Pop Wisdom – June 09 June 23, 2009
Posted by Daren in Freedom, Humor, Life, Politics, Wisdom.Tags: Republican Democrat Obama GPS balloon lost "hot air"
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A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, “Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am.”
The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, “You’re in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above a ground elevation of 2,346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.
She rolled her eyes and said, “You must be a Republican.”
“I am,” replied the man. “How did you know?”
“Well,” answered the balloonist, “everything you told me is technically correct. But I have no idea what to do with your information, and I’m still lost. Frankly, you’ve not been much help to me.”
The man smiled and responded, “You must be an Obama Democrat.”
“I am,” replied the balloonist. “How did you know?”
“Well,” said the man, “you don’t know where you are or where you are going. You’ve risen to your current position due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You’re exactly where you were before we met, but somehow, now it’s my fault.”
R.E.M. was right! May 27, 2009
Posted by Todd in Life.Tags: Life, news, R.E.M., world news
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There was an article posted on FOX NEWS.com this morning about North Korea warning of a strike against South Korea and the USA.
The isolated communist regime said through its official news agency that it would respond with military action if South Korea tries to stop or search any of its ships as part of the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative.
“Those who provoke (North Korea) once will not be able to escape its unimaginable and merciless punishment,” the North’s official news agency said.
…”It is a laughable delusion for the United States to think that it can get us to kneel with sanctions,” it said. “We’ve been living under U.S. sanctions for decades, but have firmly safeguarded our ideology and system while moving our achievements forward. The U.S. sanctions policy toward North Korea is like striking a rock with a rotten egg.”
Unimaginable and merciless punishment? I think the band R.E.M. was right with their 1987 song – “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”.
A possible business revival and growth opportunity: Bomb Shelters
You can read the full article here: N. Korea Warns of Strike Against S. Korea, U.S.
What Does Larry Winget Really Think About The Secret? May 18, 2009
Posted by Todd in Finance, Freedom, Wisdom.Tags: Larry Winget, Money, Personal Development, Wisdom
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Today I read an article by Larry Winget about the book “The Secret”. I love this guy! His article is called, “The Secret Is A Total Load Of Crap”. So who is Larry Winget? He is a best-selling author, a speaker, and starred in an A&E television series called Big Spender. Larry is the trademarked Pitbull of Personal Development. His latest New York Times best-seller is called “People Are Idiots And I Can Prove It”.
So what does Larry say about “The Secret”? Here are some excerpts from his article, but be fore-warned – Larry is very blunt and open about his views and they may not be palatable for some:
People are scrambling to find some secret that will help them be more successful. There are thousands of books on the market claiming to have all of those secrets. In fact, the bestselling book on the planet for the past two years is a book called The Secret. Let me repeat my opening line when it comes to this book: The Secret is a total load of crap!
The Secret basically says, “What you think about and talk about comes about.” Really? Is that how it works? I believe, “What you think about, talk about and get off your ass and DO something about is what comes about!” Thinking is important, focus is important, self-talk plays a role, but alone they are a waste of time. In that way, The Secret is a half-truth, which in my book, makes it a lie. The Secret cheats people of the real gratification and success that comes from having put forth good old-fashioned hard work.
You can read the whole article here: http://larrywinget.net/blog/?p=153
According to Larry, work is The Secret.
It’s Only $26 Billion a day April 3, 2009
Posted by Todd in Finance, Politics.Tags: bailout, Deficit, Economic Stimulus Package, Federal
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I have recently become a fan of the social media application Twitter and lately I have been following Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. from Oklahoma. On March 31st he posted these remarks:
- Congress has spent $136.3 billion each week it has been in session.
- Congress has spent $26.7 billion each day it has been in session this year.
- Little Known Fact: Page 72 of the budget admits it increases the federal debt by $4.9 trillion, rising by “$16,200 on every U.S. citizen”
For three weeks Congress has spent somewhere around $408.9 billion. What does that look like? Let’s look at some of the top ten companies in the Fortune 500 list – looking at annual revenues as a point of reference.
| Rank | Company | Rev ($ millions) |
| 1 | Wal-Mart | 378,799 |
| 2 | Exxon Mobil | 372,824 |
| 3 | Chevron | 210,783 |
| 4 | General Motors | 182,347 |
| 5 | Conoco Phillips | 178,558 |
| 6 | General Electric | 176,656 |
| 7 | Ford Motor | 172,468 |
| 8 | Citigroup | 159,229 |
| 9 | Bank of America Corp. | 119,190 |
| 10 | AT&T | 118,928 |
So in three weeks congress has managed to spend more than Wal-Mart’s global revenues for an entire year. That’s more than all the products sold in all the Wal-Marts and Sam’s Clubs in 14 countries. In three weeks congress would spend more than twice as much as General Motors revenue (there’s a certain amount of irony in that).
The top ten Fortune 500 companies revenues are $2.07 trillion - less than half of the increase in federal debt of $4.9 billion.
No matter how you look at it, that’s a lot of money.
I guess AT&T is just going to have to sell more iPhones.
Is There a Silent Scream About the Deficits April 1, 2009
Posted by Bob in Finance, Politics.Tags: Deficit, Federal Budget
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I enjoy a good debate as much as anyone does. Three other guys who know nothing on this blog and, ah, yes dear – you too, might say that I’m in the fourth quartile when it comes to being argumentative. Nevertheless, during the last eight years, a number of liberal friends and co-workers were quick to point out how President Bush “created” a huge deficit after inheriting a balanced budged from President Clinton. Being a good conservative, I for the most part took the verbal barrages and listened to how western civilization would collapse if Mr. Bush and the Republicans didn’t eliminate the deficit.
Well it didn’t take long but things have certainly changed. Does anyone hear the silent scream from the left – the wailing and gnashing of teeth from Democrats and liberals given the deficits that President Obama and the democratically controlled House and Senate are racking up? A quick look at the chart in the previous post and you’ll see that the deficit:
· Peaked at ~$410B in 2004 following the 9/11 attack and the subsequent war in Iraq.
· Was reduced to around $200B in 2007 (and had been going down for three straight years).
· Grew to ~485B in 2008 as the economy went south.
Where is the outrage amongst my liberal protagonists (that would include you, Roland) that President Obama’s first year deficit will be ~$1.85T, which is about 3.8x higher than when Mr. Bush left office?
By President Obama’s own calculations, around $10T of additional debt will be saddled onto America’s back by 2019. Again, where is the outrage from the left?
In one of the presidential debates, candidate Obama excoriated John McCain and the Republican Party about the deficits. Shortly thereafter I heard the question asked – what opposition did Mr. Obama provide to the uber-spending policies of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid in 2007 and 2008? As far as I know – absolutely nothing.
What changed? Why is President Obama so willingly tripling and potentially quadrupling the federal deficit? Why are liberals who portended themselves as deficit hawks now utterly silent on current and projected deficits? Well, that’s not entirely correct as Sen. Kent Conrad (D, ND) proposed reducing President Obama’s budget from $3.6T to $3.5T. Big deal – but what’s $100B amongst friends? Geez, I never thought I’d think that $100B was “small potatoes”.
Todd
Daren
Bob
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