At about 12 minutes and 31 seconds into the first video, you will see Ex-President George W. Bush talk about a program that took tax money and gave down payments for houses to people who couldn't afford the mortgages. He states that the program is "The American Dream Down payment Fund" the other name was "A Home of Your Own".
YouTube - Overdose: The Next Financial Crisis.
I want to make it clear that I am not recommending the video as a whole and disagree with many of the positions taken by some of the people interviewed. Even where I may agree on the positions, I may not agree on their solutions. In either case, here is why I bring this up.
Mark Carney, who is in charge of the Bank of England, is involved in a similar scheme to the ones that caused the housing bubble in America. He is keeping interest rates artificially low and Osborne has instituted a program called, "Help to Buy" which takes money from taxpayers in England to provide down payments for homes and is causing a bubble in the U.K. Why would you possibly want to duplicate something that went so incredibly wrong in the United States.
YouTube - Keiser Report: Housing Bubble Ponzi (E499).
I should also point out that Mr. Carney was in charge of the Bank of Canada, a nation which mostly missed the great recession and has decided to create an even bigger housing bubble than we did in the United States.
Now, I want to go back to the first video. It has a clip of our current head of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, being asked in 2005 what would happen if housing prices fell nation wide and he says that he doesn't buy the premise, that we have never had housing prices fall on a nation wide basis in history (it is at 16 minutes and 31 seconds into the first video). If you wish to believe that Greenspan, Paulson and Bernanke were all stupid or didn't see what was coming that is fine; but, why is it that 8 years later Mr. Carney and Mr. Osborne would duplicate in England the exact same programs that led to the bubble and housing crash that happened in the United States. I am pretty sure that they are aware of the financial crisis that hit us in late 2007 and 2008. Heck, we loaned money to the Bank of England. He cannot not know these things. When they hired him they had to have asked him what he thought caused the economic crash and what he thought he could do to improve the situation. Apparently his answer was to create another housing bubble in England.
Let me put this in real life, real business terms. Imagine that McDonalds decided that they were going to go all vegetarian menus. That McDonalds would no longer sell hamburgers made of beef; but, only vegi-burgers. They spent a lot of time investigating it and decided that it would be more profitable if people went along with it and that it was a healthier choice. I mean, they did it for all the right reasons. After adopting their new menu, sales crashed and all of their stores went bankrupt. Would you hire the guy that was responsible for the decision to be in charge of Burger King next and even more importantly, would you allow him to institute the exact same policy after watching McDonalds go bankrupt for instituting the policy?
The "alternative media" is just as controlled as the mainstream media. Ron Paul and Nigel Lafarge are just as big shills as any others. If they make their living off of lying to you and selling you garbage and lies, they are crooks and deceivers. The most popular alternative media darlings are nothing more than Judas Sheep. Those are sheep who are used to lead other sheep into the slaughterhouse. It is all deceit. The real alternative media is not any media, it is people like me who happen to understand certain industries and don't have a financial interest in getting you to believe anything. The problem is that few have the training or the experience or the time to keep an eye on all of these things unless it is our job. The only reason I have the time is because I do not have an outside life and I find it useful to follow the world events.
Monday, December 30, 2013
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Love Thy Neighbor As Yourself
I read today how over one million will stop receiving unemployment benefits. I should also mention that another 3.6 million people will lose their unemployment benefits this year. One loving person said that maybe this would force people to look for jobs that they had not otherwise considered. I didn't know that there are over 4 and a half million vacant jobs waiting to be filled, that is not what the government says. I should also mention that when their unemployment benefits end, they will show as not being unemployed anymore. Government and business statistics lie, as far as they are concerned they will still be unemployed.
I am getting ready to retire and have never received one penny in unemployment in my life. I have also paid into the plan for decades. Where did that money go, it should have gone to pay for the people who do need it, it certainly never came to me. Lets consider what is coming this year and the options. Firstly, 4.5 million people, plus, who are willing to work and did work but were laid off or fired will stop receiving unemployment insurance payouts. That is a lot of people. They will stop making house payments, might not be able to pay rent and will be unable to get jobs unless we add 4.5 million jobs next year. We are not on track to add that many jobs.
Statistically, it will appear that unemployment is down because these people will no longer be included in the statistics. Somewhere next year that unemployment number will match the number that the Federal Reserve has been waiting on and then they will stop buying treasury bonds. LOL. That will the official end of quantitative easing and the stock market will crash.
Now lets consider the options. We can continue paying unemployment to people and get nothing in return or Wall Street can force businesses to take the roughly 1.5 Trillion dollars they are holding in cash and invest it in creating new industries or bringing jobs back to America. That is not going to happen, Wall Street is not interested in investing in America. We could let 4.5 million able bodies just go hungry along with their families. What will the United States look like with an extra 4.5 million homeless people? It will look like and be a third world nation. There is another option, we can create a jobs program like they did after the great depression.
Don't think that telling them to get a job means anything when there are no jobs. If business adds 200,000 jobs next month that will still mean that 4.3 million people will be unemployed and not getting benefits that were getting benefits in December. Get it? It is just math.
I went to the store today and I hate shopping, I was waiting till after Christmas to buy something I needed, new bed sheets, blanket and comforter. I like to be warm. Everything the sold was made in China. I think Americans are more than capable of making their own blankets, it is not that tough; but, we don't have much of a fashion industry anymore and make very little of our own clothes. We could; but, we do not. Now many will tell you that it is the cost of labor that "forces" business to use Chinese labor; but, this is a lie. I bought a set of things that cost $79; but, an identical set and most of the sets were selling for $49 or $59, they had cut the cost on most sets by 20 to 50% and still managed to make a profit. Hmmmm. Lets think about this.
Somewhere around 50% of all retail sales are made around Christmas time. After Christmas prices usually drop at least 20%. Yet, we are told that the 1% difference between manufacturing in America versus China is what keeps us from keeping the jobs here, does that really make sense? Macy's is having a 50% to 80% off sale on fashion, if it only costs us one more percent, not 50 to produce products here, then why don't we want to?
Perhaps you might think it is environmental concerns. There are a few problems with that. Is it really fair that we think it is okay that everyone in China get cancer because they don't use clean energy? The truth is China is burning oil and coal and not ever efficiently or cleanly. If China only kept their plants as clean burning as America's they would have a livable environment. I live in California, our requirements are the highest in the nation and we still manage to meet them.
Maybe it is the lax regulations in China that brings American companies there. Nope, they are a Communist country and regulate everything. In fact, in order to due business in China you have to give away trade secrets. We could keep industry here; but, do not want to. Why?
The real enemy to any society is not caring about one another and trying to control and limit one another. True libertarianism is not about selfishness, it is about not imposing your will on others. I can help others without forcing them to think or be like me.
I have worked for 43 years, I am physically are wreck and a shell of what I was. I have had two heart attacks, high blood pressure that is considered a hypertensive emergency and blood thicker than oil. LOL. I have made and saved my organizations well over $2 billion, I lost count so long ago it is funny. I got a year left before retirement. If I lost my job tomorrow, I could live on unemployment until I collect my pension in about 10 months. I will never go hungry or without a place to stay, I have fed and clothed and given a home to the homeless more than once and currently do. I am lucky, many of those 4.5 million people worked as hard as me and as long as me; but, their companies sent them away or disappeared themselves. We are living in tough times and people with college degrees and experience cannot even get a job at McDonalds.
What about this, what if we made sure everyone had a place to stay, food to eat and the ability to get to and from a job that they actually qualified for or had the opportunity to learn new skills that would allow them to qualify for jobs that we believe we will create? Some of the more right wingers will quote the bible to me and say things like "teach a man to fish" and assume that they will be self-sufficient. Not every skill has value or better said, many only hire so many. There are still companies that make buggy whips; but, the number of people employed in that industry is very small.
When I was young they were telling everyone to become rocket scientists because rockets were the big industry. Somewhere in the early 70s, they stopped making as many rockets and stopped going to the moon. I watched engineers with decades of experience go unemployed. Some ended up working at fast food restaurants, was the really the best use of their talents and is that what we want to do with people today?
Some will say that Americans are too proud to take certain jobs; but, it is a lie. When 20,000 Americans line up to take 200 jobs that pays $20 an hour, they are willing to work. When jobs that pay minimum wage have 2,000 applicants, know there are more than enough Americans willing to work.
People in high tech are calling for an easing on immigration saying that Americans cannot do the jobs, it is a lie. Steve jobs said that Americans were too dumb to make his products, another lie. We are still the only nation to put a man on the moon, we are plenty smart. What if we did this, what if we created the jobs here in high tech and then if after a year we cannot fill them, we opened up on immigration for those who were more qualified. Why is it that the tech companies are not proposing that?
The point of this post is aimed at Christians or those who believe they are such. Support loving and helping your neighbor and stop trying to excuse selfish behavior.
I am getting ready to retire and have never received one penny in unemployment in my life. I have also paid into the plan for decades. Where did that money go, it should have gone to pay for the people who do need it, it certainly never came to me. Lets consider what is coming this year and the options. Firstly, 4.5 million people, plus, who are willing to work and did work but were laid off or fired will stop receiving unemployment insurance payouts. That is a lot of people. They will stop making house payments, might not be able to pay rent and will be unable to get jobs unless we add 4.5 million jobs next year. We are not on track to add that many jobs.
Statistically, it will appear that unemployment is down because these people will no longer be included in the statistics. Somewhere next year that unemployment number will match the number that the Federal Reserve has been waiting on and then they will stop buying treasury bonds. LOL. That will the official end of quantitative easing and the stock market will crash.
Now lets consider the options. We can continue paying unemployment to people and get nothing in return or Wall Street can force businesses to take the roughly 1.5 Trillion dollars they are holding in cash and invest it in creating new industries or bringing jobs back to America. That is not going to happen, Wall Street is not interested in investing in America. We could let 4.5 million able bodies just go hungry along with their families. What will the United States look like with an extra 4.5 million homeless people? It will look like and be a third world nation. There is another option, we can create a jobs program like they did after the great depression.
Don't think that telling them to get a job means anything when there are no jobs. If business adds 200,000 jobs next month that will still mean that 4.3 million people will be unemployed and not getting benefits that were getting benefits in December. Get it? It is just math.
I went to the store today and I hate shopping, I was waiting till after Christmas to buy something I needed, new bed sheets, blanket and comforter. I like to be warm. Everything the sold was made in China. I think Americans are more than capable of making their own blankets, it is not that tough; but, we don't have much of a fashion industry anymore and make very little of our own clothes. We could; but, we do not. Now many will tell you that it is the cost of labor that "forces" business to use Chinese labor; but, this is a lie. I bought a set of things that cost $79; but, an identical set and most of the sets were selling for $49 or $59, they had cut the cost on most sets by 20 to 50% and still managed to make a profit. Hmmmm. Lets think about this.
Somewhere around 50% of all retail sales are made around Christmas time. After Christmas prices usually drop at least 20%. Yet, we are told that the 1% difference between manufacturing in America versus China is what keeps us from keeping the jobs here, does that really make sense? Macy's is having a 50% to 80% off sale on fashion, if it only costs us one more percent, not 50 to produce products here, then why don't we want to?
Perhaps you might think it is environmental concerns. There are a few problems with that. Is it really fair that we think it is okay that everyone in China get cancer because they don't use clean energy? The truth is China is burning oil and coal and not ever efficiently or cleanly. If China only kept their plants as clean burning as America's they would have a livable environment. I live in California, our requirements are the highest in the nation and we still manage to meet them.
Maybe it is the lax regulations in China that brings American companies there. Nope, they are a Communist country and regulate everything. In fact, in order to due business in China you have to give away trade secrets. We could keep industry here; but, do not want to. Why?
The real enemy to any society is not caring about one another and trying to control and limit one another. True libertarianism is not about selfishness, it is about not imposing your will on others. I can help others without forcing them to think or be like me.
I have worked for 43 years, I am physically are wreck and a shell of what I was. I have had two heart attacks, high blood pressure that is considered a hypertensive emergency and blood thicker than oil. LOL. I have made and saved my organizations well over $2 billion, I lost count so long ago it is funny. I got a year left before retirement. If I lost my job tomorrow, I could live on unemployment until I collect my pension in about 10 months. I will never go hungry or without a place to stay, I have fed and clothed and given a home to the homeless more than once and currently do. I am lucky, many of those 4.5 million people worked as hard as me and as long as me; but, their companies sent them away or disappeared themselves. We are living in tough times and people with college degrees and experience cannot even get a job at McDonalds.
What about this, what if we made sure everyone had a place to stay, food to eat and the ability to get to and from a job that they actually qualified for or had the opportunity to learn new skills that would allow them to qualify for jobs that we believe we will create? Some of the more right wingers will quote the bible to me and say things like "teach a man to fish" and assume that they will be self-sufficient. Not every skill has value or better said, many only hire so many. There are still companies that make buggy whips; but, the number of people employed in that industry is very small.
When I was young they were telling everyone to become rocket scientists because rockets were the big industry. Somewhere in the early 70s, they stopped making as many rockets and stopped going to the moon. I watched engineers with decades of experience go unemployed. Some ended up working at fast food restaurants, was the really the best use of their talents and is that what we want to do with people today?
Some will say that Americans are too proud to take certain jobs; but, it is a lie. When 20,000 Americans line up to take 200 jobs that pays $20 an hour, they are willing to work. When jobs that pay minimum wage have 2,000 applicants, know there are more than enough Americans willing to work.
People in high tech are calling for an easing on immigration saying that Americans cannot do the jobs, it is a lie. Steve jobs said that Americans were too dumb to make his products, another lie. We are still the only nation to put a man on the moon, we are plenty smart. What if we did this, what if we created the jobs here in high tech and then if after a year we cannot fill them, we opened up on immigration for those who were more qualified. Why is it that the tech companies are not proposing that?
The point of this post is aimed at Christians or those who believe they are such. Support loving and helping your neighbor and stop trying to excuse selfish behavior.
Saturday, December 28, 2013
Peak Oil and Climate Warming
There is something that confuses me and tends to make me think that someone is lying to me. That is when someone tells me two things that contradict each other in effect. Let me lay this out for you.
There is a common belief amongst people that are into green energy that we have or will soon hit what is called "peak oil". Peak oil is the idea that there is a limited amount of oil in the earth and that it will never increase. Now, originally we were told that the oil came from dead dinosaurs and of course there are no more dinosaurs. The reality is that oil did not come from dead dinosaurs, I was brought up on a lie by Shell and public schools. The current claim is that oil comes from algae, they sort have to go in that direction because there is so much oil deep beneath the sea and dinosaurs did not live there. In either case and regardless of what oil came from, it is either limited or it is not.
The second thing that we are being told is that oil and it's emissions when it is burned causes global warming. The fact that the planet has actually gotten colder over the last 15 years and followed the same pattern as all the other planets and sun spot activity in the universe doesn't seem to matter. For purposes of this post it really doesn't matter, I have a different question.
If we have reached peak oil then by definition we don't have to worry about CO2 emissions from oil being burnt because we can only burn less and less as we will not find more and more. Why should I worry about how much oil we burn if we will be out of it in 20 years? After that, CO2 levels will have to be reduced because there will be no oil to burn. The earth then according to these scientists would have to almost immediately return to normal levels, non-industrial levels or CO2. Think about it. You can worry about one or the other but to worry about both makes no sense.
So we may be experiencing peak oil; but, if we are then global warming from CO2 is irrelevant as when the oil runs out, we cannot burn it and cause the horrible problems that we are told it causes. Now if you do not believe in the concept of peak oil then you have to believe that oil is constantly being produced and explain where it is coming from. I have only ever read that oil is a finite material and I am in my 50s.
Let us consider another question, Canada has billions of barrels of oil in it's rocks, we call this shale oil. How did it get there and how come it did not sink. We have been told that it takes millions of years for these dinosaurs to become oil and even the algae to become oil. Oil left to the elements loses it's useful properties fairly quickly, in a lot less than one million years. It also separates when exposed to the elements.
Something is wrong with the whole story about oil. There is no scientific reason that a planet would need to produce oil to have life on it, none. I hope that you understand that we have only been using oil for a couple hundred years. Gas for even less. Oh, we used tar but it wasn't used as a fuel, it was used as a coating and others were used too, it was not needed for man to exist. Wood has been the energy source for most our existence. Animal fat and oil was used for lighting and even that is only for a couple thousand years.
Now I am going to prove to you that we have been lied to. Carbon dating allows us to date the age of organic material. We cannot carbon date the age of rocks or inorganic materials. If oil is organic, which all scientists agree on, then why haven't we carbon dated each oil field? What if we had and found that the oil fields each had a different date, that they did not all occur at once? We do have two possibilities, either all oil was created at the same time and is a limited nonrenewable resource or it has continued being created for history. If it was not all created at once then odds are, it is still being created and not a limited resource. This is simple math and logic and considering the money involved, I am pretty sure that someone has carbon dated the oil fields and has not released the information. Actually, that sort of tells you what the answer is, oil is still being created.
Let me ask this question, if oil is what made the industrial revolution and if it is as valuable as we are told, if it is used to energize our world then shouldn't we have tried to figure out where it came from and how it was created? If I sold oil and made trillions of dollars from it, I would want to know how it was created. I would want to know if I could create it myself, like the Nazis did. Yep, while having the living world bombed out of them, the Nazis were able to produce and inexpensive oil and it did not come from corn. Unfortunately, I was told as a kid in school that gosh darnit, we didn't find out how they did it. Now we did manage to capture the scientists that created the rockets; but, I guess they didn't know how the Nazi's created oil. Sounds like garbage to me.
There is a common belief amongst people that are into green energy that we have or will soon hit what is called "peak oil". Peak oil is the idea that there is a limited amount of oil in the earth and that it will never increase. Now, originally we were told that the oil came from dead dinosaurs and of course there are no more dinosaurs. The reality is that oil did not come from dead dinosaurs, I was brought up on a lie by Shell and public schools. The current claim is that oil comes from algae, they sort have to go in that direction because there is so much oil deep beneath the sea and dinosaurs did not live there. In either case and regardless of what oil came from, it is either limited or it is not.
The second thing that we are being told is that oil and it's emissions when it is burned causes global warming. The fact that the planet has actually gotten colder over the last 15 years and followed the same pattern as all the other planets and sun spot activity in the universe doesn't seem to matter. For purposes of this post it really doesn't matter, I have a different question.
If we have reached peak oil then by definition we don't have to worry about CO2 emissions from oil being burnt because we can only burn less and less as we will not find more and more. Why should I worry about how much oil we burn if we will be out of it in 20 years? After that, CO2 levels will have to be reduced because there will be no oil to burn. The earth then according to these scientists would have to almost immediately return to normal levels, non-industrial levels or CO2. Think about it. You can worry about one or the other but to worry about both makes no sense.
So we may be experiencing peak oil; but, if we are then global warming from CO2 is irrelevant as when the oil runs out, we cannot burn it and cause the horrible problems that we are told it causes. Now if you do not believe in the concept of peak oil then you have to believe that oil is constantly being produced and explain where it is coming from. I have only ever read that oil is a finite material and I am in my 50s.
Let us consider another question, Canada has billions of barrels of oil in it's rocks, we call this shale oil. How did it get there and how come it did not sink. We have been told that it takes millions of years for these dinosaurs to become oil and even the algae to become oil. Oil left to the elements loses it's useful properties fairly quickly, in a lot less than one million years. It also separates when exposed to the elements.
Something is wrong with the whole story about oil. There is no scientific reason that a planet would need to produce oil to have life on it, none. I hope that you understand that we have only been using oil for a couple hundred years. Gas for even less. Oh, we used tar but it wasn't used as a fuel, it was used as a coating and others were used too, it was not needed for man to exist. Wood has been the energy source for most our existence. Animal fat and oil was used for lighting and even that is only for a couple thousand years.
Now I am going to prove to you that we have been lied to. Carbon dating allows us to date the age of organic material. We cannot carbon date the age of rocks or inorganic materials. If oil is organic, which all scientists agree on, then why haven't we carbon dated each oil field? What if we had and found that the oil fields each had a different date, that they did not all occur at once? We do have two possibilities, either all oil was created at the same time and is a limited nonrenewable resource or it has continued being created for history. If it was not all created at once then odds are, it is still being created and not a limited resource. This is simple math and logic and considering the money involved, I am pretty sure that someone has carbon dated the oil fields and has not released the information. Actually, that sort of tells you what the answer is, oil is still being created.
Let me ask this question, if oil is what made the industrial revolution and if it is as valuable as we are told, if it is used to energize our world then shouldn't we have tried to figure out where it came from and how it was created? If I sold oil and made trillions of dollars from it, I would want to know how it was created. I would want to know if I could create it myself, like the Nazis did. Yep, while having the living world bombed out of them, the Nazis were able to produce and inexpensive oil and it did not come from corn. Unfortunately, I was told as a kid in school that gosh darnit, we didn't find out how they did it. Now we did manage to capture the scientists that created the rockets; but, I guess they didn't know how the Nazi's created oil. Sounds like garbage to me.
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Happy Boxing Day - Retirment
Boxing day is an English holiday, it is the day when your boss would give you a present, a box, hopefully with something nice in it. It is the day after Christmas to the rest of us.
For me it is another day closer to the end of another year and another day closer to retirement. This may or may not matter to my readers; but, I have not decided if I will continue this blog after I retire. That is undecided. It is possible that I may post even more often and longer; but, if I do I will probably narrow the focus.
I am debating what I will do when I retire and I am even considering dating again. Of course, I am also considering replacing my car with a new one. LOL. Just about everything is on the table right now. Once I retire, I have options. The last debt I have is giving my ex half of my retirement for the time we were together. I have less than a thousand dollars in credit card debt and can pretty much pay that of when I want. After I retire, I will have met all my legal obligations and can then choose freely what I want to invest in or take debt out on or where I want to live. I am really looking forward to that after all these years, it is my boxing day present from my employer, a retirement. I may not get it all because of the divorce; but, it will be enough to get by somewhere.
My employer has made mistakes as an organization over the years, it has also done wrong things in my opinion; however, it has also done great things and has a lot of great people working for it. For more than a quarter or a century, my job has paid me to live my passion and fed my family and I. I have worked since I was 12 years old and am now in my mid-fifties. I have worked in factories, in the service industries and in both public and private services. I have worked in so many industries that I have lost count and have enjoyed seeing all the things I have; but, of all my jobs, the one I am leaving has been the most rewarding and I will be ever grateful that I got to work in the industry of my choice.
My ex was very selfish; but, she thought we all should be. She believes in looking out for number one. I mention this for a reason. Just before I took the entry level job for my employer, I was offered over $100,000 a year to work in the industry I was in at the time. I turned it down and took $29,000 a year to work in the industry I wanted to work in and she always supported that decision as did my kids. One of my kids married an artist. Nobody wants their kid to marry someone in the arts because there is so little chance of making money; but, I supported it 100% because this person is and must be an artist. I have no doubt that my ex believes the exact same thing.
Young people often ask me what they should do for a career and I always say the same thing, you have to live your passion or you are cheating yourself. Now, it may take 20 years before you get to work in your field, took me that long. If it does then everything must be in preparation for success. Eduction and work to feed yourself while you continue to apply for jobs in your passion. Every action, if aimed at keeping you on track to getting to work in your passion area is a positive step and you should view it that way. The negative steps are when you allow money, fame or power to get you to lose sight of your passion.
There is a story in the New Testament where a rich man asks Jesus what he needs to do to get into the kingdom of heaven and Jesus tells him to sell all his goods and follow him. He couldn't do it. The funny thing that nobody ever talks about is that the rich man probably lost everything in the next few years to the Romans anyways. He thought he had security in money; but, there is no security in money, not in gold, not in money, not in land, not in anything except in God. I have had a great career and still I could die the day before I retire or the day after, there are no guarantees in this world. There are however choices and sometimes they all stink and some of us never get to work in our industries; but, we should never give up because that is hope and the only chance you get in this life.
For me it is another day closer to the end of another year and another day closer to retirement. This may or may not matter to my readers; but, I have not decided if I will continue this blog after I retire. That is undecided. It is possible that I may post even more often and longer; but, if I do I will probably narrow the focus.
I am debating what I will do when I retire and I am even considering dating again. Of course, I am also considering replacing my car with a new one. LOL. Just about everything is on the table right now. Once I retire, I have options. The last debt I have is giving my ex half of my retirement for the time we were together. I have less than a thousand dollars in credit card debt and can pretty much pay that of when I want. After I retire, I will have met all my legal obligations and can then choose freely what I want to invest in or take debt out on or where I want to live. I am really looking forward to that after all these years, it is my boxing day present from my employer, a retirement. I may not get it all because of the divorce; but, it will be enough to get by somewhere.
My employer has made mistakes as an organization over the years, it has also done wrong things in my opinion; however, it has also done great things and has a lot of great people working for it. For more than a quarter or a century, my job has paid me to live my passion and fed my family and I. I have worked since I was 12 years old and am now in my mid-fifties. I have worked in factories, in the service industries and in both public and private services. I have worked in so many industries that I have lost count and have enjoyed seeing all the things I have; but, of all my jobs, the one I am leaving has been the most rewarding and I will be ever grateful that I got to work in the industry of my choice.
My ex was very selfish; but, she thought we all should be. She believes in looking out for number one. I mention this for a reason. Just before I took the entry level job for my employer, I was offered over $100,000 a year to work in the industry I was in at the time. I turned it down and took $29,000 a year to work in the industry I wanted to work in and she always supported that decision as did my kids. One of my kids married an artist. Nobody wants their kid to marry someone in the arts because there is so little chance of making money; but, I supported it 100% because this person is and must be an artist. I have no doubt that my ex believes the exact same thing.
Young people often ask me what they should do for a career and I always say the same thing, you have to live your passion or you are cheating yourself. Now, it may take 20 years before you get to work in your field, took me that long. If it does then everything must be in preparation for success. Eduction and work to feed yourself while you continue to apply for jobs in your passion. Every action, if aimed at keeping you on track to getting to work in your passion area is a positive step and you should view it that way. The negative steps are when you allow money, fame or power to get you to lose sight of your passion.
There is a story in the New Testament where a rich man asks Jesus what he needs to do to get into the kingdom of heaven and Jesus tells him to sell all his goods and follow him. He couldn't do it. The funny thing that nobody ever talks about is that the rich man probably lost everything in the next few years to the Romans anyways. He thought he had security in money; but, there is no security in money, not in gold, not in money, not in land, not in anything except in God. I have had a great career and still I could die the day before I retire or the day after, there are no guarantees in this world. There are however choices and sometimes they all stink and some of us never get to work in our industries; but, we should never give up because that is hope and the only chance you get in this life.
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Merry Christmas and News
The only gift I have is in pointing things out to people who don't have the time to scan the news. Here is what is going on.
Fox News - Nearly 1 Million Veterans On Food Stamps
Yahoo - Associated Press - Military pension cuts now unsure; changes likely. This one annoys me in so many ways. The entry pay for the military is less than the poverty line. Poverty in the United States is considered to be about $20,000 and entry level in the military is about 20% less. I guess killing people pays less than minimum wage, think about that. And now they want to take away their pensions which in fact is only paid to about 10 to 20 percent of all the people who ever join the military.
How many articles did you read in the last month about some rednecks on Duck Dynasty saying homosexuality is wrong and how many articles did you read about how we are going to take away even more benefits from veterans? Utah Mormons gave $80 million to prevent California from having gay marriage. The won the battle and lost the war. What if they had spent that money to overturn the NDAA, the Patriot Act or investigate Wall Street corruption, which would have been more effective at improving the world?
The News Herald - Computerizing people may be next step in tech
.
The Motley Fool - The Iranian Millionaire Gunning for Cracker Barrel. I find it amusing that Cracker Barrel makes a major mistake, reverses itself and makes another at the same time that someone is looking to buy them out. Nothing that happens is an accident when hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake. The mistake Cracker Barrel made was getting rid of all Duck Dynasty items that they sell, the response from their customers was overwhelming in support of anti-gay sentiment. After their customers revolted against them, they put the items back on sale. Both actions were heartless, they did what they thought would make them money, not what they thought was right.
There is a line in the bible, it says that "you are neither hot nor cold, so I will spit you out". That is God's comment to those who don't choose to be right or wrong, those what choose to do what is best only for them. That is evil, we call it selfishness. The love of self is evil.
Fox News - Nearly 1 Million Veterans On Food Stamps
Yahoo - Associated Press - Military pension cuts now unsure; changes likely. This one annoys me in so many ways. The entry pay for the military is less than the poverty line. Poverty in the United States is considered to be about $20,000 and entry level in the military is about 20% less. I guess killing people pays less than minimum wage, think about that. And now they want to take away their pensions which in fact is only paid to about 10 to 20 percent of all the people who ever join the military.
How many articles did you read in the last month about some rednecks on Duck Dynasty saying homosexuality is wrong and how many articles did you read about how we are going to take away even more benefits from veterans? Utah Mormons gave $80 million to prevent California from having gay marriage. The won the battle and lost the war. What if they had spent that money to overturn the NDAA, the Patriot Act or investigate Wall Street corruption, which would have been more effective at improving the world?
The News Herald - Computerizing people may be next step in tech
.
The Motley Fool - The Iranian Millionaire Gunning for Cracker Barrel. I find it amusing that Cracker Barrel makes a major mistake, reverses itself and makes another at the same time that someone is looking to buy them out. Nothing that happens is an accident when hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake. The mistake Cracker Barrel made was getting rid of all Duck Dynasty items that they sell, the response from their customers was overwhelming in support of anti-gay sentiment. After their customers revolted against them, they put the items back on sale. Both actions were heartless, they did what they thought would make them money, not what they thought was right.
There is a line in the bible, it says that "you are neither hot nor cold, so I will spit you out". That is God's comment to those who don't choose to be right or wrong, those what choose to do what is best only for them. That is evil, we call it selfishness. The love of self is evil.
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Comedians Are Conservative Often
I was watching some video and it led me to another video. The second video was an interview that Howard Stern did with Jerry Seinfeld. Funny thing is, I was never really that into either of them. Howard Stern was a little too offensive for me; but, I appreciated his talents. It wasn't until I saw his movie about his life that he began to intrigue me a bit. After seeing him as a judge on America's Got Talent, I began to really see a kinder side of him. As for Seinfeld, I saw the show a few times, it was funny; but, I was not one who followed it. To me, it was a bunch of self absorbed New Yorkers. I actually preferred his standup routines over the show. He was a good standup comedian.
Anyways, here I am watching this interview of Mr. Seinfeld on Howard Sterns show and he is blowing my mind. He eats, drinks and breaths jokes. He cannot imagine not telling jokes and believes in hard work, real hard work. To get ahead in this world, you got to do something special, you gotta work hard and he talked about it. As I heard him talk I got to see a glimpse into what type of person he is. He prefers to be around other comedians, this is not that common. I was also impressed by how humble he was and how little he was concerned about being judged. Then it occurred to me, he was right. Something I have always said is that money is easy to get, you just have to be the best something. If you work harder, study non-stop and never give up, eventually you win or die. You cannot lose until you quit.
What is my point, well, I haven't got to it yet. What I started thinking was that comedians are nothing more than small business owners, they are entrepreneurs in the truest sense. I went to Mr. Seinfeld's website, "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" and watched him just being him with his friends and he said that comedians cannot understand having a boss and got it. He is an entrepreneur, he is the captain of his life and takes responsibility for how things turn out. I was very impressed by him.
He also talked about how life is repetition and how he had no respect for small talk. It also occurred to me that he would not respect the type of person he played on Seinfeld. He is a craftsman who respects people in his craft; but, only the ones that are also craftsman. To truly succeed at anything, you got to give it 100%. When I had something to give, I gave 100% until I know longer was 100%. The discipline it takes to achieve that, to give your all consistently, is immense. It is also obsessive. You have to believe in what you are doing to break new ground.
It is one thing to inherit money or steal money or be given all the advantages up front; but, to break the ceiling and move up, to be really successful requires commitment and talent. There is a video on his website where Chris Rock and he are joking about how people want their money and how people think what they do is easy and how in fact hard it is to speak to and influence a crowd. I understood their answers.
Preaching and any public speaking is hard for a lot of people. Oddly enough the people who are best at it are often the shyest. It stuns people who know me from working with me or from seeing me speak public how incredibly shy and quiet I am. LOL. When I am not working I spend most of my time with one or two people and more likely than not, alone in my room. When I go out I am very pleasant and have many friends; but, I don't usually seek out others. I would have made a great hermit and may yet, we shall see.
Maybe it is retirement that is making me think about this all. I have always been quite happy with my internal voice, it is sufficient company usually. I could sit and read and analyze all day long and have. When I was in law school I had to actually study once and did. I don't know how many hours I went without eating or sleeping; but, I just studied. Eventually I began to go into a state of delirium, I started knowingly imagine things. Drat, I cannot think of the word I am looking for; but, I started seeing things that were not there. I decided I had done enough and went home to sleep. I used to go days without eating because I was focused and forgot to eat. I miss those time and I doubt most people can understand that. I miss being so focused that nothing was more important than my figuring out what I was looking at. It is better than sex. Complete and utter focus is joy.
I would be quite happy retiring to a crappy little apartment in a crappy little town and just read the news all day and post my opinions on it. I am okay with the idea. The only thing that stops me from doing such a thing is others, people I know I can and should help; but, I would rather be a hermit if the truth be known. This is going a couple of places, please be patient. So, I was telling one of my kids about Seinfeld and what I was seeing and I told a story that Seinfeld told about how when you are in a relationship you have to call in when you are on the road. The person talked about how they saw Prince have to make the spouse call. LOL. Prince of all people having to make the spouse call. ROFL. I said how I was glad that I never had to do that again, I don't have to call anyone because I am not in a relationship and am quite happy being alone. Well, two people argued with me over the point and wanted to tell me how I should be in a relationship.
Some people seem to believe that I should be in a relationship because it is healthy. I haven't experienced that. Seems like a heck of a lot of work to me. I don't need to be in a relationship to enjoy life. Having said that, I do believe it is worthwhile to put yourself in a position where you are in a relationship because it forces you to work outside of your comfort zone and grow. Everything that is not growing is dying. I am not growing, I am coasting down hill on a bicycle. I a have done what I wanted and am just watching the wheels go round and round. At some point in time, life does become repetition because the new ones have to learn the old rules on their own.
I was talking about comedians wasn't I. True entrepreneurs, real self sufficient and willing to take anything to achieve their goal of making others laugh. Comedians tend to be morose people, not very social, highly competitive and fearless. I have noticed that on a personal responsibility level, comics are as cold hearted as they come. They don't have sympathy for lazy or weak because nobody becomes a successful comic that is. Most comics are very smart and have skins like leather. Still, they live to make others happy. They overcome pain and try and make others happy, an interesting bunch. Just some random thoughts, have a great night.
Anyways, here I am watching this interview of Mr. Seinfeld on Howard Sterns show and he is blowing my mind. He eats, drinks and breaths jokes. He cannot imagine not telling jokes and believes in hard work, real hard work. To get ahead in this world, you got to do something special, you gotta work hard and he talked about it. As I heard him talk I got to see a glimpse into what type of person he is. He prefers to be around other comedians, this is not that common. I was also impressed by how humble he was and how little he was concerned about being judged. Then it occurred to me, he was right. Something I have always said is that money is easy to get, you just have to be the best something. If you work harder, study non-stop and never give up, eventually you win or die. You cannot lose until you quit.
What is my point, well, I haven't got to it yet. What I started thinking was that comedians are nothing more than small business owners, they are entrepreneurs in the truest sense. I went to Mr. Seinfeld's website, "Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee" and watched him just being him with his friends and he said that comedians cannot understand having a boss and got it. He is an entrepreneur, he is the captain of his life and takes responsibility for how things turn out. I was very impressed by him.
He also talked about how life is repetition and how he had no respect for small talk. It also occurred to me that he would not respect the type of person he played on Seinfeld. He is a craftsman who respects people in his craft; but, only the ones that are also craftsman. To truly succeed at anything, you got to give it 100%. When I had something to give, I gave 100% until I know longer was 100%. The discipline it takes to achieve that, to give your all consistently, is immense. It is also obsessive. You have to believe in what you are doing to break new ground.
It is one thing to inherit money or steal money or be given all the advantages up front; but, to break the ceiling and move up, to be really successful requires commitment and talent. There is a video on his website where Chris Rock and he are joking about how people want their money and how people think what they do is easy and how in fact hard it is to speak to and influence a crowd. I understood their answers.
Preaching and any public speaking is hard for a lot of people. Oddly enough the people who are best at it are often the shyest. It stuns people who know me from working with me or from seeing me speak public how incredibly shy and quiet I am. LOL. When I am not working I spend most of my time with one or two people and more likely than not, alone in my room. When I go out I am very pleasant and have many friends; but, I don't usually seek out others. I would have made a great hermit and may yet, we shall see.
Maybe it is retirement that is making me think about this all. I have always been quite happy with my internal voice, it is sufficient company usually. I could sit and read and analyze all day long and have. When I was in law school I had to actually study once and did. I don't know how many hours I went without eating or sleeping; but, I just studied. Eventually I began to go into a state of delirium, I started knowingly imagine things. Drat, I cannot think of the word I am looking for; but, I started seeing things that were not there. I decided I had done enough and went home to sleep. I used to go days without eating because I was focused and forgot to eat. I miss those time and I doubt most people can understand that. I miss being so focused that nothing was more important than my figuring out what I was looking at. It is better than sex. Complete and utter focus is joy.
I would be quite happy retiring to a crappy little apartment in a crappy little town and just read the news all day and post my opinions on it. I am okay with the idea. The only thing that stops me from doing such a thing is others, people I know I can and should help; but, I would rather be a hermit if the truth be known. This is going a couple of places, please be patient. So, I was telling one of my kids about Seinfeld and what I was seeing and I told a story that Seinfeld told about how when you are in a relationship you have to call in when you are on the road. The person talked about how they saw Prince have to make the spouse call. LOL. Prince of all people having to make the spouse call. ROFL. I said how I was glad that I never had to do that again, I don't have to call anyone because I am not in a relationship and am quite happy being alone. Well, two people argued with me over the point and wanted to tell me how I should be in a relationship.
Some people seem to believe that I should be in a relationship because it is healthy. I haven't experienced that. Seems like a heck of a lot of work to me. I don't need to be in a relationship to enjoy life. Having said that, I do believe it is worthwhile to put yourself in a position where you are in a relationship because it forces you to work outside of your comfort zone and grow. Everything that is not growing is dying. I am not growing, I am coasting down hill on a bicycle. I a have done what I wanted and am just watching the wheels go round and round. At some point in time, life does become repetition because the new ones have to learn the old rules on their own.
I was talking about comedians wasn't I. True entrepreneurs, real self sufficient and willing to take anything to achieve their goal of making others laugh. Comedians tend to be morose people, not very social, highly competitive and fearless. I have noticed that on a personal responsibility level, comics are as cold hearted as they come. They don't have sympathy for lazy or weak because nobody becomes a successful comic that is. Most comics are very smart and have skins like leather. Still, they live to make others happy. They overcome pain and try and make others happy, an interesting bunch. Just some random thoughts, have a great night.
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Christmas Thoughts For Today
Well my dear friends, Christmas is in three days. Wow, what a year. What an amazing last few years. I do hope that I have added something to your days and been of some benefit to you all, amusing if nothing else. I will not explain why exactly; but, I will talk about what I am posting for the season. Something to consider, a touching story, a Christmas story.
Yahoo - Two years after her death, woman gives family wonderful Christmas gift. Please watch the video, it will lighten your heart.
A woman died two years ago and left a letter for her husband, she didn't want him to get it until he had found someone new to love and take care of him and their children. Well, he found a new wife and he didn't know her wish for him. Her wish was that he be happy with his new wife. That hit home with me for many reasons. The link above is to when he found out about her letter. She had it sent to a local radio station that makes Christmas wishes come true. This video is viral and not because of me.
Ever since my wife left me for her hiking partner, I haven't really celebrated Christmas. I do not consider it a religious holiday as we have no reason to believe Christ was born on that day. Having said that, I consider Christmas to be a wonderful secular holiday that reminds of all that we can and should help one another and love one another. I like to see the face of children on Christmas when all is possible. My children were always good on Christmas, they never expected much, always got more than they should have and never focused on the presents other than the ones they gave others. I may have done something right in my life.
This Christmas I hope you all get to spend time with your loved ones and enjoy the most important thing in this world, family and friends and sharing love. For those who are not Christian, it is still okay to celebrate family and friends and love. It is okay to express your love by giving to others.
Now, some fun things for Christmas. My present to my readers. My favorite Christmas videos, some funny and then the last is the one that has always been the hardest on me.
YouTube - Jeff Foxworthy - Redneck 12 Days Of Christmas
YouTube - Cheech & Chong - Santa Claus and his Old Lady
YouTube - Elmo & Patsy - Grandma Got Run over by a Reindeer
YouTube - Charlie Brown Christmas Dance
YouTube - The Grinch Song
YouTube - Alvin and the Chipmunks - The Christmas Song (Don't Be Late)
YouTube - White Christmas from Holiday Inn 1942 (colour)
YouTube - I'll Be Home For Christmas by Bing Crosby
YouTube - Judy Garland - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
I do hope I have included some of your favorites, they are mine. Now I am going to ask a favor. For any of my readers that wish they could give me a present, you can. There is a lady in Detroit who gives out coats to the homeless that also function as sleeping bags. It is a brilliant concept and I want to support her endeavors. Oh, she hires women from shelters to make them and gives them a job. Contribute to her endeavor and what ever value you have ever found in this blog has more than been returned. I may be alone for much of this Christmas; but, I will be happy, warm and well fed. I will be sleeping inside. I will have the luxury of a little quiet time to ponder next year and remember all that has gone into becoming me. Others will be happy if they get anything to eat and can stay warm. Here is the link. The Empowerment Plan. To be clear, you don't have to celebrate Christmas to help the homeless.
Yahoo - Two years after her death, woman gives family wonderful Christmas gift. Please watch the video, it will lighten your heart.
A woman died two years ago and left a letter for her husband, she didn't want him to get it until he had found someone new to love and take care of him and their children. Well, he found a new wife and he didn't know her wish for him. Her wish was that he be happy with his new wife. That hit home with me for many reasons. The link above is to when he found out about her letter. She had it sent to a local radio station that makes Christmas wishes come true. This video is viral and not because of me.
Ever since my wife left me for her hiking partner, I haven't really celebrated Christmas. I do not consider it a religious holiday as we have no reason to believe Christ was born on that day. Having said that, I consider Christmas to be a wonderful secular holiday that reminds of all that we can and should help one another and love one another. I like to see the face of children on Christmas when all is possible. My children were always good on Christmas, they never expected much, always got more than they should have and never focused on the presents other than the ones they gave others. I may have done something right in my life.
This Christmas I hope you all get to spend time with your loved ones and enjoy the most important thing in this world, family and friends and sharing love. For those who are not Christian, it is still okay to celebrate family and friends and love. It is okay to express your love by giving to others.
Now, some fun things for Christmas. My present to my readers. My favorite Christmas videos, some funny and then the last is the one that has always been the hardest on me.
YouTube - Jeff Foxworthy - Redneck 12 Days Of Christmas
YouTube - Cheech & Chong - Santa Claus and his Old Lady
YouTube - Elmo & Patsy - Grandma Got Run over by a Reindeer
YouTube - Charlie Brown Christmas Dance
YouTube - The Grinch Song
YouTube - Alvin and the Chipmunks - The Christmas Song (Don't Be Late)
YouTube - White Christmas from Holiday Inn 1942 (colour)
YouTube - I'll Be Home For Christmas by Bing Crosby
YouTube - Judy Garland - Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
I do hope I have included some of your favorites, they are mine. Now I am going to ask a favor. For any of my readers that wish they could give me a present, you can. There is a lady in Detroit who gives out coats to the homeless that also function as sleeping bags. It is a brilliant concept and I want to support her endeavors. Oh, she hires women from shelters to make them and gives them a job. Contribute to her endeavor and what ever value you have ever found in this blog has more than been returned. I may be alone for much of this Christmas; but, I will be happy, warm and well fed. I will be sleeping inside. I will have the luxury of a little quiet time to ponder next year and remember all that has gone into becoming me. Others will be happy if they get anything to eat and can stay warm. Here is the link. The Empowerment Plan. To be clear, you don't have to celebrate Christmas to help the homeless.
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