heres the deal..
you are in great pain.. you get medicine things get better.. but.. your mind naturally blocks out the pain.. so when it comes back its new all over again..
The legislators are those.. they came from varied past experiences.. but they are in the DC bubble.. they have forgotten the pain.. they have billions handed to them.. pay thousands for a pen.. get free trips to where ever they want to go and live in virtual luxury and retire multi millionaires.. they no longer have a clue.. the pain is a distant memory the fact that they no longer care enough about the people to sit down and read a bill they write into law.. is evedent enough.. and they have honed down their ability to convince the public they are the magic man that can do the job.. doesn’t matter that they haven’t done a thing in three decades.. they can do it now..
the people are stupid enough to believe what they are saying.. the dream of jobs.. the thought of a paycheck.. many executives no longer can tell you who is dumping their trash.. or vacuuming their floors much less know who their familys are..
My father worked for a large corporation.. delivery driver.. the CEO of that company not only knew me.. my sisters and brothers but my father and mother and everyone else that worked for him.. he made sure when he retired that each and everyone of those employees was cared for.. they were his family.. todays executives.. not so much.. their concern is about the bottom line.. how much for ME…who cares about bob cratchet and little tim..
NOW.. that is what I like about our President..
His employees all get a meal..at places he oversees himself.. his employees feel he is accessible and that he has their back..he is trying to do the right thing bring back jobs get american manufacturers to work at home rather than abroad.. tax incoming goods and services so that the check book balances.. and no one sees this.. those good politicians that remember their deep roots.. are only looking out for mr. money bags buying their new Mercedes or giving them a personal jet to fly them home..the weekend at disney land or the all expense paid trips abroad..
all of these good old home folks have been battling on an issue that was dead before he even took office..
would I vote for DJT absolutely.. in a heart beat.. hell put my check on his ballot now.. he has my vote.. but we all know that the big money driving the car doesn’t want him.. they won’t let anyone do a thing now.. our countries politicians are stalled.. on a holding pattern circling the field.. we are running out of fuel and will crash land… if he got back in.. why.. the big money running it won’t let anyone do a thing then either.. so lets let the wolf in.. give them what they want.. nothing will still be done the country is still going to crash financially. ( looked at the books lately.. I haven’t the last time I glanced through it scared me enough I don’t want to know)
but my god please don’t bore me by telling me what a sweet jesus these do nothing politicians are..
Whoah, don’t jump the moat with Mark just yet folks!
For a family vignette of where “apple-pie America” could be headed under a Biden his time regime, check out the Wikipedia on the second son.
Mirror, mirror, on the wall, how far does an apple roll from the tree?
Mark, back then people were smarter. They moved to where the good paying jobs were. Unlike today when people complain how hard it is to find affordable rents and associated costs, so they campaign in the name of social justice for employers to pay them more, which causes the prices of goods and services to rise in the very area that smart people would just leave to find a better opportunity for themselves or their family.
Heading down the road for better opportunities works out OK for youngsters sometimes, but isn’t an option for old folks. No employer brings in old guys from out of town.
George, I share your pain on the devaluation of the US dollar. Just paid $55 last night to see a minor league hockey game.
Let’s look back at the cause. Most immediately we see that Your Team added $1.74 trillion to the national debt for tax cuts just for the Upper 1% (the other 18% went to everyone else), and are also spending like drunken sailors. Before that we had Obama’s debt, 95% of which came from Bush II’s blind eye to enforcement of banks. Before that we had Bush II adding $8 trillion to break the Middle East, befitting Iran of course. Before that we had Clinton turning over a surplus to the Republicans who couldn’t wait to squander it. Before that we had Bush I, the only sane one of the lot. Before that we had St. Reagan, who nearly tripled the national debt, and taught the rest of the Conservative team the virtues of debt. Not a very inspiring trip down memory lane for the anti-mob crowd, was it? Best, Mike.
Mike, there’s only one team.
It is not fair to say “spending like drunken sailors” because the sailors are, at least, spending their OWN money
Your party aka the communist party of woodrol wilson not only kick started the KKK but also started the federal reserve. Thank you that work out great. Clinton had no savings it was projected after he left office now that’s brave to tell the next pre’s not to spend. This is a problem of both parties and the people we all need to live with in are means.
Fyi: im getting a significantly HUGE up tick on Atlanta, Georgia and Mexico. Massive up tick on Georgia the state. Atlanta could be different than Georgia which has Geo in it. Could be the Russian one???
Without wishing to seem like a rat on a sinking ship, where else can we go in the world with a sane population base and government? Somewhere that would welcome a productive American retiree? I love America, but I’m really sick and tired of the daily noise about Trump this and Trump that while congress loafs and stalls, as if there’s something we could even do about it. A 24/7 weather report would be more interesting. That and the idiocy of talking about fluid sexes without fluids and making real sex and intimacy rarer than unobtainium.
With a few years remaining(I hope), it would be good to actually have some fun in life. Traveling for its own sake is a bit sterile, but finding somewhere optimistic and forward thinking would be quite refreshing!
I have no idea how people can actually think and listen to music of any kind! I tried to listen to the jazz link while reading this article and had to turn it off. Silence is best for thinking and mental work. When doing construction or driving, I can listen to anything and process it, but definitely not when actively thinking, reading, writing, or programming.
How do others do it?
I like silence while writing, too, unless fiction…in which case it gets the daydream (going to paper) flowing
Wow! So much hammering away on the bitcoin button. It thats your approach Im amazed if any of ya get laid! Ha ha ha.
Dontcha know “Money is the B!tch that never sleeps!” Gorden Geko.
You may be in a Romeo and Juliet scenario! And you can quote me on that!!
Its a fricken dance! Not a hard core used car sales!!!
There is a “romance” to this. You are either the courter or being courted! Drawn and corted. You are either trying to get external validation to comfort your confusions or backing your confindence with data and a proven track record.
For f’cks sake! Most of ya are selling bull sh!t!! You dont know, you just think you know and you are all getting your panties romanced off.
Again. “Money is the bitch that never sleeps!” That mean she doesnt cuddle or blow kisses or pet your hair and tell you, you are pretty!!!! She “f*cks” ya, gets dressed and leaves.
You want a relationship with her??? Romance her!
All you bit coin people look like door to door avon ladies!!!!! Or mary kay make up women dressed up in pink cadillacs selling Amway products!
Ugh! Stop selling it to convince yourself that its real and life depends on it, and i will consider buying it.
Sorry, George! You know i keep my mouth shut most of the time.
@ecd
Gold and silver in my sweaty hands , I will not exchange for your bitcoin….only something that you can ‘hand ‘me.
Seems like George is right because in the event of an EMP ya might need your house and your garden. Better be learn’n some real time skills.
““IQ rates are dropping in many developed countries and that doesn’t bode well for humanity.” ”
That truly makes sense to theres an APP for that…..
I use to do logs in my head..had to do them daily..
some of the old merchants (my father did this ) could take a string of numbers run their finger down the list.,. and write the answer…
Today.. we have a robot to do that.. a calculator.. many of the college kids today just take in a calculator.. and punch in the numbers.( I just had this discussion a week or so ago with the kids and the grandson and his math.. get him an abacus let the numbers come alive.. they said no we will buy him a calculator..I said you do realize that on an abacus you can do everything you can on a calculator or a slide rule.. I lost the argument he got a calc…) . the calculator does the work.. I use to have all the phone numbers memorized.. today I use the cell phone.. my pocket brain.. its easier.. I don’t have to pull out a sheet of paper just type in the figures on a calculator. Kids are so busy they no longer read.. maybe the funny papers.. The deep state has been working hard at dumbing down america.. hell I have met college grads that couldn’t read the paper and know what it was saying.. and the working class.. well sitting around in the evening with a good book.. that is long gone to.. newspaper sales down publications down.. we go to AI for the information…
AI is making us dumber.. the same thing with CAD… we no longer do the drawings or figure the specs.. a computer does it.. long gone are the chalkboards of the past.. today theres and APP for that..
https://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/item/29288-from-smart-phones-to-dumb-people-study-shows-iq-scores-declining-fast
https://www.forbes.com/sites/robasghar/2014/11/10/4-ways-your-smartphone-is-making-you-dumber/#26f30097f2cc
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/06/27/just-looking-smartphone-makes-less-intelligent-study-finds/
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/201706/are-smartphones-making-us-stupid
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/691462
In Junior High School (remember those?) we had arithmetic races with the teacher — addition and subtraction — him with an adding machine, us with pencil and paper. I used my head, instead (writing eats precious milliseconds…) I also nearly always beat the adding machine. It was a lesson I didn’t forget. When my kids were old enough to comprehend arithmetic concepts, I began challenging them to race the store clerk. By the time each was in 7th grade, they could beat the cash register or POS terminal. They still can, and do. The looks on clerks’ faces is priceless…