Inflation Minus One

This is my idea to bring the government sector back into balance.

All the indexed programs of transfer payments and salaries and anywhere possible just make the annual increase equal to inflation minus one point.

So if inflation is 3% then people will only get a 2% raise

This sounds palatable to me.
And after a few years it would likely bring the budget into balance

Why have I not heard this suggested?

Entitlement Suggestion

We should know by now that government transfer payments in the name of  equity or the social contract or fairness or the safety net are the biggest items driving the federal deficit.

Here is a little suggestion

Indexing minus one

Easiest to look at is social security, which is indexed to inflation.
Payments go up every year at the rate of inflation.
This seems fair except that our society can't really afford to do this any more.

How about this. Inflation is 3%. Payments go up 2%.

This would gradually and eventually bring things back into balance.
And the pain each year would be negligible.

I have not heard this suggested.

Someone should do the math

Free Lunch

Thanksgiving 11/27/08

FREE LUNCH

I have heard there is no such thing
As a free lunch
I think I know what they’re getting at
But it really ain’t so
Thanksgiving Day is a fine day
To reflect on the deepest truths of nature
The conclusion jumping out
Smiling out
Springing up
Spreading out
It’s all free, a gift, no strings
Sun shines, rain falls, birds sing
Grain grows, miracles never cease
And it is all free, never to be paid for
Nor paid back
Where does it all come from?
The universe, the cosmos, the infinite, the spirit,
The void, from within, from nature, from God
Each breath you inhale quadrillions of molecules
Oxygen, nitrogen, carbon dioxide
And countless others
Complex, alive, eternal, countless, infinite, delicious
Sustaining
Provided
why not be thankful
Thanks, total thanks,
Thanks to whoever, whatever, what it is
Very good stuff
More than enough
Always here
Unfailing
Thanksgiving Day
The celebration of the free lunch

How To Be Rich

Capital is assets that produce income. My favorite income property is apartments.
Stocks can be income property. Bonds can be income property.
Cash is not income property. Cash is a dead asset. Cash produces no income.



Accumulate capital
do not spend your capital
do not waste your capital

don't sell your land
land is the best asset

capital should grow over time and also give you a spendable income

so always save a little more than you spend
keep growing the capital

let it grow

it will grow

it will feed you
it will clothe you
it will shelter you
it will heal you

it will give you a kind of freedom
but do not be afraid to spend or give

all in proportion

The MISTAKE

there is a secret
and there is also a mistake
the mistake is a simple one

it can take you to hell

but not to heaven

the mistake is

WANTING THINGS TO NOT BE WHAT THEY ARE

why am I angry? Because I think things are supposed to be different
why am I sad? because I think things are supposed to be different

all your negative feelings will fall into this bag

If you are amazed at reality, astounded, grateful, interested, curious...

then you will have good feelings

The REAL Secret

the real secret is to play in the right league

to set the bar at the right level

to have realistic expectations

to be in the game in order to be a good sport and to learn how to be a good sport

to remember that while winning is the goal,
it is not the most important goal

the most important thing is just to get to play
and to have fun, to have good time,
to be a good sport whether you win or lose

New Obama Recession

Looks like America voted to have a new recession.

Markets are sure giving a loud signal that they don't like what they see in the future.
The far left craves a bad economy because it gives them a chance to increase their power when they must
"save" the economy from the greedy.

Lessons Learned

Only A Mood

My face I was hiding
I was hiding my face
What was my disgrace?
No eyes would I meet
I look within
And see only questions
But this is only a mood

Outside the wind is blowing
It is noisy
I can hear the cars on the freeway
And airplanes and jet engines
The sun is fierce in the west
But soon it will set
The grass and the trees like the sun
But only as long as they have water
And it has been very dry this year
I notice slight pains here and there
In my neck and calf, ear and side
Discomfort constant but bearable
Now I hear a siren
Standing around with members
Of the ruling class
They have ruled us into this
For their own satisfaction
For their big homes and cars and
Vacations in Europe, and servants
And jewelry and all their trappings
Of wealth and influence
And others take their place after
Rising through the ranks
Not remembering the guillotine
That the little people can only take so much abuse
before they rise up
And turn the tables
But when they come to power they only repeat
The ways
They become cold and selfish and greedy
And learn to kill for sport
How can I look in the face
Of someone when I know they
Are going to die?
When I see death and what accompanies death
Suffering, fear, panic, madness
But there is nothing to be done
It is what it is
And this is just a mood
My face will light up with joy again
I will gaze with intense love into the eyes
Of my beloved
I will feel comfort and desire
And fulfillment of desire
The sun will set and rise again
But I also know
that there will be a last sunset
A final nightfall
A separation and finish
I can only hope that then
My eyes will open in another world
A good world and a world
With other eyes to gaze into
So I can go out with hope
Hope for tomorrow
Hope for me
Hope for you
Hope for everyone
Hope that the final sunset will not be so final
Hope that the emptiness will be filled
Questions answered
Loves revived, lovers reunited
Tears of joy mingled
All forgiven
All triumphant
All victorious and happy

Gory Glory

Stranger Than Fiction Department(REPOST FROM 4/27/07)

If I wrote a war story
about all the gory glory
would I name a general
Petraeus?
I hope he don't
Betray us!

Who Destroyed America?

How the medical industry, the legal industry, the insurance industry, the defense industry and the education industry destroyed America while blaming the energy industry, the finance industry, the housing industry and the agricultural industry and why the public bought into this.

6000 Dead

We hear of deaths in the news from spectacular causes like storms or shootings or drunk drivers or drug overdoses and on and on.

Sandy the hurricane! death toll over 100!

And it is sad and tragic and a shame and yet....

every day in the USA there are more than 6000 deaths.

6000 dead today from all causes
and yesterday
and tomorrow

6000 dead

(actually a more accurate estimate is 6,647 deaths per day)

and by the way

there are

11,332 BIRTHS!

Big Bird

BIG BIRD

Big bird sitting on the fence
but not like a politician
and not like a TV star big and yellow
the turkey vulture is a peaceful bird
who doesn't go out to kill
he eats carrion
he cleans up
really a more enlightened being
with a big wingspan

It's Not The Money, It's the Mission

George Lucas is pretty rich and just sold Star Wars to Disney for 4 BILLION DOLLARS.

And he is doing something wonderful with the money. He is donating it to "EDUCATION"

a foundation for education

I hope this works out for the good. It should.
I'm really glad he is doing that. It is the sort of thing I once wanted to do.

HOWEVER

I remember thinking deeply on the subject.
I realized that we are already lavishing astronomical sums on education. And I am sure it has benefits, but the major problems of humanity are still with us.

All the brilliant minds at all the universities thinking and studying for centuries more and more and we still have
poverty
disease
madness
war
misery
unhappiness
etc.

So, I thought, money is not the answer. 
The right mission statement in the answer.
For example we have The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and some other nice documents. Our nation rests on these mission statements.

So I did come up with a good mission statement, if only I could remember it.

Goals Can Help

It is good to establish some goals. Often people say to divide them up into terms.
Short term goals
medium term goals
long term goals

here is an approach

once a month write down all your goals, don't worry about the terms

then put the list away

after a month write a new list of goals and then compare the lists.

any goals attained? any new goals? any goals not attained? any goals not there any more?

The NAIL

Yesterday morning I was out for my jog. Glancing down I saw a large rusty nail in the street right in front of me. I did not stop to pick it up. I felt that I should have.

But I had taken in too much fluid before my jog and desperately needed to urinate.
That was my excuse.

Fortunately
This morning I was jogging and the nail was still there!
Of course I picked it up and threw it in the trash.

I was thankful that I was allowed to remedy my error.

But then, I noticed a lot of potentially hazardous things in the street! And there I drew a line. It was not my job to go out of my way to make the street safer. But if it was right in front of me....

and then I thought, maybe I took work away from some guy who fixes punctured tires!
And then I imagined the man with the tire business secretly placing road hazards in order to get more business for himself.....

I don't want more business
I want less
fewer jobs

I have plenty of business. I have more than enough.

love is kind