Bad Technology and Bad Economic News

Huffington Post - FERC Accuses JPMorgan Chase Of Manipulating Electricity Market. Just assume every market is rigged.

PhysOrg - Human hybrids: a closer look at the theory and evidence. There is a pig-chimp hybrid theory, that the two species interbred at some point long ago. It is non-sense and nobody has been able to replicate it. The real story here is that we can make hybrids using genetic manipulation using science now.

Natural News - Bank of America whistleblowers say they were told to lie about mortgages. The thing to remember is that these banks were denying refinancing on loans that the were processing for the Federal Government (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac which own 80% of all the loans) because they made money for processing them more than if they refinanced them.

Yahoo - Reuters - Barclays seeks $9 billion from shareholders to appease regulator
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Yahoo - DailyFX - Aussie, Euro, Sterling, and US Dollar Primed for Big Moves This Week.

Yahoo - Reuters - Obama to propose 'grand bargain'. Basically, the President is saying we will cut the corporate tax rate if they promise to create jobs.

The Telegraph - Apple's new iPhone 'has fingerprint sensor'. Heck, wrote about when they bought the company that lets them do this. This is not news; but, just the direction we are going in.

Fox News - Mercedes-Benz integrating Google Glass into its cars.

Activist Post - DARPA to Genetically Engineer Humans by Adding a 47th Chromosome. The article has links to the information. The government has sent out a request for bids for people to find ways to add genes to humans. It is coming.

US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health - Refined human artificial chromosome vectors for gene therapy and animal transgenesis

A Financial Video

This video is an interview with a woman named, Catherine Austin Fitts, who was an assistant housing secretary under Bush.

YouTube - Catherine Austin Fitts-The Big Question is How Violent will Things Get?. It is about 40 minutes and very informational.

My Surgery Went Well

To my friends and readers some good news. I had a minor surgery today and all went well. As a consequence of the surgery, I can only sit so long and may not be able to post much; but, I am thrilled to have it over.

UPDATE:

I put out a couple of quick posts, I hope you find them of value. Now I want to talk about BOOTY.

I am trying to keep my mind off of my pain. LOL. I have been watching America's Got Talent and there are a couple of young men that I have been rooting for. A tremedous attitude and a great shtick. They are called "Tone the Chiefrocca". This is a couple of really nice kids who had a great idea. They aspire to be one hit wonders. They did a fantastic job at playing their gig out and my hat goes off to them. I want to posts some links to how they evolved on the show and their incredibly gracious approach towards not making it to the finals. The best part of their joke is that they get it is a joke and played it masterfully.

YouTube - Tone The Chiefrocca, 27 ~ AGT 2013 Los Angeles Auditions

YouTube - Tone The Chiefrocca BOOTY America's Got Talent 8 Live Show - 30 July 2013

nbc.com - Week 2 Eliminations: Judges' Elimination

Please watch the nbc video, these two young men have the greatest attitude in the world. They know they are playing a big joke and it went further then the expected and the truth is, it is not a great song; but, they sure are fun. They said they just want to have one hit, I think they have the presence and the humor to have a career. I think they should consider doing other people's songs or doing Rap comedy songs. I wish them well.

Following this line of thinking. As I was having my bottom worked on today, I used an old line from a movie with my doctor as the operation was being done.

YouTube - "Alright Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up".

I don't know if it is a good idea to make your doctor laugh while he is doing a medical procedure in a sensitive area; but, I am the Pimpernel and it helps me through such times. I had considered singing "Getting to Know You" during the operation; but, the other thought just came out, so to speak.

It is sort of strange being in a dress and naked from the waste down with a lovely young nurse (she was so fantastic) and an Asian doctor both looking deep inside me. The poor nurse couldn't figure out why with my blood pressure I hadn't been hospitalized more often. ROFL. Heck, she couldn't figure out why I wasn't hadn't had more heart attacks. It is just not my time yet. The doctor was fantastic also. He was gentle and had a great "bedside" manner. After the procedure, I left as quick as I could.

I don't like medical things and certainly not when they are on me. I cannot tell you how nice it was to get so much support from my co-workers. They have seen me go through much and this was relatively nothing. What do I say about people who actually care about how my rear end is doing and me? I had a minor procedure with an 80% chance of complete success. If it fails, I may have to have another. Okay, the truth is, I will have to have another anyways because they can only do so much at a time; but, I was dealing with cancer and got off easy. My primary doctor likes to tell me how I dodged a bullet a while back, he says I had a heart attack but didn't die. I already knew that because I am still writing.

For my dear readers, I went five years hiding from doctors and am now following their suggestions, mostly. As I go down this path, I have some more procedures to follow. By the way, I smoke and they x-rayed my lungs and they are in great condition. It seemed to annoy my primary doctor. He is so sincere and I am so cavalier about things. He does not know of this blog and I will not tell him, he is too sincere. He wants to scare me, in a nice way, and I really like him and there is no scaring me.

I am going to continue seeing my doctors even though my reason for going in has been worked on today; but, I will go in for the things that really scare them. I will not do everything they tell me, it is my body and I intend to be involved in the decisions. Thanks for being here.

The Death of Investigative Journalism

This blog did not start out with talking about news stories. In fact, it began talking about philosophy, religion and metaphysics. It was not intended to be instructional, it was more about just asking questions and looking at he possible answers. Once I felt I had exhausted those issues, I destroyed all of the posts. I couldn't even begin to tell you what the second version was about and eventually destroyed that version. The current version seems to be about the news.

I read the news and look for stories that others might not have paid attention to. Frequently the stories, in and of themselves, are not very exciting. It requires looking at the possible implications that is much more interesting. While reading news from around the world to find things that might affect us in the future, I discovered that the mainstream media is failing miserably and says pretty much the same thing in every city, every state and even most western countries. What I do not see anymore is what used to be called Investigative Journalism except from alternative media which tends to be so heavily biased as to lose credibility.

According to EBiz which looks at internet traffic monitoring sites, it shows what the top 15 news sites are. eBizMBA - Top 15 Most Popular News Websites | July 2013. Yahoo News ranked number one. I often link to Yahoo News and find it a good collector of articles; but, the vast majority of it's articles are simply republications from other sites. The next most popular are CNN, MSNBC, Google News, the New York Times, Huffington Post, Fox News, Washington Post, LA Times, Mail Online, Reuters, ABC News, USA Today, BBC News and Drudge Report.

All these sites are in a competition to get out the news quickly and more and more I notice that they are not having editors check what goes out and make many foolish spelling and grammar mistakes. I have no editor on my blog; but, lets face it, this is not a newspaper, has no budget, sells nothing and has no advertisements. You cannot really expect me to hire an editor.

It used to be that newspapers and news magazines would do investigative journalism and drill down into the headlines. People like Edward R. Murrow would do lengthy pieces on things that they spent months investigating. You don't really see that much anymore and when you do it is from the alternative media that frequently has a political agenda such as Alex Jones. We now have more access to news than ever in history and faster access; but, no in depth analysis. I cannot find ONE of the top 15 who predicted either the housing bubble crash or the stock market crash. That should concern us.

YouTube - Fox - 8/18/2007-One Of Peters' Favorites: Flashback Of Peter Schiff Vs. Ben Stein & Friends. Prior to the big crash in housing, some people were discussing it; but, they would always be outnumbered and ridiculed by people who really should have know what was coming.

YouTube - Ron Paul questions Alan Greenspan at joint economic hearing in 2004

YouTube - Jim Rogers "Housing will be a disaster" 5-20-2006.

There were people out there saying that the housing market was doomed; but, Greenspan and Bernanke said the market would have a soft landing right up until it crashed. The media spent more time reporting that and having wars of talking heads than doing any real analysis themselves or at least reporting what real analysis would have shown. Part of the reason is because the people reporting the news merely repeat the words of the person they believe is in charge. Mainstream media has just become porn focused on stories about some celebrity or tragedy.

The reason this is all a problem is because eventually, we don't believe any of the news and that is the same as not knowing what is going on. When an investigative journalist researches something, we should come away with information that they have independently verified and not just them repeating what they have been told. Another problem is that we focus on charts and graphs.

The financial news is the worst at using charts and graphs as they distract one away from asking the real questions about the innate value of a company. It would be like asking the Captain of the Titanic to predict how his trip would go. He would show all the charts and graphs which proved it was the best ship and all of the safety features being greater than other ships that had survived all types of problems. The same is true of the twin towers, their graph would show how they were better built than other buildings that had been hit by and survived plane crashes.

Because the media has become so ignorant, biased and centralized they have to explain how every tragedy could not have been foreseen. In Economics they have come to call these "Black Swan" events. The black swan is the idea that if you have only ever seen white swan then you could not predict that a black swan might exist and if you only bet on white swans then when a black swan showed up, you would lose all your money. It is a garbage theory and that is why we have contingency planners, they plan for the unthinkable. We have doctors who plan on fighting diseases that do not currently exist by asking what could be created, same thing.

Detroit, an analogy

So lets say that you are an underwater homeowner. You cannot afford to pay your mortgage and your property is worth less than you paid for it. At the same time, you have four kids living at home and only one has a job which pays minimum wage. Would your solution be to buy a swimming pool? That is what Detroit is doing. Rather than pay their mortgage or even feed their kids, they are going to build a $450 million hockey arena.

No News is No News, Watch the Stock Market

Still adjusting to my blood pressure medicine. Since starting it two weeks ago I find I am very tired and my brain is slow. I am pretty sure I will adjust and when they tested me today they saw real improvement although more tests to come. In the meantime I thought I might make a couple of comments.

In January the Federal Reserve will be getting a new chairman as Mr. Bernanke leaves. There are three ways this could go down. Firstly, the Fed might cut back on their bond purchases in September, three months before he leaves giving his replacement an chance to decide to continue the QE and say he wasn't responsible for the consequences. Secondly, his replacement can immediately reduce the QE and claim he never was a supporter in the first place. Thirdly, he can wait three months and then just end it. Those are all distinct possibilities.

Here is what we should keep an eye out for even more that Wall Streets volatility while this is all being discussed. Lets say that the Federal Reserve stops QE in any of the three scenarios I outlined above. Well, they are not the only ones doing it. China, Japan, the European Union and England are all actively having their central banks do just about the same thing. In fact, the Federal Reserve has loaned hundreds of billions of dollars to foreign banks. All of these currencies have been commingled. What happens if we stop QE; but, the other countries continue or vice versa? The stock market is just one market, what happens when the currency markets fail?

This is a video talking about the rigging of the aluminum market and QE. YouTube - Keiser Report Royal Goldman Household E475

I am stunned and really bored. Detroit.

I woke up, am getting ready to go back to bed and see my doctor today. I read this article and laughed. New York Times - Detroit Looks to Health Law to Ease Costs. I thought they told us Obamacare was more expensive than regular health insurance. Read the article and go back and read my posts, they are just lying and I said what would happen. LOL. Oh my gosh, Obamacare may save the municipal governments, what a surprise. LOL. Just imagine, everyone will love Obamacare when it means your retired civil servants get less than you promised them.

The Stock Market and Investing - Very Basic

So some guy bought some stock in some company 5 years ago at $2 a share. The company is doing well and is giving a 50 cent dividend for the year which is a 5% return based on it's current stock value of $20 and a 25% for the year on the guy who bought stock 5 years ago if he doesn't sell. That is the essence of the genius of Warren Buffet. He buys companies, does not give a dividend and has the companies stock valuation rise by reinvesting in the companies. By doing this, his stock has had a 25% increase in value for each of the last 45 or so years.

In 2003 the Dow Jones Industrial Average sat at 8,000 and ended at 10,000. Today it is at around 15,000. That is a 50% increase in ten years. If you just put your money on one of the index funds, that is how much you would have made. That is how pension funds should invest, betting on the long term. The housing market traditionally worked the same. It averaged 5% appreciation a year for the past 200 years and that is what the average for inflation was also.

Here is wisdom for investing. If inflation sits at 5% a year and a company which invests in itself appreciates at 10% or better a year, you win. You beat inflation and your investment is compounding. Remember that this means putting about $85 a month in your retirement. That is only a buck an hour at minimum wage. Investing pension money is simple. Lets say you work for a company for 30 years. Each year, $1,000 is put into your pension. The first $1,000 would now be at $4,300 or so. The total contribution at a thousand a year is now worth about $69,000 just by doing 5% a year in appreciation.

Lets try this logic with a house. If I bought a house in 1983 for $100,000, it should be worth about $250,000 today. I am not trying to get into fancy math, just simple numbers. 5% a year inflation and appreciation. Mind you, the cost for 30 years of that mortgage is about $300,000 at 5% interest. The extra $50,000 is the interest you pay for the loan. Still, with tax right offs and such, buying a house was the best investment you could make because, you cut out a lot of expenditures at the end of the 30 years. You don't have to invest; but, you do have to have a place to live. In it's simplest terms this is why financial advisers have said to eliminate all debt and then buy a house for the average person.

I have done a really bad job of explaining this. Let me try again. If you put $1,000 a year in the bank and get 0% interest, in 30 years you will have $30,000. I know that makes sense. If you get 5% a year in interest then the money you put in 30 years age will be worth about $4,000 because it compounded interest. The thousand you put in last year would only be worth about $1,050. It only had a year to compound. That is easy to understand I hope. A house does about the same thing except it eventually becomes an expense that you don't have to pay anymore. I hope that made it simple.

Now, lets look at retirement. A house should be about 40% of your costs. If you retire with your house paid off, you should be able to live on 40% less. Again simple math. A depression is claimed to be when the stock market loses 20%. The housing market never lost 20% nationwide in history until the crash of 2007 came. This is why the value of your house does not matter. If you can pay off your house in 30 years and retire, you have cut your expenses by 40%. Simple math. In fact, if you take out a loan on a house and pay it for 30 years, while getting a 5% a year pay increase, inflation, at the end of 30 years your house payment is even less of your income as a percentage. That is what it means to be middle class. It means that if you are a good boy or girl, invest in your retirement and do your job, you should be able to retire because you own your home and have paid enough in to your pension to live on 40% less while doing better each year,

Here is Deming in action. If I promise to let you retire in 35 years, if you commit to my company and make us keep up with inflation or perhaps surpass it, would you? That is his theory. Mutual gain and mutual prosperity. I am still adjusting to my medicine and see the doctor today. Oh, boy, what fun. Best wishes.

Going to Bed, Have a Doctors Appointment and Penn Jillette

I have had the very great pleasure of being on stage with Penn and Teller, I have also had the pleasure of meeting them in person. M. Jillette is a very big man and I am rather small. He is also incredibly kind, quiet and gentle in my experience. Mr. Jillette is also an atheist. I disagree with him. I want to post two videos where he talks about what he believes and talk about his mistake, at least in my mind.

YouTube - Piers Morgan Is A Dick To Penn Jillette (Part 1 of 2)

YouTube - Piers Morgan Is A Dick To Penn Jillette (Part 2 of 2).

Now, I shall correct his basic fallacy and what he says, "You may already be an Atheist. If God (however you perceive him/her/it) told you to kill your child - would you do it? If your answer is no, in my booklet your an Atheist." Watch the video, it is 30seconds in, his words not mine. Moses told God no. Abram should have when asked to kill his child. Mr. Jillette is mistaken as are most christians. God told us to be good slaves and that we have free will. How does one reconcile the two comments? He clearly does not believe in a God who allows free will and responsibility. I do. You cannot blame the Devil or God for your choices, you can only blame them for the options you were given and you have to face all options to define yourself, not just the easy ones.

I shall simplify, what Mr. Jillette was referencing was where God told Abraham to kill his son, Jacob. Abraham agreed to do so and in stealth went to do so; but, when he got to the mountain, God stopped him and told him that he wasn't the type of God who required such things. This is often used by some to show that God wants our complete zombie like obedience; but, what if Abraham had said no? We have an example of that, we have Jonah. He told God no and God had a tree grow and shade Jonah and told him why he wanted him to do a certain thing (preach to Nineveh). God did not kill Jonah for saying no or even punish him for it. Mr. Jillette assumes that if you tell God no, you are an Atheist; but, Jonah said no and knew God, he was no atheist. Both Mr. Jillette and most Christians misunderstand the meaning of the stories because they assume God wants them to be brain dead followers rather than free will people who care about one another.

Tracking, Cheating and Lying

International Business Times - Is Your Cable Box Spying On You? Behavior-Detecting Devices From Verizon, Microsoft And Others Worry Privacy Advocates. I have written about this many times and this is just a continuation of the same. Our technology is all being based around recognizing you personally through your biometrics. Of course it should bother us; but, people continue to buy it.

CNN Money - New $444 million hockey arena is still a go in Detroit. This is just so blatant and in your face. Detroit is in bankruptcy claiming that they cannot pay the bond holders or their employees; but, they can fund a hockey stadium with tax money. Now, they do claim it will create 8,000 "new" construction jobs; but, that is a lie. Construction projects rarely create new jobs and are usually done by companies that already have the people. If you paid attention to all the "stimulus" money, this should be obvious.

So what is it that Detroit is really getting out of this? Well, money for the developer and his friends. Here is an alternative, what if they created real construction jobs for people who lived in the city of Detroit, repairing their roads and infrastructure. Those would be jobs for people who stayed there.

Detroit Free Press - Michigan AG to defend public pensions, state constitution in Detroit bankruptcy filing. The state of Michigan's constitution basically says that municipalities have to meet their obligations including pension promises. Pretty simple, if you promise to pay a person working for the government a pension, you cannot change your mind later. The person who was appointed as the cities "Emergency Manager" doesn't want to; but, he does support $450 million to build a sports arena for a team that is already there, is profitable and isn't seeking to leave. In the end, life is a matter of priorities isn't it.

Click on Detroit - Detroit pension leaders indicted on bribery conspiracy charges. Put the three articles together and you get a clearer picture of what is really going on in Detroit.

Yahoo - Wired - Play This Game, Get That Job. This guy created a video game to measure one's job strengths. You used to get hired for knowing how to do a job and having experience at it.

Politico - Big Marijuana lobby fights legalization efforts. I find this article interesting, not because of the subject matter as much as the approach that is being taken. Here is a quote from the article, "Medical marijuana is a billion-dollar industry — legal in 18 states, including California, Nevada, Oregon and Maine — and like any entrenched business, it’s fighting to keep what it has and shut out competitors."

I have been with a couple of people who died while undergoing chemotherapy. They were given morphine and denied marijuana. One would never have used it anyways and actually refused the morphine too, that was my father. I used to just think marijuana laws were stupid; but, after dealing with my father I am now convinced it should be legalized. Now that we have that out of the way, lets look at how this country works. Marijuana is legal in Maine; but, the people who sell it don't want it fully legalized because they will lose their monopoly on selling it. "Medical Marijuana" is legal in California too and all you have to do is pick up the local alternative newspaper to see how it is advertised and it is pretty clear that it is not about medical needs. You pay $50 or $100 or whatever to some "doctor" and he asks you if you ever have stress or whatever and then you can legally buy marijuana. I read once that in San Francisco, marijuana shops outnumbered restaurants. It seems to be the most popular medicine in the state.

Fox News - Inside Science News Service - Inception? Scientists produce false memories in mice. This article includes both bad science and bad reporting. Here is a quote from the article:

"Last year, Tonegawa and his team published a study in Nature showing how false memories could be implanted in mice. They first put mice in a chamber -- the scientists called it the Red Room -- and let the animals roam around exploring so they could build up a contextual memory of it.

After a while, they gave the mice mild electric shocks to their feet and a blue light flashed in their brains delivered by a fiber-optic cable, implanting the memory that the Red Room was a dangerous place."

Did these scientists never hear of Pavlov? The mice were not reacting to the room, they were reacting to the fact that a light was flashed every time they were electrocuted. The message they want you to get is that you cannot trust people and their beliefs. A great excuse for filming and monitoring everything we do, isn't it.

Yahoo - Reuters - Reading the runes in Washington and Frankfurt. Long story short, "analysts" believe that the Federal Reserve will start tapering on buying bonds in September. I find the timing interesting as Bernanke is about to retire. That makes it the perfect time for things to come apart because you cannot blame his replacement and he will be gone. That is how things are done in DC. Remember Bush passed the TARP bill just as he was leaving too.

The Guardian - Edward Snowden's not the story. The fate of the internet is. For those who don't know, Snowden was an NSA contractor who came out and gave documents showing that the government records everything on the internet. The article says that we would not know this if not for Snowden and that is nonsense. I have been writing about it for over six years and linking to documents that are public and prove it. The solution that the author goes on about is how individual countries will control the internet within their own nations. Hmmmm, what will that look like. I know, it will look like internal censorship and it will not do one thing to prevent us from data mining those countries.

Reuters - Nicosia - Cyprus, lenders set Bank of Cyprus bail-in at 47.5 pct, sources say. This is really just sort of a follow up and information for people that may be new to the site. A "bail out" is when the government gives the banks money because they are insolvent, like happened in the United States. The cost is bore by the tax payers and eventually, hopefully, the banks pay it back by making new risky investments. A "Bail in" is when the depositors of the bank get stock in exchange for the deposits that they lost. Sort of a forced stock sale. The next wave will be "bail ins" and England, the EU and the United States have all passed legislation which conforms to the IMF plan to have "bail ins" when the large systematically important banks fail. As between the two choices, you are supposed to prefer a bail in.

Yahoo - AP - Exclusive: 4 in 5 in US face near-poverty, no work. Perhaps we should follow Detroit's lead and just start building sports arenas from one end of the country to the other, imagine all the jobs we can create.

Healthcare and Hypocrites; but, not the one's you think.

Lets talk about the Affordable Healthcare Act, frequently referred to as Obamacare. I often hear people go on a rant about the bill; but, I haven't yet met anyone who has even read it or knows what it does. I read things said by conservatives that are completely irrational, some went so far as to say that it would require everyone to have an RFID chip in them and that is pure nonsense. This post is not really about the bill, it is about the manipulation that goes on around us and how it is achieved.

The first lie is that it is Obama's healthcare bill, it is not. This bill was being worked on long before he even entered the scene. While he signed it into law, it was passed by congress and it took Republicans and Democrats to pass it. The history behind it is pretty simple, we have known for decades that the baby boomers would begin retiring and need more healthcare at a time when the United States would be less and less of an economic powerhouse and fewer and fewer employers would be providing healthcare insurance. In fact, one of Bush Jr's first action items when he got into office was to put together a team to plan for dealing with an aging boomer population.

Without action Medicaid and Medicare would simply fail. Doctor's would refuse to participate and largest part of our population would go without services at the time they need it the most. The Republicans knew this and the Democrats knew this. The options are also pretty simple. Firstly, we could leave things as they were and watch our parents and grandparents get no healthcare. Secondly, we could nationalize healthcare as is done in some other countries. Thirdly, we could institute mandatory healthcare coverage for everyone and let the different providers compete to see who does the best. They chose the third way.

A little over a year ago, I wrote, "Once it is in place, tax payers will insist that all civil servants be on it and be taken off of private policies." Technically, I misspoke as it is a private policy; but, with government backing and subsidies. What I was explaining was that the same people in congress who claimed to be against it would require government employees to then be on it. That is hypocrisy, actually, it is worse, it was just deceitful.

Now here is a link to an article I read today. I should point out that when I retire next year, I retire with private insurance for life and am paying a hefty chunk to do so. NewsMax - IRS Workers Want Out of Obamacare. Here is how this goes, Dave Camp a Republican on the House Ways and Means committee is seeking to put all IRS employees into the "Obamacare" program even though they already have health insurance. A Forbes article made the following statement according to the article linked above, ""Nonetheless, it would be a very good thing for some federal employees to eat their own cooking, especially those who work for Congress, the IRS, and the Department of Health and Human Services," the Forbes report concludes. "They're the ones who are writing the Obamacare regulations; they're the ones who, in many cases, wrote the law itself." That is simply another lie. The IRS did not write the bill and it wasn't until last year that the Supreme Court even ruled that it was a tax bill, to the surprise of many.

As far as Presidents go, I didn't like the Bush family, I didn't like Clinton and I don't like Obama. I liked Reagan, I liked Carter (he was a good man and a bad president) and I liked Kennedy. I am mixed on Nixon, he was a good President; but, a dodgy character. I also do not and have not ever worked for the Federal government. I digress.

If Mr. Camp was truly against this law, he would introduce a bill that prohibited government employees from participating in it. According to Forbes it will result in higher costs. Why would Mr. Camp, again if he is against it, want government employees to pay more for less when in the end, they are his employees? He is simply playing a pretty obvious PR move. What then is the real effect of putting all government employees in these programs? Well, it destroys the companies that will not participate in these programs.

If the Republicans had really wanted to stop "Obamacare", they could have, they stopped the Clintons from instituting an almost identical plan when Bill was in office. Now, lets look at what the bill did.

Wikipedia - Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. What follows below in bold italics is from the article.

1. Guaranteed issue will require policies to be issued regardless of any medical condition, and partial community rating will require insurers to offer the same premium to all applicants of the same age and geographical location without regard to gender or most pre-existing conditions (excluding tobacco use).[14][15][16]

2. A shared responsibility requirement, commonly called an individual mandate,[17] requires all individuals not covered by an employer sponsored health plan, Medicaid, Medicare or other public insurance programs, to secure an approved private-insurance policy or pay a penalty, unless the applicable individual is a member of a recognized religious sect exempted by the Internal Revenue Service, or waived in cases of financial hardship.[18] This was included on the rationale that - without such a mandate, a form of community rating, and coverage standards - the guaranteed issue provision would likely exacerbate adverse selection: if people could not be denied insurance by companies they might put-off insuring themselves until they got sick, causing insurers to resort to larger premium increases on sick individuals and more extensive coverage limits to afford the remaining insured population, which could result in an insurance death spiral.[19][20] This led to the inclusion of subsidies (see below) so people with low-incomes can comply when the mandate goes into effect.[21]

3. Health insurance exchanges will commence operation in each state, offering a marketplace where individuals and small businesses can compare policies and premiums, and buy insurance (with a government subsidy if eligible).[22]

4. Low-income individuals and families above 100% and up to 400% of the federal poverty level will receive federal subsidies[23] on a sliding scale if they choose to purchase insurance via an exchange (those from 133% to 150% of the poverty level would be subsidized such that their premium cost would be 3% to 4% of income).[24]

5. The text of the law expands Medicaid eligibility to include all individuals and families with incomes up to 133% of the poverty level, and simplifies the CHIP enrollment process. In National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, the Supreme Court effectively allowed states to opt out of the Medicaid expansion, and some states have stated their intention to do so. States that choose to reject the Medicaid expansion can set their own Medicaid eligibility thresholds, which in many states are significantly below 133% of the poverty line; in addition, many states do not make Medicaid available to childless adults at any income level. Because subsidies on insurance plans purchased through exchanges are not available to those below 100% of the poverty line, this may create a coverage gap in those states.[25][26][27]

6. Minimum standards for health insurance policies are to be established[28] (an 'essential health benefits'[29]), and annual and lifetime coverage caps will be banned.[30][31][32]

7. Firms employing 50 or more people but not offering health insurance will also pay a shared responsibility requirement if the government has had to subsidize an employee's health care.[33][34]

8. Very small businesses will be able to get subsidies if they purchase insurance through an exchange.[35]

9. Co-payments, co-insurance, and deductibles are to be eliminated for select health care insurance benefits considered to be part of the "essential benefits package"[29] for Level A or Level B preventive care.[36][37]
10. Changes are enacted that allow a restructuring of Medicare reimbursement from "fee-for-service" to "bundled payment."[38][39] A single payment is paid to a hospital and a physician group, for example, for a defined episode of care (such as a hip replacement), rather than individual payments to individual service-providers.


What really depresses me is that we don't see a real discussion about the real issues, we just get political maneuvering and spin. Here are the real issues, as I see them.

1. Should everyone have health insurance? Since 1989 the Republican party pushed for mandating everyone to be required to pay for it. Romney himself touted the healthcare law that was passed under him and signed into law in Massachusetts.
2. If everyone shouldn't have to have health insurance, who should go without and should they still get some level of medical services, for instance in an emergency?
3. What should be the minimal level of coverage?

Those are the biggest issues. Here is where it starts to get dodgy. What are our choices for how we bring costs down?

I think what we are going to see is a push to have more and more people using technology to constantly monitor their health. Not long ago I wrote about a wristband that does just that. I also know that apps are being developed to monitor and analyze your health and even notify your doctor if you are in distress. Should high risk people be required to have such devices if they refuse to change their lifestyle?

Imagine that you have a company with a thousand employees and you have to provide healthcare insurance for them all. You are absolutely against Obamacare and find the idea of having to provide healthcare insurance an intrusion on your free will. Because it is the law, you comply. You discover that people who have these health monitoring devices provide you with a cheaper premium, will you require your employees to use them? If so, how would what you do be any different then what the government did?

There was a time in America when we actually cared about one another and our communities. People committed to their company and their companies committed to them. If you did a good job, you had a job for life. If you went through hard times, your company was there for you. That all went away when the owners of companies stopped being owners and became simply investors. This post is not about healthcare, it is about us as a nation. We work together or we come apart.

I am not a big proponent of globalism, I believe in national self-determination, I believe in freedom of variation. I believe the true globalist agenda can only succeed if we fail to believe that we as a nation are all in this together and that means that we support each other. There are those who praise nationalism; but, deride the concept of collectivism. That is an oxymoron. National sovereignty can only exist when you have a national identity and work together for the benefit of your nation, at least to some degree. Benjamin Franklin said, "We must hang together, gentlemen...else, we shall most assuredly hang separately."

I read a lot of news. I read right wing, left wing and alternative news. I have read things by people who claim to be "patriots" and then decry "collectivism". Many miss the boat. How can we be a nation when it is everyone for himself? How can we be successful when we allow half our population to live at a poverty level? The best America has ever achieved was after world war II and prior to the our implosion. The 50s and 60s were a time of our greatest national achievements and they were accomplished because of a strong middle class.

W. Edwards Deming had some profound thoughts on productivity. He used this equation.


(a) When people and organizations focus primarily on quality, defined by the following ratio,

Quality = Results of work efforts\ Total costs

quality tends to increase and costs fall over time.

(b) However, when people and organizations focus primarily on costs, costs tend to rise and quality declines over time.

The history of management theory used to take into account quality and a educated and dedicated workforce. That is not what business focuses on anymore. Instead of developing the nations workforce, companies seek to hire only experienced people. Lets look at a real life example of this. Apple computer. Steve Jobs founded the company, it was his life and he was totally committed to the product not just to a profit. He was removed from the company once it went public by people who were totally committed to the profit and not the product, as a consequence, the company almost went bankrupt. He came back and revitalized the product and the company increased it's profits.

The same is true for a nation. We succeed based on what we are committed to. If we are committed to a better life for all our people then we will achieve that because we will all work towards that. What would we rather this country look like in 10 years, Sweden where they have national healthcare and take care of their poorest or some third world nation where you have a few rich and everyone else just getting by if they are lucky? I know the statistic and we are not working to becoming like Sweden.

2 Timothy 3

1 "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,

7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.

9 But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as their's also was."

The first four certainly were demonstrated in the American culture for since the 80s. The fourth is a pretty good description of much of the church today. A form of godliness, not one that truly believes in loving and caring for our neighbor as ourselves. The ninth is where we are now. Look at the Stock Market scandals, look at the manipulation of all markets and the complete corruption of the banking system and the political system.

In "Gone With The Wind" there is a great line. I think it is Rhett Butler that says it, he says that there are two times when you can make a lot of money, when a nation is dying and when a nation is growing. You make it much faster when it is dying. I watched and read many stock brokers and commodity dealers who say that our western economies are going to crash and then tell you how to profit from it. You can make more money, quicker with options trading where you bet against a company succeeding then you can by owning stock in the company and profiting if it does well. We have designed a system that pays people when it fails, that is insanity.

Random News and Comments

Took my medicine and cant sleep so I thought I might post some news and such. I had the privilege of communicating with a very nice woman over the last couple of days and she may end up reading my blog. My readership goes from 3 to a 1,000 depending on the post, at least as far as I can tell from my stats. Like Johnny Rotten said, I am lazy and do not promote the site. I think the vast majority of people who found their way her found it because they were interested in some little discussed subject and found me on some search engine. As for those who choose to be "followers" or read me regularly because they have me on their "favorites", I can only assume they continue reading because they do not have the time to dredge through as much news sites as I.

The blog has no set rules on what I will discuss and is written as I think it, I don't edit and probably should; but, again, I am too lazy and prefer to speak my mind. The problem with the news anymore is that they are so busy trying to spin stories and sell hamburgers that they forgot about analyzing the news. They are not reporters they are prostitutes in the worst sense of the word, they don't sell their body, they sell us all out and are nothing but repeaters. Lets play a game, I will link to a story and then ask some questions that the reporters should have asked.

Yahoo - Reuters - JPMorgan to quit physical commodity trade amid scrutiny. JP Morgan Chase & Co is going to stop commodities trading. Commodities are things like gold, silver and other physical assets. This change surprised people because it has been a very lucrative business for JPMorgan. I guess they don't think it will continue to be lucrative. We all know, or should, that countries and individuals are asking for their physical gold to be handed over to them from companies and organizations that hold it "for them".

Here is a great line from the article, "The bank's announcement follows a week of unprecedented scrutiny of Wall Street's commodity operations, after the U.S. Federal Reserve said last Friday it was reviewing a landmark 2003 decision that allowed commercial banks to trade in physical markets to "complement" their financial activity." Here is another line from the article, "Although the division's $2.4 billion in reported revenue last year exceeded those of the commodities divisions of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley combined, some have questioned its profitability given the costs involved in running a large logistical operation." Wait a second, they made billions in these trades. I think I would ask them if maybe those markets were rigged just like the other markets they were involved in.

Mail Online - Revealed: The shadowy lobbyists waging a propaganda war to keep Britain in Europe. Americans really need to pay more attention to what is going on in the rest of the world. If you go back and read political science books from the 80s on the coming of regionalism, you will discover nothing surprising. They always said that England would not join Europe and would side with Canada and America, we all speak English don't we? The lobbyist will lose and are being exposed. Here is the question that was not asked, would America rather side with England or Europe, Germany has more money and manufacturing than England; but, we would always side with England. Nobody ever asks that question when talking about the EU because they all know the answer.

Huffington Post - WATCH: How a Colorblind Cyborg 'Hears' Color. I will admit upfront that I believe transhumanism is dangerous and disturbing. This man promotes us "sensing" the world through integrating with technology. What is not asked is how much the technology could be hacked and tweeked to give us false perceptions. If a blind person is given artificial eyes or a deaf person is given artificial ears, how will they know if what they hear or see is the truth? What if you had artificial hearing and chose to block out cuss words or had artificial eyes and chose to block out child pornography? What if you never had to see, hear or experience pain or things you found distasteful? How much would you grow and how would we catch people doing bad things? I think those are valuable questions.

Huffington Post - How a Theoretical Claim About the NSA Magically Transformed Into Factual Reality. This article is just for morons. The author plays a game, he equates how much of our phone calls are recorded with how much is analyzed and claims that less is recorded because we can only analyze so much. This is mathematical garbage and misdirection. Everything is recorded and stored, very little is actually reviewed. I have said this many times, nobody in the NSA cares if you are cheating on your wife. Now lets look at how ridiculous his claims are. Lets say that the government can only "record" a thousandth of what is on phones, how would they pick what to record? Another good question. It is all recorded, the question is what gets analyzed after the rest has been filtered out. Why didn't he talk about that? It is because they want to calm fears that they do in fact record everything.

Vice - Mississippi Police Want to Arrest the Satanists Who Turn Dead People Gay. I already wrote a post about this, these people are not Satanist who believe in a real Satan, they are Atheists and the media didn't even bother saying that because it doesn't sell as much hate. We are being trained to detest anyone who believe in a real God and a real Satan.

Wired - Why Are Some People So Smart? The Answer Could Spawn a Generation of Superbabies. The "hero" of this story is a very bright Chinese man. He wants to unlock the code that will make sure that only genius children are born and that autistic people are screened out. These people want to filter out outliers, people who see the world differently and ask different questions and come up with different answers. They want a world where everyone is strong, physically fit and psychologically the same. That is death to a species, it is inbreeding. 5% of the population is immune to Ebola, what happens when nobody is because we have eliminated all the outliers? They didn't ask that question in the article.

Wired - Withings Pulse - You’re Going to Need a Better Memory. In the future your healthcare will based on whether or not you are willing to have it constantly monitored. It will start with smokers, fat people, diabetics, Alzheimer patients and people with high blood pressure. I have high blood pressure. Why is it that none of the media is talking about how this monitoring will effect your healthcare costs and options?

Well, I hope you all have a great weekend. We shall see what tomorrow's news might bring.

A New Eye in the Sky

Washington D.C. is preparing to put some blimps into the air above the city. It is supposedly to protect the city from missiles. That is non-sense, we can already do that and to stop a missile you had better see it long before it arrives. Think about this, we already have the technology and if you know anything about our fighter jets, that should be very obvious. So, what else can these blimps do. According to their manufacturer, they can track the cars and the waterways. Think all of our movements are not going to be tracked and you are simply not paying attention.

You may remember that I have talked before about how all waterways are under federal control and how under MAP-21 all of our major streets are now considered to be part of the national highway system. It was only days ago that I also pointed out how all vehicles will be required to have tracking devices to even use the national highway system. I will talk more about these things; but, want you to check out the link to an article about it and the manufacturer of these blimps website.

Deagle.com - JLENS Simultaneously Tracks Swarming Boats, Cars and Aircraft

Raytheon - JLENS.

Now if you find this all interesting, you will love ISIS.

Wikipedia - Integrated Sensor is Structure. The darn thing can stay in the air for 10 years and can monitor whole states. Everything that has a chip can be monitored, your dog, your car, your horse, your computer, your phone even your passport if it has a chip. This is not science fiction and this is not a conspiracy theory, this is a real technology and it is about to be deployed too. JLENS apparently only has months worth of staying power, not ISIS.

Isis is an Egyptian God. You might assume this is just a coincidence; but, that would mean you did not know the history of aerospace in this country. Remember how all the original rocket programs were named after greek gods? For fun look up the history of Jack Parsons. Daily Grail - The Tragic Tale of the Rocket Maker. You could look up Mr. Parsons in any online encyclopedia; but, I like reading the Daily Grail and thought you might enjoy looking at some of their other articles.

Maybe is just an accident. Here is an article from Arizona SciTechFest - OSIRIS-REx. Maybe Nasa naming a future space launch after ISIS's husband Osiris, was also an accident.

Personally I find these things silly; but, they are consistent and follow a pattern. Symbols are used to explain things to people who are insiders and by combining symbols you can tell a whole story. The question is who is telling the story and what does it mean. In the case of Isis and Osiris they were the parents of Horus. Think of the eye of Horus as being the all seeing eye. Isn't that what they are doing, seeking to be all seeing?

Wikipedia - Information Awareness Office. The earlier name of this organization was "Total Information Awareness" and their symbol included the all seeing eye. While the organization was defunded in 2003, the programs have continued on by other organizations. Here is a quote from the article, "On November 14, 2002, The New York Times published a column by William Safire in which he claimed "[TIA] has been given a $200 million budget to create computer dossiers on 300 million Americans."[31] Safire has been credited with triggering the anti-TIA movement.".

A lot of people have been talking about NSA surveillance in light of what was brought out by former NSA contractor, Mr. Snowden. I said it before and I will say it again, this is not news, it has been going on for a long time and they don't care about 99.9% of us; but, if they do take an interest in you, they can go back and look at everything you have said and done. I find it amusing that the first place to adopt this blimp is Washington, DC, I guess the first people to be monitored by the intelligence agencies will be our politicians. ROFL.

A Thought on the EU and England

First an update to my readers, I am doing fine and still adjusting to my medication.

So, for quite a while now there has been a movement within England to get out of the European Union. This can be done easier by them then most other members as they still use their own currency. Nigel Farage of the UKIP party has been pushing hard for this and his party is gaining strongly in their elections.

Euro Crisis And Economic Collapse 2013, Nigel Farage, The Media Still Has No Grip On Reality


The linked video gives a pretty good sense of how the perspective regarding the EU is changing. It also talks about how England, like the United States, gave up on manufacturing. What is also discussed is how England's strongest industry is in the financial industry, same as here. Both panelists discuss how England needs to bring back manufacturing and they do because if they leave the EU, they are going to face a problem that was not discussed.

The "City of London" is a one square mile of financial businesses. It is autonomous and is one of only three such cities in the world. The other two are Washington, D.C. and Vatican city. The City of London controls much of the world's financial transactions. Not long ago one of their institutions known as the London Interbank Overnight Rate or LIBOR was discovered to have been rigged. They effect every interest rate in basically the world and they were all rigged. In the last few weeks it was determined that this rate would now be set with more international influence.

Why should you care. Read on. If England removes itself from the EU, there is a good chance that Europe would cease allowing England to be the financial headquarters for Europe. Without a manufacturing base, England will be economically destroyed if they lose their biggest industry, finances. The same could happen to America when the dollar ceases to be the world's reserve currency. The world is changing and it is planned.

To have a truly global, free trade economy, you have to have a global currency and it cannot be owned by any one nation. Once you have a global currency, you can have a global stock market in the true sense of the word. In order for that to happen, the existing system needs to be destroyed and that is what we are watching. In order for us to accept this change, there has to be a good story and we have to lose faith in our economic system. I am not talking about capitalism, I am talking about the Federal Reserve, the dollar, Wall Street and the manner in which we manipulate our economy and the world's economy.

A Beautiful Man, a Beautiful Family and a Beautiful Car

As my readers know, I have started a new blood pressure medicine and am still adjusting to it. I didn't want to drive my car to work because I just don't feel ready. When I was younger I used to like to drive very fast and was fortunate enough to have some nice cars. My first car was a Gran Torino, my next was a Mustang Mach 1, later I owned a BMW 325 and a Mercedes 230 slk. I love cars, real cars, the one's that are built from love. Oh, I even own a Nash Metropolitan convertible.

Well, a couple of days ago I saw an article about an extremely rate Ferrari. The article talked about how a man named Eddie Smith, Sr. had bought a Ferrari 275 GTB/4 NART Spyder in 1967, one of only ten made. The article went on to talk about how he had passed away and his family was going to auction the car off for charity. My first thought was some rich guy bought a nice car, passed away and the family was auctioning it off. As the odds of me buying it are 0, I just saw it as an interesting story; but, I continued reading and found a much more important story and I would like to pass it on to my dear readers.

Mr. Smith grew up in an orphanage. He went on to create a very respectable company and was committed to helping others and running a business with integrity. I will talk more about that later. Unfortunately, Mr. Smith suffered a stroke and later passed away. His family decided to honor his legacy by auctioning the car to charity. I followed up by reading tracking down his companies website and was truly impressed. I want to provide you a link to their website.

National - Celebrating 61 Years of Service, Service, & More Service!

My readers know that I allow NO advertisements on my site, never have and never will. I don't care what others do; but, I use this site to speak my mind and if one allows advertisements or seeks to profit from their posts then they fall under different rules. This site is not a business, I have a job. This site is about questioning the things that we are told in the media and looking at where we are headed. Sometimes I talk about where we could be headed.

A while back I wrote about Ms. Lynn Tilton of Patriarch Partners. She is a very brash Billionaire that invests in America and Americans. She takes companies that are in distress and makes them work again and puts Americans to work. It should also not be a surprise that I have an admiration for both Mr. Bill Gates and Mr. Warren Buffet, people who still believe we as a nation can do better and that our corporate structure has been corrupted because management has stopped focusing on their products and have only become concerned about stock prices. Good products and good customer service has value and people will pay extra for that because that is what true value is. I also believe that being a manager means working with and caring about the people around you. When I read the history of Mr. Smith's company, I saw that in his family.

After reading the history of the company and a couple articles about Mr. Smith, I was so impressed that I decided to contact his company and did. His daughter actually sent me back an e-mail and was very gracious and kind. Ms. Lynda Smith Swann, the president and CEO of the company responded to me. I was pretty surprised by that. I did have a couple of friends who owned businesses, one was worth a Billion; but, unfortunately, he passed away. These people were business associates and we frequently contacted each other directly. I didn't contact their secretaries, I contacted them and am just an analyst. When you deal directly with company owners, it is usually because you have a relationship. I have no such relationship with Ms. Smith, her family or her company. I don't buy their products and would probably look very silly in them as they sell women's apparel.

I want to post a link to a video about the car, Mr. Smith's son gives some wonderful stories about his dad. I will not post the e-mail I received nor the one I sent, those are private communications between their family (including their employees) and me. Funny how the world works and funny how this stupid blog and the internet have allowed me to spread information to others. Much of what i discuss is not pleasant; but, I really love it when I can let my readers know that there is still hope and goodness and love and concern in the world. Please watch the video.

Jalopnik - This Ferrari 275 GTB/4 NART Spyder Is A Gorgeous Family Treasure.

My readers know that I intentionally do not give away personal information on anyone. This blog is anonymous, there are those who read it and know who I am; but, the vast majority do not know me. I don't know 2,000 people which is my average monthly readership. This may not be my best post, I am still adjusting to my medication and am slower than usual, this shall go away. To the family, employees and customers of National that may read this, I send my best wishes. To my readers that may be women, I would hope that you check their company out, I think they have the right idea.

Pension Fund Theft

I knew that we had not seen the end game in the theft of public pensions by private interests. They have created the illusion of a problem. The public and pensioners have reacted in fear and now we are presented with the solution. Classic.

Lets start with the supposed problem. We are constantly being told that public pensions are in trouble. A decade ago they were all overfunded across the United States. You heard me right, overfunded. In California it was so bad that the law prohibited the pensions to be more than 120% funded for more than something like three years. As a consequence it didn't matter if they lost money on bad investments. A trade off was made and the politicians convinced pension boards to invest in the community and they also approved paying out more than they had in the past to pensioners. Everybody won.

I expect my readers to fact check me regardless of their position. It is true, the pension funds had more money than they were allowed to. Across the nation a number of municipalities simply increased the amount that people got when they retired. When the stock market crashed, it didn't destroy the pension funds, they were already maxed out. That is why the Government Fiance Officers Association (GFOA) has published documents proving there is no public pension crisis.

I will make it easy. Look at any public pension plan and ask what the total amount is that is expended each year. Then look at the total assets held by the public pension fund is. How come I cannot find any articles which put it that simply? They do not talk expenditures to assets, instead they talk about how much the municipalities have to contribute when in fact, they have skipped payments across the nation and do not have to contribute today the amounts they claim. You do not have to have assets of $300,000 in the bank to afford a annual mortgage payment of $24,000.

The mainstream media makes it sound as if there is not a single competent local government in the United States, not one is said to be solvent. Of course we are being lied to; but, the question for me has been why.

Bloomberg - Life Insurers May Manage Public Pensions Under Hatch Bill.

Currently, CalPers has about $250 billion in investments, assets. It is an astonishing amount of money. This money already exists, it requires no contributions to be at this amount. If CalPers statements are accurate, it puts out about $20 billion a year in payments. Does that sound insolvent to you? And don't forget, each year CalPers is receiving new money from current employees.

Now another simple question. If these funds are in such bad shape, why would any insurance company want to buy them? This is the largest theft in the history of the world. I read that the public pensions have somewhere around $3 Trillion in assets. That is a lot of money. The way you find thieves is by going where the money is because that is where they are going. The bill says that public pensions will be sold by bid. Imagine having your retirement go to the lowest bidder.

Some News and Adjustments

I am adjusting to my new medications so excuse me if my writing is brief.

Yahoo - CNBC - Wall Street is missing money (and you may be too!). Just a reminder that the state may have money from old inactive bank accounts that you are entitled to.

Yahoo - CNN Money - Just How Generous Are Detroit's Worker Pensions for Retirees?. Not that generous to be sure. George Carlin said that they are coming for our pensions and 401k's and he was right.

NBC News - NTSB calls for wireless technology to let all vehicles 'talk' to each other. Here is a line from the article, "Federal safety authorities Tuesday called for all U.S. cars, trucks and buses to come equipped with technology that would allow them to "talk" to one another to help avoid accidents." Here is another line, "With those standards in place, "NHTSA can then require this technology to be installed on all highway vehicles," Deborah Hersman, chairman of the NTSB, said at the board's meeting Tuesday. "This technology more than anything else holds great promise to protect lives and prevent injuries."

Here is what they are saying. They want to make sure that NO car is allowed on the state highway system unless it has a tracking device that can easily be accessed by the government. That is the bottom line. And remember when I posted about how now local right of ways are considered part of the National Highway System even though they should not be, guess why they made that change? Your freedom to travel is being squeezed and it is only going to get worse.

Yahoo - MoneyTalks News - Postal Service Wants to Get Rid of Your Mailbox. No matter what the Postal Service does, the federal government wants them gone and they are going to go away and it is a tragedy because your communications will cease having any legal protection.

Pension Pulse - CalPERS Indictment the Tip of the Iceberg? This blogger appears very knowledgeable about some thing; but, I have only read a couple of his articles and can see that he too missed the fact that the public pensions are not in trouble and that having to show that you have all the money you will pay out over the next 30 years in your account today is simply insane.

Perhaps what he says in another article might shed light on how they are going to steal our public pensions. "Worse still, Bloomberg reports that under a Senate bill that seeks to diminish public-pension deficits, state and local governments in the U.S. would be permitted to turn their retirement systems over to life insurers:" Why should a state or municipality be able to "sell" their public pension to an insurance company? It is not the states money, it is owned by the pensioners and is not a state asset to be sold at a manufactured discount to put money in the hands of politicians friends.

Lets consider who will benefit by selling off public pensions to insurance companies. I know, the insurance companies and Wall Street. You know why? Because the insurance companies can make investments in companies and other financial instruments that state and local government pension boards cannot. Oh year and if the insurance company goes bankrupt, they don't have to pay.

Pimpernel is Still Kicking and Messed Up

After having dodged my doctors for 6 years, I saw them today. Actually, I saw a new doctor because my old doctor is in a different town as I moved a little over 3 years ago. Being over 50 with high blood pressure, amazingly high triglycerides and an overall unwillingness to do as I am told, it has been a very long day. I was given an EKG, extensive blood work and even a chest X-Ray. The doctor also informed me that I had a heart attack within the last 6 years (the last time I had been checked back then proved that I had not had a heart attack as of then). This was not news to Pimpernel as I remember when I had the heart attack and where I was, I was in my car in Baker, California.

The doctor was very good and very responsible making sure to lecture me about smoking and taking my pills. He also told me that I was not a cat and should not expect to have nine lives. Having been told more than 9 times that I should be dead, he is wrong. After all the testing and another lecture by the doctor, I was off to the pharmacy. I met the pharmacist and we talked about my medications. I told her my blood pressure and she looked in shock at me and told me that I looked great. LOL, that is what I tell doctors when they take my blood pressure.

The bottom line is that the Pimpernel is well and is working with his doctor to stay that way, he told me nothing that I did not already know and I know what they expect me to do. As I adjust to my new pills, I may feel weak and not post much, we shall see how it goes, last time it took a month to adjust. Take care and I will be checking the news.

UPDATE: Be kind and do not lecture the Pimpernel on what he should do. I have many people who read this blog that know me personally and the doctor told me I had the heart attack 5 years ago (he didn't give the time-frame; but I knew when it happened). This should not surprise people who knew how bad off I was before. I went through a period where I looked like death warmed over, my health is so much better now and if you could see me and compare it to how I looked for awhile it would be obvious to you.

When I stopped my car in Baker, I knew what was going on and didn't expect to survive. My friends kept me alive and supported me in ways I cannot begin to explain. It was their concern that kept me going and I send my love to all of them. Since that time, my life has changed so much. The stress has gone away, I am comfortable and quite happy. When I had the heart attack, I thought I was a goner. I was alone in my car in the middle of the desert and there was no hospital for at least 65 miles. I sat in my car and waited to die because I didn't want to be on the road and injure anyone, seems like common courtesy to me.

I had to confirm to some of my family and friends what the doctor told me today. I had told them all previously what had happened to me in Baker; but, one of my kids said it best. They said that it was different hearing it, that the doctor confirmed it. It really wasn't for me; but, I can understand how people might feel that way. I shall now tell a little more of the story.

I was in the middle of my divorce, I was losing everything I worked my life for. I was losing my hope that I couldn't fix things by my own hand. Control is an illusion. I had failed to take care of myself for decades working more than I should have and pushing myself to my limits to care for my family and my ego, I tried to be the best at my job and was pretty successful. Then, everything began to fail including my health. As hard I tried, I could not control others, get them to make good decisions or fix things. We all have free will.

I have to say, I don't have my time frames down quite right, I lost all track of time years ago. I remember things by the events surrounding them. I believe I had the heart attack while my ex was still living in the house with me, I used to go away for the weekends because I really didn't want to see her leave to see her boyfriend for the weekend while we were separated and living in the same house. As I was driving to Nevada I had an event (that is what medical doctors call it - an event). Yeah, I had chest pains, my arm went numb and my blood pressure had spiked. A spike in blood pressure for me would kill most people, today, calm and relaxed, my blood pressure was 208 over 144, it is now officially in my record.

All during the exams today the doctor kept asking me if I was having chest pains and I wasn't and am not. I told the nurse that topping 200 meant I was like a race car. I always wanted to go faster than 200; preferably, in a Lamborghini Countach, it is the gear-head in me. By the way, I did 145 in my old Benz and loved it.

So, why is my doctor shocked that I live? LOL. My blood pressure for one, my triglycerides for another (5 times deadly), my red blood cells are about 70% higher than normal people. I should be dead, of course I should, by every stat the doctors fear, I should be dead and yet, I am here and according to the Pharmacist, look darn good. I cannot tell you everything that happened in my car as I waited to die and there is no reason you should believe me, my medical records speak for themselves. I will tell you some of what happened.

As I waited to die, I forgave everyone that I ever believed had did me wrong and asked God that I could take care of a couple of things. I believe I have done that and within the year that I asked to see it happen, they did. After that, things got really weird. I had a spiritual experience and the last person in the world I could ever imagine asked me to preach. You know, when you make a deal with God things just get really bizarre and they did for me. I cannot imagine if I had never begun this blog, I cannot imagine if I had never preached, I cannot imagine if I had not kept my word to others in business.

Today was a long day. Lots of hard decisions to make. I decided to stick around for a bit, if God so chooses; but, I was ready to go years ago. I do not fear death and do not fear life even if I have another heart attack or even a stroke. God is in charge and I choose not to tempt him. I will work with the doctors; but, in the end we all die and I do not fear it in the least. I asked for a year and have had many more and have been given the opportunity and ability to help others. That is what life is about, loving one another and helping one another, it is not about being right or "successful". It is about what you do with your life.

When I was really bad off, I considered going off on a disability retirement and chose not to. I figured if I was going to get paid anyways, I might as well try and teach my institutional knowledge to others. I don't watch television anyways and it is good to have a reason to get up in the morning. I have the greatest people working for me that I can imagine and the best friends and siblings.

UPDATE 2: It is about 3 in the morning, I took the pills and stuff about 5 or 6 hours ago. It is definitely having an effect on me. I woke up about 5 minutes ago. I think I shall listen to some music.

YouTube - Hold On Forever- Hospital Songs

YouTube - Let It Be Me- Everly Brothers Cover

YouTube - It Was You- Hospital Songs

YouTube - Paul McCartney - My Love

YouTube - Paul McCartney - Another Day (1971)

I remember when this album came out, I was a kid. There were not two digits to my age. It was the first Christmas present I ever remember asking for. Funny isn't it, the first present I remember asking for and being thrilled about getting was music. YouTube - Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ( Full Album Remastered 2009) - The Beatles.

Have a great week.

Ted Nugent is a Douche bag

I am going to bed and going to a Doctor tomorrow. I now have a doctor assigned to me by my healthcare providers. There is nothing life threatening wrong with me, I am having my first physical in over three years and having a minor medical issue looked at. I don't like doctors and am having a hard time going to sleep. I read some news and watched some online movies. I saw a video with Ted Nugent, I liked some of his music; but, I do not respect him at all. Lets talk about Ted.

Firstly, Ted is a prostitute. He might like to come off as a God fearing Christian; but, he is not, he is a douche bag. He used to sleep with every woman he could. He is proud that he did not take drugs; but, treating women like pieces of meat is worse. Treating people as objects is the worst we can do and he did that thing. He used to be proud of it and I even met one of the women he slept with.

When I first got married, I went to a restaurant with a friend. We met a waitress, she was very pretty and very young. She was proud of the fact that she had slept with Ted Nugent, she would have slept with me; but, that didn't happen. She showed me pictures of her with him at his house. She told me about him. She was proud of the fact that she had slept with him. Now the little sleazebag is talking about Trayvon Martin and saying that things worked out well. What a sad and awful man he is. He praised Zimmerman for defending his life and killing Mr. Martin. I don't praise killing and am a pacifist (I didn't used to be).

Mr. Nugent is a self absorbed, selfish and stupid individual with no love in his heart. I pray to God that he learns that everyone matters and that we are here to learn love because he really needs to learn that. He seeks to be his own God and that is the worst that any of us can seek because none are good but God. I see what happened to Mr. Martin and Mr. Zimmerman as a tragedy with no winners. There is no evidence or claim that Mr. Martin was committing any crime. He was a kid walking home, he may have smoked weed and may have been headed in the wrong direction in life. I don't know that answer, only God knows what is in heart; but, the cops would not have shot him because there is no allegation that he was in the process of committing a crime.

Let me throw out a question to the Douche bag, Mr. Nugent. What if, Mr. Martin had been on neighborhood watch and he saw a Hispanic walking down the street wearing a hoodie. What if the situation had been reversed and Mr. Martin had killed some "wetback" (fyi, the love of my life was half Mexican and I preach to Hispanics). He would have been just as okay with the outcome. I am not okay with the outcome and the racist moron called Ted Nugent deserves no respect.

I shall ask a very simple question. Someone once said to me that God believe in war because he told the Israelites to kill their neighbor and take their land. He did and he also told Abraham to kill his son; but, he stopped him from doing such. Why? Why tell someone to do something you believe is wrong? That is the real question. We are told that God wants us to obey him; but, then why give us free will? At what point in time would you say no to God? At what point in time would you take responsibility for your actions and say you will not do what you believe is wrong because you would only be doing it to save yourself?

I have a simple question for the douche. How many single young ladies did he sleep with? Now, how many would allow to sleep with his daughter and feel okay with it? Finally, would he in his self-righteous attitude feel good with one of their fathers killing him? My guess is not. If he thinks it is about ability, he already lost. Even a complete fool with no training can another with a gun.

July 20th, 2013, lots of news stories at once.

I now officially have a doctor assigned to me and I see shall them soon enough. All the minor problems I am facing will be dealt with at once because I am a lazy btard and don't like to go to see doctors, they tend to poke you with needles and I don't like that. There is my health update and it should be good enough for you. Now lets punish my readers with multiple news stories.

Yahoo - AP - Online course will let students give money away. There is now a college course in how to give away your money, Mr. Warren Buffet is supporting it and it is being given by the University I graduated from. Here is what I find interesting, Mr. Buffet is an Atheist or at best an Agnostic; but, still he cares about others. He is the greatest investor and possibly businessman in history, he cares about others; but, if he makes a mistake it is his believing that there is right and wrong outside of there being a God. I pray that he knows God before he passes because he sure acts out of love, he just doesn't know the truth yet. I bet he will because he has a heart of love.

Fox News - Physical crimes that won’t be possible in 2025. Read what the six are and understand where the technology is going.

Wired - Yahoo’s ID Land Rush Begins Today With Updated Security Measures. Prove you are you or no access to e-mail and the post office is going bye bye.

ProPublica - Finally, Bank Regulators Have Had Enough. Here is a simple question, how can the world support the current system when if flagrantly exposes how corrupt and dismissive of everyone else it is? They are destroying themselves by being too greedy.

NPR - Clever Hacks Give Google Glass Many Unintended Powers. It does not matter the garbage you have been told, the truth is how things can be used; because, if you can use a technology in a certain way, someone will find a way to do it when nobody has a real morality.

myfoxny - License plate scanners controversy. Oh, no, the cops can read your license plate and take a picture of it, no kidding. That is why cars have license plates, so they can identify you. How is this news.

silverdoctors - Second Dutch Bank to Follow ABN Amro, Close Gold Accounts! Gold will not save you in the future, put your trust in God or give up.

CBS - SF BayArea - California May Issue Digital License Plates, Privacy Groups Concerned. I am shocked and amazed or bored. Nope, sounds about right, I am bored.

The New York Times - G-20 Backs Plan to Curb Tax Avoidance by Large Corporations. What a shock, international law controlling international businesses and making sure they pay their taxes.

Yahoo - Daily Ticker - Does It Matter That Americans Are ‘Subsidizing’ Astronomical CEO Pay?. What? This is a ridiculous article. This is classical misdirection. I don't care how much a CEO makes if he earns it. Base their pay on the profitability of the company, long term. Base it on how much they grew the company, the number of stores, employees and profit.

Gizmodo - You Won't Need a PIN When You Pay for Everything with Your Face. I just don't feel like repeating myself right now.

Yahoo - Conde Nost Traveller - TSA PreCheck to offer cheaper, easier way to cut lines at airports. I wonder what freedom you have to give up to get an easy pass.

CNBC - Reuters - SEC charges city of Miami with fraud. The only way that you can promote good behavior is by punishing bad behavior. The worst behavior in the world is selfishness and trying to force others to be like you. Love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself.

More Media Lies, this Time About Satanists

A few days back I was going to write about different "religious" secret societies and symbolism; but, I didn't feel I got it quite right and then I came across this.

ABC News - Satanists Perform ‘Gay Ritual’ at Westboro Gravesite. The newsman talks about these "Devil Worshipers". Well, they are not Devil Worshipers because they do not believe in a literal Devil. If ABC had bothered reading what they have posted on their website they would have understood that or, just maybe, they did know and were looking for a sexy story.

Here is a quote and a link to their website. "Satanism is not mindless abandon and depravity, but a philosophy that drives us to lead fruitful and dignified, epicurean lives. Satan, the symbolic force of design that would urge humanity toward refined pleasures of the Arts and Sciences." The Satanic Temple. Another quote from them, "The Satanic Temple seeks to separate Religion from Superstition by acknowledging religious belief as a metaphorical framework with which we construct a narrative context for our goals and works. Satan stands as the ultimate icon for the selfless revolt against tyranny, free & rational inquiry, and the responsible pursuit of happiness." The fact is that this particular group sees Satan and God as myth and metaphor, not real live beings.

You might ask yourself why all the ritual. It is nothing more than performance art meant to challenge believers. The "Church of Satan" (founded by Anton LaVey, the author of "The Satanic Bible) is also run by an Atheist. Here is the difference between these two groups, "The Church of Satan" doesn't do public protests. The "Satanic Temple" which is doing these protests is using the imagery to protest religion's influence on society.

The so called "Pink Mass" that they performed is not a Satanic Ritual, it is a protest. They supposedly held a mass where two men kissed above the grave of a Westboro Baptist Church founder's mother to turn her gay. THERE IS NO SUCH RITUAL IN SATANISM. This is all just more media deception to get people angry and they know that these people are just putting on a show. Christians with any insight (and we are told to be discerning) need to understand that this is ridicule by Atheists and not by true believers in Satan.

Groups claiming to be Satanists or Luciferians are often not in the literal sense. Many are collections of Atheists and Agnostics who do not like having fundamentalist Christianity forced upon them and use the imagery to upset and ridicule. People who actually believe in a literal and real person to be Satan or Lucifer and actually believe that their rituals have supernatural powers would not be allowed in these groups and are often small groups of young men and women who feel powerless, these are the ones that commit animal sacrifices and on occasion other horrible acts in secret. These type of people would not be allowed to be members of either of the Church of Satan or The Satanic Temple.

I do not consider members of the Westboro Baptist Church to be Christians as they show no true love for others and rather than helping people to see God's love, seek to condemn others who do not believe as they do and that is not what we are told to do. Westboro is not meaningful; but, because of their media stunts gets publicity. They are more dangerous to the church than the so called Satanists.

Do not expect the media to be forthcoming about the truth, expect them to exploit people's fears and bigotry and blame it on religion, that is the real attack to the church. Anyone who has read this blog for a long time or my writings on other websites knows that I am a Christian. I am primarily concerned with apologetics which is the defense of the faith. It should also be clear from my writings that I detest willful ignorance and knee jerk reactions. If you truly believe in God then you will love others, forgive others and help others, that is what Jesus told us to do. Anyone who truly believes that if Jesus were alive today he would be protesting at someone's funeral is a fool, he would be comforting the family.

The Deceit in Detroit's Bankruptcy Regarding Pensions

Detroit Free Press - How a Chapter 9 bankruptcy could affect Detroit pensions, health care. Detroit is in trouble, Detroit has been in trouble for awhile and now it is declaring Bankruptcy. Detroit had attempted to blame their situation on their pension costs; but, it is a lie. Detroit lost half it's population, it's tax base and property taxes are abysmal and every municipality has been hurt by the economy.

Here is how a public pension works. For most employees they make a contribution and the municipality makes a contribution. This money is put in a bank account that is owned by the employees, not by the municipality although it may help manage it or assign people to it's board overseeing the pension. The question was raised and continues to be raised as to whether or not the pension fund can be raided to help pay the cities debt. It cannot, the money ceased being the municipalities the minute it was put into the pension account, same as if it had been paid directly to the employee and the employee had invested it in a retirement account themselves.

The next trick Detroit wants to try is slashing pensions for people who have already retired even though the money is already in the pension fund. Well, that seems odd doesn't it? It does until you understand the effect it would have, it would allow Detroit to turn that money over to new hires to fund their pension even though they did not work for it. Remember how San Bernardino declared bankruptcy and blamed it on it's pension obligations and then it turned out that CalPers caught them hiding the money that would have more than paid their obligations. I bet they would have found it later.

You might have noticed that municipalities are not going after Police and Fire pensions, have you wondered why when the biggest costs in most cities is for police and fire? Lets consider what happens when you change your pension rules. Many municipalities are cutting benefits for new hires and making them work more years. Instead of being able to retire after 30 years of service, new hires might have to work 40 years. Okay, lets say you worked 4 years with half of them in government, because you will get a pension, you do not get Social Security or it is so reduced as to be ludicrous even though you put my money in social security. Because a government pension seems secure many people choose to enter government.

Now, what happens if you don't have benefits for new people who go into government? You don't get any good people. Maybe you are a young engineer and want to build libraries, you could go into private industry or government. A good engineer who who just wanted security and to know what to expect (most engineers are very conservative), you go into government. Now, if you don't get a pension, why would you go into government unless you couldn't get hired anywhere else. If you don't think the government has any good engineers you should look at the Public Works projects of the last 100 years and you might find they were some of the best construction projects in the world.

A pension is used as handcuffs in the government. You hire them young and hold out the pension as a giant carrot. Once they have sufficient institutional knowledge and experience they won't leave you because by then they have too much invested in their retirement. In private industry the average employee changes companies every 6 years (this may have changed since 2008 with all the layoffs). With a 401k, you have no long term commitment to the company so you jump around as you will. You gain skills from one company and then sell them at a higher price to another company if you are any good. What happens when the average government employee spends six years and then goes into private industry because it no longer benefits them to stay for 30 years? I know this answer, they will sell you out if they can, they will give your inner workings and decision working away to private industry at least the ones who can will and the ones who cannot don't really matter anyways.

You may think generals may make a lot of money and have a great pension, they do not. They live the life of the wealthy; but, do not make the money and don't have to. When they retire if they wish to continue that lifestyle, they have to prostitute themselves out to industry and it pays well, more than they ever made in government. They use their respect from people who used to work for them to sell them on whatever company they work for.

Now lets get back to the article. Now here is the kicker, from the article, "But Orr says the city will stop making additional payments to its pension funds, which would total $200 million to $350 million annually. This could trigger a recalculation of future monthly pension checks." So, his solution to the problem is not have any government contribution to pensions. Wow. That is a disincentive to even consider working for Detroit. Even most companies offer a 401k and kick in something. This is a game, the offer is to have existing employees go into a 401k and the City will contribute something or offer new hires a 401k with no matching contribution. It is a negotiating ploy and a show for the residents of Detroit.

So how will it end. People who are retired and have already made their payments into the system are not going to accept losing what they have paid in and will be paid their pensions. New blood will not be found and the civilian workforce will be contracted out or at least a great majority of it. This reduces the pension obligation of the municipality; but, costs do not go down. This will not happen immediately, it will be a slow painful death.

It begins with municipalities being able to hire anyone and lots of good talent, people who lost their jobs in private industry, people who were raised in private industry. Right now nobody is hiring except in the service industry. Right now you can hire people from private industry at a quarter of what they used to make with 20 years experience. They will do well for government if they can adjust and then, because they get no benefits as new hires, will leave as soon as they can sell your municipality out because that is what they learned in private industry.

The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) is the best financial minds in government. They have said that there is no public pension crisis, the pensions are funded and can continue as currently configured. There was a change in how these pensions are reported. It used to be that you showed current expenditures and income and assets. Now you show future expenditures. It is as if you bought a house today for $100,000 and over the course of the 30 year loan would spend $300,000. Now would you show your current costs as the yearly mortgage ($7,000), your total owed if you paid off today ($100,000) or what you expect to pay over the next 30 years, the life of the loan ($300,000). It is an apple to orange question. Municipalities are showing their pension life-cycle debt ($300,000) compared to their annual income rather than what they expect to take in over 30 years.

It is actually quite simple. There is more than enough funds to pay off people's public pensions if we cease giving pensions to new hires. There is no pension problem. New hires can cut their own deals, that is true for every generation. The problem is that it will be real hard long term to get or keep good talent in government if they are not offered some retirement and the politicians don't trust having a workforce that doesn't owe them something and is willing to switch back to private industry and give them up in a heart beat. They lose all leverage.